Value Proposition is a term like Partner that is both over used and misunderstood in the business world today. I have borrowed a definition that I learned at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management that I have used for 15 years and shapes work we do in this area. In…
I had the good fortune to spend the early days of my business career with one of the preeminent sales companies and sales training cultures in the world. Investment in their people (Managers and Reps) was a constant and an important point of differentiation. This was a big company and…
Over the past few weeks I’ve been fortunate to have had meetings with a dozen B2B sales leaders. What struck me as interesting was that out of those dozen meetings only one of the sales leaders had a large whiteboard in his office. I’ve known this individual for a…
To be certain, there are Sales Leaders that are not a cultural fit or do not have the requisite skills to accomplish the mission and will get replaced over time. What we are referencing as a point of discussion and debate is the “quick fix” that organizations may arrive at…
“A FOOL WITH A TOOL IS STILL A FOOL.” -Grady Booch (Software Developer) The title is somewhat self-explanatory and as we all look in the mirror, there is a pretty good chance that we have all invested in some form of tool or technology in our lives to solve…
Sir Anthony Hopkins is one of the most respected and successful actors in the world. I was reading an article about him the other day and I was struck by his process for preparing for a play or a movie. He stated that he always reads his lines out loud…
As we meet with various sales leaders and salespeople, we are finding a common theme emerging. Many salespeople are presenting their “solution” to the client far too early in the sales process. As we dig into the reasons for this behavior we have uncovered some consistent explanations as to why Premature Selling…
Our blog from a few weeks ago was on the topic of preparation before making an initial call on a suspect. We stopped at preparing your pitch. To continue forward, what are some important elements to consider or utilize as you prepare to pitch. As a starting point, lets begin…
Result: Something that happens as a consequence; outcome. We need more sales, more profitable sales, more of “this type” of sales etc. The common theme is that organizations know the consequence and outcome that they want to achieve. As with any outcome, it is equally important to understand the activities…
There is an old saying, “If you fail to plan then you plan to fail.” In the world of complex sales (the stakes are high), preparation is foundational to every phase of your sales process. I would argue it is most critical during the initial phase or what we call…