Listen to others. Listening shows respect”¦ that people and their ideas are important to you. When people know you’re willing to listen, they will share their ideas as well as their frustrations. Listening enables you to build trust, which is essential for creating an elite, high-performance team. Clarify your expectations. Meet with individual team members … Read full article
Step 1: Is your “Stuck-in-rut” rep also one of your “Bell Cows”? A sales team typically consists of a few leaders and lots of followers. So does a ranch, where the herd follows along behind the one cow with a bell around its neck. Many salespeople, especially those with less experience, emulate the example of … Read full article
I just completed reading an informative article from MIT’s Sloan Management Review titled, “Why Leadership Development Efforts Fail.” The article states that too often companies go out looking for the next leadership fad – for example, the author of the newest book on the business bestseller list – and then they end up with a … Read full article
A friend of mine sells voice recording systems for emergency 911 centers. One “minor” difference between his system and those of competitors is that his system has been approved by Underwriters Laboratories. For years, my friend and his fellow salespeople made nothing of this differentiator. Then one diligent salesperson was carefully studying her prospect’s cost … Read full article
Here is one of the most common reasons why competitive sales opportunities are lost – and specifically what you can do to win more often. This is one of the mistakes to avoid if you want to give your competitors fits. Your competitor understands the prospect’s needs better than you do. Sun Tzu wrote his classic book, The Art … Read full article
For over 200 years the US Constitution has served as the system of fundamental laws and principles of our society. This amazing document has served as the cornerstone of our democracy. A reflection of our Founding Fathers’ core values, the Constitution has kept our society on track since 1787, and has certainly contributed significantly to … Read full article
Great managers enlist their teams in striving to raise the bar of standards in the work place. There are several reasons why this is important, but one of the best reasons for this management intention is that complacency encourages entropy and acceivement perpetuates development-employee satisfaction.
During a recession, your sales team’s #1 competitor is the customer’s decision to do nothing, to make no change. In good economic times your # 1 competitor is likely another company who sells products and services similar to yours. So, the skills your salespeople need to defeat these two very different competitors are different as … Read full article
Be careful not to give preferential treatment (playing favorites) to some members of your sales team vs. others. Under normal business conditions you may be a leader who is measured and just. But during these tough times there’s a tendency for many sales managers to get uptight and stressed out. You may feel like you’re … Read full article
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