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Top 4 Reasons Salespeople Struggle to Reach Decision Makers

October 30, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Best Top 10 Lists, Understanding the Sales Force

So here we are again, with half of the salespeople reporting that they aren’t reaching decision makers. And why would a decision maker want to be reached if the salespeople are focused only on presentations? And companies wonder why their sales cycles are so long, their closing percentages are so low and their margins are slip sliding away…

Also noteworthy were these findings from the survey results:

Experiment – Which Sales Approach is Really More Effective?

October 28, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force

During the past 90 days, I have been secretly selling multiple ways. On one third of our opportunities, I have been selling the way we teach – using a formal, structured sales process with a consultative approach. On another third of our opportunities (inbound leads), I have experimented with a more transactional approach, although even that has a consultative element because I can’t help but ask some good questions. It simply means that I show and tell much earlier than normal. With the remaining third of our leads, I have experimented with allowing the buyer to dictate the process. My buyer-dictated approach included a little push-back because I can’t allow a potential client to take the wrong approach to a solution.

Want to know what happened? Look at the table below:

Selling – We’re Going Back to AIDA And You Should Be Scared

October 25, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force

While the tools have changed, information is available in the blink of a click, and leads are in huge supply, people, at their core, have not changed the way they buy.

Sure, they may be meeting with or speaking with salespeople later in their buying process. Sure, they may take longer to make decisions. Sure, they may be more diligent about spending their money. But the one thing that has not changed is that they still have some motivation – some compelling reason – to spend their money and spend it with you instead of someone else.

The rush to embrace inbound marketing comes with a false sense of security and a poorly grounded belief that the sale is somehow easier, faster and more demo-centric today.

The Challenge of the Challenger Sales Model – The Facts

October 21, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Understanding the Sales Force

If we are discussing a transactional sale, then he is completely correct. Let the customer just buy what they want to buy and don’t complicate it. But most of us in the sales consulting space don’t consult to companies with a transactional sale – that’s marketing’s job to get more people to buy!

Now That You Have a Sales Process, Never Mind

October 16, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force

Here’s the premise: Companies that have been rigorously enforcing sales process should stop doing so because it is resulting in longer sales cycles, decreased conversion rates, unreliable forecasts and depressed margins. So they say. Here are some of the many problems with their premise:

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.

Can You Improve a Kick-Ass Sales Force?

September 11, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

If you are reading this, and your company matches up with any one of my criteria for underdogs, then you couldn’t possibly get away with what Hubspot can get away with. You must have strong hunters who are adept at overcoming resistance, can differentiate by selling consultatively, and ask the kinds of questions that develop respect, allowing prospects to open their mind to the possibility that you can help.

Are Sales and Sales Management Candidates Getting Worse?

September 10, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force

There are more sales experts, self-professed and otherwise, than ever before. There is more free content on sales and selling than anyone could have imagined. There are probably twice as many books on the subject than just 10 years ago. There are categories of sales tools and CRM applications where none existed a few years ago. Companies are spending more money on sales force evaluations, sales training, consulting, sales leadership development, sales process, infrastructure and sales recruiting services than 5 years ago. And selling has changed more in the past 5 years than ever before.

With all that, shouldn’t the quality of sales, sales management and sales leadership candidates be on the rise? Yes, it should.

But there’s a problem. The quality has not risen. It seems to have worsened!

A Rare Paragraph or Two About Making Successful Sales Presentations

July 15, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

When everyone presents, salespeople and companies are perceived as commodities and the sale is driven by price. When salespeople take a customer-focused, consultative approach and actually become the value added, salespeople and companies are able to effectively differentiate, solve problems, and get paid accordingly.