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Ultimate Comparison of Top Salespeople to Salespeople Who Fail
If you've been following this Blog you know I sometimes refer to the elite 5% of salespeople, the next 20% and the bottom 74%. After reading Super Freakonomics I was moved to take a new look at our data on the more than 400,000 salespeople we have assessed. Behavioral scientists would look at our data on the top 5% and report on some common findings. It might look like this...
Are you winning too much?
Winning too much is one of the most common issues we see in successful people, from the executive suite to the top salespeople. The suggestion that this might be a detriment is usually followed by an incredulous look from the recipient. After all, shouldn’t everyone want to win all the time? Actually, this one behavioral problem belies many others.

What is the Single Biggest Motivator for Top Salespeople?
So, what is the secret to motivating top salespeople? This is the question that continues to challenge organizations and frustrate sales leaders. The answer to that question is not a secret. The single biggest motivator for top salespeople is their goal plan.

Guerrilla Style
Because we're smack dab in the middle of The Information Age and because time is so darned important, guerrillas do not waste the time of the prospects and customers with gimmicks and pizzazz. Instead, they reward that time with beneficial information and solid content. The substance of their marketing is so lush, yet concise, that substance is their style.

Sales Tip - Top Salespeople Know to Underscore and Not Space Out Serving Their Prospects!
One of the biggest problems salespeople have is not understanding who the selling ultimately helps: win, win, win sound familiar? There are long and short ways to underscore your prospect and with that, increase your sales.
Missing Sales Research and a Call for Sales Superstars
So the research or intelligence above may help you learn why you didn't get the business, perceptions about your company, its shortcomings, and the perceived advantages of your competition. But the author left out the most useful sales research...
Born to Sell? Give me a Break
We all have opinions. We all prefer one style over another. We all have what we believe are better methodologies, strategies and tactics. But there are some topics that are just begging for data - not opinion - and the author I seem to target more than any other just wrote one such article on whether great sales pros are born that way. All opinion. But based on what? He doesn't really say. He simply uses his two kids as comparison. The problem is, he is dead wrong and the data says so.
"Leading Works Better Than Selling."
Our research found that that harder one pushes to make sales, the harder it is to grow a territory. This article covers several reasons "leading works better than selling." Also, borrowing an effective sales strategy from top performers can change your whole mission on a call. It ensures your efforts are magnified with top performers' work values. And replicating top performers' practices of dealing with common sales challenges can help you, like them, outperform counterparts and trends with 31 percent annual sales growth compared to 5 percent for the status quo.
Top Producer, Top Salesperson or Good Account Manager?
When top management is unable or unwilling to recognize the difference between top producers and their good account managers, mistakenly believing that their good account managers are also good salespeople, the company is probably not experiencing very strong growth.
What Happens When You Try to Hard To Sell?
If you are in an industry that has been impacted by the recession, and you are doing everything possible to continue to bring in revenue, then you are working twice as hard, twice as long and twice as smart. If not, you are probably failing right now. Twice as long is plenty obvious. Twice as smart means planning the strategies and tactics you'll use for each opportunity. But what about twice as hard? Is that working twice as hard today and tomorrow or is that working twice as hard with every prospect?
Run And Hide
You have choices during these tough times. You can run and hide or be bold, brazen and brave - it's up to you!
Recruiting Top Sales Pros is now HARDER, not easier
Businesses need to take a step back and consider all the factors before embarking on a course of action. What might seem obvious at first rarely is. Top 5% sales performers can deliver huge ROI. A little investment in one now could be one of the very best ways of combating the downturn
How Sales Professionals Forget That Sales Are Personal Yet Cannot Be Personal
Do you want to increase sales? Have you tried various marketing techniques from direct mail to cold calling to referrals? Yet, your sales are not where they need to be are they? Why not? Have you considered that the thoughts you have might be keeping your from sales success? Let me explain.
Topgrading Pros, Cons, and Sales Assessments
Somehow, I got thrown into the middle of an internet disagreement between Brad Smart, author of Topgrading, and Bob Corlett, a blogger who calls himself The Staffing Adviser.
How to Get a Prospect's Attention with Good Sales & Marketing
Starting a business relationship is one of the most difficult tasks in sales, but it's not rocket science. The key to prospecting successfully is twofold. First, you need to know what potential clients are looking for. Second, you need to know what low-cost platforms can be used to deliver it.
Salespeople Can Conquer a Sales Slump Like Getting Out of Quicksand
When you’re in quicksand, like a sales slump, if you have a lot of heavy stuff strapped to you, like limiting beliefs, you will not get out. Top salespeople don’t get caught in a sales slump, even in the toughest of times, because they know what to do to steer around a slump.
Silence Is as Good as Gold
A vital key to sales success is listening. The ability to listen well is absolutely indispensable for success in all human relationships and is probably the single most important skill for today's selling professional.
Five Fundamentals to Sales Super-Stardom in 2009
The single biggest difference between success and failure is your attitude. While this might be a much talked about concept in all walks of life, the reality is that only a very few actually ever truly get it. Great attitude is the common denominator of success; everything else including talent follows or is learnt. Top sports people have got it, top business people have got it and top salespeople have got it.
Sales Training – Top Salespeople Can Learn from Good Soldiers
Salespeople can find sales lessons from good soldiers. A most appropriate time to reflect about this is Veterans Day, celebrated in the United States and around the world with different names on November 11th. What can a salesperson learn from top characteristics of good soldiers?
Sales Training – Top Salespeople Are Not Dunces
All salespeople do what they can in conversation so their prospect doesn’t feel like a dunce. In celebration of Dunce Day, more salespeople can have greater success applying a de-duncing strategy for themselves.
Sales Training – Top Salespeople Constantly Fill the Sales Pipeline
Reaching end of the year goals is similar to reaching the end of month goals: you need a strategy that gets results quickly and also continues to fill your sales pipeline all year round.

