Are you a Sales Pioneer?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Pioneer, Success

‘Sales Pioneer’ was voted as the Number 7 Sales Trends for 2011. As the business world and selling become increasingly complicated, the Sales Pioneer is emerging to help us all map a pathway to the future.

Unafraid to ask the hard questions, uncover new opportunities and challenge the precepts and ideas of their clients and companies alike, the 21st Century Sales Pioneer is not afraid to stand up and be counted.

The 21st Century Sales Pioneer works in healthy and dynamic collaboration with clients including …

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Why we should coach, manage & measure Sales Inputs rather than Sales Results

By / / Coaching, Communication, CRM, Performance Management, Prospecting, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Training, Success

Do you leave your sales results to chance? Well you might be if you are like most businesses that are too fixated on Sales Results – the Outcomes. Managing by numbers, sales managers can get blinded by measuring the number of sales made and revenue and profit margins achieved rather than focusing on the vital activities that produce these outcomes in the first place- The Sales Inputs.

Every outcome is the result of its inputs. Every effect has its corresponding cause(s).

Consider the following questions:

  • Do you know how your sales people actually achieved their …

Why we should coach, manage & measure Sales Inputs rather than Sales Results Read Post »

Like exercise, prospect a little each day and stay sales fit

By / / Call Reluctance, Prospecting, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Sales Training, Self Development, Success, Time Management

Prospecting is considered one of the most daunting jobs in selling. Many people in sales or other roles charged with developing new business, especially with new prospects, find the task of prospecting anxiety provoking and tend to put off the prospecting task in favour of more desirable or less frightening tasks. Yet in their desire to escape prospecting they inadvertently set themselves up for greater issues in the future.

Prospecting is the oxygen that fuels the fire of sales. Prospecting involves a series of sequential activities designed to:

  • Identify your prospect
  • Qualify your prospect
  • Prioritise your prospect

Prospecting is therefore a step-by-step process for identifying …

Like exercise, prospect a little each day and stay sales fit Read Post »

What can women and men learn from each other about selling?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Sales Culture, Success

The world of selling is transforming before our eyes and there are many lessons for the taking. The latest focus is on the emergence of social media and the internet and its impact on customers’ purchase decisions. However, to date little light has been shone on lessons learnt by men and women about gender differences and selling.

I recently had the opportunity to present my latest project focusing on women in sales at an AMCHAM event which, to my delight, was sold out. Attended by men and women, although the weighting was in favour of the women, the 2.5 hour interactive …

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How satisfied are you with your sales incentive plan?

By / / Coaching, Sales Tips, Strategy, Success

A good sales incentive plan rests on a fundamental set of design principles that reward the right behaviours, optimise sales effectiveness, and maximise the return on incentive dollars.

Specifically, a good sales incentive plan design:
• uses performance metrics that are aligned with the company’s overall strategy;
• supports and is consistent with the overall sales force strategy — its job roles, available skills, selling processes, internal culture, etc.;
• is mechanically sound in its design elements; and
• can be administered efficiently

If not well designed however, there may be issues or challenges within each principle which could limit effectiveness, waste …

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Can a sales manager be an effective sales coach?

By / / Coaching, Performance Management, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Talent, Sales Training, Success

Coaching usually focuses on two areas of development to achieve excellence: skills and performance. Excellence in performance is knowing the right processes to apply in the right situation, coupled with the personal insight to know how to apply them wisely. An effective sales coach is there to help people achieve excellence and realize many more benefits.

However to be an effective sales coach your people must experience you as a support in helping them achieve higher performance and not a hindrance. Often people experience performance improvement initiatives as ‘threats’ or ‘aimless chats’ leaving people feeling …

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Should ‘Selling’ be studied at University?

By / / Coaching, Education in Sales, Sales Research, Sales Training, Self Development, Success

Barrett Research invites you to express your opinion about whether ‘Selling’ should be an applied academic degree. Please complete our Graduate Degree for the Sales Profession’ survey and voice your views.

With the profession of Selling becoming increasingly more complex involving many more variables and the shift from product being at the heart of selling to strategic relationships, collaboration, true value, sustainability and transparency now on the agenda we believe it’s time for ‘Selling’ to step out under the shadow of Marketing and MBA’s to have its own degree status. Recently I was invited to …

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2011 the year of Sales leadership and Integrity

By / / Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Success

In December 2010 we published The 12 Sales Trends of 2011 and invited readers to vote on what they thought would be the most important trends in sales for this year. Thank you to everyone who shared their views and voted. Every month we will explore one of the trends in more detail, starting with the trends voted as most important to you.

Without doubt Sales Leadership and Integrity topped the rankings; the voting was overwhelming in favour of these two trends. The voting revealed the sales trends for …

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A Time for Reflection and Renewal

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Tips, Success

As this year comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the last 16 years in my own business. A lot has changed, yes, but many things have remained the same too. On 9th January 2011 my business will be 16 years old.

While anniversaries and birthdays are celebrated differently all over the world, a common thread is that they are often marked with a celebration or a rite of passage. So, to mark our 16th year in business, we would like to share with you 16 key lessons we have learnt since the business began. While there are many …

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More lessons from MasterChef – Can you take the heat?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Emotional Intelligence, Performance Management, Sales Skills, Self Development, Success

As the saying goes, “If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen”. Once again MasterChef has served up some great life lessons. Last year I wrote about the great leadership, coaching and mentoring we can learn from MasterChef. Again Garry, George, Matt and the other guest chefs showed us how to excel in this area of leadership.

On this occasion, I want to comment on ‘Resilience’ and dealing with setbacks and challenges, and how MasterChef gave us a window into how people handle stress and demanding situations. The time pressures and …

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