A Sales Compass – A Blog by B2B Sales Connections

Did you know that business people who read at least 7 business books a year earn over 2.3 times more than people who read only one book per year?  Think you don’t have time to spend on your own ongoing personal development? Did you know that if you spend just 10 minutes a day reading, that adds up to over 60 hours a year?

Investing in yourself is always a safe bet!

How to Hire & Develop Your Next Top Performer– The Five Qualities That Make Sales People Great by Herb Greenberg, Harold Weinstein & Patrick Sweeney (more…)

I received this in an email from a friend of mine.  Not only did I find it very funny, but I also found it very relevant in today’s business world.  I don’t know who wrote it originally, but I understand it was two math teachers with a combined total of 70 years experience.  If I ever do find out who wrote it, I certainly would shake their hands!

Speaking from a strictly mathematical viewpoint…it goes like this:    (more…)

Joint field work is where you and your representative make sales calls together.  The sales representatives benefit and learn from your knowledge and experience, yet they are still are not working without a net, so to speak.

The problem most sales managers have when doing joint field work is they end up taking over the call completely.  Some even forget the sales person is in the room!  This does nothing to train or develop the sales representative.  The real purpose of doing joint field work today is so your sales representative won’t need you on sales calls in the future.

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What is it that will make your prospect buy today? Why didn’t he buy yesterday?  Why won’t he wait until tomorrow? 

To answer that, you must first define what exactly a prospect is.  (more…)

Do you require your sales reps to submit sales reports?  Do they like doing it?  Probably not. 

That’s because they probably think your sales reports are nothing more than a policing action.  In reality, you want them to think of sales reports as a GPS navigation system to help them get to where they want to go.  To do this, you actually have to use the sales reports. 

Don’t just file them away without looking at them.  Write some comments on the report and return it to the rep.  Sometimes a comment like “Wow, you really worked hard last week.  It’s just a matter of time until it pays off!” can go along way in terms of keeping members of your team motivated.  Remember, your team has to know that submitting sales reports is not just as an exercise in futility.

Aim Higher!

For a free copy of our white paper “How To Recruit The Best Sales Professionals“, visit our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php.

Looking for ideas for your sales meetings?  Join us for our free webinar!  Check out www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php for more details.

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns

I had one of the worst customer service experiences in my life yesterday. As often happens, a bad experience on one hand turned into a learning experience on the other.  (more…)

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” – Albert Einstein

Aim Higher!

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns

To download our free white paper on “How To Write An Effective B2B Sales Resume” check out our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php

I was recently reading that sales agents and independent resellers abandon a product not because of issues with the product but because of the problems caused by the manufacturer or principal they must deal with.

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Whether you are a corporate sales executive needing to increase company revenues, a sales manager wanting to improve your team’s results, or a sales professional looking to invest in your own self improvement, you need to evaluate any sales or sales management training course properly before buying it.  All courses are not created equal and a high price tag does not necessarily guarantee results. (more…)