Changing Role of Ortho Sales Reps
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 18, 2016
ORTHOKNOW (March 2016) shares insights from six experts on how the orthopedic sales rep role is changing – including Richard Ruff. Changing-Role-Rep_ORTHOKNOW_March-2016.
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Sales Training Connection
MARCH 18, 2016
ORTHOKNOW (March 2016) shares insights from six experts on how the orthopedic sales rep role is changing – including Richard Ruff. Changing-Role-Rep_ORTHOKNOW_March-2016.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 12, 2017
Sales Manager. New sales managers often are promoted for their sales success – not sales management expertise. So what happens after the sales manager assumes the role and responsibilities of their new position? Too often “paperwork” like CRM systems, HR concerns, and other administrative requirements take precedence. Additionally many new sales managers are inundated by their sales team with fires to put out.
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Sales Training Connection
MARCH 21, 2017
Let’s assume you’re a sales manager in a highly competitive B2B market with a team of eight major account reps. You have just received an email from your VP of Sales outlining an aggressive growth strategy for the next 6 months. You’ve decided the best approach is to ask your sales reps to grow the business in their existing accounts. You have called a meeting with the sales reps to share best practices for generating new business from existing accounts.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 10, 2017
AI and Sales Management. Sales leadership talks about it all the time. Sales consultants advocate it and sales managers say they would like to do more of it. The “it” of course is sales coaching. Yet, if you nose around, you’ll find less sales coaching is occurring then might be expected given all the advocacy. Lots of companies start sales coaching initiatives but a scarce few sustain them over time.
Sales Training Connection
DECEMBER 31, 2016
Happy New Year. Wishing you a successful sales year. Keep an eye on the Sales Training Connection for new ideas that may help you improve your sales performance. To a smashing 2017, Janet and Richard.
Sales Training Connection
NOVEMBER 24, 2016
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving … and for many a long weekend filled with fun, football, and perhaps some shopping.
Sales Training Connection
NOVEMBER 3, 2016
Sales training. If you look back over the last decade, a number of industries have gone through dramatic change. They have changed what they buy, how they buy, and what they are willing to pay for it. The future will produce more of the same with the changes likely to be even more dramatic. If your customers are making changes of substantial magnitude, then the case is made that it’s no longer business-as-usual for your sales team.
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 13, 2016
Sales training. Here’s the conundrum … You have a 250 person sales team. You are a new, first time Sales Training Director. You replaced a sales manager who did no sales training for a long time. To add urgency, revenue numbers have been stagnant for too long. The VP of Sales now feels that sales training is definitely needed and it needs to be done in short order.
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 4, 2016
Sales Process. Listen to a conversation about the need for improving sales process and it usually begins like this: “We have very aggressive sales targets and we’re just not getting there.”. “We’re not leveraging our own best practices – a lot of our sales reps are simply doing what they did the last time.”. “Our customers’ buying process has undergone dramatic changes but we’re still selling like we always did.”.
Sales Training Connection
AUGUST 17, 2016
Sales Management Excellence. Herminia Ibaraan, an INSEAD professor, published a provocative book arguing that in today’s market if you desire to get better at management you must venture outside your comfort zone. Being stuck in outdated mindsets or ways of doing things will not lead to success. The message is: to achieve success, managers must learn to pivot – that is do something different rather than just getting better at doing what they are doing.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 27, 2016
New sales managers. Congratulations! You’ve done it! You have crossed over! You are now a sales manager. So, what do you do now? Even after some initial guidance from colleagues, most new sales managers find themselves struggling to figure out how to balance the requirements of the position. The mountains of paperwork about HR concerns and other administrative requirements take most new sales managers back a step or two.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 19, 2016
Medical sales training. From time to time entire industries go through dramatic changes driven by forces that are disruptive in scope and scale. Today the healthcare industry is a prime example. Most healthcare organizations are uncertain about the best strategic path forward. However, what is clear is standing still is not an option. Moving forward the challenge will be about how to reinvent versus how to improve.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 13, 2016
Sales Strategy. When you listen in on strategic account review sessions between Sales Managers and sales reps all too often the conversations is primarily about what has gone wrong – “Why did we lose that big sale?” or “How come the forecast figures are off?”. While it’s certainly important to diagnose what’s gone wrong – it’s equally important to analyze success.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 4, 2016
July 4th Fireworks. Wishing everyone a happy 4th of July holiday!
Sales Training Connection
JUNE 21, 2016
Millennials and Sales. Millennials, born between 1982 and 1993, are 80 million strong. In 2015 Millennials passed Generation X to make up the largest share of the workforce. In 2020 they will be nearly half of the workforce. Some important facts about Millennials as reported by the Council of Economic Advisors are: Millennials are now the largest most diverse generation in the U.S. population.
