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Sales has a goal: find a prospect with a need and sell a solution. You can call it anything you want, use all of the fancy terms about serving your client, be a Trusted Advisor or a Relationship Manager, do whatever you can to understand need and make nice. But at the end of the day, your job as a seller is to place your solution. Unfortunately, we do it the long, hard way: we assume - and this is a baseline assumption in the sales industry - that when we notice a ‘need' that our solution can fulfill, we have a prospect. Yet we consistently close 7% of our ‘prospects.' Obviously our assumption that a prospect with a need which our solution can resolve is a specious assumption.

Prospecting for More Sales in a Bad Economy

A poor economy has too often become an excuse for poor performance of many businesses. While the current economic situation is a contributing factor, many of these businesses can perform much better. Most businesses in the U.S. are small and have sales that equal less than 1% market share. If your business has less than one percent of market share, it should be able to grow in any economy. One hidden area in which to find more sales is right under your own roof. According to “Baseline Selling” by Dave Kurlan, 60% of all sales people are not prospecting consistently, and 50% of all sales people won’t prospect. Combine those figures with the fact that 60% of all sales people suffer from the habit of making excuses, and I think we have uncovered one of the secrets to bringing more sales to your top line.

Benchmarking your Core Competencies

All organizations claim to have “core competencies” but few actually benchmark their capabilities to track and measure improvements over time. Take the time to evaluate your business from a high-level, and commit to continuous improvement. Use Demand Metric’s Core Competencies Assessment to set a baseline for your organization, and work to improve your score before your next self-assessment.

Giant Steps: How Robbins Achieved Success

A successful entrepreneur, a strategic advisor to world leaders, an award-winning speaker and an internationally best-selling author, Tony Robbins has become one of the world’s most recognized authorities in the life coaching industry. Through his seminars and audiotapes, Robbins is helping millions of people around the world live a more fulfilled life. How did he create the life he wanted for himself?

Tony Robbins Quotes
Tony Robbins Quotes

The Impact of Coaching Salespeople and Sales Managers
Yesterday I presented at the Sales EdgeOne Three-Day Sales Summit and my co-presenter, Donal Daly, cited a statistic from Gallop: Organizations that use coaches get a 26% ROI from that effort. That statistic surprised me in two ways.

The Single Biggest Mistake That Salespeople Make

Ask 10 people and you'll get 10 different answers about the biggest mistake that salespeople make. Ask the question a bit differently and I will give you a different answer too. But ask the question in the title - "What is the single biggest mistake that salespeople make?", with the key word being mistake - something they do incorrectly rather than due to a weakness - and I can provide data to back it up. There are actually 3 mistakes that are nearly always made but 2 of them happen as a result of the single biggest mistake.

The Relationship Between the Relationship and the Sales Outcome Part 2
Have you ever worked with salespeople that were so bad you thought, "She couldn't close a door!"? And have you ever worked with salespeople that were so good that you thought, "She could sell white to rice!"?

Salespeople Become More Effective Part 2
You must talk about Sales Process and, assuming it's been formally developed, structured, optimized and introduced, include it in every daily coaching and development call so that the backdrop for your conversations is "Where in the process are you?" In Baseline Selling, that would sound like "Which Base are you on?"

10 Attributes of the CEO Who Drives Sales and More
My second conversation was with an effective CEO who is completely unlike those that I described in the other article. My good CEO has the following 10 qualities that have a positive impact on the sales force:

This One Tip Helps Salespeople Close More Business
Make your solution ideal, both in terms of it being needs and cost appropriate, with no options, and if you did what you were supposed to do throughout the sales process you will make it easy for your prospect to make a quick decision.

Compelling Reasons for Your Salespeopole to Go Mobile

Good Sales Managers know how important it is for their salespeople to uncover needs. But it goes way beyond needs. As I detail in Baseline Selling - How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball, it requires that your salespeople learn about their prospects' compelling reasons to buy. Not just their needs. The issues, problems and frustrations - and even the consequences - that would cause them to spend money and spend it with your company, instead of your competitor. But it goes well beyond compelling reasons.

Secrets of Effective Sales Development
So when your salespeople tell you they've heard it before they are totally missing the point of sales development. They've heard it but they weren't listening.

Kindle - Lessons Applied to the Sales Force
Readers who have purchased the Kindle have totally embraced that device. Some think it's the Kindle, not online sellers, that is the biggest threat to brick and mortar book stores. Read on for the lesson...

