Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 5, 2014

In no particular order they are: Top 10 Sales Competencies. Top 10 Sales Management Functions. Top 10 Indicators That You Have a Trustworthy Sales Prospect. Top 10 Tips for Hiring Salespeople for Your Sales Force. Top 5 Reasons You Don''t Get More Strong Sales Candidates. 10 Sales Coaching Examples.

Hiring 249

Hiring Sales Management Decision Maker Cold Calling 249

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 22, 2014

In the same period of time, there have been major shifts in the quality of sales candidates , in the roles those candidates will fill, and the capabilities we need those salespeople to possess. For example, just 7 years ago, a company may have needed salespeople who could hunt and/or close. June 5 11:00 AM Eastern Register here.

Sales Management 240

Sales Management Top of Funnel Decision Maker Webinar Metrics 240

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 3, 2014

As usual, this argument got me thinking about sales management (the coaches) and salespeople (the players). Sales management tends to take the same wimpy approach with its best salespeople, just trying to keep the peace and keep their business rolling in. It sets a terrible example for everyone else on the sales force.

Sales Management 196

Sales Management Travel Sports Coaching 196

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 31, 2012

He had only been VP of Sales for 6 months. He rose from junior sales associate to become his division’s top rep. Then, as sales manager, he turned around a struggling team. In Robert’s company, Sales VPs reported to the CSO. Conduct a Sales Productivity Benchmark. It was clear he deserved the job.

Influencer 282

Influencer Strategy Policies Lead Gen 282

Fill the Funnel

DECEMBER 3, 2012

This years Top Sales Books to Read in 2013. They represent the freshest, most innovative thinking on sales currently on the market and take into consideration the changing sales climate and competitive realities every sales rep and sales leader is facing. Top Sales Books to Read in 2013.

Face-to-face 132

Face-to-face Top of Funnel Call-back Social Media 132

Your Sales Management Guru

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Sales Leadership: 2013 Sales Theme. Last week I was speaking at a conference on: “ Building and Maintaining Sales Motivation ”, after the program several individuals came up to discuss my concept of a “Drive Statement. For example, I have seen one that was simply: Growth! You can reach him at ken@acumenmgmt.com

Sales Leadership 82

Sales Leadership Incentives Incentive Motivation 82

Increase Sales

JANUARY 10, 2013

As I listened to her, I realized that even today with all the management and sales training; the countless books and webinars; and the availability of small business coaches and consultants, there are far too many short sighted sales managers and small business owners. as per your existing sales agreements.

Small Business 151

Small Business Small Business Sales Management Epiphany 151

Sales Training Connection

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Sales Managers – it’s what you say and how you say it. A hallmark of a great sales manager is being a good communicator. For example, front-line sales managers are the critical screens through which messages travel from top management to the sales team.

Sales Management 124

Sales Management Face-to-face Sales Leadership Quota 124

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

One of the biggest problems a VP of Sales faces is prioritization. Prioritization through 3 lenses: What sales productivity problems should you fix in 2013? This post is written for the VP of Sales trying to determine which sales productivity problem to prioritize and which ones to ignore. H ow to Sequence.

Scale 282

Scale Face-to-face Promotion Lead Rank 282

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 13, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan It’s an interesting question and one that has more than one answer. I wrote an article back in September of 2013 that asked the question, Are Sales and Sales Management Candidates Getting Worse? Consider the way that most companies hire people for sales roles.

Hiring 267

Hiring Face-to-face Groups Webinar Metrics 267

Sales Training Connection

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

New sales managers. New sales managers face a lot of new challenges. As they seek to develop the skills to work through new challenges, there is a tendency to gravitate back to what they know how to do – in the case of new sales managers , it’s usually selling. ©2013 Sales Momentum, LL.

Sales Management 117

Sales Management Face-to-face Pivotal Coaching 117

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

It''s their sales managers, who are almost as much in the dark as their salespeople. Want an example of sales management being in the dark? End of Quarter Closing is a great example of sales management dysfunction! And please vote for OMG, a finalist for Top Sales Assessment Tool. (c)

Decision Maker 313

Decision Maker Proposal Sales Cycle Exact 313

Sales Training Connection

MARCH 4, 2013

Sales managers and off-the-cuff comments. We’ve noticed that one of many adjustments new sales managers must make is thinking about the impact of off-the-cuff comments. Because they are now in sales management, what the new sales manager says is taken more seriously. Management Messaging.

