Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/427/Know-Your-Customers--Or-Perish.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/427/Know-Your-Customers--Or-Perish.html Most companies (large and small) don’t know their customers very well. Certainly, some people within the company usually have intimate knowledge of key contacts, information, history, and details about customers, but that information isn’t institutionalized as often as it should be – which means it can leave with your salespeople! Remember, you own this data. To that fact, add this one: The most valuable component of any company’s assets is its customer data. Forget your balance sheet, long-term assets, and short-term assets. Without your customers, and the information regarding those customers, everything else is meaningless. Clearly, some framework of capturing customer data is vital for business success. Capturing and using that data is called “Customer Relationship Management.” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/427/Managing-Sales-Activity-for-Success.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/427/Managing-Sales-Activity-for-Success.html Now that we have our sales force in place, it’s time to manage them. To be blunt, most company owners (and/or sales managers) do this incorrectly. Too often in sales, the only feedback given to salespeople ties to their results. Certainly, results are important, and they are ultimately the measurement of achievement. Unfortunately, results are not something that can be managed. Results are history – they have already happened. Activity is what is happening, or what is about to happen. Clearly, then, activity becomes the manageable part of the sales force. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/427/The-First-Rule-of-Selling--Have-a-Plan.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/427/The-First-Rule-of-Selling--Have-a-Plan.html “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Most of us have heard that many times in our business careers, but it’s amazing how seldom it’s followed. We start out with the right intentions, but things get in the way. To be successful, nothing should get in the way of having and implementing an effective plan for selling our products and services. A good plan should include: