Understanding the Sales Force
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How to End the Sales & Marketing Argument
- May 11, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Republicans and Democrats argue all the time. Fans of long-time rival sports teams argue too, regardless of whether the rivalry is at the high school, college or pro level. Players argue with umpires, referees and judges. Kids argue with their parents and everyone argues with their cable company and wireless phone providers. So why is it so hard to understand why marketing argues with sales?
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Do We Have Sales Compensation All Wrong?
- May 6, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Should a salesperson receive the maximum commission on the big deal if there was no other activity, critical KPI’s weren’t met, and the pipeline is essentially empty?
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Should a Salesperson be Punished after a Huge Sale?
- May 4, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My wife and I watched with a combination of fascination, sadness and shock as the coach of our son’s 12 and under AAU baseball team made them run suicides after the double header they won on Saturday, and again after the double header they won on Sunday. Why would he punish them after winning four games this weekend? And how does this apply to sales? You’ll be amazed by what you read.
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How Can Consultative Selling Already be Dead?
- April 30, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In this article for Middle Market Executive,Tom Searcy insists that Consultative Selling is dead. He says that consultative sellers end up with buyers who can only make small decisions, experts end up in purchasing and only industry authorities can reach executive decision-makers. He also says that consultative sellers ask, “What is your pain?”, experts say, “Here is your pain.”, and authorities say, “Here is the pain your industry is having and how you can uniquely overcome it.”
Is he right?
Let’s discuss that right now before your clothes go out of style…
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Difference Between a Good Sales Email vs. Bad
- April 27, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I received a request for help via email. The reader asked if I could recommend a response to an email reply he received (at least he got a reply!). The thing is, he deserved the reply he received because his introductory email absolutely sucked! In today’s article I’ll share what he wrote, the reply he received, and my recommended response. All of the names and organizations have been changed to protect the innocent. Ready? Here’s his original introductory email:
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What Committed Salespeople Do Differently
- April 24, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Commitment. We have discussed commitment a LOT in this Blog recently because many people misunderstand the role it plays in successful selling.
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The Importance of Resiliency in Sales and Selling
- April 22, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We saw Paul Blart – Mall Cop 2 and laughed a grand total of twice. It was inept comedy, a horrible sequel and a terrible movie. Despite that, it was a great example of resiliency as Blart is continually rejected, stopped, ridiculed and put-off, only to ignore those events, bear down and try even harder to accomplish his goals. From that perspective, the movie, and Kevin James, succeed at demonstrating what it is like to be a salesperson.
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The Phony Baloney Sales Superstar
- April 20, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was in the car when the call was forwarded to my cell phone. I didn’t recognize the caller and his first statement was, “I have some questions about Objective Management Group (OMG).” Very Dry. Very Abrasive.
I was thinking detective, maybe researcher. I asked, “What kind of questions?” Keep in mind that he hadn’t said hello, introduced himself, or explained why he was calling so I was wondering what this was about.
He said, “I took one of your assessments and it prevented me from getting a job. Is this based on the Myers-Briggs?”
I calmly explained that Myers-Briggs was a personality assessment that reported on 16 dimensions of personality but the OMG assessment he took was sales specific and looked at 21 Sales Core Competencies.
He told me he had problems with the Myers-Briggs preventing him from getting a job once before so it must be based on that. He repeated that it prevented him from getting this job so I asked what led him to that conclusion. His answers will blow your mind!
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20 Lessons from a 10-Year Sales Blogger
- April 16, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When my COO, John Pattison, had an excited look on his face, I thought he had a great new idea for a product enhancement. Instead, he said, “Did you know that this week is the 10th Anniversary of your Blog?” I didn’t. He also pointed out that I had written and posted 1,236 articles, generated more than 562,000 views directly on my blog and perhaps double or triple that number when you include syndication. So what have I learned about blogging and how can that help you?
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More Junk Sales Science in HBR Blog
- April 14, 2015
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
What do donuts, chips, cake and ice cream have in common with some of the articles that are written and published about salespeople, sales selection and assessments? That’s right, they are all junk and junk is bad for you to consume. Over the years, there has been no better source of junk science written about sales and salespeople than the reputable Harvard Business Review Blog. Recently, they put out another absurdly awful piece, this one written by sales consultant, Steve Martin. As most of these articles do, “What Separates the Strongest Salespeople from the Weakest” attempts to use personality and conditions to differentiate the two groups. This comes on the heels of another horrible article I called out in March 2015, which led to this amazing epic debate on the science of sales, sales assessments, and sales selection. This is why this latest HBR article is yet another example of junk science.