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Lesson #3: Focus On the Inside Out
“I believe that Yahoo! is too often defined by the competitive landscape, rather than by what we can accomplish with our assets,” says Yang. “I’m determined for us to define our own path.”

Q&A - Problem with a mentor
Here's a tough situation a NeverEatAlone reader is having with his mentor (and that's the first problem -- only having 1 mentor!). My quick two cents follows. Also check out Chapter 29 in Never Eat Alone, "Find Mentors, Find Mentees, Repeat."

Tale of Two Clients - Sales Training! :) versus Saaaales Training (:

Here's an interesting comparison for you. Two client companies are on the exact same sales development time line. (Same time line but separate from each other - they don't even know about each other) Both of their sales forces went through sales force evaluations at the exact same time. Both of their sales management teams were developed at the same time. Both of their sales organizations received sales infrastructure help (sales process, sales pipeline, metrics, sales recruiting process, etc).

How Can Anyone Spend That Much Time on Sales Coaching?
If you aren't the low price leader or one of the two or three best-known brands in your industry, and if buying from you does NOT represent the safe choice for your customers, then you are an underdog. And if you are an underdog, you had better be providing comprehensive sales and sales management training and coaching because you can't compete on price or reputation.

Tale of Two Clients - Sales Training :) vs. SAAAALES TRAINING :(
You've heard it before. It flows down hill. Your organization can only be as effective as the weakest leadership link. When it comes to a sales development initiative, you must start out committed and remain committed to drive the process until the change you demand has been accomplished. Anything short of that is a formula for failure.

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.

5 Frustrations that Derail the Sales Force
I write a lot about the things that frustrate Presidents, CEO's, Sales VP's and Salespeople. Yesterday, somebody asked what frustrates me so I attempted to tackle that question here. I'm very steady and what you see on Monday, you'll probably get on Tuesday and Wednesday too. That said, there are things that will make me eat faster or more often, and here you can read my top 5:

But I'm a Sales Guy - The Story of Motivation and Compensation
A Sales VP and his CEO were in the conference room and each time the CEO brought up a problem, we asked the Sales VP to elaborate. Each time he began with, "Well I'm a sales guy so I know this stuff..." Yes and No.

Top 10 Video Blunders When Used as a Sales Aid
It should go without saying that your videos should be professionally produced and directed. The do it yourself videos made on the fly are prone to all ten of the mistakes listed above. Unless you are in the marketing, advertising or videography business, you have no business doing this yourself unless you want to give people reasons not to buy from you.

Sales Leadership - A Balancing Act Between Compliance and Quotas
We'll discuss the balance sales leaders must have between sharing, mandating and asking. Sounds simple.

My Sales Force Won't Use CRM
I mentioned that the key rule to getting salespeople to change is rule #9, Consequences. There are three primary ingredients to having Consequences.

Accountability and Outcome is a Shared Responsibility in the RFP Process
It never fails to amaze me that given the amount of research which goes into the production of each PI Window on Business Show, there are always a number of new insights that come to light during the live broadcast. In fact this is one of the reasons why social media is so critical to the procurement profession, as it broadens the lens through which we can view a particular subject.

7th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
There isn't a person in the company who must work more on developing relationships than an individual in a sales management role, whether it be a line level sales manager or the World Wide VP of Sales. But developing a relationship does not mean that one should become friends.

Create Large Accounts by Establishing C-Level Relationships
Learn how to move from vendor to preferred supplier in a heart beat. Here’s the path to C-level executive suites. Once relationships are established there, sales come easily and continuously.

1st of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture
#1 - IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU! Believe it or not, there are a lot of people in sales who mistakenly believe that the world revolves around them. If my previous sentence said "show business" instead of "sales" it would make sense but this isn't show business.

Why a Top Sales Manager Must Always "Tune Into the Right Frequency"

It's definitely clichéd, but I think this is one of the most critical elements to successful sales management and that is to make sure you are tuned into the right radio frequency with your salespeople. There's only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let's not get too technical here...). This is the "What's-In-It-For-Me" radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you're not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio...or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

C-Level Selling - A Sales Person's Best Resource
Sales managers and sales people are sympathetic to other salespeople. Learn how they will help you get to the C-Level and make your sale to their companies.

Why A Top Sales Manager Needs To Be On All His Reps’ “Pre-sets”

You have to be more popular than Howard Stern. You also have to be cooler than Opie and Anthony too. Why? Because one of the most critical elements to successful sales management is to always make sure you are tuned into the radio frequency of your salespeople. Here's why. There's only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let's not get too technical here...). This is the "What's-In-It-For-Me" radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you're not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio...or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

Sales Management Training Tips: Sales Coaching vs. Admin?

After my last blog 5 Ways to Gauge Your Sales Managers’ Coaching, I heard from several clients. One VP of Sales loved the article and asked for copies for his Directors of Sales. Two heads of sales from different companies liked the post but did not want to send it out to their frontline sales managers because of my comment (see below) that coaching was more important than administration. Neither wants their sales managers to feel that it is OK to spend time in the field and avoid administration.

Sales Management Training Tips: Sales are down. What can you do?

I faced a similar situation in Q1 2003. As VP of Sales of a Canadian pharmaceutical organization we faced the SARS crisis. Access to our customers became limited. Hospitals and physicians were also limiting sales rep visits. Marketing started calling the sales numbers down for the year, blaming the SARS crisis. As head of sales I had few options. What I did know was that I had to utilize my resources where they were going to generate the greatest revenue. What would you do?

Sales Management Training Tips: Pursuing Sales Results vs. Developing Your Team

I recently had lunch with a highly successful VP of Sales of a Pharmaceutical company. He explained that he was frustrated with the members of his sales management team, who he felt were focused only on results. He worried that they were not spending any time developing their salespeople. At first blush, most of you might easily say you don’t see a problem with that. You wish your sales managers were more focused on delivering the sales numbers. That’s easily understood and probably true in many cases.

Just How Important is Preparation to Sales?

Jim believes that you must know everything there is to possibly know about a potential customer or client, perhaps even more than they know about themselves. My theory for preparation revolves more around a salesperson's ability to be strategically and tactically prepared for every imaginable scenario that could occur in a sales meeting and cycle. Both of our approaches depend on the salesperson being prepared to ask good, tough, timely questions. If your salespeople combine those two approaches, they would be unbeatable.

Did an Anti-North American Sentiment and Arrogance Undermine Andersson's Tenure at GM?
On the August 11th PI Window on Business Show I spoke with three time honoree as a Supply and Demand Chain Executive's "Pros To Know," and co-author of the book "Transform Your Supply Chain" Bill Michels, regarding General Motor's precipitous fall in relation to their supply chain strategy.

Powering Momentous Market Launches
Successful market launches are more than a single Lightning Bolt announcing availability. Great launches are all about building momentum, creating buzz and ultimately, announcing success. That's what Rolling Thunder is all about.

Yoda needs to follow his own advice!
Decisions come from decision makers and salespeople have to get the conversations going with the top people. Oops, I didn't do that, what happened...

Stop Blaming Sales!

If sales isn't responding - then marketing is responsible. Marketing's role is to give sales the tools and training they need to sell the company's solutions. It's also marketing's role to get them excited about the newest offerings. So the next time someone starts to blame sales for lack of product acceptance in your customer base or for discounting deals that don't generate the margin or results you expected - think again. It's most likely sales is doing the best they can with what they've been given.

Rejection…Not Once, But Twice!
If you are the owner of your own business, or have a sales role within your company, then surely you have dealt with rejection. As Former VP of Franchise Development for Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc, I’ve had plenty of experience myself. But this spring I was dealt the dirty ‘R” word not once….but again!

Quit Swinging the Bat and Start Hitting the Ball
Correct technique can assure favorable outcomes. But focusing on technique alone can become a distraction.

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?

Connecting with your employees through Social Media

Today was an awesome day! It started off with my VP greeting me at the door and showing his appreciation for my efforts in 2008. Next, it was my Director pointing out the main successes that were achieved and finally I had the opportunity to show my gratitude to my staff. What a great way to connect with your employees and build sincere relationships by recognizing them for their contribution to the overall success of the corporation. Thanks to the organizing committee for pulling off a great “Employee Appreciation” day.

How to Write Job Advertisements That Attract Top Talent: Job Descriptions
If you want to write a job advertisement that attracts top talent, here is step-by-step system for how to do it.

Sales VP's and Marketing VP's - Should the Roles be Combined?
Pete Caputa pointed me to an article on the Revenue Journal Blog about why you should combine the VP of Marketing and VP of Sales Roles and what the sales part of that role should be. Zhivago says that the VP should be a marketing person and goes on to explain why. Well she's wrong!

Creating the right ‘Value Perception’ for your Customers
Value Perception (VP) is the opinion your potential and current customers have of your product or service. This perception determines the value it adds to them in line with the problems it needs to solve or aspirations they want it to fulfill. Also evaluated is your offering’s relevance and importance, over and above that of your competitors.

