sales assessments
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What Makes Salespeople Stand Out from the Crowd?
- July 28, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Great salespeople are a jigsaw puzzle with each data point representing just one piece, not the whole picture. And nothing connects more of the pieces of the puzzle than a customized, sales specific OMG sales candidate assessment.
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Some Salespeople Possess This Non Stop Sales Motivator
- July 11, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Do you have anyone on your sales force that isn’t motivated by the usual methods but may something to prove?
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Top 20 Conditions that Dictate a Sales Force Evaluation
- June 29, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
One of our Partners recently said, “We know how comprehensive a sales force evaluation can be, and we know how it works. We know how powerful the findings and insights are, but when are the conditions right?”
So, the Top 20 Conditions for a Sales Force Evaluation
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Can Sales Candidate Assessments Drive Results?
- May 13, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
They claimed that salespeople who scored highest on their assessments had 69% higher close rates. That’s impressive, right? But their assessment didn’t drive the results. Those salespeople drove the results. Their assessment simply indicated that those salespeople would be more successful. That is what an assessment is supposed to do! They could just as easily said, “Our assessments do what they’re supposed to do!”
So let’s take a closer look at a 69% higher close. It means that if the salespeople with a lower score close 1 of every 10 opportunities, then the strong salespeople, who scored highest on the assessment, will close 69% more of their 10 opportunities, or 1.69. It’s not nearly as impressive as it sounds, is it?
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Get Your Veteran Salespeople to Take Baby Steps
- May 12, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You cannot script these questions. Your salespeople must be able to identify the questioning opportunities in real time while their prospects are responding to the question currently in play. This requires VERY focused listening, note taking, and patience. And the biggest challenge? Your salespeople must avoid the temptation to jump to a different question topic, jump to presentation, or jump in with a solution!
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Money Motivated Salespeople a Dying Breed
- April 8, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I mined the data on 150,000 salespeople that were assessed in the past three years, a period of time that includes both the pre and post economic crash. I noted that the only data point that has changed for salespeople is the percentage that were Money Motivated.
50% fewer salespeople are money motivated today as compared to the findings from 2007.
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How Many Salespeople Made Quota in 2010?
- February 21, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This study is basically saying that during one of the worst recessions ever, an all-time high percentage of salespeople hit their numbers. I don’t buy it and here’s why.
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What Are Sales Intangibles?
- February 16, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Once in while an individual will fall outside the normal range of assessment results. That usually means either one of two things;
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Case History – Read the Latest Sales Assessment to Come to Life
- February 10, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The lesson here is that you don’t want people like this working for you! It doesn’t matter that they can hunt. They will blow up every prospect who they think could be rejecting them!
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Selling Power Hit and Then Miss the Mark on Sales
- November 17, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday it was the Harvard Business Review article and today it’s a Selling Power article.
They pointed to three qualities that are highly predictive indicators of a top sales performer. Let’s see how their claims (using data from personality assessments) stack up against real sales science (using Objective Management Group’s data from sales specific assessments).
They said the 3 highly predictive qualities are: