I wrote an article for the Sales Blog over at Hubspot on how Inbound Marketing has really been around, like, forever.  

Mark Roberge, the Chief Revenue Officer at Hubspot, wrote an article there this week that has elicted one of the best discussions I've seen in the Sales Blogoshere - and not a single attack on any of the contributors (as of the last time I checked).  The article was about who should be your first sales hire.  I wrote my own article on the topic 3 years ago called Startups and the Dilemma of the First Sales Hire.  The inbound audience loves to engage in discussions, but not so much the CEO's, Presidents and Sales VP's who read these articles.  Chime in!

The February Issue of Top Sales Magazine was published yesterday and it includes an article with my latest thinking about using the phone for prospecting.  You can download the issue here.  This issue also announces a Top Sales Contest for Salespeople.  If there is a salesperson who you would like to nominate, instructions and guidelines are here.  

My article Tips for Great Keynotes and Better Sales Presentations was named a Top 10 Sales Article for the week over at TopSalesWorld.com.

I'll be speaking near you over the next two months:

WEBINAR: Leading the Ideal Sales Force Part 1
Wednesday, February 5, 11 AM ET
Register: http://hub.am/1jLizo2 

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.

For some salespeople, selling is as caked in tradition and ritual as any religious ceremony.  To get a sense of this, consider the many inside sales roles, demo-centric salespeople, and low-level, in-home salespeople.   Many inside salespeople repeatedly read from the same script.  Most demo-centric salespeople must cover all of the features and benefits.  And many in-home salespeople perform a mini-show on every sales call.

I have several rituals that I can share with you below.  I always:

• visit their website to get a sense for what they do,
• prepare to take lots of notes,
• visualize the outcome,
• guide them through a conversation that they've never had with anyone before,
• hit the milestones of our sales process, and
• discuss and agree to next steps.

December is also the time of year when companies and salespeople send cards, pretzels, brownies, cookies, popcorn, wine, champagne, and other gifts.  These actions are very kind and generous, but not unexpected.  A nice note, card or gift, at a time of year when it's not expected, can differentiate you and your company even more!

Along with the holiday traditions celebrated by you, your family and friends, my Blog has three traditions in December:

1. I ask readers to vote for their favorite article from the past 12 months (coming next week). 
2. I am honored to have won one or more of  the annual Top Sales & Marketing Awards since the event's inception several years ago.  This year I was nominated for 3 awards and Objective Management Group was nominated for 1 award.   
• Top Sales & Marketing Thought Leader - Dave Kurlan
• Top Sales & Marketing Article - Sales Management Best Practices
• Top Sales Assessment Tool - Objective Management Group
• Top Sales & Marketing Blog - Understanding the Sales Force - Dave Kurlan
  
3. I always repost this very popular article from several Decembers ago, Only 11% of Salespeople Do This at the End of a Call.  There are 3 great lessons in this article that are still true today.

Do you have any sales rituals or traditions that you would like to share in the comments?

I would guess that the only thing that is more common than an underperforming sales force is the discomfort that people have before they speak.  And I'm not even talking about speaking in front of an audience.  This discomfort can even manifest when presenting to one intimidating individual!

Speaking doesn't have to be so difficult, especially when you are talking about what you know - your own area of expertise.  Just follow my simple rules and you'll be awesome!

1. Don't use Notes - They'll distract you and make you anxious!
   
2. Avoid Power Point unless you need it to guide you or for big, long presentations!
3. When Using Power Point use as few words as possible - it's for graphics, not words!
4. Have an opening story - get their attention!
   
5. Have a closing story - make them laugh!
   
6. Have 3-5 Primary Talking Points for the middle - that's all you have to remember!
7. You'll be Great if you simply talk about what you know - you're the expert!
   
8. Engage your audience - If it's not compelling, leave it out!
   
9. Ask questions - It holds the audience's attention
   
10. Be Confident - nobody knows the material better than you.  They don't know what you're supposed to say!