We spent a lot of time with my mother’s best friend Jackie when I was growing up. I always looked up to her and loved her vocabulary. On one occasion, Jackie told me that I was a true instigator. I asked her what that meant and she told me to get the dictionary and look…
Strategic selling is like a complex symphony. And the conductor of the orchestra is the sales rep. There are various inflection points in a complex sales cycle and good sales reps understand when they need introduce the appropriate “instruments” within their arsenal (i.e., corporate resources, tools, customer references, etc.) to build to the crescendo and…
I’m posting a link to a colleague’s site (Pete Ekstrom, founder of the gold call). He is offering a video and audio CD tutorial on how to go about building a gold call script for prospecting over the phone. This is a tremendous value at $65. Details at www.thegoldcallshow.com
As someone who has been in sales management since 1993, I take pride when sales management is done well. Conversely, I take great offense to bad sales management and there is a ton of it out there! Perhaps one of the most gratifying aspects of management is developing lasting relationships with your sales people. I…
What is sales differentiation and how does it differ from product or market differentiation? Sales differentiation is the way that you engage with the prospective customer during and after the sales cycle that distinguishes you from the competition and solution to the customer’s needs alternatives. It is what allows you to build stronger and more…
What strategic investments are you planning to make in yourself to prepare for the new decade? It was just ten years ago that we were asking ourselves the same question. The primary difference being that we were entering a new millennium complete with exaggerated fears about legacy computer systems failing due to hard coded two…
http://www.slideshare.net/TrueSalesResults/white-paper-on-boarding-2009
There was a time when most enterprise sales reps had liberal expense accounts to take C-level execs to expensive dinners accompanied by the costliest wine offered. I’m not suggesting that “breaking bread” with customers is a bad thing, because it can be a really positive way to open up the relationship and learn more about…
What is a sales playbook and why is it important? Sales playbooks are a synthesis of sales process, best practices and the tactical steps that should be adhered to as part of an effective sales engagement. Think of it as a blueprint for sales success, which allows for creative tailoring based on situational needs but…
There are many different types of sales reps. Here are just a few examples of the different types of sales reps- hunters, farmers, transactional, enterprise, inside sales, outside sales, technical sales, public sector, solution specialists, named account, etc. The type of sales rep that you need is based on what and to whom you are…