I wrote and posted exactly 100 new articles since my final article of 2012 when I announced your favorite all-time Kurlan article.  I've chosen 10 from this year's articles that were either very popular, contained many comments, or thought-provoking.  It's very difficult to narrow it down to 10, never mind to 1, but I went through 100 to pick the 10, and with all the votes that you were asked to cast last week, I decided to not ask you to vote again.  Also, I did not include the article that was awarded a Gold Medal for Top Sales & Marketing Article of 2013 earlier this week.

Here they are in no particular order - My Top 10 Articles of 2013:

SALES

Top Four Reasons Why Salespeople Struggle to Reach Decision Makers 

The Key to Powerful Sales Conversations 

Inc. Magazine Gets it Wrong on Consultative Selling

SALES MANAGEMENT

Actual Coaching Call - Use it to Coach Your Salespeople to Success

The Doctor, The Drug Dealer, and the User 

The Monumental Effort Required to Grow Sales in 2014 

SALES LEADERSHIP

Opinion - Why Sales Win Rates Have Reached an All-Time Low - this article led to quite a discussion on some of the other sites where it was republished.

We're Going Back to AIDA and You Should be Scared

The Challenge of the Challenger Sales Model - Just the Facts 

Get Sales Compensation Right to Recruit Winning Salespeople  

Which one is your favorite? 

Which one gets you upset?

Which one gives you an idea?

Which one resonates the most?

Please leave your comments below.

This is my last article of 2013 - Have a great holiday and we'll get back together here in January.

It was a theme on this week's edition of Meet the Sales Experts.  Whether he talked about the keys to success in the role of salesperson, sales manager, regional manager, Sales Director or VP of Sales, stressed the importance of over preparation.  Currently the VP of Commercial Lines, Marketing and Sales at the Hanover Insurance Group, Jim provided keys, tips, examples, lists, and secrets for success at every level of a sales organization.

Jim's 3 Keys to Success are:

1. Over planning - He was the most thoroughly prepared salesperson most people ever met
2. Ability to put himself in his customer's position - he had intellectual curiosity
   
3. Extremely competitive - he hated to lose
   

Can all three of those keys be taught?  Jim believes he can teach two of them...

Preparation is one of the areas where Jim and I have slightly different approaches. 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.

Listen to the show to learn how Jim transitioned from successful salesperson to successful sales manager to successful sales leader. Jim not only shared the biggest obstacles he had to overcome, but he also shed some light about how he helped his salespeople overcome their obstacles through coaching, development and accountability.  Jim's knowledge of this subject runs wide and deep and if you were going to listen to only one episode of Meet the Sales Experts, this would be the one to tune into.

(c) Copyright 2009 Dave Kurlan

It was on the corner of 82nd Street and 37th Avenue in Queens where 12 year-old Mark Berezow learned to approach strangers and provide them with some compelling reasons to vote for his friend's dad.  He believes that experience had a great impact on his ability to sell, manage salespeople and for the past 20 years, help companies grow their sales.

Mark was my guest on this week's episode of Meet the Sales Experts.

Mark shared some great insights about sales management, specifically how the the sales management mindset differs from the sales mindset.  He said, "A Salesperson is all about being successful.  A sales manager must make the team successful.  The team is made up of individuals. A group doesn't achieve, individuals achieve. The good sales manager manages the behavior of individuals so that they reach their personal goals."

Mark also said, "Existing business will not grow as much as it did before because the business is just not there. People just aren't buying as much.  So companies are forced to make up the difference by seeking out new business" even though their salespeople may not have done that before.

And you just have to hear Mark tell the story about how he cold called to get his first sales job.

You can listen to the entire Mark Berezow interview here.  Contact Mark.

(c) Copyright 2009 Dave Kurlan

"When your market isn't growing, it is not business as usual and holding your breath and hoping is not the right strategy."  This according to Casey Coffman, my guest on the most recent episode of Meet the Sales Experts.  He went on to say that if you sell the same thing, to the same people, the same way that you did 16 months ago, he would be shocked if your sales aren't down.

Casey talked about the importance of confidence, courage and conviction, especially in this economy and he shed some light on CEO's who are still stuck in hunker down mode - paralyzed - not doing anything to reverse flat or declining revenues. He said, "Employees leave when they don't see a way they are going to win.  If we do this we will win, versus, simply staying busy."

Coffman suggested that companies use this period to trim fat, hire, and retool a best in class sales force so that they can take advantage of being able to make changes that in good times they wouldn't be able to make, where in these times you must.  He suggested new approaches, new systems, new strategies, new tactics.  He suggested thinking six months out, and putting pressure on your process instead of your people.

Great advice from a great expert.  Listen to the show here.  Contact Casey here.

(c) Copyright 2009 Dave Kurlan