Search Results
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A Guaranteed Fix for Inaccurate Sales Forecasts
- September 15, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Are your expectations completely unrealistic when you attempt to forecast sales for the month or quarter? For most companies, inaccurate forecasts are the norm and expectations for accuracy are insane. But that’s when companies rely on CRM applications with any of the following 10 challenges:
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Bugged by the Difference Between Great and Lousy Salespeople
- July 21, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, I noticed a large, furry, dead bug on the hood of my car. It seemed to be attached to the outer lip of the hood – like the edge of a cliff – right where the hood drops down to the grill. I got out of the car to remove the chunk of dead fur and I was shocked to see how wrong I was. It was dead all right, and it was furry. I’m not a tall person, so I wasn’t sitting high enough in the car to notice the distance between the bug and the lip of the hood, but my estimate was off by more than 2 feet! What I thought I saw was completely different from reality.
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12 Proven Sales Hacks to Increase Sales
- June 25, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It seems that these days, things are changing faster than we can recognize. Cosby is finally out of the news, but the Marathon Bomber is back in. The terrible winter weather is in our rear view mirror, but now we are dealing with droughts and tornadoes! And in our world, Sales 2.0, a term we haven’t heard in a while, is making the rounds again. In today’s article, we’ll talk about the sales improvements that readers are most interested in.
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Whiplash on the Sales Force
- May 26, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In many cases, difficult prospects are actually easier to sell because there isn’t a whole lot of competition. Most salespeople give up or lose the prospect’s respect before they get remotely close to doing any business with them.
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What Committed Salespeople Do Differently
- April 24, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Commitment. We have discussed commitment a LOT in this Blog recently because many people misunderstand the role it plays in successful selling.
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The Importance of Resiliency in Sales and Selling
- April 22, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We saw Paul Blart – Mall Cop 2 and laughed a grand total of twice. It was inept comedy, a horrible sequel and a terrible movie. Despite that, it was a great example of resiliency as Blart is continually rejected, stopped, ridiculed and put-off, only to ignore those events, bear down and try even harder to accomplish his goals. From that perspective, the movie, and Kevin James, succeed at demonstrating what it is like to be a salesperson.
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The Phony Baloney Sales Superstar
- April 20, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was in the car when the call was forwarded to my cell phone. I didn’t recognize the caller and his first statement was, “I have some questions about Objective Management Group (OMG).” Very Dry. Very Abrasive.
I was thinking detective, maybe researcher. I asked, “What kind of questions?” Keep in mind that he hadn’t said hello, introduced himself, or explained why he was calling so I was wondering what this was about.
He said, “I took one of your assessments and it prevented me from getting a job. Is this based on the Myers-Briggs?”
I calmly explained that Myers-Briggs was a personality assessment that reported on 16 dimensions of personality but the OMG assessment he took was sales specific and looked at 21 Sales Core Competencies.
He told me he had problems with the Myers-Briggs preventing him from getting a job once before so it must be based on that. He repeated that it prevented him from getting this job so I asked what led him to that conclusion. His answers will blow your mind!
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More Junk Sales Science in HBR Blog
- April 14, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
What do donuts, chips, cake and ice cream have in common with some of the articles that are written and published about salespeople, sales selection and assessments? That’s right, they are all junk and junk is bad for you to consume. Over the years, there has been no better source of junk science written about sales and salespeople than the reputable Harvard Business Review Blog. Recently, they put out another absurdly awful piece, this one written by sales consultant, Steve Martin. As most of these articles do, “What Separates the Strongest Salespeople from the Weakest” attempts to use personality and conditions to differentiate the two groups. This comes on the heels of another horrible article I called out in March 2015, which led to this amazing epic debate on the science of sales, sales assessments, and sales selection. This is why this latest HBR article is yet another example of junk science.
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30 Reasons Why 1 Million Sales Jobs Will be Obsolete
- March 30, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
On March 8, this article on the Hubspot Sales Blog reported that one million B2B sales jobs will be lost. Are you, or any of your salespeople at risk? The article talked about four archetypes of salespeople and the two types at greatest risk. While I agree that there won’t be a place for order takers, and those who sell consultatively will always have work, I see the shakeup a bit differently. Here’s why.
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30 Reasons Why 1 Million Sales Jobs Will be Obsolete
- March 30, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
On March 8, this article on the Hubspot Sales Blog reported that one million B2B sales jobs will be lost. Are you, or any of your salespeople at risk? The article talked about four archetypes of salespeople and the two types at greatest risk. While I agree that there won’t be a place for order takers, and those who sell consultatively will always have work, I see the shakeup a bit differently. Here’s why.