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Developing Weak Salespeople
- April 19, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Some of your salespeople are chronically weak – they just under perform and you don’t quite know where to begin to help them. Perhaps, you don’t even know how to help them so you just tell them to do more, try harder or keep at it. Maybe you give them your best ‘moves’ and hope they take. More often than not, you won’t be able to help but you will develop a closer relationship in the process, making it more difficult to terminate them when you give up.
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When Salespeople Think the Deal is Closed
- April 11, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A salesperson predicts that an opportunity ‘will close’ or, they do close an opportunity only to have the prospect delay or back out. What causes prospects to change their minds? More importantly, how do your salespeople respond when this happens? Do they follow up at the time suggested by the prospect? Do they wish their prospect luck? Do they walk away with their tails between their legs? Or do they recognize that this is merely another challenge to be overcome?
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Not Closing Sales – Sales Management Problem Solving Strategies
- April 7, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When some of your salespeople aren’t closing sales of certain products or services what does it mean? First it helps to identify the possible causes:
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Why Can’t We Hire These Sales Candidates?
- April 6, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Some companies don’t learn their lessons. Others don’t want to learn their lessons. Still others think that writing out a check replaces learning lessons. When it comes to hiring salespeople, most of the lessons have already been learned and are out their to be shared. We share them every day with our clients but, despite their miserable track records, some would still prefer to hold on to their favorite ineffective methods that failed them in the past, instead of just trying what would more than likely work for them today.
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More Baseline Selling
- April 6, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’m watching the third baseball game of the young season. My team, the Red Sox, is trailing in the seventh inning. As Red Sox games go, this is boring, if not depressing. The most prolific offense of the last three years, the Sox hadn’t scored a single run. Similar to some sales calls, it began badly.
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5 Sales Management Best Practices
- April 5, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I found the article to be akin to naming passing, receiving, blocking, tackling and kicking as the five baseball best practices.
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Spamelot and Selling
- April 1, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’m not a proponent of canned presentations – they’re boring. I hate it when prospects ask salespeople to make a capabilities presentation. Your salespeople are expected to do this and as a result of agreeing to do this, they bore their prospects to death.
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Entrepreneurship
- March 29, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Did you experience any similar conditioning averse behavior when you were younger? In hindsight, can you recognize that you behaved in ways that would lead you to the business you’re currently in?
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When Salespeople are Struggling
- March 21, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
There are dozens of reasons why performance among salespeople falls short of requirements or expectations. Your salespeople should over achieve, not under achieve.
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Great New Book on Selling – The Inside Story
- March 15, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My research and statistics from evaluating 250,000 salespeople revealed that 74% of all salespeople are ineffective.