04
2014
How a business suffers when sales and marketing aren’t on the same page
In today’s challenging and competitive economy, it is more important than ever that a company’s sales and marketing efforts are productive, effective and efficient. Unfortunately, millions of dollars in business opportunities are lost or squandered every single day when these two seemingly close-linked departments get it wrong. Here are a few examples: Business opportunities are lost when the Sales Department… Doesn’t have access to the…
16
2014
Do you use Sales Performance Management?
In his latest research for Aberdeen, Peter Ostrow has uncovered some interesting insights into some key problems around sales management and their attempt to deal with sales performance. Simply managing a sales team today has changed dramatically over the years and the old “carrot and stick” method no longer works like before. Today’s sales managers need to be more creative and use concepts like “Gamification”…
07
2014
Are you taking advantage of the Tribal Knowledge within your organization and capitalizing on it?
It is always interesting to me that companies are constantly looking outside of their organizations for the panacea to solve whatever problem they have, instead of looking inward and taking advantage of what they already know. Specifically, in sales organizations there is a ton of experience and “tribal knowledge” that exists around: who your best target market and prospects are, what is the best way…
03
2013What do CEO’s really want from their Sales & Marketing teams?
Let’s face it, the bottom line for every CEO is increasing business, meeting their revenue goals and being more profitable! If their Sales and Marketing teams can meet those demands, then most CEO’s are happy with that. They really don’t care if their Sales and Marketing teams are aligned, because if they are on target, then they simply assume that they are aligned. Again, they…
23
2013
Death of a Salesman????
No, this isn’t an article about Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winning play about Willy Loman. Instead, I want to put to bed that the need for sales people has diminished recently due to the paradigm shift in the sophistication of buyers. Granted, the Internet has allowed buyers to search for what they need long before they engage with a sales person. But, that takes into…
02
2013
How do you deal with the “I’m too busy” excuse?
Ever said or heard this: Sorry, I’m just too busy to consider taking on anything else right now! I’ve resurrected this article that was posted in early 2012 because it is one of the most sought after articles that I have posted, so I hope you enjoy it again. I’m sure that we all have seen similar cartoons that do a great job of exposing…
26
2013
Keeping your Sales & Marketing teams Accountable
Where does accountability lie within your organization and how do you go about holding people accountable for their performance, or lack thereof? I know a lot of organizations have annual reviews that are conducted by HR or an immediate supervisor of how an individual is performing. Depending on the organization these can be very helpful and detailed or just fluff. It all depends on who…
07
2013
Success is 90% Preparation, 10% Perspiration
We’ve all heard the adage “Success is 90% preparation and only 10% perspiration”. The great scientist Louis Pasteur once said, “Chance favors the prepared mind”. This is an area that I believe needs to be addressed more effectively by sales people and the organizations they work for today. So, let me start by asking: Are your sales people as prepared and effective as they need…
20
2013
Top 10 Reasons Why Your Marketing Team is Failing You and How To Fix Them
My good friend Michael Cannon, who is the CEO of the Silver Bullet Group (www.silverbulletgroup.com), is clearly one of the top people in the industry that I believe consistently has the inside track on what Marketing organizations can do to be more effective. With his permission, I am presenting his article and hope that you, too, will become a follower of Michael and the Silver Bullet…
05
2013
Does your organization have a “Sales Culture”?
I had a discussion recently with one of the top business coaches in the country, Brian Cork (www.brianthebusinesscoach.com), and we were talking about selling to companies that have a sales culture. That got me to thinking about that term “Sales Culture” and what it meant. So, I Googled it and what I found was mostly blogs and promotions for sales training to help organizations implement…