sales management Archives - Page 12 of 32

Contractual Obligation is a Missing Link of Sales Success

May 31, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

However, there is one area of sports for which there is no sales analogy. Say it isn’t so!

Warning to Sales-Focused Companies Wanting to Stay Relevant

May 30, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

Mike Myatt wrote an article for Forbes‘ online site called, To Increase Revenue Stop Selling. This article has been very heavily viewed and commented. I don’t agree with most of Mike’s suggestions, but in his defense, he is not a sales expert, sales writer, sales manager, sales leader or salesperson. He simply doesn’t like being pitched or sold to and urges salespeople (he doesn’t want them to sell or be called that) to simply let him buy – when he wants, where he wants, how he wants, from whom he wants, and for prices he is comfortable paying. Sounds like retail, doesn’t it?

Sales Coaching Lessons from the Baseball Files

May 24, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

This sequence of analysis and tweaking works in exactly the same way when coaching salespeople. You should be able to immediately identify what went wrong, when it went wrong, how it went wrong and demonstrate how to prevent and fix it. The last two steps must take place through role-play. Are you doing that effectively?

Are Sales Leaders More Receptive to Training Than Salespeople?

May 16, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

When a room full of sales leaders arrive for two days of intensive training, there are many things that can and do happen. Here are ten of them:

The Other Rejection – How Salespeople Struggle to Cope

May 9, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

I gave this some thought and identified the following 10 reactions to Passive Rejection:

Why Do So Many Salespeople Fail to Make Quota?

April 26, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

The statistics are staggering. In some sectors, fewer than 25% of all salespeople will make quota. Even best-in-class companies are lucky when fewer than 80% of their salespeople make quota. Are you OK with it when your own salespeople fail to make quota? There are a number of possible reasons for this widespread mediocrity and failure and, depending on the company, some or all of them may apply.

Sales Team Morale is Overrated

March 2, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

Someone posted the question, “Are you already behind on your YTD sales goals?”.

One responses was another question, “What are some different ways you keep morale high when the team is behind on goals?”

I responded to this question with the following answer:

What Makes a Lead a Good Lead?

February 22, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

A dozen leads came in today and among them were leads from DELL and Bose. Both are large companies and might even make great clients but are they good leads? That all depends on who you ask.

So I pretended to ask 6 salespeople that I’ve worked with over the past several years. I pretended to say, “I have leads from DELL and Bose – are you interested in either of them?” And here is how the imaginary conversation went from there:

10 Sales Coaching Examples

February 13, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

Your system for coaching – the frequency, duration and process – should remain consistent, but it is important to remember these variations. All of the people whom you coach or should be coaching are unique individuals and need you to work with them in a way that is most beneficial to them, not you.