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Salespeople With This Weakness Score 47% Worse at Reaching Decision Makers
- October 16, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A lot of the salespeople I coach have a weakness in their Sales DNA – their need to be liked. Approximately 58% of all salespeople have this weakness and on average, salespeople score 76% in that competency. Elite salespeople have an average score of 87% and weak salespeople have an average score of 69%.
What would it look like if we were to pivot this data and look only at the group who have it as a weakness? When we filter the results by the need to be liked, there are some very interesting scores. Could it be that the need to be liked – by itself – is a predictor of sales success? Maybe. We know that if the salesperson is in an account management role, the need to be liked is an asset. However, in any kind of producer role, especially in a consultative process or methodology, it will get in the way. Take a look at this data!
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Which 4 Sales Competencies Best Differentiate Top from Bottom Salespeople?
- October 9, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I reviewed data from nearly 511,000 sales evaluations and assessments from among the that Objective Management Group (OMG) has produced to date. I compared 21 Sales Core Competencies (you can see much of that data here) of the top 5% (elite) with the bottom 50% of all salespeople. Then I identified the 4 competencies with the biggest gaps and you can see those in the image below.
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Where Can You Find the Best Salespeople?
- September 28, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Maybe you drink the finest wines, stay at the most luxurious hotels, dine at the best restaurants, purchase the best brands and drive the fanciest cars. Or not. Either way, you’ll at least want to know where you can find the best salespeople in the world, right?
To accomplish this I looked at data from the most recent 435,000 sales evaluations and assessments from Objective Management Group (OMG) and broke it down into 6 regions of the world. See the image above.
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The Top 12 Factors that Cause Delayed Closings and What to Do About Them
- September 25, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Delays, delays, delays. Nearly every coaching call with a salesperson is about a delayed closing. Nearly every coaching call with a sales manager is about a salesperson with a delayed closing. Everyone wants to know what to do about the delayed closing but that’s the wrong question. Everyone should be asking these two questions instead.
Was it really delayed or were we overly optimistic about if and when this opportunity would close?
What steps can we take to prevent delayed closings? -
Data Shows 1st Year Sales Improvement of 51% in this Competency
- September 18, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I looked at the before and after scores for eight of the 21 Sales Core Competencies as well as the Reaches Decision Makers, Account Manager and Farmer competencies for a total of 11. See the table below:
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How to Achieve Short-Term Explosive Growth from your Sales Team
- September 14, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Explosive Growth. Positive Momentum. Better Morale. Greater Confidence. Improved Capabilities.
Wouldn’t you just love using those phrases to describe your sales force?
We know from the data in this article that according to Objective Management Group (OMG), sales managers who spend at least 50% of their time coaching have salespeople who are 28% more effective.
We know from OMG’s data in this article that sales managers who are effective at coaching have salespeople who are 16% more effective.
And we know from the same data that sales managers who spend at least 50% of their time coaching AND are effective at coaching have salespeople who are 49% more effective.
That’s 49% more effective!
So what would a 49% bump mean to you and your company and what will it take to get there?
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How the Cheesecake Factory Menu Can Make You a Better Closer
- September 13, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Have you ever visited a Cheesecake Factory? I LOVE the menu – they offer EVERYTHING. The downside is that because there are so many items to choose from, it’s difficult to decide what to order. That’s better than the options you have with my Blog.
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Kurlan Named Leading Sales Consultant by Selling Power
- September 7, 2018
- Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
- Category: News
Renowned sales industry guru Dave Kurlan was recently named a 2018 Leading Sales Consultant by Selling Power Magazine.
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Finally! Science Reveals the Actual Impact of Sales Coaching
- September 7, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You must have heard the joke that 73.6% of statistics are made up!
I have read and even reported that sales leaders who coach their salespeople see a boost in revenue of around 27%. It sounds like a realistic number but I have not seen any science to back it up. Until now. Check this out!
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Do the Best Sales Managers Have the Best Salespeople?
- August 27, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We all see the effects that strong leaders have when they surround themselves with either strong, mediocre or weak people. What happens when strong leaders inherit a mixed team? What happens when they hire a mixed team? What happens when we ask the same questions about weak leaders?
I dug into a subset of data from Objective Management Group’s (OMG) evaluations of the salespeople who report to more than 15,000 sales managers to determine whether the best sales managers actually have the best salespeople. I was surprised and disappointed by what I found. Check this out!