Sales Management 108

Sales Management Sales Coaching Training Influencer 108

SBI Growth

JANUARY 2, 2013

But you can excel in 2013 because of your shortcomings in 2012. And with these answers come chances for improvement in 2013. Talent Assessment of Sales Leadership and Sales Reps. Build specific competency and accountability based scorecards for Sales Leadership and Sales Reps. What about a “qualified lead?”

Lead Rank 267

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Lead Lead Gen 267

Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 16, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan It''s amazing what Harvard Business Review will print on their pages when it comes to the subject of sales. The November 2013 issue featured an article titled Dismantling the Sales Machine. Let me give you an example. c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan'

Sales Process 249

Sales Process Margin Survey Forecasting 249

SBI Growth

MARCH 22, 2013

In particular, the front-line Sales Manager - a critical role responsible for marshaling a team of revenue makers. This post includes a downloadable Sales Leader Curriculum. This tool is perfect for HR Business Partners who serve the Sales function. It will help to prevent vacant Sales Management positions.

How To 312

How To Sales Leadership Exercises Proposal 312

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

66% of Sales Reps believe that increasing the time invested by sales managers would help to increase their sales. Don’t wait for your manager to come to you. You’re at a point in the year where you are discussing 2013. Your manager obviously wants you to succeed and hit these numbers.

Ideal Customer Profile 300

Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Lead Scoring Analysis 300

Sales Training Connection

JUNE 19, 2013

Medical device sales and sales managers. The cornerstone for making the adjustment will be the front-line sales manager. The same report showed the sales difference between the top 25% and bottom 25% of sales managers was a stunning 80%. Get serious about sales training and development.

Pivotal 100

Pivotal Health Care Hiring Sales Management 100

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

HR can help the Sales leader to improve recruiting results and play a vital role in making the sales number in 2013. HR and Sales leaders often fail in the execution of convincing the top talent to make the career move. Cite examples of the earnings for top performers in recent launches. Avoid a Myopic Focus.

Sales Talent 312

Sales Talent Territories Compensation Quota 312

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

I''ll be speaking at the EcSell Institute Fall Sales Coaching Summit in Chicago next week. I last mentioned EcSell in an extremely popular article, This is How Sales Managers Should Coach Their Salespeople. But we''ll share examples that will blow your mind and show you how to develop the same level of effectiveness. (c)

Coaching 201

Coaching Exact Webinar Metrics Sales Leadership 201

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 6, 2013

The list could go on and on but none of the rebuttals actually addresses commitment - one''s willingness to do whatever it takes (ethically of course) to achieve sales success. One such example of this occurred last fall when after a sales force evaluation one rep''s results showed that she lacked commitment.

Hiring 238

Hiring Policies Sales Methodology Energy 238

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

This video , posted last week at Sales2.0Circle , has a nuance that will help shorten your sales cycle. One thing to keep in mind about sales cycles is that everything is relative. For example, if you are standing on the road and a car goes by at 60 miles per hour, that vehicle appears to be flying by! Integration is key.

Study 243

Study Sales Cycle Follow-up Account 243

Understanding the Sales Force

DECEMBER 16, 2013

To make a long story short, there are QUITE A FEW people in sales, sales management, sales leadership, and even sales consulting who believe sales process is the problem. It''s really not sales process itself that is antiquated; it''s most people''s perception of sales process that is antiquated. (c)

Sales Process 205

Sales Process Sales Cycle Sales Leadership LinkedIn 205

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

Last year you got your 2013 quota in mid-February. This caused mass confusion, frustration and demotivation on your sales team. Make sure you understand how it will affect your team’s managers and sales reps. For example, you are still recovering from the slow first quarter start this year. Don’t Panic.

Quota 296

Quota Demand Generation Targets Demand Generation Negotiation 296

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 9, 2014

When we work with companies selling through channels, the sales processes, metrics, sales management, sales coaching, sales training, messaging and coaching must be different from what we do with direct B2B sales forces. Channel sales is quite different.