The Difference Between Consultative Selling and Consultants
It's not new, it's been around since the 1960's, but it has since been formalized, complicated, examined, defined, refined, simplified and criticized.

Sales and Selling - Which Has Evolved More?

What I found amazed me and will surely amaze you. Ready? Salespeople have not changed in any way since the recession. The statistics are identical with one exception - the percentage of salespeople who are hitting their numbers has declined significantly. However, the skill sets have not improved despite the need for them to. And the weaknesses are just as plentiful as they were, despite the need for them to be overcome.

6th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture

SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP Your salespeople can't wait to do the things at which they are: * most competent * most comfortable * having the most fun * in control * in the spot light The problem with all of that is with what they do: * present * demo * tell your story * provide capabilities * give references * do proposals * give quotes * use company resources and when they do it: * as soon as they can!

Anti-Procrastination ACTION PLAN
Life is full of exciting choices. It’s easy to get distracted and do the fun, enjoyable tasks, and leave the boring or difficult ones for tomorrow. The problem is that every day there are new enjoyable things to do and tomorrow never comes.

The 4th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies That are Key to Building a Sales Culture
For more than 40 years, sales authors, experts and trainers have been telling their readers, subscribers and clients about the importance of talking 30% of the time and listening 70% of the time. That ratio is not etched in stone. Even 50/50 is acceptable. The stage of the sales process dictates the ratio more than the ratio itself. For instance...

4th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture

For more than 40 years, sales authors, experts and trainers have been telling their readers, subscribers and clients about the importance of talking 30% of the time and listening 70% of the time. That ratio is not etched in stone. Even 50/50 is acceptable. The stage of the sales process dictates the ratio more than the ratio itself. For instance, if your salespeople are following the Baseline Selling process, they would talk 100% in the earliest phase of Getting to 1st Base, and probably 10% in the later phase of Getting to 1st Base. They would probably talk 10% of the time while Getting to 2nd Base. They might talk 50% of the time on the way to 3rd Base and 90% of the time when Running Home.

5 Steps to Coaching Your Salespeople Beyond Happy Ears
Following are my thoughts about how you, the leader of your salespeople, can help them overcome Happy Ears. Slip into these five roles to help them be more realistic about and more comprehensive with their opportunities.

How to Be Memorable - Things to Do When You are Selling Yourself
What was the most memorable thing you ever did or someone ever did to you to stand out and/or get attention?

Tracking the Return On Investment of Your PR Campaign

There's an old sales adage that says "People buy from people they know, like and trust," and public relations (PR) is one of the most cost-effective ways to build the awareness, goodwill and credibility that help influence buying decisions. Not that we would suggest that small businesses use PR to the exclusion of all other marketing tactics, but a healthy dose of PR, combined with a little advertising, direct mail, or other tactics, can provide a big sales boost for many small businesses.

Tips For Determining What Rate To Charge In Your Home Based Service Business
Deciding to start a home based business requires careful planning and making decisions. One of the most important decisions that need to be made is what rate will you charge to your potential clients? There are a few factors that you must take into consideration when coming to this conclusion.

Hire the Best Salespeople on the Planet
Several months ago Objective Management Group began to identify hirable candidates that are ideal - they will ramp-up more quickly than a normal hirable candidate. A normal candidate should ramp up according to this formula I devised many years ago: Normal Ramp Up = Length of Sales Cycle + Length of Learning Curve + 30 Days.

Sales Experts Disagree on the Right Way to Train Salespeople

I was involved in a nearly week long, on line discussion with about a half dozen other sales experts in the Top Sales Experts Group at LinkedIn that to date has included about 41 volleys. The original question, raised by the UK publisher of modernselling.com, asked whether there was a right way or a wrong way to train salespeople. While there was some agreement on some points, there was much disagreement on many points.

Put the Competition in the Rear View Mirror

Competitive assessment is one of the most powerful tools we have in our quiver. Yet IMHO so few companies actually assess the competition in a way that works. We spend time evaluating our competitor's technology foundations, comparing feature against feature. We look for every detail that we can use to prove that our technology is far superior to that of others. Too bad that having the best technology doesn't mean you win....or that having the most features doesn't guarantee customer success. If the best technology won, then today's industry giants wouldn't be so, um, giant, now would they? Don't get me wrong. Understanding your competitor's technology and its capabilities is a worthwhile exercise. As long as you don't fall into the trap of defining your solutions based on their features - and become a follower.

