Archive for the ‘Sales’ Category

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Digital Camera Information

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Android tablet, netbook

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Solar panel, solar power

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Digital economy, mobile technology

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Canada duty

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
US Dollar credit card

I have recently started a sales training program with a number of people from various companies. If you are not using some kind of sales methodology, along with follow-on coaching, then read on and find the results of using these programs versus not using them.

Why a Sales Methodology & Coaching are Mandatory

Do you have a sales methodology? On the surface, that may sound like a no-brainer question. After all, having a methodology is basic sales – or so you’d think. As it turns out, only about 20 percent of Sales VP’s say they have a methodology, says Dave Stein, founder of ES Research Group (ESR).

Think 20 percent is surprisingly low? It gets worse. Stein says when he presses these leaders on whether their sales teams are actually using the methodology, only 10 to 15 percent say the methodology is being actively used by 75 percent or more of their reps. And that’s a big problem when it comes to sales training.

CSO Insights, another research sales company, reports that more than 50% of sales people take 7 months or longer to become productive, and over 20% of reps take more than a year.

Here is an excerpt from a typical sales rep, after a training program.

Sales rep: Yeah, that program is great. Really powerful. In fact, the only time it doesn’t work is when I don’t use it!

CSO Insights: That’s quite an endorsement. How often would you say you use the principles you learned in the program?

Sales rep: Uh, maybe half the time.

Think about that for a moment. If it works every time the rep uses it, why wouldn’t the rep use it all the time? Does he/she simply not need a win every time? Very unlikely! Absolutely likely, though, is that the sales rep simply lacks the discipline and/or the positive reinforcement – ongoing coaching – to use the tools every time.

There has been no follow-on coaching to reinforce and ingrain the methodology into the reps daily routine. Training without coaching is just a waste of money.

CSO Insights also states that 84.5% of companies that utilize a sales methodology have a noticeable or significant improvement in their sales performance.

“The backbone of any training program is the methodology,” says Stein. “We want companies to understand that everything connects to this.” In ESR’s 2006 Sales Training Vendor Guide, Stein makes it clear on page one of the 109-page report how important a methodology is: “The single biggest challenge for companies investing in sales performance improvement today,” he writes, “is the adoption of, and compliance with, a well-founded, relevant sales methodology across the organization.”

Do you Follow the “Flavour of the Month” Approach?

This holistic training philosophy stands in stark contrast to the reality at most sales organizations where if there’s a problem with cold-calling results, the organization brings in a cold-calling expert to fix it. Or when the annual sales training meeting is coming up, leaders call the company that recently gave a convincing PowerPoint presentation and schedule them for a couple hours of training.

And while training done in this fix-the-symptom-not-the-cause fashion can certainly produce an uptick in performance, ESR’s research shows that fewer than 20 percent of companies show a sustainable productivity gain that lasts a year or more. Most have only a 90- to 120-day “blip” in productivity following such training.

If you want your training to produce a sustainable improvement in sales that lasts beyond the current quarter, there are no shortcuts. You must start by defining a solid methodology that matches the buying patterns of your customers. And once you embrace this philosophy, you need follow-on coaching to sustain and ingrain the methodology into your sales and marketing team.

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I want to help you succeed. Visit my web site at http://www.b2bbusinesscoach.com and tell me what you want to know about selling.

You can also contact me at ian@b2bbusinesscoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.

Author: Ian Dainty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPhone iPad apps and games

Top Sales Executives Work Smart Top sales executives recognize their time is precious and finite. These sales representatives know their primary job is to identify and call on the most profitable accounts first. Examining their current customer base and finding the common characteristics or demographics (gross sales, number of employees, industries, etc.) top salespeople know in advance what types of accounts where they make the most money. They separate their accounts by time zone enabling them to make the best use of their phone time throughout the day.

Once prioritized and sorted, top sales executives use their sharp questioning and listening skills to reach the decision maker and determine, with reasonable certainty, whether or not a business opportunity exists within an account. When a business opportunity is found within a department, business unit, location, joint venture, affiliate, reseller or partner, these successful sales reps always remember to set up specific action steps or a sales m.a.p. ™ (Mutually agreed upon process) with the individual or individuals who influence the buying decision. Then they politely yet persistently follow up on these action steps through completion. Knowing how valuable their time is, the most successful salespeople do only those things they cannot delegate to someone else.

Top Sales Executives Think like Business Owners Top sales executives adopt an attitude that they are in business for themselves not in business by themselves. These top salespeople make decisions upon seeing themselves as the business owner.

Organization and Prioritization of Goals Top sales executives recognize the importance of organizing and prioritizing their goals. These people get ahead by planning ahead. They have clearly defined lofty goals and self discipline to see them through. Top sales executives are goal getters not just goal setters.

Top Sales Executives are Persuasive Communicators The top successful salespeople are listening for reasons to buy and for ways to sell. Sensitive to an account’s time available to speak with them and enthusiastic in their presentations and these top sales reps have mastered the technique of carefully selecting words for their positive connotations.

Top Sales Executives Are Always Striving for Self-improvement Always growing, studying, reading, attending seminars, learning all the time, their goal is movement in a positive direction. These salespeople seek out opportunities to perfect their presentations and volunteer for leadership positions so they can stretch themselves as people and professionals.

