Fix the 5 Reasons Sales Hiring is So Hard to Get Right

Fix the 5 Reasons Sales Hiring is So Hard to Get Right

We work with many companies, both small and large, who suffer from the same issues when it comes to hiring. They all have difficulty attracting, selecting and onboarding the right salespeople.

Repeatedly, we hear the frustration of executives who have wasted countless hours and thousands of dollars hiring salespeople who don’t work out. Compounding the problem is that when the market is tight for good sales talent, hiring managers feel pushed to just fill positions, not understanding that hiring poorly likely will cost the company three to five times the hire’s annual compensation.

Sales hiring is the most difficult to […]

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Low Closing Rates? Here’s What You Can Do About It

Low Closing Rates? Here’s What You Can Do About It

It’s another of the most common complaints we hear from business owners and sales leaders: Our salespeople can’t close. And they’re right. Most salespeople, unfortunately, are not great at closing.

The closing facts

This isn’t just an opinion, it’s backed-up by some impressive data. Using the Objective Management Group’s vast database of over 1,000,000 salespeople, I pulled information on 359,000 to determine how many had the traits of a proficient closer (see sidebar). On average, these salespeople only have 31% of the necessary characteristics. 31%! Having so few of these traits, it’s no wonder we hear complaints about salespeople closing.

Closing isn’t intimidation

A […]

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Telling Ain’t Selling…Nor Is It Managing

Telling Ain’t Selling…Nor Is It Managing

Telling is NOT selling goes without saying. Anyone worth the commissions they collect knows this. But telling is not sales leadership or coaching either. It simply won’t help an individual salesperson get any better. People rarely learn by being told, “do this”, or “do that.”

Telling for Failure

Too frequently it’s what I see however.  Managers telling salespeople what to do and how to do it. As a matter of fact, I frequently witness this situation when I get the chance to sit in on the sales “training” sessions of prospective clients.

Typically, the manager will start off having the salespeople break up […]

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Capitalize on the Trends Redefining Selling

Capitalize on the Trends Redefining Selling

I had the privilege recently of speaking at the 2017 Barnes Buchanan Security Conference on the topic: Capitalize on Trends Redefining Selling in the Security Industry. As with many industries, competition and customers’ buying habits continue to influence the security industry marketplace. But, no matter what industry you’re selling in, here are some lessons to learn from the situation and my presentation.

Sly competition from outside companies

The Security Industry is facing many new “wily” competitors in the form of cable companies and internet providers who are now offering security services in addition to entertainment and broadband access. These companies don’t necessarily […]

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What I Heard about Sales Compensation Plans
at SOUC 2017

I recently had the privilege of moderating a panel on sales compensation plans at the SedonaOffice Users Conference. If you were at the conference but missed this panel (or weren’t there and wish you had been), fear not, I have compiled the key points here. For those of you not affiliated with the security industry, keep reading – the principles we discussed at the conference apply to most any business.

First of all, the contributors: I was joined by some wonderful business leaders in the security industry:

Joslyn Alderson from Vancouver Fire & Radius Security
Fred Johnson from Peak Alarm
Bob McVeigh from […]

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Constructing a Sales Compensation Plan That Works

Constructing a Sales Compensation Plan That Works

Maybe it because a new year has begun, but I’ve had numerous questions lately about sales compensation plans and how to construct them. It certainly seems to be a hot topic. I even facilitated a panel discussion on the subject at the SedonaOffice Users Conference this week.

What I hear being asked by business and sales leaders is, “How do I construct a compensation plan that will cause my salespeople to sell gobs of stuff, generating a whole bunch of profit for the company without us having to do anything else? Oh, and without us paying them too much for […]

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Motivation Mistakes Most Managers Make

Motivation Mistakes Most Managers Make

So, it’s a new year and once again we get to start with a fresh slate. Time to hit it hard and generate some new business. As a manager, you probably wrapped up last year with an assessment of your sales team’s effectiveness, likely calculating and paying out commissions for the team’s effort. Invariably, there were some stars, some duds and some so-so performers in your group.

Money Isn’t Always Motivating

As you plan for 2017 and where you will spend your effort, I’d like to suggest you spend a little energy tuning into your individual salespeople’s motivational tendencies. You will have […]

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Why Your “Hot” Leads Aren’t Buying

Why Your “Hot” Leads Aren’t Buying

Marsue Sams is a Sales Growth Specialist with Braveheart.  She is a passionate sales strategist and coach with over 20 years of award-winning corporate sales and sales leadership experience.  Marsue has written multiple sales guides and motivational sales programs for a wide variety of organizations during her time in corporate America and has spoken at national and regional user-group meetings.

I have seen many sales people fall into the habit of believing that anyone who requests information about your product or service is ready to buy. This is a dangerous mindset and a huge time and resource waster.  Learning how to properly […]

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Ours Is a Relationship Sale. C’mon Man. That’s Stupid.

Ours Is a Relationship Sale. C’mon Man. That’s Stupid.

If I had a nickel for every time a CEO told me that their business was different.  That their products and services were sold based on relationships, well I’d have hundreds of nickels I guess.  But I bet that if I could speak to thousands of owners and CEOs they would tell me the same thing and then I’d have thousands of nickels.  Everybody thinks their products and services are special.  That the clients buy based solely on the relationship.  Heck this belief is propagated by the salespeople themselves.  They stake their claim.  Forge the relationship and then hunker down.  […]

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