Making a Sales Plan
An 18-wheeler slid into a ditch. A little old lady pulled up with her two Chihuahuas in the car and called to the driver, “Throw me a chain and I’ll…
VU Resources
The Danger of the Stockholm Effect
In many organizations, we are now seeing the modern equivalent of the World War II Stockholm Effect (see below), with sales people transferring alliances to the customer. This could lead…
From Success to Significance
The issues of attitude and motivation seem to confound most sales organization. Companies will go looking for a “motivational speaker” to pump life into a lethargic sales group. Sales managers…
Training and the Sales Manager
The most often misunderstood function in a sales plan is the training of staff. The first rule of training is that nothing stays fixed. Training is an ongoing process that…
Sales Training…Fact or Fraud?
Most claims of success by sales trainers are a fraud. Many sales trainers are like roosters taking credit for the dawn…they crow about the effectiveness of their workshops when, in…
Wrap Around Selling
In order to migrate (develop) a prospect up to buyer and then on to loyal customer requires a sales person to have an overall account management vision. What’s needed is…
Behavioral Science and Selling
In the early days of organized selling, when behavioral science was coming of age, some of the companies fielding large numbers of door-to-door sales people turned to the new science…
The “Born Salesman” Myth
Probably no myth is more pervasive than the idea that there are “born” sales people. What a crock. Granted there are some people who seem to naturally have the attributes…
Coaching Sales People
All the books you’ve read, all of the “rah-rah” rallies you’ve attended, all of the workshops you sat through don’t mean squat if you don’t convert the knowledge into skill.…
Beyond Consultative Selling
Selling may be simple but consulting is hard — and it’s different! You’re kidding yourself if you think you can hire a “sales trainer” to teach your sales people how…
