Sales Coaching
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Developing Top Performers – How to Turn Salespeople into A-Players
- August 13, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The new salespeople whom you hire must be exciting enough and strong enough to lead the way, infusing the sales force with new energy, becoming new role models and causing others to follow their lead or be left behind.
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Keys to Successful Sales Negotiations
- August 1, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In the United States, Major League Baseball’s trading deadline passed today with some noteworthy moves by teams other than my Boston Red Sox. Aside from my disappointment that the Red Sox failed to make an impact trade to help the team, I recognized something else…
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What Leads to Salespeople Underperforming?
- July 16, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Doesn’t it drive you mad when terrific, yet underperforming salespeople, take time off for their car to be serviced, to bring their pets to the vet, to spend time with visiting family members, to work out of the house, when they feel under the weather, to meet a with a contractor, for the dentist, for their annual physical, etc? Take a vacation – no problem – but if you’re not on vacation, then work for crying out loud!
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Are (Lack of) Results Due to the Salesperson or the Company?
- July 9, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Whether your salespeople are underperforming or doing well, are they responsible or is it your company, culture, advertising or offerings that’s responsible?
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Effective Selling Can’t Occur Until Salespeople Perfect This
- June 20, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In today’s article, we discuss five examples of what salespeople must do to sell more effectively.
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How Selling is Just Like Driving a Car
- June 5, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you can make the adjustments when you are driving, then you should be able to make similar adjustments when you are selling. Those adjustments, in no particular order, include being sure that:
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10 Best Sales Force Articles That You Probably Didn’t Read (Yet)
- June 4, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’ve written 930 articles for this Blog. Some, that I don’t think are particularly good, are the most popular, getting thousands of reads here, and thousands more on other sites that republish them. Others, which I think are very good and/or important, are hardly noticed, usually because of either the title, day of the week, or time of day.
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Contractual Obligation is a Missing Link of Sales Success
- May 31, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
However, there is one area of sports for which there is no sales analogy. Say it isn’t so!
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Warning to Sales-Focused Companies Wanting to Stay Relevant
- May 30, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Mike Myatt wrote an article for Forbes‘ online site called, To Increase Revenue Stop Selling. This article has been very heavily viewed and commented. I don’t agree with most of Mike’s suggestions, but in his defense, he is not a sales expert, sales writer, sales manager, sales leader or salesperson. He simply doesn’t like being pitched or sold to and urges salespeople (he doesn’t want them to sell or be called that) to simply let him buy – when he wants, where he wants, how he wants, from whom he wants, and for prices he is comfortable paying. Sounds like retail, doesn’t it?
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Basketball and the Difference Between Sales Studs and Sales Duds
- May 14, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I heard former NBA all-star and current ESPN basketball analyst, Bruce Bowen, talking about Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics. He characterized Garnett as one of the toughest competitors on the court, unlike some younger, very talented players who aren’t as competitive and don’t know how to close out games. He said the difference is that Garnett is trying to win while the less competitive players are trying to make friends.
I’ve been talking about Need for Approval being one difference between the elite 6% of salespeople and the bottom 74% of salespeople for years, but this is the first time I have heard of the affliction as a differentiator in sports. In one of my books – it was probably Baseline Selling – I discussed how it would play out if the pitcher had need for approval from the batter and vice versa.
Why is Need for Approval such a differentiator?