Sales Training Connection
JUNE 6, 2016
One important core question presently circulating among those who care about sales training is: What percentage of sales training ought to be done in the classroom vs. some form of guided self instruction? The obvious secondary question is what goes where – that is, what should be done in the classroom vs. what should be assigned to some form of guided self-study.
Sales Training Connection
JUNE 1, 2016
Sales Training Investment. It is also not about the elapsed time since you last did it. The strategic “it” in this case is the decision about whether you should make an investment in sales training. If you traveled back in time and drop in on some of the conversations about sales training, you might hear: “We are not knocking the ball out of the park but things are okay plus we have a lot of other things going on so let’s think about that sales training thing next year” or “We just did some t
Sales Training Connection
MAY 4, 2016
Sales Training Investment. How much money are companies spending on sales training? And is it enough to worry about whether or not one is optimizing the investment? This, as they say, is the easy part. The answer to the first question is a lot; the answer to the second question is – yes. Companies spend a hefty amount of money – so yes, it is worth worrying about.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 6, 2016
Sales Strategy – Stop, Pause, Reassess. A sales manager recently finished sales strategy reviews for the top 20 accounts in her geography. She told me, “Let’s not talk about the quality of the sales strategies – some were great and some not so much. I expected that. What I didn’t expect were the stories about how the sales reps executed their sales strategies.”.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 28, 2016
Over the last several years Sales Enablement has moved to center stage as a topic of attention in the world of sales. Although the exact definition varies depending on the actor, Sales Enablement is all about creating and delivering the following: practices, technologies and tools that enable a sales team to improve their performance and productivity.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 23, 2016
Podcast – Sales Trends. Recently I had the pleasure of being a guest on Andy Paul’s great interview series – Accelerate! – that explores the world of sales. The topics we covered ranged from the merits of account based selling to the success factors for implementing sales models such as SPIN selling. We thought you might enjoy tuning in – Dial up the interview at.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 15, 2016
Power of Storytelling in Sales. One of the most common traps in selling is talking too soon and talking much about your product. Now, if you travel back in time there was good reason why many sales reps fall into the “product pitch” trap. They were constantly being taught the “101 tips for doing a perfect feature pitch.” They were just doing what they were taught.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 6, 2016
When is selling the most fun? Certainly when you have a superior product. Perhaps it’s even a “killer product”, like the Xerox copier vs. the mimeo machine. Unfortunately with global competition and advanced manufacturing technologies, those days are rare and if they do occur they are difficult to sustain. Today even when you have a superior product a competitor is likely come out with one that is just as good or better than yours in half the time of yesteryear.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 1, 2016
Wishing you a successful sales year. Keep an eye on the Sales Training Connection for new ideas that may help you improve your sales performance. To a smashing 2016, Janet and Richard.
Sales Training Connection
DECEMBER 17, 2015
Sales reps need to know more and their knowledge must be at a higher level of proficiency today than ever before. To be among the emerging winners, sales reps must not only be able to sell a competitive advantage; they must be a competitive advantage. They must bring value to the customer by the way they “sell” as well as by what they sell. All this means that sales training has moved closer to center stage and the spotlight is a little bit brighter than in yesteryear.
Sales Training Connection
DECEMBER 2, 2015
Transition from Sales Rep to Sales Manager. Congratulations! You were a top salesperson. Now, you’re a newly appointed sales manager. The good news is you have the pivotal job for improving the sales effectiveness of your organization. The bad news – many perils and pitfalls are lurking in the shadows. Let’s take a look at 7 best practices for making the transition from sales rep to sales manager a little bit easier.
Sales Training Connection
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
Sales Chitchat. Customers want fresh ideas and creative insights to address their needs that are both new and challenging. Increasingly customers want sales reps to be an advisor they can trust, not simply a product facilitator. This means sales reps must be able to move beyond product pitches and conduct business conversations. Business conversations are often thought of as serious discussions and compelling conversations.
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 28, 2015
Whether or not you have put in place a sales process – it is happening everyday. It is whatever your salespeople are doing Monday morning to navigate the customer’s buying process. The real problem is not, therefore, a lack of sales process. The problem is too many companies do not systematically manage and evaluate their sales process. In today’ markets buyers are changing how they buy but sales organizations often fail to adjust and adapt their sales process to the new reality.
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 21, 2015
Sales excellence. Major account selling is truly a highly skilled and information-intense profession. Just like any highly skilled profession one must not only master skills; you must also understand the principles upon which success is built. In major account selling, the most important underlying principle is the following – sell the problem before you sell the solution – the horse must be in front of the cart.
