Salesforce
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Salespeople and Requests for References
- June 3, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
For the first time in months, I was recently asked for references. No problem!
But it got me thinking about who asks for references, why they ask for references and when they ask for references…and what salespeople do when they’re asked for references, and whether those references lead to closed business.
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Sales Cycles and Time – Is it Running Out?
- June 1, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We are always focused on sales cycles. Are they optimized? Are they taking too long? Can they be improved? How many calls should they take? Are we doing things that make the sales cycle take longer than necessary? For example, the sales cycle can be shortened in direct proportion to how high your salespeople call in the company.
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Hire the Best Salespeople on the Planet
- May 28, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Several months ago Objective Management Group began to identify hirable candidates that are ideal – they will ramp-up more quickly than a normal hirable candidate. A normal candidate should ramp up according to this formula I devised many years ago:
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Salespeople Should be More Like Children
- May 28, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Wouldn’t it be nice if all of your salespeople simply made it their number one priority to find the opportunities required to keep their pipeline stuffed with quality opportunities?
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More than Half of All Sales Managers Should Consider….
- May 19, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
After posting this article two weeks ago, showing the percentage of salespeople who are not trainable, who shouldn’t be in sales, and who are elite, it was inevitable that I would be asked to post similar statistics for sales managers.
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How Many Salespeople Shouldn’t be in Sales?
- May 8, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Our certified sales development expert in Singapore, Ray Bigger, of Think8, asked if we had data on what percentage of salespeople should be considered for a different role. Of course we do, Ray!
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What Should You Tell Your Salespeople in this Economy?
- May 6, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
From time to time I have written about what you must do with your salespeople in this economy. Would you like to hear what that actually sounds like?
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Differentiating a Pricing Strategy from a Sales Strategy
- May 1, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Do you subscribe to Verne’s Insights – 10 Minutes with the Growth Guy – Verne Harnish? You should. It’s the best newsletter I get – one I actually read each week! In today’s issue Verne wrote that his favorite quote from last week’s Sales & Marketing Summit was Mark Burton’s, “Discounting is the crack cocaine for business today”. He also shared that “instead, Burton says companies can use a ‘good, better, best’ strategy to provide various pricing levels without simply giving away margin.”
Wait a minute!!!
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Sales Force Alignment with Market Strategies
- April 28, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Most companies differentiate between inside and outside sales; domestic and international sales; products and services; equipment and consumables, etc.
But if you are into breaking down processes, approaches, market strategies and positioning, there is more to it than these obvious differentiators.
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Top 14 Requirements to Perform a Sales Force Makeover
- April 16, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
For kicks, let’s take a look at this week’s Baseline Selling mail bag.
One reader emailed that he just inherited a radio station in Honduras, has never sold before, and he and his salespeople aren’t able to book appointments.
Another reader is the Sales Director for several well-known magazines and said that her top producing team is down 50% from last year.
Yet another reader wrote and wanted to know how to chop her 2-3 year sales cycle down to 2-3 months.
And one President fired all of his salespeople, is back on the road selling and wonders what he can do to thrive.
What do all four of these scenarios have in common?