In the past companies loved to buy 2 or 3 day seminars.

Why?

They were a feel good experience and a reward.

Research proves 2 or 3 day seminars create short term results at best.

Sales managers have always known 2 or 3 day seminars did not generate long term results.  Today they have substantive research to prove it.

They are looking for a better answer.

The answer is to shift our approach to how we train. Read more »

There are a large number of sales managers and companies out there that keep making the same mistake over and over again.

They keep buying short term training and expecting long term results.

Over the years I’ve had conversations with countless CEOs and their Sales Managers on this issue.  Most CEOs and Sales Managers acknowledge the problem, yet remarkably many continue to take the path of least resistance.

Taking the path of least resistance may not be a big deal when times are good.

Taking the path of least resistance – and throwing good money after bad – is a huge deal when times are not so good.

Am I suggesting that a sales training seminar or workshop is a complete waste of money?
Read more »

Reps are often leaving sales meetings feeling sad, weak, dull and dissatisfied.

Optimizing sales meetings is tough for many sales managers.

So what does it take to make the shift from dull and dissatisfied to creative and satisfied?

First and foremost it takes a gifted leader.

And how does a gifted leader move a sales meeting away from boring, monotonous, anxiety and risk?  Here’s how: Read more »

Five years ago a client asked me to attend some of their sales meetings.  He wanted to evaluate the strength of their sales meetings.  His concern was that they were not as effective as they could be. (Code word for boring).

The first sales meeting I attended was being run by a young, goal driven and smart sales manager.  He ran a beautiful meeting.  Technically it was absolutely perfect. (Code word for boring and anxiety).

Absolutely perfect – if it had been 1960, not 2006.

The scary truth?  Many or most sales meetings today are still much like the meeting that I witnessed. (boring and anxiety)
Read more »

Obama and Harper are looking for ways to stimulate job creation.

The stock market’s up and down roller coaster ride indicates we need to do something.  Now!

Uncertainly isn’t good for most of us – unless we are selling one of the few products or services that do well in a recession.

To turn this around and get rid of this global uncertainty we need a hero.  Not just one hero – an army of them.

Imagine a force (like the force in Star Wars) – a force of good who are masters in the business of sales. This force represents people who are enterprising. Read more »

There is a group of Sales VPs and CEOs who believe in sales training.  Many of them believe sales training needs to be rolled out to everyone.

There’s another group of sales executives who believe that sales training doesn’t work.

And another group who are convinced money and time are better spent on product training.

They have good reasons for their beliefs.

Their experiences have netted certain results.  Those results have impacted their approach to sales force performance.

Sales training has been proven to work.  Sales training has also been proven not to work.

Today we know, through research, the conditions necessary to reap benefits from sales training.  Many of the conditions are the same as planting and harvesting a garden.  If followed, the harvest is a beautiful thing!

Let’s look at the conditions necessary to harvest great sales reps – Read more »

There is a saying that most of us have heard, “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.”

There are probably times this saying would heed us well.  And there are more times in life that it doesn’t.

Why?

There are a lot of people who believe that being nice is how we build a relationship.

Sales reps believe this too.  And a lot of them are so incredibly nice that they help their companies give away margin every year. Read more »

Anyone that has ever run a sales training session in a company has experienced it.

What have they experienced?  Reps that have come to a training session with their arms crossed and a frown on their face. Or reps that show up physically, but are not there emotionally.

These sales reps believe training is one big colossal waste of time.

Most sales forces have a large group of reps who have lost their passion to learn. Read more »

They killed the profession.  Well actually it’s never really been a profession because it was dead in the water before it ever became one.

Who killed it?

There’s blame to go around en masse.  Read more »

So imagine today, you get home from work after a long hard day. Your son or daughter approaches you: “Dad, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do for a living and I’ve decided to be a salesperson.”

Chances are images of the “door-to-door” salesperson immediately jump to mind. Or perhaps images of the television show WKRP in Cincinnati and Herb Tarlick or the movie the Death of a Salesman.

In any case, most parents wouldn’t be delighted to hear this news. After all, everyone wants the best for their children. Let’s face it, sales has a stigma. The professions of choice in our world have always been doctor, dentist, lawyer or accountant.

The irony is that most of us know that sales is most often the path to CEO or partner in a prestigious firm, yet we still avoid the idea of being a sales person?  Why?

Let’s take a look at the reasons good salespeople are still hard to find: Read more »