Less is Often More

I just got off the phone with the CEO of a company who was steaming mad, not at me fortunately, at his senior V.P. who had just made a really, really stupid mistake. I have been coaching this man and know him quite well. However, one of the lessons he has yet to learn is when to "zip it". He thinks, and we have talked about this, that because he is the head honcho he can say whatever he wants whenever he wants and there will be no repercussions.

Workplace Education to Drive Canada’s Talent & Competitiveness
Arupa Tesolin takes a look at how workplace education is making Canadian companies more competitive

Can Sales Assessments Actually Predict On the Job Sales Success
Stathead was hell-bent on learning about the technical nature of how the assessment works, how it was created, how it was validated and its impact on protected minorities. While this is important, it can be very misleading. As you will read below, a test can meet all of those criteria and not help with selection at all!

Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion
Hiring salespeople is scalable until you get to a dilution point - very similar to the expansion that took place in baseball...

10 Types of Sales Advisers and How to Choose the One Thats Best For You
The question shouldn't be whether you should or shouldn't include a sales expert in your group of inside advisers, the question should be which kind of sales expert you should rely on for advice. [Read More]

Your Salespeople Call on the Wrong People and Expect Them to Buy
How many sales opportunities fail to convert because your salespeople failed to meet with the individual(s) in the company that could do something about it?

When is gigahertz a proper noun?
Marketing Communications needs strong advocates if it’s to do its job well.

Who's Your VP of Reputation?
Reputation is the new profit center for the 21st century. Think about it. In an age of corporate scandals, suspicious customers, and budgets with very little breathing room, there is simply no substitute for being a reputable company. But no matter how many times you say you're an honest, trustworthy, customer-centered company, the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

Hiring Former Fortune 1000 Employees

If you are considering a salesperson, sales manager or VP of Sales from a big, name brand company, there is a crucial point that executives from smaller companies usually miss. You probably don't run a large, name brand company. Your salespeople probably aren't automatically invited in with open arms. Your company probably doesn't have a reputation that precedes it. Your company probably isn't the market leader. Your company probably doesn't have the lowest prices. So how would one of these former big-brand salespeople or sales managers fare when they encounter the resistance, challenges, ambivalence and rejection that the rest of your salespeople endure?

'Playing the Game' or 'Politics'. How do women approach networking in a large company?
Is it a manipulative game, using people for one's own ends? Or simply a key part of building a career, of particular importance for a woman in a male-dominated world? Andy Lopata looks at the importance of networking for women in corporate life.

Who Are Your Buyers and Who Feeds Them

Once you have the overall industry landscape figured out, the next step is to go deeper and describe who the buyers, suppliers and distributors are, and what drives them. This is the food chain that some researchers refer to. Start with the buyer; your customer. Within a company, who is the buyer? Is it a CIO? Is it a VP of service? Is it the purchasing manager? Is it the buyer for a retail store? Is it the VP of development? Whoever it is, describe the buyer's recognition of the problem you solve, the criteria that will be used to determine the purchase, the likely availability of resources to support the purchase, and the decision process that you will be confronted with.

Member Question Regarding Ariba Experience
Member Question: Does anyone have any experience with a company called Ariba and their ability to do spend analysis for a procurement group? Question Submitted By: Patrick Program Manager United States

Are You Risking the Relationship for the Sale - And then Losing the Sale Anyways?
Losing a sale can be disheartening, especially if you lose it for reasons you aren't even aware of.

How to Present Formal Recognition That Makes Their Day!
Public award presentations require preparation, planning and good intentions. This short article will provide some insight into what makes formal recognition meaningful.

Closing Sales Kindly and Efficiently
Sales professionals often feel forced to step out of their comfort zone to confront and persuade prospects to come to a decision. These skills are a lot tougher to master, but not impossible. Follow this four step rule to close sales kindly and efficiently.

The Keys to Multi-Channel Success
This article reports on a webcast where an executive from Accudata talks about the importance of integrating multi-channel marketing into your overall strategy. If you're interested in learning more about this topic, just email us and we'll send you our whitepaper on Effective Multi-Channel Marketing Techniques. Our general email is info@rrwconsulting.com. Enjoy!

Three big challenges every executive struggles with to meet targets and how you can solve them
As a VP of sales, you’re constantly on the lookout for that winning edge to help you and your organization consistently achieve and even surpass your revenue targets. Success in sales is everything. Among executives, it is the most important thing that we are all measured on.

\"Why Do I Charge So Much? Because I Can.\" Motivating with Value Not Price
Never mealy-mouth around a potential negative. No lie, truth is the ultimate sales tool.

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