sales competencies
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Former IBM Pro Lashes Out Over Sales Assessment
- February 17, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A CEO of a fairly large-sized but under-performing OEM asked us to evaluate his sales force. One of the three regional managers, who assessed as poorly as any regional manager could, called to complain about his results. In addition to calling me a toad, Bob said that in the eighties he used to sell and manage at IBM and he led the top performing team. He finished by letting me know that we didn’t know what we were talking about and, by the way, he would be picking me up at the airport for the kick-off of their national training initiative.
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Right Sales People in the Right Roles and the Right Seats
- January 12, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was on site at a client’s last week to kick-off their training. At the end of the kick-off I asked each salesperson for their three biggest lessons learned. One salesperson had difficulty coming up with anything of substance. It turned out that he was new to sales and when we assessed him two months earlier, our assessment indicated that he was not trainable. The client wanted him in the program anyway because he had a hunch it would work out. “Not trainable” manifests in different ways but usually has the same outcome – salespeople don’t improve.
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Surprising Statistics from the Sales Force Grader
- December 22, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The actual results are even more surprising than the number of people (several hundred) that have already visited the FREE Sales Force Grader.
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New Metrics for the Sales Force – Unusual Thoughts for Unusual Times
- December 12, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Some unusual thoughts for some unusual times:
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Panic on the Sales Force and What to Do About It
- December 10, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
What gets you in a panic? When I was young, height, water and people were enough to cause shortness of breath, a lump in my throat and a stomach ache. Today, I still have the symptoms, but not over any of the things that used to bother me. Today it would take somebody or something threatening harm to my wife, son or me.
What about for you? What causes a panic of that magnitude for you? I’m asking because I want you to know what it feels like, how difficult it is to function, concentrate, or breath. Have you been there?
Now let’s take your salespeople.
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Free Sales Hiring Mistake Calculator Tool
- December 8, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Last week we introduced the Free Sales Force Grader Tool.
Today I am introducing the Free Sales Hiring Mistake Calculator.
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Dell, The Economy, Their SalesForce and You
- December 8, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Last week I received an email from my Dell representative’s sales manager. It was five paragraphs, and started out great:
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Is Your Selling Model Effective? Know your Salesforce’s ABC’s
- November 17, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Every company, with or without a salesforce, has a selling model. I know of one company whose model is “we don’t believe in sales”. It works for them, but it won’t work for many others.
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What Really Creates Sales Excellence?
- November 13, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you are like me, you’re receiving email invitations to attend webinars at the rate of 10 to 20 per day. And you’re getting the exact same invitations every single day from the exact same companies. And some of them promise the solution to all of your sales problems – sales excellence solutions. Take a look at the invitations I received today alone!
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Are Your Salespeople Selling Price Like Sam’s Club or Value Like Nordstrom’s?
- November 12, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
So what does this say about the state of the economy and more specifically, about discounting and trying to win business based on price?