The best salespeople are proactive and take control of the sale. Rather than simply allowing themselves to be led by a customer who controls the agenda, top producers constantly add value, establish their authority as thought leaders, and steer the customer’s thinking in favorable directions. They don’t play by the rules, but instead look for opportunities […]
Tag Archives: The Sales Cycle
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. […]
Supercharge Your Sales with Laser-Sharp Target Marketing
Looking for that “one thing” you can do that will supercharge your sales and make your salespeople incredibly happy and productive? Try this: Focus all your marketing energy and resources on one or more specific target markets. Believe me, it’s critical to your sales success. But how do you do that? How do you decide […]
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 […]
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 […]