When hiring for sales positions, I rarely paid attention to formal education, the school attended or degree obtained, or even the name dropping of sales trainings. I was looking for relevant experience and soft skills, defined as desirable qualities that do not depend on acquired knowledge.
Read MoreIt is the sales team that is responsible for every dollar of revenue, all the growth the business aims for, and in many cases relies on to survive. With that in mind, the sales leader should be sitting next to the CEO, Founder, or Owner, and be the second most important person in the organization.
Read MoreSomeone recently asked me for tools to use to create healthy competition among their team. I had to immediately think of the joy of comparing scores, the unexpected winners, the bragging rights, the prizes that stuck with people for years, and the stories we were able to tell as a result.
Read MoreLack of attention and respect towards internal customers was leading to poor customer service, missing parts in deliveries, and an overall inability to achieve the desired double-digit sales growth. Only after addressing those internal issues did the company regain reputation and growth externally.
Read MoreSales Leaders (and for that matter anyone in Sales) know the acronym “ABC” is the infamous motivational phrase “Always Be Closing” made popular by Alec Baldwin. Today’s Sales Leaders need to know another acronym called “CRM”, or Customer Relationship Management.
Read MoreEvery prospect you speak to has sales objections, or reasons they're hesitant to buy your product. Sales objections are unavoidable. And a salesperson that wants to be successful absolutely needs to know how to discover and resolve those objections.
Read MoreWhether you sell toothbrushes or medical equipment and everything in between — until a customer (a) knows who you are, (b) likes who you are, and (c) trusts you there is no purchase. The depth of the trust required varies but there must be at least a base level of trust in place.
Read MoreAnalysis Paralysis comes with all the downsides of not making a decision. In a work or team environment, it also comes with further negative impact: It kills creativity. It decreases willpower. It reduces happiness. It lowers performance.
Read MoreMixed in with the messaging about how the current crisis affects the business world, is the realization that post-COVID will probably never be like pre-COVID. Companies and employees have made adjustments in the past weeks, and many of these changes will stick around.
Read MoreThe sales profession is not among the most admired. There even is a term, salesy, to describe a person or an approach to selling in an unaware, aggressive, and superficial manner. As I think about what makes a sales pitch great, I would argue that by their very nature, every sales pitch is salesy.
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