I’ve been writing a lot about our Sales Execution Framework and a “Back To Basics” approach to sales management and selling. These articles have generated some interesting calls and reactions. A lot of the discussion has been around sales training programs, new approaches, or new tools that companies have implemented—or tried to implement. I had […]
Sales Process
Sales Pipeline: Quantity or Quality?
You probably think this is a trick question, the answer is obvious, isn’t it? Be careful before you respond too quickly…… Now, I’ve got you worried and wondering, particularly long time readers. Many of you would say, Quality. You would be partly right. “Aha,” you think, “It’s both!” You would be partly right. Now you […]
Too Busy to Do What We Know is Right
The sales team knew the sales process helped improve the results they produced—they had tested it, they’d seen profound improvements in result, but they weren’t using it. They struggled to produce results. The manager knew he was supposed to coach his people. He knew that coaching was the most effective way to improve performance and […]
Changing the Questions
We know questions are critical to our success as sales people. Sadly, we ask too few, choosing instead to pitch our products and solutions, hoping the customer has some interest in considering them, though we often don’t know why. Most modern selling programs talk about the importance of questions, but too often they focus on […]
Stop Focusing on the Top of the Pipeline!
Virtually every sales person and organization have pipeline/funnel problems. Almost all the time, they are anemic. Virtually every pipeline has quality and integrity issues. Likewise, there are too many velocity issues. It seems the universal, go to solution for bad pipelines is to find more qualified opportunities. That is, we need to focus at the […]
A Paradox: The Sales Process and the Buying Journey
As sales professionals we face an intriguing paradox. We know, for complex B2B buying, the buyer’s journey can best be described as chaotic. What we have always believed is a linear process: identify a challenge, commit to change, define the problem/needs, evaluate alternatives, select a solution, turns out to be chaotic, as illustrated by the […]
3 Ways Sales Pros Can Leverage Technology to Build Pipeline and Close More Deals
Technology makes it easy for sales teams to connect with prospects without having to leave their desk. Today’s sales reps can build their pipelines faster, close deals easier, and even send gifts to clients at the push of a button. A good technology stack is critical to build a solid pipeline of qualified leads and […]
What’s a Full Pipeline/Funnel?
I participated in a fascinating discussion about Disqualification. It was on LinkedIn, led by Steve Hall. Click on the link to look at the comments, it’s pretty interesting. But a part of the discussion was really intriguing and brought out how badly we understand pipelines and our numbers. As a result, we drive for the wrong things […]
Outcome Based Buying
Regardless how we sell, our customers are trying to achieve one thing when they buy. They are trying to achieve some very specific outcomes. Those outcomes may be all over the place—solve a problem, address an opportunity, enable other things to happen. In the case of selling embedded products, it may be to help customer […]
Customers Don’t Care About Their Buying Journey
Recently, I was speaking with an executive whose team was involved in a major purchase decision. I asked him to describe his buying process/journey. He looked at me with an amused/quizzical look. “We don’t think in terms of a buying journey. We just have something we need to get done, part of it involves buying…” […]
