Have you ever had a client who just didn’t work out? You tried your best, yet it seemed like it was destined to fail from the start. Well, guess what, it probably was! I have been in sales for a really long time, and one thing one of my early mentors taught me was this: sometimes, […]
The Problems of Selling to the Informed Customer
It’s no secret that today’s buyers are much better informed than their counterparts just 5 or 10 years ago. Today, information is a mouse click away on the Internet and in fact, a study by Accenture revealed that a staggering 94% of B2B buyers conduct some sort of online research before making a purchase. But […]
How to Keep Your Sales Organization From Making a $250,000 Mistake
There are dozens of blog posts, articles and statistics devoted to the value of bringing in the right talent into your organization. At the Atlanta Sales Leadership Community panel, we learned that the average cost of a bad hire for a company is $250,000. Take that number and multiply it by just four and you are looking at […]
Turn Underperforming Sales Managers into the “World’s Best Boss”
According to a new study conducted by Sales Mastery, sub-optimal sales management coaching is the top barrier impacting an organization’s ability to reach 2018 revenue targets. No wonder. Sales leaders are often promoted from sales representative roles because they are exceptionally good at selling, and may show potential for leadership. However, once they become sales […]
VP Sales Job Tenure Has Shrunk 7 Months – This Trend Explains Why
VP Sales Job Tenure Has Shrunk 7 Months – This Trend Explains Why The VP of Sales’ average tenure has steadily declined the last seven years. Once standing at a healthy 26 months, it’s now just 19 months. 7 months of tenure have evaporated. A year-and-a-half on the job isn’t much time to make the […]
Do You Make These 13 Mistakes During Your Sales Conversations?
Mistakes during your sales conversations cost you deals. Buyers have dozens of options and more power than ever before. That means you can’t afford to slip up during sales conversations. Your buyers won’t have it. They’ll move to another vendor faster than you can blink, leaving your pockets empty. Knowing the most common mistakes will help you avoid them. […]
Why The Best Salespeople Are Phenomenal Project Managers
At first glance, project managers and sales professionals don’t seem to have much in common. They inhabit different worlds and generally aim for different goals. Budget-conscious, time-crazed and snoopier-than-normal, the stereotypical project manager seems, at most, a very distant cousin of the freewheeling, outgoing and glib sales practitioner. Yet the best salespeople are able to […]
The Ins & Outs of Variable Pay Compensation Structure for Sales Teams
With increasing focus on grit and many claims of meritocracies in organizations across the country, why does variable pay compensation even exist? On top of that, why are sales people some of the few employees subject to variable compensation structures? I wish I could say it’s all about incentives, but the truth is a bit […]
Is Your Sales Team Spooking Potential Customers?
We’re all familiar with the dreaded phone call from a unwelcome sales person. The phone rings from a number you haven’t seen before. You consider letting it go to voicemail, but curiosity wins. You answer – and immediately regret it. On the other end is someone who doesn’t seem to understand your business and doesn’t seem to […]
Always Start With a Vision
Often during a coaching session, I will ask a salesperson, “What is your vision for this account?” More often than not, they reply with what they are trying to sell or how large they want the account to be, almost always in terms of pure revenue value. Some might think of that as a vision, […]