What are the biggest sales issues & opportunities for CEOs & Sales Leaders today?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Sales Benchmarking, Sales Consulting, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Strategy, Strategy

Since late 2014, we have been rolling out the Sales Strategy & Operations Audit working with a wide range of businesses across industries in the public, private, and N4P sectors to help them sell better.

In 2017, we compiled the Barrett Sales Strategy & Operations Benchmark Report for 2015-2017 based on over 20 companies and found several trends emerging that are relevant across businesses and industries. We are also seeing this across many other businesses with or without the audit.

Here is what we found:

The biggest sales issues facing CEOs & Sales Leaders today:

  • Average or below average: Every business …

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    Sales Trend 4: Buyer Behaviours, AI & the Future of Sales Roles

    By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Customer Service, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Trends

    Sales Trend 4 from the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2018 is about buyer behaviours and the future of sales roles.

    According to Gartner Research, by 2020 85% of interactions between businesses will be executed without human interaction. [i]

    Automation has already diminished the number of people required for blue collar manufacturing roles; however, with the advent of AI (artificial intelligence), big data and algorithms, we are beginning to see sweeping changes happening across the once untouchable white collar sector, including the very people-oriented roles of sales, as many buyers shift part or all of their buying journey …

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    What does Selling Better mean for customers and shareholder return?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Sales Culture, Sales Leadership, Sales Relationships, Sales Results

    I have to start with the bad news on this topic.

    Are any of us surprised by the current revelations stemming from the Australian Banking Royal Commission?

    Possibly not.

    Are any of us surprised as to the extent of the unethical and illegal behaviours documented and admissions made by senior management into the systemic corruption of their businesses, especially in the financial planning sector?

    Possibly yes.

    It is utterly astounding, the admissions being made by senior management of the likes of AMP and CBA. Then comes the audacity of blaming growing shareholder returns as their excuse to exploit and deceive customers. Saying they were unaware …

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    What does Selling Better mean to sales team’s retention rates?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Customer Service, Education in Sales, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Essentials, Sales Process Maps, Sales Strategy, Selling Better, Uncategorized

    What do you make of this statistic?

    The average tenure of a sales representative across Europe and USA is currently 15 months.

    Ouch!

    There are other stats that also show the average staff turnover can be anything around 25-50% per annum, or more in some cases.  Some call centres experience turnover rates of over 70% per annum.

    These statistics are alarming because the costs associated with poor engagement and high staff turnover are monumental and can manifest in many ways including decline in sales, poor customer service, loss of reputation leading to more loss of customers and employees, and impaired recruitment. If not addressed, …

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    Should clients pay for tender and RFP submissions?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Ethics & Values, Opportunity, Procurement, Uncategorized

    In principle, and ideally in practice, yes they should.

    Why?

    Because there is a lot of time, effort, money and IP that goes into preparing a tender or RFP (request for proposal). This also includes RFIs (request for information).

    The companies requesting these tenders, RFPs and RFIs are freely benefiting from the expertise of suppliers if they are requesting highly detailed responses and expecting to pay nothing for this information. With the advent of software these companies can easily compare offerings and strip mine the IP to serve themselves at the suppliers’ expense. Basically they are getting knowledge and expertise for free and …

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    The Optimistic Sales Professional

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Emotional Intelligence, Life Skills, Mindful selling, Opportunity, Optimism, Resilience, Sales Essentials, Self Development, Success

    Sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well – both physically and psychologically. And there’s a body of research showing that keeping an optimistic outlook and having the physical energy to meet the demands of working in sales are critical to a salesperson’s effectiveness, success and overall well-being. Something many of us know intuitively, but good to have it validated.

    Managing and overcoming setbacks is key to succeeding in anything. In sales we are tested every day. Without a sense of optimism it would make getting …

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    Sales Strategy: Ditch short-termism for robust sales strategies that drive more & better sales now & over the long-term

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Market Segmentation, Sales Research, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Strategy, Success

    ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, every road will lead you nowhere’.

    This famous quote is attributed to Henry Kissinger.

    Why have I led with this quote? Sadly, in today’s busy, noisy and complex world, this quote represents a common state of affairs for many organisations’ CEOs, Executive Leaderships Teams, Sales Leaders and their sales teams who are struggling to make sales, retain their relevance with clients, and generate profit.

    Instead, many are finding themselves in a race to the bottom price war which is not a strategy for success, instead it’s a reaction to short-termism which only leads to one’s …

    Sales Strategy: Ditch short-termism for robust sales strategies that drive more & better sales now & over the long-term Read Post »

    The Power of Optimism and Opportunity for Sales & Business

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Opportunity, Sales Culture, Sales Leadership

    Bob Safian, Editor in Chief of Fast Company, said: “…Uncertainty reigns as rapid change disrupts expectations and social norms. Global leadership is fractured and economic conditions fluctuate widely. Specters loom, from climate change to cyberterrorism. The relentless pace can make you want to curl up in a corner, wary of what might come next. Or you can stare unblinkingly at this time of chaos and dig into the difficult work of building a better tomorrow.”

    What do you see?

    What will you choose?

    It all starts with opportunity and optimism[1].

    Opportunity is a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible …

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    Sales Trend 3: Human Centred Selling – designing Empathetic Customer Centric Cultures

    By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Collaboration, Communication, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Customer Service, Emotional Intelligence, Sales Culture, Sales Trends

    Sales Trend 3 from the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2018 is about Human Centred Selling.

    Bestselling author and business icon Stephen Covey once said: “When you show deep empathy toward others … That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems”.

    In this hyper connected world it’s easy to gain access to information and make simple online purchases that are transactional in nature; items that we know how to use ourselves. However, today there is so much information and so many choices available that many customers are finding making buying decisions overwhelming, especially when things move beyond the …

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    Are your sales conferences pumping or slumping?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, Brand & Reputation, Collaboration, Communication, Sales Conference, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Strategy, Teamwork

    *** Trigger Warning: May contain traces of sarcasm ***

    We’ve all been there: a sea of people, pulled together from across the country or region, locked in a windowless room with artificial light, seated at round tables with mints and water, patiently waiting for the parade of presenters to finish their ‘Death by PowerPoint’ presentations so we can get to the coffee station during the day and then the bar at night to start really engaging with our colleagues. During the day some relief can be found in the smartphones that everyone will be less and less discreetly looking at repeatedly, …

    Are your sales conferences pumping or slumping? Read Post »

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