What Comes First? Ready..Aim..Fire?
No doubt the phrase “ready..aim..fire” has been drummed into your head as the right way to do things. But is it really?

The Difference Between Provocative Selling and Baseline Selling
In the wake of a recent article by the authors of Provocative Selling in the Harvard Business Review an attendee challenged me to defend Baseline Selling. Since it was in the HBR, this attendee believed it had to be the better way to sell...

My Sales Force Needs a Make Over

One reader emailed that he just inherited a radio station in Honduras, has never sold before, and he and his salespeople aren't able to book appointments. Another reader is the Sales Director for several well-known magazines and said that her top producing team is down 50% from last year. Yet another reader wrote and wanted to know how to chop her 2-3 year sales cycle down to 2-3 months. And one President fired all of his salespeople, is back on the road selling and wonders what he can do to thrive. What do all four of these scenarios have in common?

When the Sales Processing Doesn't Support Sales Competencies
So, of course, here's the question that relates to the sales force. Do your salespeople sound like these folks working the deli counter? Three of the four had some kind of process, but are the processes effective?

Seth Godin Reinforces the Proper Sales Process
When I help companies with their sales process it always leads to: * shorter sales cycles as a result of the process itself * higher average sales as a result of the value added to the process * higher margins due to selling at their price instead of selling on price * selling last instead of selling first.

Finding a Way to Succeed

Strategies and Tactics are important - very important, especially in this economy. But even today, they take a back seat to your ability to find a way to get the job done. Whether that job is making appointments, uncovering compelling reasons to buy, getting opportunities qualified, making compelling presentations, dealing with objections or closing, you must find a way to master that part of the sales process.

Who Should Your Sales Force Call On
It's not always obvious. If your company sells oil drilling rigs to oil companies, then your salespeople know who to call on. If your company sell luxury cars to wealthy people, you know where to find your prospects. But what if you sell products or services that could be sold to a much broader range of customers or clients? Who should your salespeople call on then?

A Call to Action for the Sales Force
Al Gore has become more famous for his call to action against global warming than he ever was as Vice President of the United States. Pope John Paul II was noted for his "stand up for life" call to action. The charities that you support have calls to action that either inspire you or embarass you into giving. Yesterday, Barack Obama included a call to action in his inaugural speech.

part 2 of How to reduce your anxiety, depression etc in these times
part 2 of of how to deal with stress, anxiety and energy in these challenging timespP

3 Ways to Feel Better About the Economy
Three Ways to Feel Better About the Economy...

Free Sales Content - Use at Your Own Risk
I can't count and may not even know about all of the portals now on the web that feature subject matter experts, content, free downloads, articles and tips from people like me. It's generally a good thing, at first, until someone like me loses control of his intellectual property - the articles I write.

How to Sell More Effectively in a Recession
How can you sell more effectively in this economy? You'll need to perform some self-diagnostics. If you use Sales Force Automation of some kind, perhaps a report like the one in figure 1.0 below is available to you.

Most Frequently Requested Help
What do you think is the most frequently requested plea for help? Overcoming Objections? Handling Stalls and Put-Offs? Closing? Getting Appointments? It's getting calls returned.

Salespeople and the Momentum Factor
Momentum seems to be a force when it comes to sales performance. When Bob gets on a roll, new opportunities fill the pipeline, move along fairly quickly and close at the first opportunity...until the momentum changes. When Bob goes on vacation, gets distracted, becomes busy with deliverables or gets sick, it's a whole different Bob.

Closing Sales - Get the Freaking Proposal Right
Make sure your salespeople get the freaking proposal right!!! Learn how...

Are Your Salespeople Selling Value Like Nordstrom's or Price Like Sam's Club?
Nordstrom's was busier than Walmart and salespeople are trying to get appointments based on low price. What does this say about the state of the economy and more specifically, about discounting and trying to win business based on price? Read the exciting details...

Sales Process - What Have You Gotten Away From?
Think about how easy it is to get away from the fundamental processes, strategies and tactics that impact efficiencies, time lines, effectiveness, consistency, communication, confidence revenue and profit. Take 3 steps back. What have you gotten away from?

Top 10 Keys to Getting Through and Getting Heard
It is a lot more difficult to address getting through in a short article than it is in a book or through training and coaching but I'll give it a shot. Following are the 10 Keys to Getting Through and Getting Heard:

Filling the Sales Pipeline Whos to Blame
What happens when your salespeople don't do what they're supposed to do?

