It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. ~ Winston Churchill. Complex B2B selling is not easy, but it is a lot simpler than some want you to believe. I think it makes sense to step back sometimes, and take a look at things through […]
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Some in the sales profession consider the act of discovering what is important to prospects or clients and understanding their challenges, opportunities, needs, and requirements to be the most basic skill in selling. After all, this is taught in every Sales 101-type course on the planet, right? By contrast, to true top producers, Sales Discovery […]
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I enjoy writing about what I call the Sales Performance Ecosystem. I’ve written about it multiple times and have approached it from multiple angles. Aligning (the right) elements (at the right time) across the ecosystem is one of the quickest ways to radically improve your organization’s sales performance. Since many of the elements intertwine and should […]
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We hear a lot said these days about the importance of sales messaging. When we do, we also often hear about the various sales research data that points to sales reps’ inability to communicate value to prospects and customers. What I don’t believe we see enough, is advice about how to personalize effectively or […]
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Here is quick-hit post on sales coaching. Some Background There are multiple forms of coaching. I’ve often categorized them this way… directive coaching developmental coaching behavioral coaching personal effectiveness coaching (life coaching/executive coaching) … but I also don’t believe these distinctions are cut and dried. There is overlap and a great coach pulls out the […]
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Call it what you will… insight selling, changing the sales conversation, selling with insights, challenging, influencing through thought leadership… it’s all the rage, isn’t it? So much so, that some companies that shouldn’t be doing it are trying like crazy to scale the concept, and some that should be adding insight selling to their methodology mix, are rushing forward without […]
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While there are no magic bullets for sales or sales management, you can achieve a significant lift from your sales team by doing some foundational things very well. I know that many of you are incredibly talented sales managers who lead and manage your teams with great skill, but I am also often surprised at […]
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If I hear, “Sales training doesn’t work” one more time, I think I’ll scream. If done well, sales training works fine, for what it’s designed to do. This may spark a semantics debate, especially with my friends in the sales consulting space and others with a performance-orientation, but to me, training – in and of itself […]
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It sometimes surprises people to learn what separates the top 4% of sales producers from the rest. Judgment is one of those surprising skills. In fact, it’s such a differentiator, that I consider judgment to be one of the superpowers of selling. Part of the 22nd Century Selling Skills In my presentation on 22nd Century Selling […]
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The concept of sales value creation has been getting a lot of attention again lately, in the sales blogosphere. It should. I don’t believe in metaphorical “silver bullets,” but the ability to create value when selling is as close as we may come to a silver bullet for our profession. We tend to forget that […]
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