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Top 10 Ways to Increase Sales
- October 3, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’ll bet that every CEO, President, Director, VP of Sales and Sales Manager asks the “how can we increase sales?” question on a regular basis. Do you?
There are as many answers to this question as there are politicians running for US President in 2012. They include but aren’t limited to:
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Top 15 Questions That Prospects Ask Themselves
- September 27, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Two questions for you: Are your salespeople consciously aware of the 3 mindsets and two categories, and have you checked as to whether they have appropriate approaches for each?
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Sales Selection – Would You Choose Bob or Mary?
- September 16, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
As is the trend in the automobile industry these days, there is a hybrid, the best of both worlds, with all the charm of Bob and all the resolve of Mary. But my opening question didn’t include the ‘A’ player as one of the choices. If you had to choose Bob or Mary, who would you select?
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You Lost the Sale – What Should Your Salespeople Do Next?
- August 25, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I get tremendous satisfaction from helping companies evaluate their sales forces, develop and optimize their processes, improve efficiencies, train and coach their teams, select great salespeople and increase revenue and profit. But I LOVE to sell. Agassi hated tennis yet still mastered the sport to become #1 in the world! You can learn a lot from an example like that!
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What it Takes to Make Your Sales Pipeline Accurate & Predictive
- August 5, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, while speaking in DC, I asked my usual questions, but the response to one of the questions left me scratching my head. It wasn’t a new question; as a matter of fact, I’ve been asking it for years. And, as you can see below, I’ve been writing about the pipeline in various ways for years:
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Top 12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Sales Process
- June 14, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Most people don’t understand the difference between sales process and sales methodology.
A customized, optimized, formal sales process includes the sequence of steps, to-do’s, milestones and goals that must be achieved during a sales cycle.
A sales methodology is the approach one takes to execute those steps.
For instance, using a few well-known companies and brands:
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Top 5 Reasons Why Salespeople Don’t Make Quota
- June 8, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I received the IDC Sales Advisor Newsletter in my email today and while it was about the importance of cross-selling, they said it is important because 50% of reps aren’t making quota.
Forget cross-selling! If 50% of your reps aren’t making quota you have bigger problems than whether or not they are cross-selling!
There are only five possible reasons why reps are not making quota:
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Are Your Salespeople Jerks or Just Different From You?
- June 1, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Last week I conducted a 3-day Sales Leadership Intensive for a very small group. Working with a small group has advantages because everyone receives more individual attention, we can go at their pace, and spend as much time as we need to on their issues. Working with a small group also has disadvantages because their diverse learning styles tend to stand-out and can be a distraction.
For example, in last week’s group, I had:
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Sales Effectiveness – IDC and CEB Draw Conflicting Conclusions
- February 24, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The latest IDC Study says that of the customers who changed vendors last year, 65% did so because they either had a poor relationship with their vendor or a better relationship with the new vendor. One of their conclusions is that companies need to do a better job teaching their salespeople how to develop relationship building skills, especially in the C-Level.
The latest Corporate Executive Board study starts out with this headline: “Most companies are betting that reps who focus on building stronger customer relationships will rebuild sales. They’re wrong—here’s why.”
So why are these two studies coming to two different conclusions?
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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.