Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 5, 2021

BuyCycle TM represents how salespeople go about the process of making a major purchase and there is a 100% correlation between how they buy and the behavior they accept from their prospects. For example:

Guidelines 380

Guidelines Closing Call-back Report 380

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

When prospects tell you that they're going with the lowest price, it's total crap. Just about a year ago at this time, I wrote another article about selling value where I used Dunkin Donuts coffee as an example. So what should you do when a prospect asks for a lower price? What's the point?

Software 310

Software Software Channels Follow-up 310

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 16, 2023

They completed the sales call, but they didn’t do discovery and failed to uncover any compelling reasons to buy, they didn’t thoroughly qualify the opportunity, they probably failed to reach the decision maker(s), and more importantly, the impression they left on their prospect was shaky (wobbly) because they failed to differentiate.

Sales Process 227

Sales Process Decision Maker Proposal Follow-up 227

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 30, 2023

For example: For decades, I could not drive for much longer than two to two and a half hours before my eyes would get so heavy that I risked falling asleep at the wheel. See my examples below. Some of my long-term problems had such simple solutions. If only I had thought of the obvious solutions first.

Examples 283

Examples Sales Consultative Selling Sales Process 283

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 13, 2019

Most salespeople do not know the difference between their prospects' decision-making process compared with their decision-making criteria. If you do ask a prospect about their decision-making process, you might hear about the steps they will take. I'll take you through an example.

Groups 223

Groups Objections Prospecting Data 223

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

For example, we’ll discuss salespeople who are uncomfortable when they need to discuss finances with their prospects. And that is a great analogy for what happens when salespeople are uncomfortable with certain aspects of the sales process. million salespeople.

Sales Methodology 203

Sales Methodology Sales Process Proposal Objections 203

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 31, 2024

In its most generic form, stages correspond to opportunities as they move from suspect to prospect to qualified opportunity, to closable and finally, closed. Let’s use baseball, my favorite analogy, for this example. Similarly, there are stages to the sales process.

Sales Process 182

Sales Process Decision Maker Sports Construction 182

Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 20, 2023

Last week, I wrote about how the criteria you use to choose your all-time favorite songs is essentially the same as the criteria your prospects use to choose between you and a competitor. For example, each week I have around 8 hours of weed-eater work that I hate doing. Let me explain and then I’ll pivot to selling.

Motivation 156

Motivation Pipeline Hiring How To 156

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

They can get feedback, they can ask questions, they can get answers, they know that their version of Houston - their prospect or customer - can hear them and will respond if there is a good reason. Want an example of sales management being in the dark? End of Quarter Closing is a great example of sales management dysfunction!

Decision Maker 313

Decision Maker Proposal Sales Cycle Exact 313

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Salespeople need to be better at prospecting instead of hiding behind emails and LinkedIn messages or waiting for BDRs to schedule less than stellar meetings for them. Some are experts at writing but without subject matter expertise. Some aren’t experts at anything but still they write.

Sales Leadership 203

Sales Leadership Hiring How To Account Based Marketing 203

Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 20, 2012

A salesperson's follow-up questions should nearly always be derived from a prospect's most recent response and that's where the challenge usually begins. In today's article we discuss five examples of what salespeople must do to sell more effectively. Here's an example. c) Copyright 2012 Dave Kurlan

Consultative Selling 231

Consultative Selling Call-back Proposal Follow-up 231

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 2, 2012

Let's take mobile apps for example. If the salesperson says that their solution is only $5,000 per person, the prospect immediately views this as an expense - and a costly one at that. Compare the two examples above and you'll see both the answer and the obstacle. 99 and even free, it's expensive - by comparison.

Comparison 251

Comparison Closing Retention Examples 251

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

HubSpot’s content marketing strategy allows the rep to establish online credibility before even getting on the phone with his or her first prospect." For example, top performing salespeople are also great at developing, building and maintaining relationships. A steady flow of inbound leads.

Lead Rank 283

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Hiring Hubspot 283

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 11, 2018

I included examples all three types of question in the article. You will get immediate feedback on how effective your questions are: Your prospects will say, "Good question" when you ask one. In September I wrote this article on the difference between asking good, tough and great questions. Tough Question. Great question.

Sales Cycle 107

Sales Cycle Training Examples Prospecting 107

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 27, 2013

But a well chosen word or phrase at just the right time can be the difference between a resistant prospect and an intrigued one. Do you pay enough attention to the things you do and say as well as how you say them just before a prospect becomes resistant or more engaged? Well you should! Selling is about having a conversation.

Conversion 224

Conversion Conference Call-back Sales Cycle 224

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 5, 2014

Top 10 Indicators That You Have a Trustworthy Sales Prospect. 10 Sales Coaching Examples. Top 15 Questions That Prospects Ask Themselves. Top 6 Factors for Killing a Sales Opportunity or Prospect (c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan' Top 10 Ways Salespeople are Selling in the Dark. Top 7 Things That Consultative Sellers Do.

Hiring 249

Hiring Sales Management Decision Maker Cold Calling 249

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 6, 2013

A seventy-four percenter, your "C" player said that he presented but the prospect rambled, complained about some problem with an explosion and some diamonds and seemed very distracted. She identified a problem - Lucy was blown sky high and is up their with her diamonds and the prospect needs to address the problem.

Proposal 278

Proposal Margin Follow-up Data 278

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 2, 2012

Let's take mobile apps for example. If the salesperson says that their solution is only $5,000 per person the prospect immediately views this as an expense - and a costly one at that. Compare the two examples above and you'll see both the answer and the obstacle. 99 and even free, it's expensive - by comparison.

