The examples of e-Rep power and sales effectiveness just keep on coming. Listen to this story about how a totally off-topic sales call turned into a win. Thank you e-Rep!
Here’s the chronology:
11/25/04 – Initial telephone contact with company president
12/17/04 – The one and only face-to-face meeting (…with the president mainly, plus a brief conversation with the founder)
12/21/04 – Original proposal for a Sales Excellence Council
01/10/05 – Opportunity recorded in my CRM as “Closed-Lost”
01/10/05 through 04/18/11 – Not a single conversation or e-mail for over [...]
Are there gaps in your skill set? Well, of course there are. All of us have gaps. Some of them are not so harmful. Some of them though, need to get filled.
Are your technology skills up to snuff? Do you really know enough to create, deploy and effectively use an e-Rep?
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We all know it’s a lot easier to sell something to someone who has bought from us before. Knowing this, I habitually make a personal contact with 5 past customers during the first month of every quarter. (By the way, that’s one terrific best practice. For me, the 20 per year is perfect. For you [...]
YPS has a client south-O-the-border that provides a never-ending stream of insights along with new perspectives on proven best practices. Just last week, I watched an exchange between their sales leader and one of the top reps that hit me (and the rest of the group) right between the eyes. It played out during a [...]
Let me first state a few aspects of my opinion about sales forecasts:
They are the only rational basis for setting the priority of items on your ToDo list
They are therefore indispensably essential
They must be updated continuously; by every sales rep, manager and executive
If you whine about submitting your forecast and/or tell me it’s not possible [...]
February 27, 2011 – 9:52 am
In this interview, Ed Diehl, co-CEO of Concept Systems in Albany, OR discusses an unusual management structure, an unusual management style, a diverse set of customers, and a highly varied set of applications.
Pay attention! 2010 was a record year for sales and earnings for Concept Systems. These guys are thriving in this so-called “tough” economic [...]
February 8, 2011 – 8:27 am
Yes.
Do it to establish and/or nurture relationships with customer decision makers. Yes, it will require a good bit of effort. No, you don’t have to write the whole thing. In fact, it’s better if you don’t write it!
Position and think of the project as prospecting. That’s right, publishing an e-Book can be all about grabbing [...]
February 4, 2011 – 11:26 am
Frankly, when Tom Walther, President of ESE, Inc., a control system integration company, started comparing his work to brain surgery, I was more than a bit skeptical. Then he kept talking; and making a whole lot of sense. I’m convinced… I wouldn’t want an integrator without CSIA Certification working in my plant [...]
February 2, 2011 – 7:07 am
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 [...]
