sales performance
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Targeting Sales Opportunities – The Hidden Truth
- September 10, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We frequently discuss reasons why salespeople fail, the differences between successful and unsuccessful salespeople, and scenarios where salespeople make good versus bad choices. Those aren’t the only topics which separate good selling from bad. Salespeople make other decisions which impact the likelihood for success and today’s article takes a look at one of those.
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What Leads to Salespeople Underperforming?
- July 16, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Doesn’t it drive you mad when terrific, yet underperforming salespeople, take time off for their car to be serviced, to bring their pets to the vet, to spend time with visiting family members, to work out of the house, when they feel under the weather, to meet a with a contractor, for the dentist, for their annual physical, etc? Take a vacation – no problem – but if you’re not on vacation, then work for crying out loud!
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Are Women in Sales Less Trainable?
- April 3, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Before I get into trouble for the title of this blog, let me 1.) explain from where it comes and 2.) direct you to another of my articles where I wrote that women make better salespeople than men.
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What It Really Means When CRM Isn’t a Sales Force Priority
- February 15, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It’s rare when a company isn’t using something for CRM, even if it’s an old version of ACT. In most companies, it’s not whether they are using CRM, it’s which CRM they have chosen to use and whether the CRM has actually been adopted. The CRM application of choice is completely useless to management unless the entire sales force is using it as intended.
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The Difference Between Sales Commitment and Desire
- November 18, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was explaining this difference to a client and the two findings, which we were comparing, were striking in their contrast.
The candidate in question scored 100 (off the charts) on Desire (how badly he wants to succeed in sales); yet, as low as he was high – 16 – on Commitment – his willingness to do what it takes to succeed in sales. So as you might expect, the client asked, “How can he score so high in Desire but so low in Commitment?”
Great question.
I’ll explain it in exactly the same fashion I explained it to him.
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Top 10 Reasons for Roller Coaster Sales Performance
- August 11, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We know why the market goes up and down – in hindsight – but we can never predict when. Do we know why sales performance bounces up and down? Here are my ten reasons for inconsistent sales performance:
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How to Interpret Sales Revenue and Economic News
- June 13, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Perhaps the disconnect between what I see and what is being reported is simply this. While there are some isolated geographies and industries that are doing poorly, others are doing quite well. But when we look at the overall numbers, they just don’t provide an accurate reflection of what is actually taking place.
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How Would Your “Top Salespeople” Do If…..
- May 16, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Most companies have people who are considered top performers who, under different circumstances, would be considered extremely weak salespeople. While these salespeople do appear to be weak when we assess them, it’s much more difficult for management to recognize how weak they are when they lead their company in revenue. Notice how I didn’t say “sales”? That’s right, they happen to manage more revenue than anyone else, but that has less to do with selling than it does account management…
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The App Store Provides Insights into Your Company’s Sales Challenges
- November 30, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Is there any possibility that someone could go wrong buying from you? Is buying from your company the safest choice? Is it the easiest choice? Is it the traditional choice? Is it free or very low priced? Is it the tried and true choice?
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The Delayed Impact of Lack of Sales Commitment
- June 2, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
While commitment is a single data point – not the be-all-end-all – it’s a very powerful and predictive data point as well.
If you are a client, upon learning that a top producer lacks commitment you might be asking, “How can that be?”