In business, there are really only two things that you control; who you call on, and what you say when you get there. If you put the effort into deciding what customers you call on, you are much more likely to be effective when you get there. This applies as much to individual sellers as…
Managing a sales team is hard. The role of the front-line line sales manager is the lynch-pin of most sales organizations, but the number of tasks that sales managers have to juggle makes it really difficult to know how to answer the questions “How do I get the most from my sales team?” and “How…
In a previous post I wrote about the five actions sales managers could take to improve the management of their sales teams. But how do you know you have a problem, or a need to improve. How can you foresee when things might go wrong? What are the indicators that help identify impending risks? If…
Sales managers have a really tough job. Often promoted from the field sales force they don’t often get the training or tools they need to effectively manage their sales teams. Even understanding the rhythm of the business, the difference between winning and losing sales behaviors can be hard. For example: There is tremendous value in…
Frontline sales managers have the toughest job in sales. They are the last link between the company and the sales team’s interaction with the customer. For a company to be successful, the sales management function must perform. But sales managers are pulled in so many different directions, by so many people, it can be hard…
I want to revisit a topic that I wrote about a few years ago about a very dangerous sales forecasting practice, that at its worst can be a terminal illness for a sales person or a sales manager. This disease is still as commonplace as it was when I first wrote about it, but with…
