It used to be that a buyer was guided through a purchase decision, start to finish, by a salesperson. But a recent study by Corporate Executive Board, conducted on more than 1,400 B2B customers, discovered that, on average, B2B buyers make nearly 60 percent of a purchase decision–including pricing, solution research, establishing requirements, benchmarking and ... Read Post

My third year of sales, I once again had a new job. This one was more exciting than the previous two as I was finally working for a credible company. I was ready to try my hand at selling to Fortune 500 and 100 companies. The goal was finally to be able to say; “My ... Read Post

No Internet marketer wants to make important decisions by guessing, but in effect this is exactly what many of them do — without even knowing it. Although they’re not throwing a dart at a board or randomly picking a number, they’re making important decisions about their lead generation websites and campaigns without all the information ... Read Post

During a recent podcast interview I was asked what I thought were the top five “systems or tools” that a Sales Manager needs to be successful. After thinking about all the possibilities and responsibilities that any sales leader faces I answered the question with the list below. They are not listed in any order of ... Read Post

“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person” – Bruce Lee I had a very interesting conversation the other day with a former colleague of mine, Bruce Wedderburn (who will be featured in an upcoming expert interview), and the concept of self responsibility in sales came up. And as I reflected ... Read Post

In pursuing complex enterprise accounts, a significant challenge that sales teams face is long, drawn out sales cycles. Working a major enterprise opportunity can take months or even years–and even then it may or may not be won. As those precious hours, days, weeks and months go by, all the negative factors increase: doubts, risks, ... Read Post

Depending on which sales course you took, you as a salesperson were probably taught to identify and set meetings with buying influences–known as economic buyers, technical buyers or recommenders. While it’s important to engage a prospect company’s buyers, be sure to prepare for one more entity: your buyer’s reptilian brain. This particular buying influence isn’t ... Read Post

Last week I was looking to buy a new computer, an additional one I could travel with. I called a few companies to ask a few questions and get a few estimates. Not one who knows much about computers, I was relying on some advice and a little research I had done. When I narrowed ... Read Post