objective management group

  • What Google Might Know about Hiring Salespeople
    • June 22, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The NY Times posted a story on June 20 about Google, their recruiting efforts, and big data.  The story really doesn’t reveal that much, but there is an interesting quote (that I will get to shortly) that is relevant to hiring salespeople.  When we help companies get the sales selection piece right, there are several components that we tweak.  We help them get the following things right:

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  • Everyone Can Sell. Not Really. Top 10 Reasons Why Not
    • May 22, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Dan Pink, Author of To Sell is Human, has been getting a lot of well-deserved exposure.  He wrote a terrific book and most who have read it, really like it.  I don’t have a problem with his book because read in its entirety, it makes sense.  I do have an issue with the people who write about his book and take the concept, that everyone can sell, out of context.  The context is that everyone can sell their ideas.  Agreed.  But out of context, it is suggested that everyone can be a salesperson.  I strongly disagree.

    Forget for a moment all of the data from Objective Management Group showing that 74% of all professional salespeople suck.  When we take the concept from selling an idea (at home, at church, in the neighborhood or internally to coworkers) to professional selling, 10 things change:

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  • Top 10 Reasons Why Salespeople Let Price Drive the Sale
    • May 10, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Selling value.

    What comes so easily to the top 6% and some of the top 26% is so very difficult for others.

    Most salespeople have little capability to effectively build value. Talking about what your company does better or differently or telling a prospect what your value proposition is does not build value. Instead, value comes from 3 things:

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  • Is the “Lack of Commitment to Sales Success” Finding Predictive?
    • May 7, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    So you have your sales force evaluated and in addition to learning why you are getting the results you are getting, and what you can do to significantly improve those results, you are surprised by some of the individual findings on some of your salespeople.  One of the findings that generates the most push-back is Lack of Commitment to sales success.

    We could hear any of the following comments as push-back to this finding:

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  • Latest Research on Personality Assessments for Sales Selection
    • April 15, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Two articles caught my attention today.

    The first, 10 Traits of Successful Salespeople, was typical of the misinformation that often passes for must-read information:

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  • Missing on the “Secrets to Developing Successful Sales Managers”
    • February 21, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    An interesting article, Secrets to Developing Successful Sales Managers, by Xactly’s CEO, Christopher Cabrera, was posted on Selling Power’s 2/19/13 blog.  I suggest that you read it first, returning to this article for the analysis.

    I thought that the first half of the article was spot on.

    I thought that the second half was as bad as the first half was good.

    Here’s why: 

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  • Dan Pink Hits and Then Misses the New Key to Sales Performance
    • February 6, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Why do brilliant people, like Dan Pink, look at research and then reach faulty conclusions?   

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  • Top 10 Problems with Veteran Salespeople
    • January 28, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    For companies who want to grow revenue, veteran salespeople cause more problems than any other factor.  After all, if you have a young, energetic group, there’s nowhere to go but up and everyone knows that they need to improve.  On the other hand, veteran salespeople believe that they know everything and everyone and probably could lead the sales training class.  

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  • Why Assessments Will Never Work for Some Companies
    • December 11, 2012
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Assessments are awesome, especially when you choose the right ones, for the right purpose, at the right time.  Despite the availability of some terrific assessments, they won’t work for every company.

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  • 2 Keys to Selling Success from Ann Romney and Chris Christie
    • August 29, 2012
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I have been delivering that message for more than 20 years, not to citizens who must vote for a candidate, but to sales leadership, sales management and salespeople who let their need for approval – their need to be liked – interfere with every facet of what they do.

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