Fact Based Reasons Why New Salespeople Fail
Did you ever have a new salesperson fail? Did you ever have one who was highly recommended fail? Depending on how effective your recruiting, selection and on boarding processes are, you may experience new salespeople that don't work out. This article explores some of the factors that impact short-term success.

How are you doing in these times? Want Better?
part on: Focus on one of the four aspects of energy

Where Should Salespeople Spend TheirTime?
A reader asked how much time should be spent on each base path in Baseline Selling. That certainly differs by industry, salesperson and prospect but I can provide you with a few guidelines.

Obama and Friends On Stage - Implications for the Sales Force
There is a lot of buzz surrounding those who took to the podium this week at the Democratic National Convention - and Barach Obama hasn't had his turn yet. Once again, I will not make a political statement in this article - just a sales opinion.

Codes Of Conduct – How To Make Them Worth More Than The Paper They Are Written On

When businesses grow enough to hire employees, they often don't have a Code of Conduct in place – they hire someone on a “handshake” type arrangement, without having thought through fully all of the implications of the deal. This person is going to be representing you and your company to your clients, will be in your premises and gain access to all of your knowledge and resources. How can you make sure that what starts out with great promise will continue to grow in a positive way and not shrivel and die?

Making it Easier for Your Salespeople to Succeed
This baseball story is a good example of how to change things so that salespeople who are struggling can enjoy greater success.

Improve Sales Effectiveness at the Salesperson's Hall of Fame

Why don't we have a Hall of Fame for Salespeople? Why don't we have a better historical record of the developments made in selling? Why don't we have a more effective marketing machine to promote the profession of sales to those who might enter the field? Why can't we have a movie or a short that represents salespeople in a memorable, positive and honorable way? This article explores 10 things we can do about this.

Selling to Larger Accounts - Find the Chauffeur
Dave Kurlan's unique insight on major account sales is not to find the champion, coach, influencer or decision maker. It's to find your chauffeur!

Reengineer Your Sales Cycle: Reduce your time-to-sale and increase your lead-to-close rate
The sales cycle is a system of activities that starts when a new lead is generated and ends when a sale is booked. Like any business process, the sales cycle can be streamlined to reduce inefficiencies, decrease time between lead and order, and increase the lead-to-sale conversion rate. We've provided a way to streamline your sales cycle.

Death by Assumption: Why Great Planning Strategies Fail

To often, assumptions are not clearly identified or managed so that when a plan goes south, there is no way to go back and reevaluate or manage the original assumptions. The absence of "assumption management" is a common cause of the death of many strategic plans. Assumptions must be stated, debated, and continually reevaluated as the plan goes forward. We've provided three practical steps you can take to manage your planning assumption.

3 steps to create a unique selling point to compel customers to do business with you
Creating a great Unique Selling Point or USP is much like making a love letter. You must, through words, create an image of yourself that the object of your affection will love in return. Unlike love letters though, you’ll have fewer words with which to accomplish your goal.

3 Simple Steps for Creating an Effective Unique Selling Point
Creating a great Unique Selling Point or USP is much like making a love letter. You must, through words, create an image of yourself that the object of your affection will love in return. Unlike love letters though, you’ll have fewer words with which to accomplish your goal.

Build a Dynamic Business - 10 Steps to Start You Off
What does it take to make businesses perform extremely well? It's when your people work together in incredible ways, to create far more than you might expect...

The 3 Kinds Of Confusing Brands And What To Do About Them

“What do you do?” Such an innocent and curious question! And in the small business world, it’s where so many conversations go horribly wrong. As the other person starts to answer, a funny thing happens. The conversation starts spinning out of control. Maybe they’re talking too much. Maybe they don’t really know how to answer. Or perhaps they decide, on the spot, to make up and “try out” a new reply they’ve never given before. In any case, the person who asked the question in the first place goes from curious to confused, and starts looking, desperately, for the door. Don’t be the business owner who’s confusing the nice, curious people you’re meeting. Here’s a handy guide to the 3 kinds of confusing brands and what to do about each one:

Relationship Building - 5 Tips and 5 Questions
By building great relationships in your organisation, you will shift the baseline way up. So that when you need to manage, it will be much easier. Think how climbing a mountain from sea level is so much harder than from a camp half-way up.

When it Comes to Compensation Sales is NOT like Baseball
So, the Red Sox have made some big moves in the past week, culminating with the monster signing of Carl Crawford for $142 million. The comparison between baseball and sales is the basis of my Baseline Selling method, but when it comes to compensation the two honestly don't have a lot of common ground.

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