A colleague pointed me to a great Seth Godin post this morning on hiring (thanks G): “It only takes 10% as much effort to hire someone in the bottom 90% of the class. And it takes the other 90% to find and cajole and retain the top 10%.” Many companies are lackadaisical about hiring, so
Spending on marketing vs. spending on sales in B2B companies? The debate over which path yields higher results will continue into perpetuity. In a recent SoftwareCEO.com article, author Maureen Blandford asks some good questions about how marketing investments actually benefit B2B sales: “what happens if you stop producing marcom material, for a year? And most
Great short post about how many recruiters fear sales assessments –> (Many Recruiters Fear Sales Assessments, by the Objective Management Group, a sales assessment company so it’s a bit of an advertorial). He is right that most recruiters, are not inclined to use assessments – and it should be no surprise, whether they are internal
Talk to any sales manager and they will tell you that hiring reliable sales people is one of the most difficult things to do. Even the ones who say they have a good hiring track record will typically admit that too few of their reps are at target. Why is that? What makes hiring great tech
We believe persistence is a critical contributor to success. In fact, Calvin Coolidge once said: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of
We are often asked which sales methodology we advocate. This is a loaded question. We like them all, as long as they are used in the right situation. While there is no confusion over the value of employing a sales methodology (see some stats on the impact of employing a methodology), many of the methodologies
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader “The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt “The people who
A couple of weeks back I was a presenter on a panel hosted by the Canadian Professional Sales Association. I was joined by Brian Jeffrey, author, sales consultant and founder of Salesforce Assessments Ltd., Margo Crawford, Director of Business Operations at Meriton Networks, and Bill Garbarino, a Professor at the Algonquin College School of Business.
Unless you have a product that sells itself (no such thing?), then you need an overachieving sales team to deliver growth. “A” players in the context of sales, simply means that they consistently create revenue from thin air, outsell their peers and make the company look exceptional. Because “A” players are creative and successful, they
I just read Brian Tracy’s book “Advanced Selling Strategies” which presents the mindset and tactics used by very successful sales people. There are no old school tricks, just simple things that will help you develop rapport with your prospect, learn about their business and then help you close more deals. The book covers everything from how
