Understanding the Sales Force
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Golf Nuts and Commitment to Sales Success
- October 10, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Based on my research data of more than 300,000 salespeople, it’s evident that no more than 6% of the sales population is so motivated as to get coached, attend seminars, watch videos, read books and practice every day.
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Denial Over a Sales Force Evaluation
- October 3, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Sales Managers have a difficult time with the results of a sales force evaluation. While some handle it quite well, a significant percentage just can’t deal with the fact that some of their “superstars” are weak salespeople who have succeeded because they are good account managers and have been able to get some growth from the accounts they inherited.
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Why Salespeople Fail and How You Could Have Predicted It
- September 28, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This happens at companies all the time when companies hope to recreate the success a salesperson enjoyed at another company. But you have to look at what you’ll need them to do and compare that with what they were expected to do before. In this case, one is not the same as the other and the failure of the $130,000 man could have been easily predicted with OMG’s Sales Candidate Assessments.
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How Long Does it Take for a Salesperson to Get It?
- September 24, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
So for two hundred and seventy one weeks he can’t do this stuff and then in one day he can. Overnight sensation? Hardly. He has been preparing for these events for his entire life. It’s the same with salespeople.
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Will Salespeople Take a Straight Commission Job?
- September 24, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The correct question should be, “How can I get good salespeople to work in a straight commission environment?”
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It’s Easy to Say ‘Yes’ to Food
- September 12, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I wasn’t able to sleep – at all – because of the incredible discomfort I was having. When you put stuff in that shouldn’t go in, it has a way of coming back out.
The exact same thing can be said about the pipeline of a salespeople that don’t create enough opportunities.
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Another Connection Between Sales and Baseball
- September 7, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You have to make sure your salespeople are prepared for those situations. Do you coach them so that when the opportunity presents itself they’re able to capitalize on it? That’s the essence of your role as their sales manager!
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We Stopped Getting Resumes from Sales Candidates
- September 6, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I hear that one a lot. The assumption here is that you were getting resumes before and you’re not now. This is almost always a case of not understanding the need to repost your ad each week.
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Make Every Sales Hire a Great Hire – No More Hiring Mistakes
- August 30, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University has invited me to conduct my intensive two-day workshop to help you develop a world-class process for hiring top sales talent at your company. The ISBM does some really wonderful things under the direction of Ralph Oliva and this event is a great example. You can check out the calendar of all their upcoming events here and their previous events here.
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Closing Sales – The Fine Line Between Patience and Pressure
- August 29, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Salespeople need to close sales at the first bonafide closing opportunity – the point at which (in the Baseline Selling model) all the bases have been touched. Bob, who I wrote about yesterday, tends to let people put him off if he thinks they have a valid reason. George tends to blow people up when he thinks they’re putting him off. Somewhere, in between, exists a happy medium.