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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Here’s the scenario: The company is a B2B distributor of printing equipment and supplies. It was founded by a team of three people with a financial backer 14 years ago. In 2010, their 52 sales reps brought in just over $60 million in revenue. Annual sales growth has settled in right around [...]
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 [...]
Originally published at Dreamland Interactive.
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 to [...]
Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman has been one of my personal favorite plays for years. The tragic figure of Willy Loman has always been inspiring to me in an “anti-hero” sort of way. Someone as sharp as me can easily spot Willy’s weaknesses and flaws of course, and avoid them!
Then I read Have We [...]
I’ve been in a running debate with my colleague, Stone Payton, for about a year now regarding the value and continuing applicability of the “funnel” metaphor for B2B sales. Stone emphatically states, “Forget the funnel!” (See this post, especially point #5 and the comments.) I just as emphatically disagree!
And I think I finally understand the [...]
The best of the sales managers and executives I’ve had the pleasure to work with tend to demand very few things. They expect a lot in terms of results, but are generally reluctant to lay out a long list of specific requirements. The single most common demand of the top-notch sales leader? [...]
There is always a danger in focusing on the tools used to get a job done. (We all know the cliché about the six-year old with a chain saw…) That said however, a robust CRM system just might be the most powerful tool a sales team can have.
A highly functional CRM system [...]
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 [...]
It’s quite instructive to examine the nature of offerings from the hordes of sales consulting and training firms. The overwhelming majority of them are focused on developing sales skills. Clearly, what sales managers are demanding is precisely that.
All well and good. I’m the first to violently agree that selling skills are fundamentally and critically important. [...]
