Readers of this blog have seen a lot about the indispensable value of metrics. First, ya’ gotta’ have a defined process. Then ya’ gotta’ measure it. That’s the only way to know if improvement has occurred or not, and at what rate. It’s the only way you can prove your dedication to continuous improvement. Show [...]
A comment on one of my recent posts about forecasting really got me thinking. Here’s the comment, “Managers, grow a backbone. Hold your people accountable and stop accepting excuses.” My knee-jerk reaction was violent agreement.
Then I started thinking… How effective is Atilla The Hun style management? How did I and would I react to a [...]
As a group, sales managers are not big on “managing by the numbers.” Only a very few use more than a half-dozen or so measurements to monitor the quality and effectiveness of sales performance. Most rely on two, revenue and profit. They are the ultimate indicators of success, right? Why would [...]
Dave Brock started the mudslinging at a useless forecasting metric, then Anthony Iannarino piled on. These two guys are right on the money – again – and I can’t help but throw another log on the fire.
A common assumption by sales leaders… Allow me to re-phrase: A common dumb assumption by sales leaders is that [...]
Part of me feels really dumb doing this post. But another part of me is kind of proud. Yet another part reminds me that it’s bad form to self-promote in your own blog.
So I hope you’ll cut me some slack…
The dumb part is actually feeling great about and broadcasting the fact that The YPS Group [...]
According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, 150 is the “cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships.” Simply put, you can’t have more than 150 friends and business associates. Establishing that 151st contact causes a weakening of some other relationship.
Obviously, it’s not quite that cut and dried. [...]
Maybe the real lesson is to be aware that your actions always have unintended consequences. The good news is that sometimes you get lucky. Don’t miss it! Here’s one example where what initially looked like a failure morphing into a big win.
In general, sales reps represent themselves as a pretty tough, resilient, independent bunch. I’m not so sure about that.
Virtually every time I work with a sales team to continuously improve its sales process, I run smack into a “they’re too delicate for that” problem. It’s never phrased that way. It’s always couched [...]
We’re all familiar with the “Law of Unintended Consequences.” My personal favorite is still the plastic whistles that were packaged with Cap’n Crunch cereal back in the ’70s. Blowing the whistle into your phone triggered a connection to AT&T’s long distance dialing AND by-passed their billing system. Free calls! Not exactly what Quaker Oats had [...]
Average Sell Cycle Time: 16 Months
E-Rep Assisted Sell Cycle Time: 37 Days
I left something out of the E-Rep Success Story I blogged about recently. Frankly, I was so focused on the fact that my E-Rep helped close a deal within the first 4 months of its existence that I completely lost sight of a [...]
