Q&A for Sales People:  Tough Market

Q&A for Sales People: Tough Market

Question:   Any advice for a sales person in this economy? It seems like almost every customer is saying that they are cutting back and delaying spending.  How can I get them to loosen the purse strings and buy? Answer: Great question.  I’m sure this change in the...
Q&A for Sales People:  Tough Market

Why Good Sales People Often Turn into Mediocre Sales Managers

We’ve all done it.  Promoted a good sales person, often our best, to sales manager.  My files are full of cases where the results were below expectations for everyone involved.  Principals and CSOs are often disappointed in the lack of results, and the sales managers...
Stop the Bleeding!  The biggest unacknowledged cost of sales

Stop the Bleeding! The biggest unacknowledged cost of sales

The following scenario plays over and over again in every one of your sales territories every day.  And it costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. It is the largest single unacknowledged cost in the world of sales. I was working with one of my client’s...
Q & A for Sales Managers: Motivating Sales People

Q & A for Sales Managers: Motivating Sales People

Q. I direct a sales force of 15 reps. My pain of getting them to do what I ask has been something that no human being should go through.  First of all, we converted them from commission only to base plus commission.  In doing so, you can imagine my challenges in...
Myths of Business2Business Sales #1: “Great Relationships”

Myths of Business2Business Sales #1: “Great Relationships”

The world is full of sales people who claim, quite proudly, to have great relationships with their customers.  If that were true, it really would be great.  But unfortunately, “great relationships” is too often a veil that sales people hide behind to keep from...