Why Sales Managers need to work on the business, not just in the business

By / / Sales Forecasting, Sales Management, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Planning, Strategy

Playing “catch up” is a common challenge for organisations of all sizes. Whether you have enjoyed a period of rapid growth and prosperity, or encountered some unexpected obstacles or losses, with little warning, businesses can discover that their decision making and activity has become very reactive. Too much time is spent putting out spot fires and reacting to situations, while too little time is spent on pro-active and strategic activities.

The very real and legitimate day to day business pressures result in many (if not most) decisions being made on an ad-hoc basis, with each one disconnected from the next. The …

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Is your sales effort built on a house of cards?

By / / Sales Culture, Sales Leadership, Strategy

Is your sales strategy and projected sales growth built on a house of cards?

For many start-ups this is the case. Their initial sales growth often comes off the back of an entrepreneur’s ideas and the hard work of a dedicated few who pitch in, take on multiple roles and tasks all the while promoting and selling the idea to more and more people. This works well in the early days where the team is small, communication channels are direct, everyone knows what is going on and is committed to the fledgling business’ success.

There’s lots of activity, lots of fun, lots …

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Noise Reduction part 2: Is too much information making you miserable and losing you sales?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Call Reluctance, CRM, Sales Planning, Sales Research, Time Management

With information comes choice and without proper guidelines and filters in place, too much information and too many choices can lead to indecision. Indecision can then lead to paralysis making us unhappy, unproductive, and at worst, ineffective. In sales careers, or any role for that matter, too much information and the subsequent indecision is a real killer – in fact, making no decision is far worse than making the wrong decision.

Barry Schwartz, professor of social theory at Swarthmore College in the US and author of The Paradox of Choice states “too much choice is …

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Noise Reduction part 1

By / / Communication, Sales Research, Social Media, Social Sales

Noise Reduction was voted by you as the number 5 Sales Trend for 2010. About 20 years ago I was told that information was doubling every 5 years; 5 years ago it was every 18 months; 1 year ago it was every 9 minutes, so who knows how fast information is doubling now?

Many business leaders, sales people and many more are reporting information overload. Selecting what to take on board and what to leave behind will be critical for sales and business success in 2010 and beyond. It will also be critical for our …

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Are you making the most of Psychometric Assessments?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Performance Management, Value Proposition & Value Add

Many of us actively recoil when we see the words ‘Psychometric Assessments’. This may be due to fear of the unknown, seeing them as ‘tests’ or just tedious questionnaires. While you would not be alone in this, we on the other hand are advocates (of the right Assessments). At Barrett, we spend much of our time demystifying what Assessments actually are and how businesses can benefit from using them. So even if you have been brave enough to use Assessments, most people do not know how to get the most out of them. Often the Assessment process is seen as …

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What’s channel stuffing and why is it problematic?

By / / Ethics & Values, Sales Forecasting, Sales Management, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Strategy

How much do you actually sell? How profitable are your sales? How accurately can you forecast your sales results? How many ‘returns’ do you receive? How often do you need to discount? How often are you left with old stock? What are your sales cycles? Are your sales people rewarded on volume only or on margin, account growth, account retention, and customer satisfaction?

The answers to these and other key questions will tell you just how effective a sales force is functioning, how they measure their effectiveness, how they think about their business, their customers, their careers, and how likely they …

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Are you ready for the phenomenon of Social Sales?

By / / Communication, CRM, Social Media, Social Sales, Strategy

Social Sales was voted by you as the number 4 Sales Trend for 2010. Arguably, social media is contributing to the democratisation of information and, armed with this information, customers will demand different things from sales people and companies. Customers are tuning into online communities, blogs, forums, and social networks to gather information and make buying decisions.

For instance, the retail car market is undergoing significant changes with customers firmly in the driver’s seat. With the emergence of the information age consumers have far more knowledge about what to buy and where to buy it. …

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How fit is your sales team?

By / / Sales Assessments, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Sales Training

Earlier this year we had the opportunity to put a client’s field sales force through the Barrett Sales Fitness Circuit to test their sales fitness.

The Sales Fitness Circuit is designed to reinforce and continue the process of learning from the Barrett Sales Communication Training. The Sales Communication competencies (skills, knowledge and mindset) covered in the initial training is put to the test through a series of exercises. The aim is to embed the learning from the training as a way of life in the sales team’s actions and thinking.

Specific skills, competency enhancement, and behaviour …

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Buyer beware – scammers and fraudsters on the prowl

By / / Ethics & Values

‘Buyer Beware’ is a phrase that has been around for a long time and for good reason. There are enough stories in circulation to know that not all sales people or businesses behave honourably, and some are nothing more than fraudsters and scammers. With the market getting more crowded everyday, the need to attract buyer attention and grow revenue, and the rise of the online business model, buyers should beware.

While most businesses and their sales people want to attract and work with viable prospects and customers, there are those less than honourable sales and business people who are after victims, …

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Walk a mile in my shoes

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Sales Skills

‘Walk a mile in my shoes‘ is a song written by Joe South and made famous by Elvis Presley. The song is very much about challenging closed mindedness, respecting and honouring differences, and learning how to get along with each other. However, I propose that it also has a lot to say to sales and marketing people. For instance, the first verse sets it up well:

If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour
If we could find a way to get inside each other’s mind
If …

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