December 14, 2010 – 11:47 pm
You hear the grumbling all the time. From sales reps: “My quota is higher again this year and my territory is smaller. Not only is it unfair, it’s nuts!” From plant managers: “My production targets are up again this year, and they want me to cut back on workers and eliminate overtime. Not only is [...]
December 2, 2010 – 7:05 pm
“Philosophers are people who know less and less about more and more, until they know nothing about everything. Scientists are people who know more and more about less and less, until they know everything about nothing.” — Attributed to Konrad Lorenz
Most sales reps are quite adept at having a conversation with [...]
December 1, 2010 – 8:06 am
I read a lot. In my view, all business people must read a lot. I seek out the opinions of others a lot. In my view, all business people must seek out the opinions of others a lot. New facts and perspectives, combined with all the facts and perspectives already in our heads are the [...]
September 6, 2010 – 7:07 am
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 [...]
September 3, 2010 – 8:13 am
About fifteen years ago, I ran across a paper written by Arie De Geuss, then chief of corporate planning for Royal Dutch Shell. In it, he made one of those pithy observations that really capture the essence of sustained excellent performance. Insightful as he was at the time, it’s just not [...]
August 23, 2010 – 5:35 am
As a guy who helps organizations design, implement and execute a sales process, I hear it all the time; “Don’t tell me how to do my job.” It’s a hoot to watch the reaction when I reply, “I have no intention of even trying to do so.”
There’s no way an outside consultant, or even a [...]
August 11, 2010 – 7:29 pm
Principle 1: Continuous improvement of the sales process is a fundamental necessity.
Not really possible to argue about this one is it? You sort of have to accept it’s validity immediately, right? It’s even a bit motherhood-and-apple-pie-ish. That said, this principle can only be ignored if the sales performance of your competitors is steadily degrading. If, [...]
Manufacturing executives said it didn’t apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Software development executives said it didn’t apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Business & technology services executives said it didn’t apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Sales executives, managers and professionals KNOW FOR SURE it doesn’t apply [...]
Ask any sales manager about the need for continuous sales training and you instantly get agreement that it is important. So why isn’t there more of it going on? The fact is, most money spent on sales training is wasted. Typically, it annoys most reps, bores many and is totally forgotten within [...]
A client of ours who provides engineering and integration services recently established an alliance with a hardware/component distributor. It’s a great match, dramatically extending the value each company can provide to its customers. The challenge to our client is educating their new partner’s 1,500 sales reps.
While they’re great at selling hardware, selling services is a [...]
