Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/The-Magic-of-the-Sales-Force-Evaluation.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/The-Magic-of-the-Sales-Force-Evaluation.html Companies that evaluate their sales forces benefit from the insights, predictions, and findings that come from the wealth of relevant information. In addition to the many surprises, including problems they weren't aware of, they learn of many opportunities too. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Top-25-Prerequisites-for-Successful-Sales-Training-and-Development.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Top-25-Prerequisites-for-Successful-Sales-Training-and-Development.html Before an inside or outside expert can help you develop your sales force, there are at least 25 milestones that must take place or the initiative will probably fail. Development has much less to do with content, curriculum, and methodology than it does with the person, or people who will do the developing. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Key-Account-Sales--More-Than-Just-Important-Accounts.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Key-Account-Sales--More-Than-Just-Important-Accounts.html Over the last several months I have engaged in several on line disagreements about the importance of asking questions early in the sales process. More than one sales expert has claimed that asking questions violates trust. More than one marketing expert has claimed that asking questions is offensive. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Stupid-Choices-in-the-Selection-of-Sales-Assessments.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Stupid-Choices-in-the-Selection-of-Sales-Assessments.html When you use an assessment in the sales recruiting process, it must be customizable so that criteria unique to your business, like I described above, can be factored in. That way, in addition to whether the candidate meets our criteria of a successful salesperson, we must be able to determine whether the candidate will be able to succeed in the face of the company's unique challenges. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/10th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-That-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/10th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-That-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html There is nothing worse than when salespeople handle objections. Not only does it cause them to rack up reverse progress, they are usually not even handling the real problem. Here are the things you need to know about objection handling that should cause you to stop handling them forever: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/9th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-That-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/9th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-That-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html All of the stuff they have been doing, including the order in which they have been doing it, is usually wrong when we begin working with them - and permanently so. It's harder to stop doing the permanent stuff than it is to learn a more effective way. Think of an elastic band. The information from the new lesson stretches the band a lot. Then the natural tendency to do what has become permanent snaps the band back into its original shape. Solution? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/8th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-That-Are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/8th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-That-Are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html Key Performance Indicators or KPI's abound for sales. However, most companies choose to pay attention to the wrong ones. They look at lagging indicators like: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/7th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-that-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/7th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-that-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html Salespeople love to present options. It makes them feel like they have more chances to win the business. It's such a popular approach that it's one of the few parts of the sales process that is universally accepted and named. You know it as Good, Better and Best. Companies actually have alignment on Good, Better and Best, sometimes using it in their retail stores and catalogs to provide category options. How many times have salespeople presented you with 3 options? Just last week, I was presented with 3 options at the Lexus Dealer where I got my LS460. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Directors-Want-Better-Boards--And-Rightly-So.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/Directors-Want-Better-Boards--And-Rightly-So.html One of the many issues we identify is when Board Chairs and CEO's take the lead in areas in which they don't have the strengths or skills to justify taking the lead. They often discount the contributions, thoughts and ideas of directors or executives who are stronger than they are in that area. As a result, the company is not always choosing the best strategies and ideas, or having the right discussions, asking the right questions, or making the right decisions at the right times. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/6th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-that-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/3109/6th-of-the-10-Kurlan-Sales-Competencies-that-are-Key-to-Building-a-Sales-Culture.html SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP Your salespeople can't wait to do the things at which they are: * most competent * most comfortable * having the most fun * in control * in the spot light The problem with all of that is with what they do: * present * demo * tell your story * provide capabilities * give references * do proposals * give quotes * use company resources and when they do it: * as soon as they can!