Comparison 169

Comparison Closing Retention Examples 169

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 26, 2012

We worked on time management, scheduling a specific date and time with a prospect for the follow-up call, identifying the strongest opportunties and not wasting time on the weaker opportunities, being more effective at qualifying, blocking out time in his calendar to make follow up calls, etc. I was amazed at what I heard.

Follow-up 243

Follow-up Face-to-face Sales Cycle Up-Sell 243

Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 12, 2012

Some examples of "there" exist right here in the USA! For example, Need for Approval (the need to be liked) has tremendous power to hold back salespeople in North America, where 63% of all salespeople are burdoned with it. There are many cultures where you must be from "there" in order for people from "there" to buy from you.

Comparison 263

Comparison Exact Sales Examples 263

Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 30, 2014

Here are some examples of salespeople who are successful in one environment but usually fail in another: They were the best in their business at selling high-volume low-cost products until they went to work for a value based company and the "beat their best price" tactics were no longer available. Most executives do. Difficulty Level.

Sales Cycle 217

Sales Cycle Distribution Territories Up-Sell 217

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 28, 2013

I''ll correct that omission with the following examples. For instance, you shouldn''t come right out and ask which competitor the prospect is buying from today. In the article I mentioned "at just the right time" but I didn''t elaborate.

Conversion 245

Conversion Decision Maker Vendor Competition 245

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 3, 2014

Today, prospects are much less inclined to take a salesperson''s call, return a voicemail or an email message, engage in a conversation, schedule a call or meeting, share important information, return calls to salespeople towards the end of the sales process or make a decision. The revenue of the prospect company.

Face-to-face 215

Face-to-face Decision Maker Call-back Outbound 215

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 10, 2013

They used to show up, take five minutes to present their product and then the prospect would ask for samples. Now, they completely qualify the reasons, expectations and time allotted for that visit, have a meaningful conversation about their prospect''s business, and get commitments to have their products specified on future work.

Proposal 224

Proposal Sales Qualified Lead Conversion Up-Sell 224

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 2, 2013

Take selling for example. Easy selling: Getting to the wrong people, Presenting, Selling on price, Sending proposals and quotes, Chasing prospects that don't respond. Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan People are easily confused. If I state that selling is difficult, the top 26% of your salespeople will agree.

Proposal 253

Proposal Sales Process Competition Examples 253

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 8, 2014

An example of a successful, but not necessarily busy salesperson, would be the one whose two whale-sized deals generated three times more business than the rest of the sales force combined. In my experience, there isn''t a correlation between busy and successful. Everything is relative.

Top of Funnel 251

Top of Funnel Proposal Coaching Networking 251

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 14, 2013

A great example of how an executive confuses a behavior with a result. The real requirements for that are Strong Commitment, No Need for Approval, Rejection Proof, and Supportive Beliefs around Prospecting! All that will accomplish is assure that there are plenty of prospects who value a good presentation and product knowledge.

Hiring 253

Hiring Motivation Webinar Metrics Opportunity 253

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 22, 2015

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. 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.

Sales 120

Sales Examples Training Prospecting 120

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 18, 2014

It happens to salespeople when they aren''t able to stay in the moment, maintain complete focus on what their prospects are saying, and respond without thinking several moves ahead or, more typically, about what they want to talk. While both are examples of becoming emotional, we get there in two very different ways! (I

Social Selling 196

Social Selling Face-to-face Inbound Sales Leadership 196

Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan On a recent coaching call, I was explaining how to handle the prospect that doesn't admit to having an issue with which they need help. Let me provide an example: Me: How was school today? Some prospects need to feel proud of what they have accomplished. No prospect.

Sports 163

Sports Follow-up Course Coaching 163

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 22, 2014

For example, just 7 years ago, a company may have needed salespeople who could hunt and/or close. 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.

Sales Management 240

Sales Management Top of Funnel Decision Maker Webinar Metrics 240

Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 20, 2016

For example, I used it last week for the first time and within a few minutes I was able to write this article that showed 2 of our 21 sales competencies in a completely surprising way. We're already pretty darn good at that. The new tool allows me to quickly grab and analyze data faster and more effectively than I ever could before.

Decision Maker 168

Decision Maker Groups Objections Top of Funnel 168

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 10, 2012

You can hire a hybrid company - Companies like ConnectLeader have their own people who do the dialing and get your salespeople through to decision-makers so that they can spend their valuable time actually talking with prospects. However, if you use this option, you'll need salespeople or telemarketers on staff.

Telemarketing 201

Telemarketing Hiring Outbound Inbound 201

Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

Landslide is a good example of easy because they provide VIP support to salespeople who aren't at a computer or mobile device, or to those who are computer-challenged. Prospects are more resistant; there is more competition. Some CRM applications make this easier than others. But today's article isn't about adoption.

CRM 233

CRM LandSlide Margin Cold Calling 233

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

For example, the first caller was from a hardware/software catalog/online retailer with whom we've done a little business over the years. Yes - that's what prospects do when they consider whether to delete, save, return the call or add the caller to their to-do lists. The bad news is that not much has changed. Am I judging?

Cold Calling 191

Cold Calling Call-back Hiring Decision Maker 191

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 4, 2013

The result is we end up giving many presentations to unqualified prospects. Only show how you do what you do to fully qualified prospects. It's not a do-it-yourself project so you must also be prepared to do it correctly, get help from a results oriented firm, and lead by example. Hit a lot of rejection. Spin our wheels.

Sales Qualified Lead 188

Sales Qualified Lead Journal Consultative Selling Proposal 188

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 8, 2014

For example, you only need to read this article and the links within it to get a sense for how strong the opinions are and how much passion is driving those opinions. Most prospects would decline to engage (just as they would with their traditional approaches) and the impact of social selling would be statistically insignificant.

Social Selling 275

Social Selling Top of Funnel Groups Trends 275