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5 common failings of B2B sales leaders Jan 26, 2018 | Selling | 0 comments In sales no one is perfect. I’m certainly not. In fact, over my 35 years in this wonderful profession (more than 20 of them in executive sales leadership) there probably isn’t a mistake that I haven’t made. What helped me to be successful was my discipline to learn from them, to continually educate myself on best practices and to evolve my abilities according to my industry and marketplace. I’m also a great believer in the need to differentiate, not only my company and proposition but…

5 Benefits of BRM for Sales Leaders Mar 20, 2018 | BRM | 0 comments Complex B2B sales are now tougher than ever and the decline in sales team performances has been evidence to this fact. The reasons include: Longer sales cycles Prospect expect to receive real business value not just product or service differentiation Larger buyer team And better informed buyers These have all have added to the challenges that face B2B sales professionals and sales leaders in   today’s demanding marketplaces. CRM is the platform of choice to manage everything prospect and customer related, however, it focuses on general details including the pipeline and forecast numbers and the…

3 Things to understand in complex sales Mar 16, 2018 | Selling | 0 comments Since I began selling, way back when, the challenges that the B2B field sales professional face are different and more complex, the power and expectation is now far more biased towards to the buyer. There was time when prospective buyers would seek out sellers as the norm. There was a time when the sales person who could best articulate the features and benefits of their product or service would have an advantage. There was a time when the sales person who could build relationships and rapport would be in pole position. There was also a time…

Compelling reasons to use stakeholder mapping in sales Feb 1, 2023 | Relationship Mapping, Uncategorized We were amazed and disappointed to read some disturbing research data from Gartner about sellers. Around 900 salespeople contributed to the research. 89% of them feel burned out and 54 % are actively looking for a new job. If this data is an accurate representation of…

It’s time to evolve your sales close plans Jan 5, 2023 | Mutual Action Plans Before you misunderstand our thoughts let us make it clear it’s not the principle of plans that we dislike, it’s the term sales close plans. The term drives the purpose and intention of the plan creators – to close a deal. That’s not a good… Key account relationship mapping tools Jan 3, 2023 | Relationship Mapping What is a key account? That’s easy. It’s any account you decide is key to you and your business. It doesn’t have to be a monster account that will…

Customer buying committee or a jury! Sep 30, 2022 | Buyer Enablement Which means that sellers need to up their game. The growth of the Buying Committee, Decision Making Unit or whatever you choose to call them has led to selling becoming far more about people strategy and management. The objective for sales teams is to convince a wider…

Don’t send buyers your sales crap Feb 10, 2022 | Buyer Enablement Be more customer focused they say. Help your customers on their buying journey they say. Provide content to guide them through the decision process they say. All great advice. What an opportunity for sales teams to stand out from the crowd. And what happens? Sales…

What is a real Sales Champion? Sep 14, 2021 | Selling They seek ’em here, they seek ’em there, they seek ’em bloody everywhere. OK, we’re not talking about the Scarlett Pimpernel, we’re talking about real sales champions as they can be just as elusive. An opportunity without a sales champion is an…

Why use Relationship Mapping for key accounts and opportunities? Aug 24, 2021 | BRM What is a key account? That’s easy. It’s any account you decide is key to you and your business. It’s doesn’t have to be a monster account that will generate millions, but of course they’re nice to have. A key account could be a single…

Forecasting is not a problem in sales! Oct 22, 2020 | Selling Forecasting has long been the millstone around every salesperson and sales leaders neck. I often jest that my beautiful shiney head is down to the many years of managing sales teams and their creative forecasts. The quality and accuracy of forecasting has advanced as…