Let’s face it, turning a B or C player into an A player is a lot less expensive than turning them over. While sometimes its necessary to release an under-performing sales rep, its often not the best solution for your business. Performance management is difficult, and so is often either Read more…
Why do they call it leading? Why do you lead a horse with lead-reins? Well, have you ever tried pushing a horse from behind? I certainly hope not. Some things should be obvious in sales leadership, but far too often are ignored. Let’s talk about push vs pull leadership. I Read more…
Do your customers love you? The success to any business is to have great customer retention. Unfortunately, companies sometimes get caught-up in the numbers and the bottom line instead of focusing their efforts on developing their people.
Although there have been drastic changes and improvements through technology to make our sales lives “easier”, we still deal with people. And people build and develop relationships.
Here are 3 simple ways to make your customers love you: (more…)
It’s time to detach from the traditional sales way of thinking. You know what I’m talking about. The “Always Be Closing” mentality. It’s time sales organizations abandon the “what have you done for me lately” micro-management garbage that’s unfortunately still ever so common in many sales organizations. New methods and Read more…
You just finished a meeting with your customer. You asked for their business. And the customer responds with—MAYBE. Sigh. How you interpret that maybe is up to you. Let’s be honest, most sales professionals interpret a MAYBE for a yes.
It’s important to remember that there are only two responses: Yes or No. In fact, NO is my second favorite answer in sales. It’s the “Maybe’s” that cause a lot of heartache and frustration for sales professionals—not to mention the time wasted with unnecessary follow-up. (more…)
Cold Calling is outdated. You’ve heard the phrase “work smarter not harder” right? But for some reason, sales leaders preach the quantity over the quality approach when numbers aren’t trending in their favor.
For years, Cold Calling has been the measuring stick for sales activity and consequently the birth of the sales cliché “Activity drives results!” No it doesn’t. The right activity drives results!
If sales professionals were not hitting their numbers the solution was COLD CALLING. So what’s cold calling? Let’s look further: (more…)
Yes, companies are hiring. America has over 5 million job openings. Unemployment rate drops to the lowest in 10 years. The good news right now is that job seekers have options. Whether you’re looking to further your career or you’re simply exploring other opportunities, choose a company wisely. There are companies out there that always seem to be hiring.
If you end up employed with one of these companies, it could make your work life miserable. It can be hard to identify an “always hiring” company. A little investigation in the beginning will help you in the long run.
Right now, you as a job seeker are in the driver’s seat. Be true to yourself. Be confident in your skill set. Value what your experience brings to an organization. So here are some words of advice for job seekers.
Do you want to see real growth in your sales organization? Here’s a simple tip: Start treating your sales professionals as people.
What does that mean? Right now, there’s too much emphasis on the company instead of focusing on people. Company culture begins at the recruiting/interviewing process. Treat a candidate as a human being during the recruiting process. If a sales professional is under performing, eliminate the “Coach ‘em up or coach ‘em out” mentality. If you take care of your sales team, they will in return take care of your customers—improving customer retention.
A culture shift has to happen. (more…)
These 7 words kill GROWTH. You’ve probably heard someone say this at some point in your career. Hearing these words makes me cringe like the sound of a fork scraping on plate. Unfortunately, many companies embrace this philosophy. Companies may not come right out and say these words, but they say it in different ways. I call this the “Fishbowl Syndrome.”
A goldfish will only grow to the size of its environment, right? No. That’s a MYTH. Here’s what really happens. (more…)
You hired them for their strengths. Why focus on their weaknesses? Sales leaders, CEO’s, Management: Wouldn’t you rather focus on one’s strengths and increase the activities/behaviors that yield positive results? Unfortunately, most companies still focus on a sales professional’s weakness during reviews or “coaching” opportunities.
The first warning flag surfaces during the interview process: “Tell me, what’s your weakness?” Personally, I think it’s a lazy question without too much thought. C’mon, who’s going to admit their weakness while trying to sell themselves to an organization?
So how do we address what sales people should work on if we don’t focus on their weaknesses? Let’s discuss: (more…)