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

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 27, 2024

Wouldn’t it be cool if, instead of the news that currently appears in your feed, or the sports analysis you just heard, you could read the news of your last few days of selling, or hear the play-by-play analysis of your sales call from earlier today? Would your news feed sound more like example one or example two below?

Sports 182

Sports Analysis Outbound Examples 182

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

And “We don’t know what we don’t know about sales” is a true statement in most companies. The Example Salespeople (anyone, with any title, whose primary role is selling) don’t know about their own skill gaps and blind spots. Coaching their salespeople becomes a scenario of the blind leading the blind.

Company 212

Company Hiring Scale Forecasting 212

Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 20, 2023

For example, each week I have around 8 hours of weed-eater work that I hate doing. Salespeople can self-motivate, sales managers can do this to motivate their salespeople, sales leaders can use this to motivate their sales managers and CEOs can leverage this to motivate their top Sales Leader.

Motivation 156

Motivation Pipeline Hiring How To 156

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 30, 2019

One of the challenges that sales managers have is their trepidation around transitioning from very little coaching to daily coaching; and at the same time, moving from coaching light (ineffective coaching) to coaching pro (effective coaching). This is easy - you can do this.

Coaching 235

Coaching Sales Management Examples Tools 235

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. There are simple, easy, fast and powerful solutions for sales problems too. See my examples below. Some of my long-term problems had such simple solutions.

Examples 283

Examples Sales Consultative Selling Sales Process 283

Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

I brought up the Fantasy Camp experience because it's not all that different from what participants experience when they attend my Sales Leadership Intensive (SLI). For example, last week I led a private SLI for a company with around a dozen sales leaders.

Sales Leadership 353

Sales Leadership Follow-up Coaching Up-Sell 353

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

A salesperson who messaged me last week is a great example of how successful salespeople are when they call on Decision Makers. Freddy was excited to talk about his recent success and I have changed his name and company names to protect his identity.

Decision Maker 193

Decision Maker Insurance Insurance Call-back 193

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! Who is holding them accountable and allowing this malpractice to continue?

Decision Maker 313

Decision Maker Proposal Sales Cycle Exact 313

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 20, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan One of the most frequent questions we get from clients has to do with the second most important finding on Objective Management Group''s (OMG) sales and sales management evaluations. I''ll give you an example. They always wonder, "How could that be?"

Hiring 249

Hiring Groups Incentives Incentive 249

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 11, 2012

Coaching – 1 st of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Competencies. 5 Keys to Effective Sales Coaching. 10 Sales Coaching Examples – One Size Does Not Fill All. The Difference Between Good and Bad Sales Coaching Questions. Sales Coaching Lessons from the Baseball Files. Sales Coaching Between the Lines.

Sales Coaching 214

Sales Coaching Coaching Sales Management Sales 214

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. many more.

Hiring 238

Hiring Policies Sales Methodology Energy 238

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 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

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

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. Are you serious? it''s not important?

Sales Leadership 204

Sales Leadership Hiring Education Coaching 204

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

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

JANUARY 25, 2016

When coaching, most sales managers change the words their salespeople use. For example, last week I coached a salesperson who was using all of the words the other salespeople on the team were instructed to use - but with vastly different results. That's not how I would say it - try this instead!"

Coaching 120

Coaching Sales Process Examples Sales 120

Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 16, 2013

Let me give you an example. In 2005 I wrote the book Baseline Selling and it contains both the Baseline Selling sales process and the Baseline Selling sales methodology. The reality is they only think it. 5 Steps don''t make a process. 7 steps don''t make a process either. Surveys are fun. They tell you what people think.

Sales Process 249

Sales Process Margin Survey Forecasting 249

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

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. Beyond these obvious challenges exists a 600 pound gorilla. Don''t risk it.

CRM 211

CRM Training Sales Process Up-Sell 211

Understanding the Sales Force

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Sales Managers Must Make Sure That This Never Happens. Is a Lost Sale Better for Salespeople Than a Win? Targeting Sales Opportunities - The Hidden Truth. Top 5 Sales Management Best Practices. Warning to Sales-Focused Companies Wanting to Stay Relevant. 10 Sales Coaching Examples.

Sales Coaching 120

Sales Coaching Coaching Airlines Cold Calling 120

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 31, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan The Growing Power of Inside Sales appeared on the Harvard Business Review Blog on July 29. By location of the sales talent - Where can you find the ideal sales talent for your company? By location of sales management - Do you have managers where the sales talent is located?

Inside Sales 211

Inside Sales SAP Sales Talent Lead Rank 211

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

These symptoms are examples of some of the hidden weaknesses that Objective Management Group identifies as reasons why salespeople don't perform as well as you need them too. How well equipped are you, Sales Managers and Sales Leaders to recognize, identify, train and coach salespeople to overcome these weaknesses?

Airlines 268

Airlines Prospecting Decision Maker Vendor 268

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

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 16, 2012

These are great examples of sales leadership paying attention to the wrong issues! Best in class companies were 23% more likely to provide sales managers with role specific training and tools.

Hiring 188

Hiring Territories Compensation Forecasting 188

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. I would like to put a stop to that nonsense once and for all.

Sales Process 205

Sales Process Sales Cycle Sales Leadership LinkedIn 205

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Just like the first example, the difference is subtle but your motivational approach would be different. Responds better to being pushed by the sales manager - or prefers to push himself? It''s a subtle difference but you would take a completely different approach to motivate each of these two types of salespeople.

Motivation 252

Motivation Hiring Face-to-face Decision Maker 252

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 21, 2014

We know that both the top and bottom groups will have some common findings, usually indicative of what the hiring managers were looking for, like motivated salespeople. For example, members of both groups may have a particular finding as a strength, but only the top performers have a score in a certain range. win rate.

Hiring 258

Hiring Groups Exact Face-to-face 258

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 5, 2014

A great example of this is your copier lease. Many small companies do not have sales managers, leaving the Presidents, CEO''s and owners serving in that role on-demand. New salespeople require knowledge, onboarding, training, coaching, direction, training, coaching, support, training, coaching, accountability and attention. (I

Hiring 130

Hiring Conference Coaching Up-Sell 130

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 that these veteran salespeople report to are simply afraid of them. Then the formal sales process is introduced. Increase sales. Are they setting bad examples for the rest of your sales force?

Face-to-face 130

Face-to-face Margin Coaching Proposal 130

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 7, 2013

The article effectively details an actual value-added consultative sales call which, because of a single incorrect question, quickly became a transactional, commodity-based price-driven call. I'll also be hosting our Annual Spring Sales Leadership Intensive in Boston. What makes it so special?

Examples 199

Examples Hotels Sales Leadership Webinar Metrics 199

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 4, 2013

If you want your sales force to strive for sales excellence, the bottom line is that your salespeople won't drive this transition and neither will a sales manager. 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.

Sales Qualified Lead 188

Sales Qualified Lead Journal Consultative Selling Proposal 188

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 5, 2012

We don't talk about it much but sales has a lot of magic to it. Want an example? Type 3 - They have been thoroughly trained on model, process and methodology, the entire sales force follows it and can apply it, sales management is able to coach to it and hold their salespeople accountable to it and their results are sky rocketing.

Travel 156

Travel Follow-up Sales Groups 156