Channels 221

Channels Retail Hotels Territories 221

The Sales Hunter

AUGUST 15, 2013

A simple rule I have is a prospect cannot stay at the same level of ranking in a sales pipeline for more than 2 calls. The only thing a clogged sales pipeline does is provide disorder and give the weak a salesperson cover to hide from their boss. Problem is too many sales managers also use the same thing to hide themselves.

Pipeline 211

Pipeline Prospecting Scale Motivation 211

Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 1, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan The folks over at Insight Squared recently posted this interview with me. It touched on sales management but there wasn''t enough time to do it justice. In the context of best practices, the sales management role is now 50% coaching. c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan'

Sales Leadership 204

Sales Leadership Hiring Education Coaching 204

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 27, 2014

Desire, Commitment and Sales DNA are ALL very accurate predictors of certain sales accomplishments, but overall performance is a byproduct of all of the findings and scores from OMG''s Sales Candidate Assessments. Just as important, we were able to neutralize the effect of good versus bad sales management and coaching.

Case Study 288

Case Study Study Lead Rank Lead Scoring 288

The Sales Hunter

AUGUST 19, 2013

Many of you are building your 2014 sales goals as you read this, and if you’re not, you need to start. Let’s use an easy example. We’ll say you want to achieve $1 million in sales next year. Sales managers who are reading this need to make sure each salesperson follows through in their pre-planning.

Motivation 219

Motivation Selling Skills Sales Goal Follow-up 219

The Sales Hunter

JANUARY 14, 2013

To give you an example of how some salespeople can waste the better part of the year, I put together a few numbers below. 4 Arguing with the sales manager over the quarterly sales quotas. - Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” ” Sales Motivation Blog.

Compensation 247

Compensation Quota Motivation System 247

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 16, 2013

Most companies with in-house trainers often don''t realize that while the expertise of their trainers is training, the subleties and nuances of selling and the sales weaknesses that must be overcome require skills and experience that in-house trainers usually lack. c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan' Don''t risk it.

CRM 211

CRM Training Sales Process Up-Sell 211

SBI Growth

APRIL 30, 2013

Yet many front-line sales managers are slow to respond. Because speed requires more time and effort from a sales manager. The average sales manager will avoid these requirements. This post will explore ideas sales managers can implement to increase their speed. Or at least a few of them.

Promotion 308

Promotion Quota Social Media Territories 308

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Help the sales leader identify any reps that are at risk of leaving. This should actually be an ongoing task of the HR leader to have frequent discussions with Sales Directors and Sales Managers to keep pulse on which Reps may be at risk for leaving. Has any documented issues of “disconnect” with sales management.

Sales Talent 288

Sales Talent Hiring Lead Rank Lead Scoring 288

Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 30, 2014

When a great salesperson is recommended by Objective Management Group''s (OMG) Sales Candidate Assessment, and this star has a great track record, and great references, should we expect this person to succeed? For example, look at these 5 companies, their percentage of suitable candidates, and the difficulty level of the role: Company.

Sales Cycle 217

Sales Cycle Distribution Territories Up-Sell 217

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 28, 2013

The real problem is that the CEO's, Presidents, Owners, Sales VP's, Sales Directors and Sales Managers to whom these veteran salespeople report are simply afraid of them. Then the formal sales process is introduced. Are they setting bad examples for the rest of your sales force? Increase their income.

Face-to-face 208

Face-to-face Margin Coaching Proposal 208

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

You’re completing 2013 and building your marketing strategy for 2014. Maybe you are supporting sales with a CRM implementation, linking your marketing collateral into each phase. Stop kidding yourself when you say you involved the sales team. Asking a couple of sales reps does not constitute understanding the buyer.

Eloqua 316

Eloqua Marketo Buyer Persona Collateral 316

The Sales Hunter

JANUARY 3, 2013

Example: Total business from your major accounts last year was 70% of your total. Example: Your large new accounts are expected to bring in about 80% of your total business this year. Sales managers reading this — try it! Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.”

Account 204

Account Prospecting Guidelines Compensation 204