Too much attention in sales is placed on making the sale. And it is reinforced by reward and compensation programs that hail the salesperson of the year as a hero if they post the most annual sales. Salespeople behave the way the compensation plan dictates: if sales revenue is comp’d, that’s what they focus on. ... Read Post

Okay, this might seem to be a strange title for an article. But knowing the clear difference between a sales funnel and a sales pipeline can mean a great deal to your company, your sales organization, and your salespeople—and greatly influence your choice of a CRM solution. The Sales Funnel We’ve all seen a funnel. ... Read Post

Shrinking attention spans are not to be taken lightly when you are a sales professional. There will be no deal to close if you can’t first captivate an audience long enough to highlight the fantastic features of the product or service you are offering. Keep the following in mind when you want to dazzle: Unique ... Read Post

Every salesperson desires a magic wand that can make customers take positive actions consistently. And the most admirable action is purchase.  If you happen to know how to shorten the path to purchase with every customer you come across, won’t that be great? We will look at this later in the post, path to purchase, ... Read Post

Revenue forecasting has become a necessity in the world of business, no matter how big your particular business might be, or the role one might play within it. Obviously, a budget is a necessity, and businesses tend to have business plans, as well. These are fairly difficult without some form of revenue forecasting. How can ... Read Post

After the considerable amount of research I did for my new book Achieving the Impossible: Lessons from the Apollo Space Program, I basically believe today that everything is indeed possible. Only a month after he walked on the moon, Neil Armstrong said, “I felt a successful lunar landing might inspire men around the world to ... Read Post

I conducted a seminar for one of the leading technology companies on the planet and we discussed how to best qualify a prospect. Most salespeople are familiar with some of these sales qualification frameworks: But qualifying is not just about removing time-wasters and nor should these be framed as clumsy closed questions. Just because some of ... Read Post

Are you focused on making end of year numbers? That is only half the job for Sales Management at this time of year, the other half is being focused on planning for next year! We have created a checklist of major issues all sales leaders must work on to ensure the New Year will start ... Read Post