selling value
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How a Mug of Dunkin Can Help You More Effectively Sell Value
- December 9, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This is another Bob story. Bob was on a sales call and the prospect told him that they were looking for the lowest price. I hope you hate it when that happens. It’s a bad thing because while Bob was supposed to be selling value, a price-based conversation is transactional yet he’s supposed to be taking a consultative approach to support the value he provides. Would you like to guess what Bob did instead? Yup, he got them his best price. Ugh!
So what should Bob have done instead to turn this around and not waste everyone’s time?
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Senate Confirmation Hearings Shows Us What Salespeople Do Wrong Every Day
- October 12, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Oh no, another post on the political climate. Don’t worry, I’m not taking sides, I’ll be right down the middle, and very critical of both sides. And stay with me for the pivot to the good stuff – my sales analysis. Here goes!
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New: The 21 Sales Core Competencies for 2020 And Beyond
- September 27, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Like Apple, OMG updates its assessments on a non-stop basis but rolls out significant updates a couple of times per year. Last week OMG introduced the latest revision to the 21 Sales Core Competencies.
There are thirty competencies in all, each with between six and twelve attributes but some are more important than others and OMG measures twenty-one of them in the following three categories:
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Most Companies Can Boost Sales From 30-100% in Just One to Two Years
- September 10, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Many companies already experienced at least 3 to 6 months of uncertainty and they can not withstand even 2 more months of that. As a result, companies are investing, streamlining, expanding, hiring and going all in to save their 2020s, and position their companies for historical growth in 2021.
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15 Things Salespeople Must Do to Make up for a Lackluster 2nd Quarter
- August 12, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Last week we moved our son into his dorm to begin his freshman year of college. The college President’s opening remarks were virtual, so we joined the Zoom stream from our hotel room and listened in. He had some really useful things to share with the new freshmen and while his thoughts were targeted to the students, they apply quite equally to salespeople.
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The Most Successful Negotiation is The Negotiation That Isn’t Needed
- December 9, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This week, one company said that their terms are Net 75. I said, “I’m sorry, but we can’t solve your problem and be your bank. Our terms are due on receipt of invoice and it’s non-negotiable.”
They said, “Oh, OK.”
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Elements of an Effective Elevator Pitch
- September 24, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Why is your favorite sports team better than my favorite team?
Why do you like your political party instead of mine?
Why are you so loyal to the make of car you drive instead of the make of car that I drive?
I bet you can make a passionate pitch for all three, and probably have them come out better than an elevator pitch or your unique value proposition.
At Objective Management Group (OMG), we ask salespeople to record their elevator pitches and value propositions as part of our sales force evaluation. Some are OK, most are not, and for most companies, there are tremendous inconsistencies between each salesperson’s messages.
Elevator pitches and UVP’s are usually so poorly constructed that it makes me wonder if anyone in sales leadership puts any time at all into formalizing these messages.
That said, I thought it might be helpful to discuss the elements of a good elevator pitch and/or value proposition.
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Using the Most Powerful Sales Tool to Get What You Want
- September 16, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Leverage is the most powerful tool in your sales tool box because with leverage comes urgency and after you have urgency your prospect will qualify so easily you won’t believe it. They’ll ask, “What do you need from me?”
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Why are Half of All Sales Reps Still Missing Quota in a Booming US Economy?
- December 10, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Between 2010 and 2016, and soaring revenue during 2017-2018, the percentage of reps making quota has not only remained flat, but the percentage hasn’t even returned to pre 2008 rates. This article attempts to explain why.
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Does Being a Strong Qualifier Correlate to Having a Strong Pipeline?
- August 7, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My latest data mining project reveals that the answer to this question is a partial correlation.
Check out the two tables below and you’ll see just what I mean.