You’ve been promoted to Sales Manager, but you want to keep some accounts. Or, your boss says you need to keep some accounts. Either way; it’s a bad idea. Here are a just a couple of really bad situations you can find yourself in: You’ve been with the company forever. You know all the accounts…. Read more »

Finding a salesperson that combines specific technical skills along with strong sales skills is rare. It usually boils down to an either/or, rather than, a both/and choice. On the one hand, do you need someone who can converse comfortably with a customer engineer, or do you really need someone who can find new business and… Read more »

As a sales team leader, how often have you heard one of your star performers describe the same opportunity over and over again? Meeting after meeting you hear about how this project or that order will close “very soon.” You continually press for an order date but face disappointment month after month. The agony drags… Read more »

So, you think you need more salespeople? Your current sales staff is not producing enough? According to data from Cirrus Insight, the average salesperson spends less than half of his time engaged in actual selling. Too much time is spent staring into a monitor composing and sending email. According to Dr. Tom Sant, partner at… Read more »

One of the things we continue to impress upon our coaching clients is how to qualify prospects. More succinctly; how do you know when to fire a prospect? Undoubtedly, this is our most difficult decision. When do you walk away from a prospect? Here are some tell-tale signs that will help you make that decision…. Read more »

Too often I am on a call with a salesperson who is convinced the customer wants to hear everything he knows about his product or service. Nelly bar the door! He is going to cover every point! Shortly after pleasantries are exchanged our sales pro starts into his features and benefits. The really inexperienced don’t… Read more »

At some point during sales training sessions, or one on one coaching we hear from a veteran salesperson “I knew that!” Our follow up question is something along the lines of “I’m sure you did, the question is; are doing it?” Eyes go down and there is stillness in the room. Most often this occurs… Read more »

As we travel around with salespeople coaching them on all things related to sales we see too many sales calls that are just plain painful to witness. Delivering a really solid presentation is a mixture of art and science. Think about it. Sales and marketing have put a lot of effort into getting you in… Read more »

Over the past few years we have facilitated hundreds of sales meetings. At that point when we ask salespeople to explain the quotes in their pipeline, we hear some great excuses. It is hard to not interrupt with “wait that’s excuse number 6. I know it well.” That often produces hand wringing, loss of eye… Read more »

We keep hearing about this hybrid sales rep referred to as a “hunter/farmer”. Let me begin by saying that when helping clients find a new sales rep we come across few true “hunters”. In fact, we estimate fewer than 15% of the reps we evaluate are hunters. Think about it for a minute. How many… Read more »