Hit the Pause Button and Watch Your Business Grow
Most people believe that to be good in sales or customer service, you have got to be a good talker. You often hear people say, "You have the gift of gab; you should be in sales!" Nothing could be further from the truth. Many top sales people are defined as introverts on psychological tests-up to 75 per cent of them. They would much rather listen than talk in a sales situation. Poor salespeople dominate the "talking," but top salespeople dominate the "listening." Sales and customer service superstars practice the 70/30 rule. They talk and ask questions 30 percent of the time and then listen intently to their customers 70 percent of the time.

Top Salespeople Marketing Muscles Flex During Recession or Down Economy
Top salespeople act and think in ways so they are less affected by negative talk during a down economy. Top salespeople don’t let the media guide their thinking. The second action top salespeople take during a down economy talk is to go wider and even deeper with their marketing actions.
Sales Performance Boost for Top Salespeople – Part Two
Top salespeople behave with focus and persistence regardless of obstacles. Here are more top salespeople musings from a personal elevator mishap so you can accelerate your sales results.

Other top salespeople Related Articles

Why Salespeople Aren\'t Professionals
For the last few months I’ve discussed some of the things that keep salespeople from becoming really successful. We’ve talked about why salespeople fail, why they don’t achieve their goals and why the traditional sales process is fundamentally flawed. But the problem goes deeper than that. The problem is that most salespeople aren’t professionals.
Top Salespeople Marketing Muscles Flex During Recession or Down Economy
Top salespeople act and think in ways so they are less affected by negative talk during a down economy. Top salespeople don’t let the media guide their thinking. The second action top salespeople take during a down economy talk is to go wider and even deeper with their marketing actions.
Top Salespeople Secret #3 During a Down Economy: Renew, Renew, Renew
Top salespeople act and think in ways that they are less affected by negative talk during a down economy. Top salespeople don’t let the media guide their thinking. A third action top salespeople take during down economy talk is to renew integrated pieces in their overall marketing plan.
Salespersons Elevator Pitch What Direction is it Going
Salespeople often hear the importance of an elevator speech in business, or it may be called a 60 second sales pitch. It might seem sad to think salespeople have reduced themselves to sound bytes like this in doing business, but then again, selling today stretches our communication abilities. For salespeople, an attractive elevator speech is a must have to connect in a way so that the customer knows whether you are focused on them or yourself.
Build Customers’ Trust in You by Listening and Learning
Customers trust humble (“teachable”) salespeople. Customers don’t shop price with salespeople they trust. Salespeople build trust by listening and sincerely wanting to learn about the customer.

The Pros and Cons of Hiring Green Salespeople
Well, there had to be an article about going green at some point and since I was asked to write one for the folks at AlisterPaine.com, you can get my version of going green, along with both the pros and cons of this practice. It's interesting that so many mainstream companies, when they get frustrated with hiring experienced salespeople, ask what would happen if they were to target inexperienced salespeople. The issue is not that hiring experienced salespeople doesn't work. The problem is that they probably aren't going about it the right way. Read my thoughts on The Pros and Cons of Hiring Green Salespeople.
Selling is a Profession that Requires Professional Leadership
Sales management holds the key to meeting company objectives. Effective sales management must build the platform for success. Salespeople are not the easiest group in the company to manage. If they were they would not be salespeople. Selling is not easy. It takes a special talent, self motivation, self discipline, a passion to succeed and the ability to accept rejection. The reality of the situation is simple. The majority of salespeople are not managed well. Today our sales environment leans toward a more multifaceted atmosphere; salespeople must become strategists with a plan. This plan requires more knowledge about the business, better relationships and better solutions. Some old school (Lone wolf) salespeople may believe they know what it takes. They have the experience. They've been around a long time.

Are You Looking for Salespeople with Entrepreneurial Spirit?
While most salespeople don't have Entrepreneurial Passion, most Entrepreneurs aren't very good salespeople. They lack the DNA, skills and competencies necessary to consistently outsell their competitors, but they (sometimes) compensate for it with their 24/7 passion. Can you have both? Yes - entrepreneurs can be trained to sell effectively! And there are some salespeople who actually have this love of what they are selling. The key is to be able to successfully attract, identify, on board and retain those rare salespeople.

Are You A Profit Center or a Profit Drain?
Invariably, salespeople are either profit generators or profit drains. For some reason, “break even” salespeople have been very rare in my career. There’s a deeper level for us salespeople, though. The two questions we must ask ourselves are: Is our employer better off for having us represent them? And… Are our customers better off for doing business with us?
Think Like a CEO
Debra Benton, author of Think Like A CEO, speaks to audiences all over the world about this topic. She is often directing the conversation to other leaders in the organization, not necessarily the sales department. We think it’s time that salespeople quit thinking like salespeople and take Debra’s advice: start thinking like a CEO. These are such salespeople and here are their thoughts, behaviors and actions.

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