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Coconut Flakes Help to Improve Sales Effectiveness
- November 6, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My wife took me to a Vegan restaurant for lunch and I ordered a sandwich that consisted of coconut, lettuce and tomato on multi-grain bread. I not only didn’t hate it, I liked it. I showed my wife that it had bacon in it and she swore it didn’t. She suggested I ask the owner so I asked him about the bacon and he explained that he prepared the coconut flakes to have the look, taste and texture of bacon. Fake bacon.
There are fake salespeople too.
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Two Keys for Successful Sales Presentations
- October 30, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I frequently write about taking a consultative approach, and listening and asking questions are the keys to successful sales presentations.
While watching game 2 of the 2023 World Series, it occurred to me that I still remember and can name every member of the 1967 Boston Red Sox, but I can’t do the same for the 2023 Red Sox. Could the difference be that the ’67 team went to to the World Series while last year’s team finished last in the American League East? It could also be that I was an impressionable 12 year-old that didn’t miss a single pitch that season, while this year’s team wasn’t worth watching. Could it be my short-term memory? Maybe it’s time to start taking Prevagen!
The point is that while I am fascinated by this insight, there is no chance that you care about this unless you relate to it. It’s simply not important to most of you.
Why is it so important for me to make you aware of a statement that is important to me but not important to you?
Salespeople must differentiate between what is important to their prospects and customers, versus what is important only to them.
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Apple Fritters and the 10 Keys to a Successful Sales Transformation
- October 25, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
For the first time, I knew what it felt like to totally suck at something other than golf.
The fritters came out mushy, like pudding. They lacked flavor, like cauliflower crusts. Instead of looking like apple fritters, they looked like cookies. You can’t believe what an epic failure this was! I would have been better off to outsource which, in the apple fritter world, would have meant a trip to Dunkin or Starbucks and it would have been perfect! And that, somehow, leads me to sales performance.
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How to Sell to Major Accounts That Love Your Competitor
- October 23, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Salespeople tend to take their best accounts for granted. They don’t call as often as they should. They don’t visit as often as they could. You need to be there and/or on the phone with them more often than the salesperson they like so much. Something is bound to go wrong. Something is likely to disappoint your prospect. That’s your opportunity to change the conversation.
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What Elon Musk and Great Salespeople Do Differently Than Everyone Else
- October 10, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Elon Musk doesn’t care whether you like him or not. He doesn’t care what you think about him. He doesn’t care what you say about him. All he cares about is that he is getting a lot of attention.
How does this apply to sales and selling?
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Milestones in the Sales Process are Like the Stones in a Wall
- October 5, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
An ideal sales process has 4 stages, each with anywhere from 4 to 10 milestones that must be met in order to move to the next stage.
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The 10 Avoidable Things That Occur When Salespeople Don’t Talk about Money
- September 27, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The table above uses data from Objective Management Group (OMG), which has assessed close to 2.4 million salespeople. The data shows that 43% of all salespeople are uncomfortable talking about money and while the top 10% have no such problem, 71% of the bottom 10% are too uncomfortable to talk about money. These are the 10 things that happen when salespeople are uncomfortable with the finance-specific milestones of the sales process:
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Sales Presentations to Big Companies – the Same as Political Theater
- September 22, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
What really happens on presentation day? Theater. Salespeople validate what the individuals on the committee already believe to be true. If you’re not the one getting the business, nothing you do on that day will change that UNLESS the one who is getting the business screws up big time.
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How to Achieve Greater Sales & Sales Leadership Success
- September 20, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Salespeople need to be much better at prospecting instead of hiding behind emails and LinkedIn messages. They need to be better at the discovery call and qualifying. They need to improve their listening and questioning skills. They need to improve their ability to reach and build stronger relationships with decision makers. They need to improve their ability to sell value. They need to improve their ability to execute the company’s chosen sales process and sales methodology. They don’t need the distractions of off-topic reading.
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Three Recent Hurricanes Show the Path to More Effective Selling
- September 18, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A great example of how much more successful salespeople are when they call on Decision Makers came from a salesperson who messaged me last week. Freddy was excited to talk about his recent success and I have changed his name and company names to protect his identity. Freddy wrote: