Analogies
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The Biggest Mistake Executives Make about their Sales Force
- March 18, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
When sales are fine, there is no better time, because there is no pressure or urgency, to evaluate the sales force because it is at that very time that executives don’t know what they don’t know.
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Sales 2.0 Conference; The Huge Sales Blitz and Sales Processes
- March 11, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
In my experience, there have always been two kinds of taxi drivers. The first asks how long I’m planning to stay and when they learn I’m flying back out the same day, they offer to pick me up for the return trip to the airport. This is the taxi-driver version of an account manager.
The second type ignores me, talks on his phone, gets me where I’m going and looks for his next fare. A hunter. Purely transactional. Just like a salesperson who knocks on doors.
But yesterday, I met a third type. He was a type 2, but with time management skills.
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College Basketball vs. the Pros & Sales Management & Selling
- March 3, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
If you live in fear and follow the path laid out by NBA head coaches, and just try to make everyone happy, you get the wrong outcome. Additionally, you show that you are not a good leader, you are not a good coach, you are not a good sales manager, and you are not a good role model. You are, in essence, a babysitter with all of the power of the 13-year old who can watch and entertain, but cannot make a decision.
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Double Article Friday – How New Salespeople Struggle
- February 21, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
If ever there was a good analogy for the new salesperson, this is it; and what a case it makes for nailing the onboarding process to make sure that nothing is left to chance. In what kind of shape is your onboarding process for new salespeople?
Here is an article that I wrote seven years ago about how to onboard new salespeople and it still holds true today. Enjoy.
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Do Salespeople Leverage the Ideal Moment in the Buying Process?
- February 20, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
The moment after it’s all closed is the perfect moment for both salesperson and customer, and it can only go downhill from there. So why do salespeople fail to leverage that moment?
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What Does it Take to Become a Sales Manager?
- January 24, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
After his football career ended, Chatham went back to school and received an MBA from Babson in 2011. With that in hand, he said that he would prefer a front office job and wishes to become a GM. On the other hand, Fouria said that he would love to coach, but…
There were a lot of buts:
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Global Warming, Social Selling and The Sales Force of Tomorrow
- January 8, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
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Lost Sales, Deals, and Accounts – Fairy Tales or Dragnet?
- December 3, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, Dennis and I were reviewing Lost Deal comments for a client when we came across one that began, “In the end, when all was said and done…”
You really don’t have to read any further. You can easily recognize, from just the first few words, that this was going to be a fairy tale. A story. One salesperson’s editorial. A whole lot of words that will not be particularly useful for you or the analysis. Webster’s Dictionary defines a fairy tale as “a false story meant to trick people.”
When it comes to analyzing lost deals, we should be far more interested in watching a police show, like Dragnet, where you are more likely to hear, “Just the facts, Ma’am.”
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The Connection Between Gas Prices and Sales Lead Follow Up
- September 26, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
Why do salespeople still do the things they used to do, even though those things don’t work anymore. For example, why do salespeople still sell transactionally when presenting/demoing, quoting/proposing and closing yields a 10-20% conversion ratio? Even if they were in hiding, everyone must have heard by now that a typical B2B sale requires a customer-centric consultative approach.
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Specific Words are So Crucial to a Sales Conversation
- August 27, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
I just returned from a speaking engagement in Athens and had to stop at passport control several times during this trip. They always ask, “What kind of business?” and over the years I’ve used them all: consulting, speaking, training, business adviser, author, coaching, etc. I’ve learned that if I want to be interrogated, “speaker” would be the answer of choice. If I simply want to answer a few questions, “consultant” will do the trick. But to elicit the desired yawn from the officers, I only need to say “attend a conference.” Words make a huge difference and if you like scripts, you’ll be disappointed. 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!