"As part of my initiative to build Sales Culture
I'll post my thoughts on the topics of the day"
As sales professionals, do you ever feel like the guy from the Dunkin' Donuts commercials? Do you get up every morning, bleary eyed and weary from the day before and think to yourself "got to build the pipeline"....? I think we all do and its completely normal. Perhaps the most essential element of what we do as sales professionals is to be constantly performing the activities that fill our sales pipeline! (If you are not, then thats another conversation!) As a sales professional, having a full and robust pipeline, is necessary to having a strong year, making great commissions and insuring a strong start to the following year. A strong pipeline is a good indicator ...
Hardly a day passes without some news agency reporting some sort of impending doom for the economy. I listen very carefully and try to make sense of it; seek out experts and ask questions. I have talked to professionals from all walks of life and everyone has some compelling vision of what is coming. Obviously, I am most concerned about helping the sales community protect itself against a downturn. I have devoted my column this week to sharing some of my thoughts about what we can do to make sure the sales keep coming in and we stay sharp! In my career, I have been through a few significant slowdowns and one ...
What makes a great client? What makes a client great? ( Did I just ask the same thing?) What drives the sales community to go the extra mile for a client? I am sure that we as sales professionals have had enough client interaction to have formed plenty of opinions on the best and worst traits of our clients! I can think of many clients in the past who were amazing to deal with. That motivated me to work harder on their behalf and do more-because it felt right and it was the right thing to do. I am not saying it is right to to be less sensitive to your difficult clients, ...
The last few days I have been reflecting on the upcoming Labor Day holiday. I did some research on the meaning and origin of the holiday and here is what I found...."Labor Day is a... holiday that takes place on the first Monday in September. The holiday began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the "working man". It is still celebrated mainly as a day of rest and marks the symbolic end of summer for many." Interesting and clearly the holiday had noble beginnings and intentions. I am not a huge fan of Labor Day only because it reminds me that my favorite season is ending. ...
OK..I need to have a small "rant" for a moment or two. I think the one thing that could earn ejection from the sales community is not having a healthy respect for time! Time is respect. Period. If you make an appointment, be on time. Plan it well and think about the things that will make you late.....traffic, AIR TRAVEL delays (especially in Philadelphia!) weather etc.... There is nothing worse than showing up late for an appointment and being late with no explanations. Nothing screams disrespect more than a disrespect for peoples time! I am just amazed at how this continues to be a problem in the sales community. If ...
Last night I had the honor and privilege to be a guest lecturer at Peirce College in downtown Philadelphia. I had a very exciting opportunity to speak to a marketing class on one of my very favorite topics "Everyone is in Sales." This class was comprised of bright working adults getting their degrees. They are all working and planning to get to the next level in their professional lives. We covered this topic with four main concepts...we talked about the intersection of marketing and sales, then we discussed the core idea that we are ALL in sales, from there we segued into a lively conversation on the need to develop a professional value proposition, and ...
I am really curious what this sales community thinks a great sales leader is? What defines that person to you? I have written my column this week on sales leaders and offer some of my initial thoughts on what a great sales leader should look like. As sales professionals we have all worked under a variety of leaders and as a result have been shaped and sharpened by those experiences. I think about my sales career and how much influence some really great sales leaders have had on me. Of course, that works both ways and I can also point to areas that have not been as...hmm..should I say not as ...
I had an interesting email the other day from a member of our sales community. She asked me if it is "normal" to not leave brochures with a client. Now, apart for the general fact that I don't think we can decide what is normal, I responded that I have several schools of though on this. My thinking is part of how I was raised in sales. Brochures and other documentation are a part of any sales call. They do not replace the sales rep and are not to be overly relied on! I firmly believe that as we move from tactical to more solution oriented and complex selling, the brochure becomes less relevant and ...
I was finishing my morning walk and stopped in to the local Starbucks and saw some people having a heated discussion where one person was obviously trying to convince the other to adopt his view on whatever it was they were talking about. The discussion was very emotional ( and quite passionate) and it started me thinking about how we as a sales community use our emotions in the course of selling. There is a difference between being emotional and passionate and it can be a fine line. Thats a subject for another time...... When you are working with clients or prospects, do you let your emotions get in the way? I can say that ...
One of the many topics that I hear the sales community discussing is how to pay salespeople and what the ratio of base salary to commissions should be to create the on target earnings ( OTE). What then is the motivational impact of a lower base salary base vs. a higher base salary for the candidate? I have been listening to and coaching salespeople who are in the interview process and it is fascinating to me what I hear. One strongly expressed view is that a lower base means the company does not value sales. Conversely, I have to talked to many higher level people making the hiring decisions and the view is equally strong that ...
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