Understanding the Sales Force
-
Outdated and Useless in Selling
- May 25, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Speaking of outliving its usefulness, how about sales managers allowing salespeople to underperform? Are we truly that desperate for warm bodies that underperforming salespeople get to remain in their jobs while anyone else in a company who underperforms gets a pink slip?
-
The Sales Force Evaluation – Not Everyone Appreciates the Findings
- May 23, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In the May 13 post, More Hirable Sales Candidates, there were some controversial comments posted by a disgruntled sales candidate who didn’t get a job and blamed the assessment. As long as we’re on the subject of disgruntled, perhaps we should discuss the very small minority of clients who actually dislike the findings of the sales force evaluation. It happens very infrequently, only two or three times each year; but when it does, there are usually similar circumstances:
-
More Hirable Sales Candidates
- May 13, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Objective Management Group Inc.’s latest statistics show that when a company assesses all of it’s sales candidates as the first step in the process, they will net as many as 50% more hirable candidates. When companies assessed their final candidates, those who they had already interviewed by phone or face to face, the average percentage of hirable candidates was around 20%. When they assessed all candidates prior to any interview, they percentage of hirable candidates was closer to 30%.
-
Put Offs that Sound OK
- May 13, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Your salespeople come back with good news and tell you that they spoke with the decision maker of the big opportunity they’ve been working on. They report that the decision maker told them they’re very interested in moving forward but want to wait until the close of their fiscal year (90 days away) or want to first complete a project they’re currently working on (60 days) before discussing further. Your salespeople are psyched. They try to get you psyched. You get psyched.
-
Closing – Overcoming Objections
- May 12, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, 50 salespeople gave me their biggest closing obstacles – about 25 – when we combined them all. I showed them the four bases in Baseline Selling and defined what must happen for the salesperson to reach each base. Then I asked them to identify the specific base paths where the closing obstacles should have been dealt with. Closing takes place at home plate and sure enough, all 25 of those closing obstacles actually should have been dealt with either between 1st and 2nd base or between 2nd and 3rd base. The moral of the story is your salespeople haven’t even earned the right to close until there are not issues that would prevent them from getting the business.
-
Two Kinds of Salespeople
- May 12, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A successful serial entrepreneur who attended my seminar for CEO’s in Montreal today, suggested that there were two kinds of salespeople; those who prospected and went through the motions, only to not close, and those who asked for the business. Give me a break!
-
Ten Tips for More Hirable Sales Candidates
- May 11, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The job market is getting tighter, but more so in certain cities and especially in certain industries. With the shrinking supply of candidates, those companies in industries that salespeople find less desirable are seeing fewer applicants as candidates opt for more desirable jobs. Industries that may find themselves having a more difficult time attracting hirable sales candidates are insurance, financial services, telecommunications and others. What can you do if the flow of candidates has slowed? The only things that need to change are:
-
SPIN Selling and Miller Heiman Compared to Baseline Selling
- April 28, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A reader asked me about my book, Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball, and how it compares with SPIN Selling and Miller Heiman’s Strategic Selling. Both books – SPIN Selling AND Strategic Selling are good; but neither of them are selling systems or processes.
-
Sales Management Woes – Depression over Impression
- April 27, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You want all of your salespeople to make a good first impression but even more, you want them to make a lasting impression. It’s difficult, if not impossible to recover from a bad first impression but what happens when your salespeople are making a less than impressive lasting impression?
-
Lost Sales Analysis Tool
- April 25, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Paul DiModica is one of the forward sales thinkers I like and he has a weekly sales newsletter called BDM News. He recently wrote about his Lost Sales Analysis Tool which is a formula for calculating sales rep contribution rather than sales rep revenue.