The best salespeople practice productive paranoia, and The Five Abilities guides that focus. They constantly ask themselves if they’re doing enough to beat the competition. “Have we done enough to win?” “Are we delivering better value?” “What have we left undone?”...
Spoiler alert – Money is not a top motivator for salespeople that are consistently great. How to motivate sales people is a common debate among sales managers and compensation specialists. It’s commonly assumed that salespeople are money hungry individuals and that the more you pay them the better they’ll...
Company leaders strive to create positive noise about their offering. They strive to be the topic of positive conversations. They want to create “buzz” for their company and offerings, resulting in heightened visibility and credibility. It’s a bonus when we get to sell for the...
The Pareto principle, or 80/20 rule, is well-known throughout many professions. It states that about 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of the effort. This principle applies to sales in the area of opportunity management – 80 percent of our sales comes...
It’s critical that we understand the practice of RELIABILITY as it regards sales specifically and business in general, on our way to winning lifelong customers. It’s doubly crucial that we guard against the misconceptions that exist around this very important ability....
You’ve successfully delivered your 30-second value proposition. Your customer has a suspicion of value and they’ve asked to know more. It didn’t happen in a formal meeting – of course. It happened at a tradeshow, a social event, a meeting on another topic, or a...
Last weekend, my wife and I had a great time seeing Harry Connick Jr. in concert at Chateau Ste Michelle Winery – a wonderful outdoor venue. We couldn’t get side-by-side seating so we had seats one in front of the other. The couple to my...
