Why Sales Leaders Must Focus on Beliefs to Transform Sales Behavior I just began work with a new client whose baseline call recordings showed their talk ratios on initial sales calls with buyers were: Sales team 90% Buyers 10% The Sales VP reported that his initial use of a Mutual Agenda led to a conversation in which the buyer willingly opened up and shared their … Read more
Four Reasons to Review Sales Calls with Your Team Many sales calls are recorded. Few are reviewed. Sales calls should not be recorded as a means to simply check boxes. That’s pointless. Effective sales managers use call recordings like game film to help their team analyze the outcomes, and learn what is effective. Here are four reason to review sales calls with your team: #1 … Read more
The Problem with Safety Nets I was watching David Rubenstein interview Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder of Moderna, when David asked Noubar why so many start-ups were founded by immigrants. Noubar replied that if you were uprooted from your home, especially forcibly as he was from his native Lebanon, you have no sense of entitlement. He said that a sense of entitlement is only possible if … Read more
The Cost of Sales Discussing costs is a part of every sales cycle, and many sellers bring in the cost of the status quo to help justify the price. Yet we rarely look at our own costs to pursue leads that may never close. Think about all zombie accounts that hang out on your forecast for months or years that will never close. Pursuing them … Read more
Why is Consultative Selling Better? In a recent Government Software Sales Bootcamp, I put up a slide comparing the traditional selling system with the more modern consultative selling system: Original Selling System Present Handle stalls and objections Close Consultative Selling System Qualify Present Close It was no secret that I’m in favor of the consultative selling system, but I asked the students to discuss why … Read more
Guidelines for Use of Call Recordings in Sales Coaching I just put this together for a new client who expressed concerns about his team’s response to the use of call recordings for coaching, since they had never done it. He was worried about resistance to a new level of accountability that might impact morale. He was also concerned it might make his folks fearful of … Read more
The First Step When You Take Over a New Sales Team In A Proactive Sales Leader Knows How to Increase Sales I provide a sequenced checklist of recommended activities for a new Sales VP who is taking on leadership of a new sales team. This is the equivalent of what a new coach might do when she takes over a new team. In this sales … Read more
Leading Change through Sales Methodology Training Creating change in a sales organization requires a sales leader to utilize sales methodology training. Change is hard because most people take the path of least resistance and gravitate toward old habits. Leading a sales team starts with putting your sales playbook in place. If your new sales methodology makes their job easier, the sales team will use it. … Read more
A Proactive Sales Leader Knows How to Increase Sales This tip provides a series of sales leadership activities, recommended by sales leaders who know how to increase sales. The sequence starts with suggested actions when you first take over a new sales team. Following these initial actions is a cadence of annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly activities to drive a high level of sales performance. … Read more
Proactive vs. Reactive Sales Management The Problem with Your Game If you hired a golf pro, what would you think if he said, “The problem with your game is that the ball does not go into the hole early enough and often enough!” As ridiculous as the golf coach’s advice is – and let me ask this very gently – is it the sort of … Read more