Understanding the Sales Force
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The Deal Breaker That Prevents you From Hiring a Great Salesperson
- January 13, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
One of the questions we are often asked by HR Directors is, “Can people game the OMG assessment?” Of course they can try, but we have a very effective algorithm that smokes out those who attempt to cheat. It doesn’t happen very often that somebody attempts a big cheat but when it does, it’s almost magical in the way we uncover them.
There is a very small percentage of salespeople who attempt an all out cheat. This unethical group can usually be found in the category of weak salespeople – the bottom 50% – which explains why they think they need to cheat. But what happens if a good salesperson attempts to game the system? What would that look like?
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An Inside Look at Why 3 Good Salespeople Failed and 3 So-So Salespeople Succeeded
- January 9, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You hired a great salesperson that didn’t work out. You hired a so-so salesperson that did work out. You hired another great one that kicked ass, and another one that was so-so. That’s the story of hiring salespeople. It’s mostly hit or miss with an emphasis on miss.
In this article I’m going to share an actual example that illustrates why this happens so frequently. I’ll show you tangible differences between three salespeople who succeeded and three who failed in the same role at the same company.
Most of the time when we perform these analyses the differences are usually seen inside of the 21 Sales Core Competencies – the performers are strong in the necessary competencies and the failures are not.
So let’s dig into some data, shall we?
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Salespeople in Small Companies are 43% Better at This and Other Salesenomics Insights
- January 7, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You seek out the best products, best stores, best websites and best experiences. Doesn’t it make sense to wonder about where you can find the best salespeople?
I asked Objective Management Group’s (OMG) COO, John Pattison, to dig into some of our data from the evaluations of 1,932,059 salespeople from companies and provide me with some scores.
I reviewed the data and have a number of very interesting and surprising Salesenomics conclusions to share.
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Dave Kurlan’s Predictions for Sales Organization in 2020
- December 16, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Before I can make any predictions for 2020, let’s start with these ten simple truths about selling for proper context.
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The Most Successful Negotiation is The Negotiation That Isn’t Needed
- December 9, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This week, one company said that their terms are Net 75. I said, “I’m sorry, but we can’t solve your problem and be your bank. Our terms are due on receipt of invoice and it’s non-negotiable.”
They said, “Oh, OK.”
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The Top 15 Sales and Sales Leadership Articles of 2019
- December 4, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
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Only 11% of All Salespeople Do This at the End of a Sales Call
- December 2, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Traditions are important. They ground us, give us a sense of stability and purpose, and provide something that we can look forward to. Rituals are like traditions in that they serve the same purpose, but occur much more frequently. Selling, is filled with rituals, from the sales process we always follow, to those specific questions we always ask to those specific talking points, comparisons, and stories we always share. Why? They work!
So it is with that sense of tradition that for the 10th consecutive year, I republish my Nutcracker article which is always the most popular article each December.
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What Sales Organizations Must Learn from the Impeachment Hearings
- November 22, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This is not a political article but I will use the impeachment hearings as an example to set the stage for my insights. Currently in the USA there are 3 major schools of thought relative to the impeachment hearings:
Most Democrats and Liberals: “We hate Trump and we want to see him impeached.”
Most Republicans and Conservatives: “We love Trump and hate what they are trying to do to him.”
Most Independents: “They should follow the facts and make an informed decision.”
Suppose that instead of the impeachment hearings we are analyzing a sales opportunity where we substitute “You” (Bob) and “Your Company” (ABC) for Trump, and substitute Your Customer or Prospect for “We”.
You’ll quickly see how one of the same three scenarios plays out for each opportunity.
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Are You Using This New Technology to Generate New Opportunities?
- November 13, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Do you have Rainbow flatware? Biomagnetic ear stickers? A diamond-shaped ice cube tray? Baby feather wings? Yah, these things exist here. You don’t? Me neither.
Have you signed up to use a company that uses AI to generate leads for you? You haven’t? Me neither.
It seems to me that the only companies using AI to generate leads are the companies trying to sell you their services using AI to generate leads. How ironic!
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Video Conferencing for Salespeople – To Zoom or Not to Zoom?
- November 6, 2019
- Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
No data or statistics today. No sales training or coaching either. This won’t be a lesson for sales managers or sales leaders. This is my rant of the day.