Search Results

  • Can We Really Get Salespeople to Change?

    • March 16, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    People change when they are ready to change.

    For example, I needed to lose weight and become healthier for several years.  I had been reading the literature on healthy eating for months.  I knew that this was important but until the day came when I was ready to commit to being healthy and eating healthy, nothing would change.

    By default, salespeople are the same way. 

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  • What Are Reasonable Sales Management Expectations?

    • March 12, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I am often asked which of the various services we provide to companies can be done in-house, by the executive team.  Fair question.  Answer: All of them.

    So why would companies use us or others with our expertise?  Answer: Because when they try to do it in-house they aren’t able to get most of it right:

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  • Sales Leadership – a Balancing Act to Achieve Compliance and Quotas

    • March 11, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    We covered many areas of Sales Leadership that fall under the direction of someone in Phil’s role including cultural issues, competition among sales managers, and getting an entire sales force to change.  I chose to discuss the balance sales leaders must have between sharing, mandating and asking.  Sounds simple.

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  • Sales Coaching – Are Sales Managers Any Good at This Function?

    • March 10, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I’ve written extensively about sales coaching before. Yesterday, a fairly typical day, I coached 4 different sales experts and 2 clients on how to more effectively coach salespeople and sales managers.  I have noticed that most sales managers believe that they’re fairly good at coaching when, in reality, most of them are very ineffective at it.  Why?

    First, let’s look at what’s required for effective coaching. Some of it is tangible and measurable while some isn’t. Effective Sales Coaching requires:

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  • How to Get Salespeople to Stop Resisting Change

    • March 1, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Some Professional Sales Development Experts are adept at overcoming resistance.  But sales managers not so much.  Salespeople may resist:

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  • The Science of Selling – Rules versus Data

    • February 25, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The true science in selling is the research and data that explain performance.  In Baseball, a good or bad year, by a team or player, is not explained so much by whether the rules were followed – they probably were – but by the statistics that explain why a good or bad year occurred. We have the same thing in sales and Objective Management Group may have the mother load of that data. 

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  • Kindle – Lessons Applied to the Sales Force

    • February 22, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Readers who have purchased the Kindle have totally embraced that device.  Some think it’s the Kindle, not online sellers, that is the biggest threat to brick and mortar book stores.  Those of us who own a Kindle are reading more books, and reading them more easily and conveniently than before we had the device.

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  • Should Special Effects Determine If You Have the Right Salespeople?

    • February 18, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    When we evaluate a sales force, one of the answers we usually provide is whether or not a company has the right salespeople.  Right for what?

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  • Why You Should be Scared When Your Salespeople are Closing Sales

    • February 10, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Most senior executives get excited when a lot of business starts to close all in a fairly short period of time.  They think:

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  • The Importance of Pride, Self-Esteem and Confidence in Sales

    • January 29, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Bob is a believer in performance based pay – for everyone – and sees the day coming where everyone is compensated on performance.

    His top tips for success:

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