‘How we sell around here’ equals sales success

By / / Education in Sales, Sales Coaching, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Management, Sales Research, Sales Results

Many years ago, and for many years, when salespeople were recruited into the sales team of a business they would be schooled in ‘how we sell around here’.

New salespeople regardless of their experience would be introduced to the business’ sales plan, target markets and customer segments, the product range, the current sales processes, tools and templates, and so on. Sales managers would put these new recruits through their paces making sure that they knew how to sell.

Now, I admit some of the sales processes these new sales recruits were schooled in where not always ideal or even ethical, but the …

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Lessons for Sales from ‘Good to Great’

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Culture, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Research, Sales Results, Sales Talent, Self Development, Success

Jim Collins (author of “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t”) stimulates a thought that many sales managers should be asking themselves right now: “What makes good salespeople great?”

At Barrett we work with sales managers and salespeople every day, and recently asked that question of a number of people in both categories. The response wasn’t that startling. What Barrett learned is that few sales managers, and even fewer salespeople, could actually define what “great” selling actually means. This has confirmed Barrett’s findings that many salespeople let themselves down because they …

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Cracking the Sales Myth of Hunters & Farmers

By / / Assessments, Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Talent

Many so called “experts” claim that there are two types of salespeople – Hunters and Farmers.

Salespeople, so these experts claim, are either one or the other. Consequently they fit one sales position or another. In our experience, having spent decades working with salespeople at every level in a wide variety of segments, salespeople don’t fit into these neat stereotypes.

The myth about Hunters and Farmers in Selling has been overtaken by a business reality.

Before we crack the myth let’s take a look at where the concept came from in the first place.

The person credited with starting the concept …

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How to find more sales growth

By / / Sales Consulting, Sales Management, Sales Strategy, Sales Tips

Many companies in B2B sales are looking for more growth in their respective market segments; however, their sales and business leaders are still looking at their markets as whole segments rather than seeing and seizing the lucrative opportunities that micro segmentation can bring.

Without effective micro-segmentation, businesses risk missing niche or unique opportunities and/or needlessly increasing the cost of sales across the segment as a whole. To micro-segment a market effectively, you need to consider (at both the macro and micro levels) the size of each sales segment and the purchasing drivers of relevant customers. From …

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20 years of improving sales teams & operations. What’s changed?

By / / Collaboration, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, CRM, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Sales Strategy, Social Media, Vision, Mission & Purpose

The 9th January 2015 marks 20 years in business for Barrett Consulting Group.

Twenty years of helping companies, sales leaders and their salespeople improve their sales operations and their sales capabilities.

Twenty years of helping salespeople and buyers have better, more mutually rewarding experiences, setting a fairer exchange of value.

As I moved toward this 20th anniversary, I started to muse upon what the sales world was like 20 years ago, compared to what it is like now. Here are just some of my initial musings and observations.

A lot has changed in the sales world over the last 20 years, some changes for …

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The 7 benefits of Online Sales Training

By / / Education in Sales, Sales Essentials, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Sales Training, Self Development, Success

Have you ever tried online sales training? Why not try this complimentary Sales Essentials Module – ethics, philosophy and history of selling? Why? Because the world of sales education and training is evolving and online sales training is starting to take hold. Whilst classroom training will always have its place, here are 7 reasons you might like to include online sales training in your repertoire.

  • Cost Saving: It is no secret that classroom based training can be extremely costly. Not only is the cost of the training event usually high, we also have to consider travel expenses, accommodation, and most …

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    Sales Managers – the importance of making it personal

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Coaching, Communication, Sales Management, Wellbeing

    We could be forgiven for thinking that everything about selling revolves around numbers, developing new opportunities, making sales and achieving results. Because that is what is usually written and spoken about at board room tables, sales meetings, and in manner of articles.

    The pursuit of finding securing opportunities is relentless.

    It is little wonder then that many salespeople find themselves feeling off colour or even distressed every now again, especially when times or markets are tougher than usual. It is hard enough to maintain your own momentum, let alone having a Sales Managers – the importance of making it personal Read Post »

    Sales Trend 5 – The move to Micro Sales Segmentation

    By / / Education in Sales, Marketing, Sales Management, Sales Strategy, Sales Trends

    Since 2009 we have been publishing our Annual 12 Sales Trends reports. It has been very interesting to see the speed at which these trends are taking hold and becoming the new normal in business. Here is the fifth Sales Trend for 2014 – The Move to Micro Sales Segmentation.

    In 2014 sales teams are dealing with specific complexities (down markets, knowledgeable buyer, buyers with the pressure to cut costs, buyers that are ill-informed, etc). The approach that Marketing has to segmentation doesn’t completely deal with these …

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    Sales Trend 3: Sales Excellence Managers to find their true role

    By / / Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Training, Sales Trends

    The third Sales Trend for 2014 is Sales Excellence Managers will find their real role. Historically, organisations employed sales training managers with the mandate of sourcing the best sales training and development materials, or alternatively developing sales training programmes for their organisations. However, the plethora of sales training and the confusion of training methods all being touted as ‘best practice’, coupled with the lack of training for sales managers led many sales training managers to expand their role, taking over much more than sales training and expanding it into part of the traditional …

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