Understanding the Sales Force
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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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The Myth of Sales Habits and Competencies
- February 23, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If they realized that they had gotten out of the habit of doing anything, then did they really ever have a habit? When something is a habit, one always does it and nothing would prevent it from getting done. So it is far more likely that there was never, ever anything even close to resembling a habit.
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How Many Peddlers Do You Have?
- February 22, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
How many peddlers do you have and when will you insist that they become more consultative?
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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.
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The Difference Between Good and Bad Sales Coaching Questions
- February 17, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When it comes to coaching salespeople, there are both good and bad questions that sales managers can ask to get the conversation started. Here are some examples:
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What Are Sales Intangibles?
- February 16, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Once in while an individual will fall outside the normal range of assessment results. That usually means either one of two things;
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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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Case History – Read the Latest Sales Assessment to Come to Life
- February 10, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The lesson here is that you don’t want people like this working for you! It doesn’t matter that they can hunt. They will blow up every prospect who they think could be rejecting them!
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Who Cares More – Sales or Marketing?
- February 9, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It all depends on the parameters. I’ll list a dozen or so items that both sales and marketing should care about and provide my opinion about who cares more. Then you can tell me how wrong I am.
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Sales Performance – Does it Correlate with First Impressions?
- February 7, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Let me talk about the first impressions and the follow up thoughts I had on 3 candidates.