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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?
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The Other Rejection – How Salespeople Struggle to Cope
- May 9, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I gave this some thought and identified the following 10 reactions to Passive Rejection:
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Challenges Don’t Always Require a Complete Sales Force Makeover
- April 19, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Many of the Sales Force Evaluations provided by Objective Management Group (OMG) reveal that the company’s problems run so deep that they will require a complete sales force makeover. However, it doesn’t always have to be that way. Sometimes, a single word, question or statement will change how every prospect responds.
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Can Too Many Opportunities be a Negative for Salespeople?
- April 2, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Many of us in this space write about the obvious importance of filling the sales pipeline and keeping it filled. But what about too many opportunities in a salesperson’s pipeline? Isn’t that a positive?
Maybe not.
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Top 10 Reasons Salespeople Struggle to Get Decisions
- March 7, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you were to remove the easy “yes” and “no” decisions that your salespeople hear during the course of the year, 80% of the opportunities that have been stalled in your pipeline would still be there. Why is it so difficult for your salespeople to get decisions made on those opportunities?
The simple answer, the one you already know, is that those prospects aren’t ready to buy. Here are ten reasons why your salespeople have them in the pipeline:
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Top 7 Reasons Why Ineffective Salespeople Get By
- February 14, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
the typical salesperson receives, on average, 3 days of sales training in their entire career. I’ve interviewed thousands of salespeople (the good ones who have been recommended by the Assessment and performed well on a phone interview) and most of them have never had a single day of professional sales training. And practice? I can tell you that in the past 26 years, there has not been a single client whose salespeople had been practicing the art and science of selling before I required them to start practicing.
Why aren’t salespeople getting enough professional training before and during their employment?
Why aren’t they getting coached the way they should?
Why aren’t they practicing?
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10 Sales Coaching Examples
- February 13, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Your system for coaching – the frequency, duration and process – should remain consistent, but it is important to remember these variations. All of the people whom you coach or should be coaching are unique individuals and need you to work with them in a way that is most beneficial to them, not you.
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New Penn State Coach – Just Like Dysfunctional Sales Management
- January 6, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Bill O’Brien. One coach – two full time jobs. Both teams need his immediate, undivided attention and won’t get all that they need. Given the dual roles, how do you feel about the Patriots’ chances of another Super Bowl? Given this conflict of interest, how do you feel about Penn State’s ability to have a quality recruiting season?
This happens quite frequently in my world – the sales force.
In most small businesses, the President or owner is responsible for running the company and by default, manages the sales force too. The problem? Unskilled sales management is being provided on demand and that is always quite ineffective.