Sales Training Connection
AUGUST 17, 2015
Product sales pitches. If you are an avid reader of sales blogs, it’s likely you will come across three or four blogs a week about the secret sauce for creating a winning product pitch. If sales blogs had been around 25 years ago, you would have encountered even more of them because the product pitch has been around for a very long time. Way back when, companies spent an inordinate amount of time crafting product pitches for their major product offerings.
Sales Training Connection
AUGUST 4, 2015
MedTech Sales. Constant change has always characterized the business world – so looking in the rear view mirror has never been an ideal strategy for determining future direction. Yet, from time to time the scale and speed of the changes are so large and so fast that they can only be described as disruptive. Today’s medical sales industry is a case in point.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 27, 2015
Sales Coaching. Today having a superior sales team is more important than ever. Good is no longer good enough. Several factors are driving this need for excellence – two stand out: You can’t sustain a competitive advantage by product alone. Because of advanced manufacturing technologies and global competition even if you have a great product, the competition is likely to come out with one that is just about as good (or sometimes better), in half the time compared to yesteryear and it’s likely
Sales Training Connection
JULY 6, 2015
If you missed the Best Small Business Blogs of 2015 (as culled by FitSmallBusiness.com) – take a look. You’ll find the Sales Training Connection … along with our 2015 featured post: Sales Reps – How to Bring Value by Saying “No” Take a read … Technorati Tags: sales best practices , selling economic value , selling value.
Sales Training Connection
MAY 25, 2015
Wishing all of our readers a Happy Memorial Day. Janet and Dick.
Sales Training Connection
MAY 22, 2015
Although salespeople may not do it as often as they should, most would rally around the notion that call planning is a good idea. What are some good tips for getting sales call planning done and getting it right? If salespeople are asked why they don’t do a better job of pre-call planning, the answers heard most often are “No time” or “Too much stuff to do.
Sales Training Connection
MAY 20, 2015
Sales Success. Constant change has always characterized the business world. Looking in the rear view mirror has never been a recommended strategy for determining future direction. However, from time to time the nature of the change takes on a different look. The scale and speed of the changes during these periods can truly be labeled disruptive. In the early 19 th century the Industrial Revolution changed everything.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 22, 2015
'Good vs. Bad Business. Sales reps are always looking for that next big opportunity and justifiably so. But while all new big opportunities initially look great – be cautious! All “bright shiny objects” aren’t good opportunities. In major B2B sales it is critical early on to distinguish between an account that represents good and bad business. The larger the opportunity the more important it is to get it right.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 17, 2015
'A Classic – ’63 Corvette. “Our sales teams just don’t do a good job managing their pipeline.” There are many variations of this complaint – a popular one is how long opportunities languish in the pipeline. As one frustrated sales manager shared: “For some of my sales reps, accounts literally take up permanent residence at Stage 3″ I hear a thousand reasons why hope is just around the corner.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 10, 2015
'Time Management. A new medical device salesperson emailed us last week interested in one-on-one coaching. We talked and learned that he wasn’t interested in working on sales skills, sales strategy, or even sales presentations. Fortunately, the salesperson had a sales manager who was helping in those areas. What the salesperson was interested in was: How can I do a better job managing my time?
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 25, 2015
'Given the substantial amount of money that companies commit to training every year, the notion of learning more about how to get it right is a question of interest. With that in mind, McKinsey & Co conducted a survey of 1,400 executives worldwide to explore the question. Major Finding. When asked about their companies’ biggest challenge with training programs, the respondents reported that the one growing most in concern was the lack of metrics.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 13, 2015
'What is the one competency salesperson could most benefit from if they knew how to do it better? A Survey of Sales Effectiveness: Global Research on what Drives Sales Success addressed that question. The skill set was: Developing New Business. . As to the nature of the challenge and the best practices for addressing it, it’s necessary to pinpoint whether you are talking about new business with new customers or new business with existing customers.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 9, 2015
'A Classic – ’63 Corvette. There’s little doubt that sales managers are the pivotal job for creating a superior sales team. And, a critical responsibility for the sales manager is coaching. Most people agree that sales coaching is important and can make a difference. They also know it isn’t so easy to do. There are lots of traps along the way for getting it right.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 6, 2015
'Sales strategy. Today most senior leaders in B2B companies agree that having a superior sales team matters. Although it is difficult to develop a superior sales team, they know it is one of the few sustainable advantages left. Consider this…. Due to global competition and advanced manufacturing technology even if you have a great product the competition is likely to come out with one that is just as good or “good enough” in half the time of yesteryear – worse yet it is likely to be cheaper.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 4, 2015
'Sales reps. The last couple of years have produced a number of challenges for those engaged in the B2B market. Some of the problems will be temporary – while others will become new permanent fixtures on the landscape. Let’s examine a scenario that highlights one that falls into the latter category. You have been working with a new potential customer for several months.
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