sales training

  • Can You Improve a Kick-Ass Sales Force?

    • September 11, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    If you are reading this, and your company matches up with any one of my criteria for underdogs, then you couldn’t possibly get away with what Hubspot can get away with.  You must have strong hunters who are adept at overcoming resistance, can differentiate by selling consultatively, and ask the kinds of questions that develop respect, allowing prospects to open their mind to the possibility that you can help.

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  • The Key to Powerful Sales Conversations

    • August 28, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Earlier this week, I wrote this article about the importance of using specific words and phrases at specific times. 

    That article discussed some of the milestones in the sales process where just the right word or phrase can make such a huge (make or break) difference in the direction that the sales call takes.  In the article, I mentioned “at just the right time”, but I didn’t elaborate.  I’ll correct that omission with the following examples.

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  • Specific Words are So Crucial to a Sales Conversation

    • August 27, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I just returned from a speaking engagement in Athens and had to stop at passport control several times during this trip. They always ask, “What kind of business?” and over the years I’ve used them all: consulting, speaking, training, business adviser, author, coaching, etc.  I’ve learned that if I want to be interrogated, “speaker” would be the answer of choice.  If I simply want to answer a few questions, “consultant” will do the trick.  But to elicit the desired yawn from the officers, I only need to say “attend a conference.”  Words make a huge difference and if you like scripts, you’ll be disappointed.  But a well-chosen word or phrase at just the right time can be the difference between a resistant prospect and an intrigued one.  Do you pay enough attention to the things you do and say as well as how you say them just before a prospect becomes resistant or more engaged?  Well, you should!

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  • Why Do Salespeople Forget What They Learn?

    • August 21, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Some salespeople are fortunate enough to get trained and/or coached.  Maybe it’s an all-day seminar, not really training as much as exposure to some different thinking or approach.  We don’t expect anything to change from a single day, so why should you?  I went to a short game golf school for a day.  It was awesome while I was there, but 4 years later, I can’t do any of the things I learned there.  Comprehensive sales training (8-16 months) leads us to expect dramatic change and a significant increase in sales.

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  • Top 6 Reasons Decision Makers Fail to Attend Your Meetings

    • July 30, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    My mind doesn’t work the same as most people.  I always seem to find a sales analogy buried somewhere.  Frank, who writes the Sales Archaeologist Blog, has that ability too.

    Recently, at a picnic with my family, I took note of all the guests and couldn’t help but see the similarities between the picnic and selling to a group.

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  • How Much Sales Development Can Leadership Do In-House?

    • July 17, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    From time to time, clients want to handle some of the services we provide in-house.  “Why can’t we do the sales process ourselves?”  They can, but a few questions come to mind.  If they didn’t have an effective, efficient, optimized, formal, structured sales process for the last 20 years, where would this expertise suddenly come from to create this process tomorrow?  What if they get it wrong?

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  • Top 3 Reasons Why Salespeople Fail at Consultative Selling?

    • July 8, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    One of the challenges with a consultative approach is that while it is easier to close the sale, it is far more difficult to implement than the traditional, transactional approach that today makes it so much harder to get the sale closed.  The question is why?

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  • The Waffle Cone and the Mass Production of Salespeople

    • July 2, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    For me, today’s waffle cones are a constant disappointment because they always fail to meet my expectations.

    What does this have to do with selling?

    Think about salespeople as a version of the waffle cone.  In some companies, they are made fresh, and in other companies, especially bigger companies, they are mass-produced.

    There are many ways of looking at th

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  • Top 10 Reasons Why Salespeople Let Price Drive the Sale

    • May 10, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Selling value.

    What comes so easily to the top 6% and some of the top 26% is so very difficult for others.

    Most salespeople have little capability to effectively build value. Talking about what your company does better or differently or telling a prospect what your value proposition is does not build value. Instead, value comes from 3 things:

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  • Sales Management Best Practices – Are Top Salespeople Challengers?

    • April 29, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I don’t promote an approach based on either Relationships or Solution Selling, but both must be incorporated into an appropriate sales approach.  Also worth noting, the approach or methodology is only one part of selling.  Without a sales process and a sales model, no methodology will work very well on its own.

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