Top Sales Executives have Positive Self-esteem Strong, balanced sense of self worth combined with confidence in themselves and a belief in what they are doing are the hallmark of a great sales rep. Enthusiasm, excitement and zeal are elements of their character.

These people do a better job and become more productive by learning, practicing, changing and developing these new habits so they are incorporated and internalized qualities in both their personal and professional life.

Conclusion First and foremost is the right attitude. You will hear this throughout most sales workshops because the right attitude is the difference between those that give up and those who never quit. There is no silver or magic bullet. Only hard work and persistence pays off.

To become a great sales executive, one must enjoy working with people and have a strong sense of curiosity, great listening skills and the ability to see the big picture. The best sales executives are able to produce results. Pay for performance is the way they prefer to work.

A great sales executive is someone who has a working knowledge of their company’s operations, products and services, and possesses the ability to collect useful business sales intelligence(tm) about their accounts and translate the information into additional sales. They are persistent and tenacious to find the answers to their questions and they keep going until they do.

David R. Bender of the Special Libraries Association sums it up well: “…how many people have the expertise to evaluate, analyze, organize and package raw data-transforming it into meaningful information that can be put to work?”

He goes on to say “…not many, and the explanation is quite simple.” As management expert Peter Drucker wrote in a column for the Wall Street Journal, “There is a big difference between being computer literate and information literate.”

Bender writes, “Drucker explained that for data to become useful information, it must be organized for a task or applied to a decision.” He contended, however, “Few people are adept at determining exactly what information they need to do their jobs, when they need the information, and where they can get it.”

A great sales executive knows what data is needed, where it can be found and how to get it and provide it in a manner enabling them to increase their sales. In striving to become the best, top sales executives focus on creating value for their clients and a sense of pride and accomplishment for themselves.

Ron La Vine, MBA is president and founder of Accelerated Sales Training, Inc., a sales training firm located in Oak Park, CA. You can get a special report 41 sales Tips You Can Use Right Now AND the free bimonthly Sales Tips for Selling Success eZine all by signing up at http://www.ast-incorp.com If you would like information on Live Cold Calling Sales Training please call Ron at 818-991-6487 PST. 2007 by Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.

Author: Ron LaVine
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In sales, it is the simple actions that generate the greatest results. If your desire is to increase sales, then take some time to crunch your key sales numbers. Taking this action allows you to work smarter not harder. So what are those key sales number?

I am continually amazed at the number of small business owners or sales professionals be them manufacturers, retailers, distributors realtors, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, financial advisers, lawyers, accountants, information technology consultants and even business coaches who do not now their numbers. No wonder they are working harder not smarter.

Here are some critical key numbers that every sales professional should know to be able to efficiently and effectively increase sales:

• Total Sales for the last 12 months
• Average sale value for the last 12 months
• Number of active clients (those conducting business within the last 12 months)
• Number of sales transactions for the last 12 months
• Historical sales growth for the last 5 years
• Average profit per average sale for the last 12 months

Let’s say that you currently generate $240,000 in sales. Breaking this down further means on average that you receive:

• $20,000 in sales per month
• $5,000 in sales per week
• $1,000 in sales per day

Now you determine that your average sale is $100 and this means that you must have 10 orders per day to make your current sales levels. You want to increase your sales from the historic growth of 7%-9% to at least 15% which is almost double your historical growth and starts to make you feel somewhat uncomfortable. Yet, you know that your marketplace is growing, more and more competitors are hanging up their signs so you believe that this is possible. Sales Coaching Tip: To be competitive means you must leave your comfort zone and that will make you uncomfortable.

To reach your new growth goal means an additional $36,000 in new sales or $3,000 more a month. This translates to 30 more transactions per month (average sales value is $100) or 1.5 more new sales per day. When you begin to crunch the numbers, securing another 1.5 sales does not seem that impossible.

Now you further realize that your existing customer base of 100 active clients make on average of 2 purchases a month. By doing the math, you quickly determine that by increasing monthly purchases to 3 for 10% of your customers, you can easily pick up another $12,000 in sales. Sales Coaching Tip: Look for the low hanging fruit that is probably there, but you ran by it because you just did not see it.

In reviewing your inactive clients of 300, you notice that some of them buy once a year. If you make sure that just half of them buy twice a year, instead of just one time, you can add another $15,000 to your total sales. Sales Coaching Tip: Working with existing client is much more cost effective than trying to find new customers.

Finally, in your historical growth you receive an average of 10 new customers per year. Your research suggests that only one third of them will buy twice a month and the rest will purchase only one time. This results in another $12,000.

Your projections look something like this:

• $12,000 from additional monthly purchases for 10 existing customers
• $15,000 from one additional purchase from 50% of inactive customers
• $12,000 from historical growth of 10 new customers
• $39,000 in total projected new sales by focusing on just 3 sales areas

All of a sudden you see that you can achieve your sales goal and with some additional sales to spare. This activity is much like answering the question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. By taking small bites in specific areas, you can increase sales.

Now you understand the importance of knowing your sales numbers. So get the #2 pencil out or the Excel spread sheet and start crunching those numbers!

Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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