Blog - Braveheart Sales Performance

How to Turn a Good Salesperson Bad: A Cautionary Tale

Written by Gary Delbridge. This was originally posted on The Sales Professor Blog by our OMG Partner affiliate in Australia, Objective Assessment and is reposted here with minor modifications.

More than 20 years ago, while working in the area of corporate transformation, I came across a fascinating explanation of the nature of culture within companies. I, like many people, saw the culture of a company as something “inherent” in any organization. But until that time, I failed to understand how it came into being and underestimated the enormous impact it had on the performance of those within a company.

While studying “Total Quality Management” […]

Why Beefing Up Commission May Not Change Behavior (& How to Fix)

I had a great conversation with a CEO today where we were discussing the merits of refining their compensation plan. It seems the CEO was disgruntled over the fact that his salespeople were comfortable making six-figure incomes, but they weren’t pushing to really knock it out of the park. Maybe you have witnessed the same thing.

These salespeople tend to sell roughly the same amount each month to maintain a certain standard of living, but don’t put that extra effort in to make more. In some cases when this happens, you may know that they could make significantly more if they […]

3 Benefits of Continuous Recruitment for Sales

Written by Frédéric Lucas. This was originally posted by our OMG Partner affiliate in Canada, Prima Ressource and has been translated from French with minor adaptation.

On the sales manager’s list of tasks, recruitment ranks low among priorities. When there is a need for one or more salespeople, managers dive into recruitment and put all their forces into battle. Often, just to hire the “least worst” candidates at the end of the recruitment process. TWEET THIS

However, the trend is increasing that companies need to recruit salespeople continuously.

Obviously, the first benefit of continuous recruitment is the ability to hire more quickly when the sales organization […]

Mastering the Art of Questioning is Not Just for Salespeople

Managers: Improve your sales management effectiveness . . . and minimize your burden

Just as we teach salespeople to be awesome question-askers, as sales managers, we also need to be experts in the art of questioning. The questions asked may just need a little tweaking.

All too often, sales managers feel the burden of directing their sales team. If your salespeople come to you with questions throughout the day, you may feel pressure to respond as an authority. I don’t believe it’s a conscious thought; still, the burden is squarely on the sales manager’s shoulders to tell the sales team how to […]

How Do CEOs Sell Effectively When They Lack Sales Skills?

Written by Frédéric Lucas. This was originally posted by our OMG Partner affiliate in Canada, Prima Ressource and has been translated from French with minor adaptation.

Who is your company’s top seller? Is it by chance the CEO or business owner? Have you ever wondered why a CEO might sell more than a salesperson, despite having less finely-honed sales skills? (That generalization reflects the fact that salespeople are devoted full-time to sales while CEOs must wear many hats).

Who is the Top Seller at Many Companies? The CEO or Owner.

Business owners are often the best sellers of their company — NOT because they have developed special skills […]

Be an Exception to the Latest Depressing Stats on Consultative Selling

Hello. Are There Any Consultative Salespeople Out There?

I read a fantastic, albeit depressing article that was published yesterday by Dave Kurlan, founder of Objective Management Group (OMG).

Periodically, OMG mines the data on the thousands of salespeople that are assessed using their tools each year (now over 1 million salespeople in total). What they have learned is that the average consultative seller competency has not improved much over the last four years. Despite so much more information out there about sales effectiveness. And despite the hundreds of training and development companies that exist to try and improve sales skills of sales […]

Sales Digest: Make Your Pipeline More Effective

Braveheart Sales Digest
Focus On: Improving Your Sales Pipeline

The inaugural edition of our sales digest was well-received, so we are doing it again around a new theme: the sales pipeline. If you follow Braveheart’s Sales Management Blog, you have likely heard me refer to the “fluffy pipeline syndrome.” It’s a real thing that can seriously undercut sales performance.

In 2013, The TAS Group reported that only 46% of sales reps feel their pipeline is accurate. Find out what leading sales experts have to say now about building and maintaining an effective sales pipeline.

From the Women Sales Pros Network:

Title: Your Sales Pipeline is Not […]

CEOs: What Should You Do About Your Sales Managers?

What does your sales manager do? What is he or she supposed to do?

If you are like many other CEOs and business owners, you have two different answers for those questions. My colleague, Karen Brown, recently blogged about the widespread misperceptions over sales managers’ value. We often witness a baseline misunderstanding about what role the sales manager should be playing in the organization.

Frequently, there is an expectation that the sales manager will sell and manage. And, in fact, the sales managers often have been promoted from the sales team after proving themselves as sales superstars, which may encourage ongoing dependence […]

10 of the Most Harmful Questions Salespeople Still Ask

Written by Frédéric Lucas. This was originally posted by our OMG Partner affiliate in Canada, Prima Ressource and has been translated from French with minor adaptation.

You’ve probably heard some absurd questions from vendors, and told yourself that it was not the way you were going to do business. There is no reason to repeat the mistakes of others.

I have assembled a list of the top 10 wrong sales questions that are frequently asked, despite their detrimental effect on the sales process.

If you are a salesperson and still use any of the questions listed below, it’s time to re-think your approach.

If you are a […]

Sales Managers: How to Win at Joint Sales Calls

I had a great conversation with a highly talented VP of Sales of a successful sales organization the other day. We had a spirited debate about the role that a sales manager should play in joint calls with their sales reps. So this got me thinking more deeply about how to best approach those joint calls for the greatest success. (Do you have an opinion about it? Weigh in on Twitter, or in the comments).

Of course there are two time frames when considering success, so it depends on your time horizon as to what success means.

For short term success, it […]