Recently, there was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal that discussed how the big pharmaceutical players are leveraging digital tools to engage doctors and other prescribers. In the article, the author discusses how these companies have enabled doctors’ use of these digital tools (e.g., And while most companies say they’re using digital tools only to supplement personal sales calls, layoffs in the sector suggest that the technology is potentially replacing , not just supplementing , human reps. The Buzz iPads Sales Technology Sales Tools MORE >>

Snap-on trucks and Sales Reps might seem to be an odd combination. asked my friend what was going on and he explained that every two weeks the Snap-on truck would stop by for his mechanics to check out the tools of their trade. What I learned was that each mechanic owns their own set of tools. They have been adding to their tool boxes for years, and one guy even had tools that his father had handed down to him. These mechanics and technicians are living the principles that I referred to in my last post when I introduced BYOT or Bring Your Own Tools. MORE >>

This is why so many salespeople struggle getting beyond what I see as the three big barriers in sales: Closing the sale. Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” ” Sales Motivation Blog. Blog leadership Sales Motivation confidence confident sales motivation salespeople salespersonAre you a confident salesperson? love asking salespeople this question, and the majority of the time people respond with a “yes.” Let’s now phrase the question a little different.   What’s your answer?  Prospecting. MORE >>

“ If you become a testimonial-based seller (which I believe to be the most powerful form of sales in the world), then you can get testimonials for every element, or every step of your sales cycle ,” so says good chum Jeffrey Gitomer in the Little Red Book of Sales Answers. ” The power of using testimonials during different stages of the sales process increases sales when “real” customers are seen or heard testifying as to how beneficial a product/service has been for them. Maximizing Testimonials. MORE >>

So it’s not surprising that each time I talk with my friends on the sales training front, they tell me that the path to increasing sales is to improve selling skills. Of course, my retort is that you won’t increase sales if you don’t have the right tools to compete more efficiently and effectively. They would ask, “What good is a prospect research tool if reps don’t know how to get a decision maker to engage?” We shouldn’t be asking ourselves which is more important, skill-sets or tool-sets. Sales Issues. MORE >>