Does Your Sales Team Have the Elements of a World Class Sales Organization?

Does Your Sales Team Have the Elements of a World Class Sales Organization?

In a recent article, “The Sales Leadership Challenges to Having a World Class Sales Force” published by Dave Kurlan
of Objective Management Group, he described the elements of a world-class sales organization.  I agree with the list he compiled.  He listed the following points:

Sales Leadership
Sales Architecture
Sales Infrastructure
Sales Talent Management
Sales Enablement
Sales Human Capital

Many CEOs aspire to have or build a “world-class” sales organization.  Many believe they already have one.  So how does your organization measure up?  Do you have effective Sales Leadership in place?  Notice I said EFFECTIVE?  Be honest.  Effective Sales Leadership is not that easy to come by.  Are the […]

Onboarding Salespeople is Critical to Success

Onboarding Salespeople is Critical to Success

There are many sales managers and business leaders who believe that if you hire the right salesperson you can just turn them loose and they will excel.  Not true.

The first 90 days (if not longer) are nearly as critical as following a solid recruiting and hiring process.   First, “A” players will not settle for “B” management so you need to have a disciplined approach to onboarding and ramping up.  Second, you need to be able to articulate why customers buy from you, and how you are differentiated (or not) from your competitors.   Then be able to equip them with a […]

Jason Dufner, Not the Stereotypical Professional Athlete, Not the Stereotypical Salesperson

Jason Dufner, Not the Stereotypical Professional Athlete, Not the Stereotypical Salesperson

I wrote in my last article (Sales Managers:  Are Your Salespeople Losing Emotional Control and Therefore Losing
Sales?) about how similar the effects of emotional involvement are in sales to the effects in professional golf, and how not maintaining emotional discipline tends to predict bad outcomes.   Then we got to witness Mr. Cool in Jason Dufner, as he won the 2013 PGA Championship last weekend.  He was the epitome of calm, but many fans were probably less excited about watching him play as they would be watching Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods.  They are more to our liking.  They get […]

Are Your Salespeople Losing Emotional Control and Therefore Losing Sales?

Are Your Salespeople Losing Emotional Control and Therefore Losing Sales?

What can Jean Van de Velde teach salespeople about emotional discipline?

I had lunch the other day with the Regional President of a very successful company.  He has a long history of success as a salesperson, sales manager and business leader.  He is also a golfer.  In his words he is a “volatile” golfer.  He sometimes loses his temper on the golf course.  It got me thinking about the similarities between salespeople and golfers.  Those that execute emotional discipline in both categories tend to fare better.  For example:

Salespeople, who stay emotionally disciplined, generally focus on the information they need so outcomes […]

Do Your Sales Managers Feel Like Babysitters? Part Two

Do Your Sales Managers Feel Like Babysitters? Part Two

Do Your Sales Managers Feel Like Babysitters?  Part Two

In Do Your Sales Managers Feel Like Babysitters? Part One, we talked about the situation where the sales manager or business leader becomes a babysitter because he or she would rather not have the conflict associated with holding the sales reps accountable to necessary activities regardless of their business performance.

In this article we will take a different approach regarding why you might be feeling like a babysitter.  Maybe you get frustrated because they don’t go do the necessary work, like you did when you were a sales rep.  After all, they are paid […]

Do Your Sales Managers Feel Like Babysitters? Part One

Do Your Sales Managers Feel Like Babysitters? Part One

One of the most consistent concerns I hear from CEO’s and sales managers is the stress associated with having to babysit their sales reps.  They feel like they constantly have to hound the reps to turn in their paperwork, update their pipeline, enter their call notes, and the list goes on and on.  If this sounds familiar then maybe you need to examine if it is something you are doing to cause this behavior.

One of the primary reasons that business leaders and sales managers fall into the trap of being the babysitter is typically because they really want their salespeople to […]