Sales Advice
-
How Many of Your Salespeople are Addicted to This?
- December 14, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Do your salespeople have a hopium addiction?
-
Embarassed by This Sales Article in The Economist?
- October 31, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
On October 22, The Economist published an article called, The Art of Selling – The Death of the Salesman Has been Greatly Exaggerated. Is the Economist really that far out of touch? I wrote the last of my 5-part Death of Selling Has Been Exaggerated articles 5 years ago! And how long has it been since anyone referred to salespeople at “salesmen”?
-
The Longest Sales Cycle Ever – How They Closed the Deal
- May 3, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If only your salespeople had that kind of commitment and staying power. If only they were able to somehow get connected to their target prospects. If only they could close the big ones on the first call. It’s OK to dream big. It’s OK to think about possibilities like this. It’s OK to want your salespeople to do more, more quickly, more often, and with more success. Until your desires become expectations, you won’t do anything to change the behaviors that lead to results.
-
Salespeople Failing to Get Prospects to the Phone
- April 28, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This is a great example of why so many salespeople waste so much time chasing down their prospects and why prospects do such a fantastic job of avoiding these calls and emails.
-
Is it Good to Have Perfectionists on Your Sales Force?
- April 20, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The best thing about perfectionists on your sales force is that you don’t usually have to worry about their administrative accuracy. Their emails, letters, proposals and quotes are well done and not prone to typos. The information they input into your CRM or SFA is accurate and done on a timely basis. Their call reports are meticulous and submitted on time. What’s not to like about that?
The downside of course. And what’s that?
-
Sales Advice Hits the Spot in April Inc. Magazine
- April 13, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Here’s one quote I liked from the director of supplier diversity from UPS:
“People will say, ‘I’ve got this really exciting proposal I want you to look at.’ I’ll say, ‘send it to me.’ Then they send it to me by FedEx. It happens every day. Just be smart. Know the company you are pitching to and know their likes and dislikes. You get such brownie points with me when you come in with a UPS envelope and have an account all set up. It’s just the little things like that, the icing on the cake.”
-
What Should You Tell Your Salespeople in this Economy?
- May 6, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
From time to time I have written about what you must do with your salespeople in this economy. Would you like to hear what that actually sounds like?
-
Media is to Fuel as the Recession is to Fire – How Does it Impact the Sales Force?
- March 11, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The media – they didn’t cause the banking crisis but they have surely capitalized on it, dramatized it, chronically reported every devastating development and turned a serious but contained fire into a wildfire.
I don’t want to hear how many jobs have been lost. Who does that help?
-
Topgrading Pros, Cons and Sales Assessments
- February 23, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Somehow, I got thrown into the middle of an internet disagreement between Brad Smart, author of Topgrading, and Bob Corlett, a blogger who calls himself The Staffing Adviser.
