sales training
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Can Music Make Your Sales Force More Effective?
- February 14, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Some of these tunes go back more than 45 years! Some of them are not even favorites, yet they all have Time Machine capabilities. Does this happen to you too?
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What Meteorologists Have in Common with Salespeople
- January 19, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Wow! A plowable snow event. No hype, no accumulation predictions, no mystery about the ever-moving rain/snow line, no warnings about treacherous travel, no details about the track of the storm and where it might go, just a “plowable snow event”. The excitement and exhaustion from the previous 3 storms had surely numbed her senses.
How does this apply to your sales force?
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Top 10 Steps to Initiate Salespeople to Their Roles
- January 4, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This is exactly how to initiate salespeople, whether they are new to your company, new to their role, or new to sales. Don’t vary at all from the steps above. More importantly, don’t assume that because they have sold for 10 years they’ll know what to do or be able to do it effectively. Follow the steps!
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Top 3 Sales Lessons from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”
- December 20, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
During a first sales call, suppose your salespeople hear one prospect say, “This has been a very interesting and productive conversation and we might have some interest in this.” And imagine another prospect at the same meeting says, “We’ll get back to you next month and let you know what kind of progress we’ve made.” And still a third might say, “In the meantime, please send us a proposal with references and timeline.”
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Prediction for Your Company’s Sales Force in 2011
- December 17, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
10 Sales Experts were inducted into the Top Sales Hall of Fame at yesterday’s Top Sales Awards event. They include legends, both living and deceased, like Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracey and Earl Nightingale. Current legends like Gerhard Gschwandter and Jeffrey Gitomer were honored. Others who were inducted include Keith Rosen, Bill Brooks, Linda Richardson, Neil Rackham and Dr. Tony Allasandra.
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How Christmas Gift Giving Mirrors the Ideal Sales Process
- December 15, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you understand that, then why do so many executives and salespeople, from all industries, still insist that the first thing they must do with a new prospect is present? Even the word “present” suggests waiting for the perfect time.
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What The Salesperson Saw (or Didn’t) – A Question about Sales Calls
- December 10, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It’s one thing to have eyes, but our salespeople need to use them too. Typically, their mouths are moving so fast and so often, and the sound of their own voice is so compelling (to them), that their eyes are neutralized. This is similar to what happens on a long drive when you suddenly realize you drove 10 miles past your exit and have no idea how you got that far without noticing.
What do your salespeople miss on their sales calls?
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Top 5 Success Factors for a Sales Training Initiative
- December 7, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If your company is about to begin a sales development initiative, do you know the factors that will determine its eventual success or failure? There are many and ultimately, like most systems and processes, they are only as good as the weakest link.
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Winning in Sales Isn’t Everything – Yes it Is!
- November 29, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Sales Manager: How did the call go?
Salesperson: Really good.
Sales Manager: Excellent.
Isn’t that a lame discussion? The sales manager can improve it by simply asking, “What made it such an excellent call?”
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How to Get Salespeople to Leave Their Comfort Zone
- November 11, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We asked our 8-year-old son if he was willing to help out and have a female classmate ride home with him today. He wasn’t sure. If he didn’t do the right thing and said no, he would hurt her feelings. If he did the right thing, he worried that he would be uncomfortable spending time with her. When they are eight years old, boys think girls are yucky.
This is the same dilemma that salespeople face every day, in every sales call, in every interaction. Do the right thing and ask the tough question that the situation calls for; or do what’s comfortable and present.