Search Results

  • Exposed – Personality Tests Disguised as Sales Assessments
    • January 28, 2009
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Yesterday, I met with a long-time client who, in his previous company, used OMG’s Assessments to identify what needed to change in order to double revenue from $30 million to $60 million.  In his new company, which is already about 12x that size, he wants to double revenue again.  He said, “I just wasted two years with the _____ Assessment.”  The assessment to which he referred was a personality assessment marketed as a sales assessment.  It could have referred to any personality or behavioral-styles assessment.

    read more

  • Sales Competencies and Your Competition
    • November 6, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Companies don’t invest enough time and energy being strategic and tactical about competition.  The approach shouldn’t be economic as much as it should be tactical.  Your approach should revolve around neutralizing your competition as opposed to being competitive with your competition.

    read more

  • Improve Sales Effectiveness at the Salesperson’s Hall of Fame
    • June 16, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    This weekend we visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY and I was struck by a few things:

    1) Why don’t we have a Hall of Fame for Salespeople? I know that companies provide awards for their own salespeople but is that limited recognition enough for those who are motivated most by recognition?

    read more

  • Maximum Effort is the Key to Sales Success
    • June 4, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    When companies attempt to improve sales they often look first to sales skills. If you’ve been reading this Blog for a while, you know that I believe skills are important, but only to a certain degree.  The problem with putting an emphasis on developing only the skills is that without the proper combination of strengths and incentive to support the use of those skills, the skills alone don’t get it done.

    read more

  • A Tale of Two Salespeople – Conflicting Competencies
    • April 16, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Salesperson number one shows up, fails to develop a relationship, assumes he (or she) knows everything, makes a presentation that the prospect doesn’t care about and leaves, believing he did a good job.  The prospect has eliminated this salesperson.

    read more

  • My Turnover’s Bigger Than Your Turnover
    • June 21, 2005
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    They both share the same belief in the importance of a consultative approach to selling, have a sales process, and not being order takers. They both have capable sales management. They both pay well, above the industry norm. PM turned over only 2 of 16 salespeople last year while GP turned over 5 of 12. Why such a difference?

    read more

  • Retooling the Sales Force
    • May 4, 2005
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The executive team of a company whose sales force we recently evaluated wanted to ‘retool’ the sales force. Their salespeople were comfortable selling into one of the three markets on which they needed a presence, but not the other two markets. The executive team wanted to know whether it was easier to hire new salespeople or to develop the existing salespeople.

    read more