Author Archives: Frank

Calculating the True Cost of Marketing

Over a century ago, retailing pioneer John Wanamaker famously said “Half my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” The same challenge confronts most companies today. But what if you could know exactly which of your lead sources was producing what results and calculate your marketing and sales costs to the penny on […]

Explaining The Sales Cycle

Many companies are less than forthright when discussing the length and makeup of their sales cycle with current and prospective salespeople. They fear that if their salespeople clearly understand just how long it will take before the first commission check hits their bank account – and how many hurdles will have to be jumped along […]

Is Sales The World’s Most Valuable Profession?

How is it that successful salespeople can earn more than doctors or lawyers, or sometimes even more than the owner of the company they work for? Economists agree: it’s because they practice the world’s most valuable profession. How valuable is it? Here’s a short quote from my 2004 book, The Greatest Job You Never Thought […]

Freeing Salespeople from the Burden of Marketing

Too often, I see companies placing the burden of Marketing on the shoulders of their salespeople, obscuring their true function and diminishing their effectiveness. In The World’s Greatest Sales Team, I imagine a firm which gives salespeople every opportunity to succeed by relieving that burden, allowing their salespeople to do what they do best; sell. […]

Recruiting Top Producing Salespeople

Good help is hard to find. Never is that phrase more true – or important – than when it comes to finding, developing and keeping good salespeople. Sales team member development will be covered in my articles on training. Retaining good salespeople is generally a question of properly setting and managing expectations which will be […]

Zen Selling

We’ve all known salespeople who seem to be the the marketing equivalent of “The Natural.” They know everything; about their offering, their clients, their prospects and their competition. They’re prepared for and calmly overcome every objection. They never get flustered or seem desperate, never take “no” for an answer. When they are faced with unavoidable […]

The World’s Greatest Sales Team?

This site was born out of frustration. Like most salespeople, over the years I’ve been frustrated with different aspects of every organization I’ve been associated with. Whether as an employee, independent contractor or consultant, it seems that invariably I find multiple, critical aspects of the sales process either ignored or poorly handled by the companies […]