Tag Archives: sales training blogs

Pre-call planning – propose an advance or lose

Sales calls and pre-call planning – most reps have heard the message. Some are good at it. Others do it but are no better then anyone else. And some don’t believe they need to so they don’t.
One pre-call planning area where you can get a jump on the other person is doing a superior job at planning and rehearsing an advance – an action that moves the sales cycle forward.
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Posted in Sales Best Practices, Sales Call Execution, Sales Strategy, Sales Training, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , ,

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Sales simulations – they’re better than ever!

Sales simulations are more versatile, more effective, and more affordable than ever. So companies are increasingly embracing them. What are some innovative companies doing? Read some examples. Continue reading

Posted in Sales Simulations, Sales Training, Sales Training Best Practices, Sales Training Design | Tagged , , , , ,

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Professional service sales – leveraging the power of the team

Team selling does not guarantee success. As a matter of fact, teams are frequently misused and ineffective. On the other hand, some organizations have cracked the code and consistently leverage the power of team selling.
This can be a particularly important competitive advantage in the professional service sale. For many companies, selling as a sales team simply means two people going on a call. In professional services, there are field-based engineering and technical support staff, or implementation managers that are on site and have unique perspectives about the customer.
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Posted in Sales Best Practices, Sales Leaders, Sales Management Coaching, Sales Training | Tagged , , , , , , ,

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Developing internal champions – it’s important and it isn’t easy

Selling goes on when you’re not there. That’s why top sales performers leverage internal champions to“tell their story” when they’re not there – because they’re not there most of the time.

Logical? Yes. So why doesn’t everyone leverage internal champions? First, it takes a lot of time to develop internal champions and not every sales rep concludes the investment is warranted. Second, some sales reps have had negative experiences with internal champions because the sales rep fell into the classic trap of spending time with people who are “willing” but are “not able” to tell their story. Continue reading

Posted in Sales Call Execution, Sales Strategy, Sales Training, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , ,

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Has your sales team been trained to be futurists?

What if you trained your sales team to not only uncover and develop existing needs but to also discuss where the customer wants to be in the future, how they want to get there, and how you might help? First of all – that type of sales training is feasible. Second, if you did do it, you might not have to worry about predicting the future because you could invent it. Continue reading

Posted in Sales Best Practices, Sales Simulations, Sales Training, Uncategorized | Tagged , , ,

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Sales excellence – understanding the clutch player – An STC Classic

Best practices for sales managers working with clutch players – to achieve sales excellence. Continue reading

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Selling value – the bar has been raised

Company knowledge and product expertise have been and are critical components of any sales rep’s success. Today, however, customers expect sales people to know more about each of those plus be knowledgeable about the customer’s industry, their competition, and how they can bring greater value. They expect the sales people to understand how their products can help deliver a better solution.
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Posted in Marketing-Sales Alignment, Marketing-Sales Chasm, Sales Best Practices, Selling Economic Value, Selling Value | Tagged , , , , , ,

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Medical device sales – the book of knowledge is expanding

For medical device reps updating their command of the Book of Knowledge is critical. Not to sound melodramatic but in some cases, like cardiology devices, life and death decisions can depend on it. Being up-to-speed is the key to providing value – to your customer’s and to their customer’s – whether patients, physicians, or administrators. The good news is although the Book of Knowledge is bigger – the resources for learning it are better than ever. Continue reading

Posted in Global Sales Training, Health Care Sales Training, Sales Best Practices, Sales Training | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Sales success: getting the comfort–risk mix right

In today’s competitive markets staying in one’s comfort zone may avoid failure – unfortunately it may also prevent success. While it is true that too much of anything is probably not prudent. It is also true that achieving top performance involves some risk taking. So the challenge may be developing the where-with-all to take “smart risks.” Let’s take a look within a sales context at some of the considerations that might go into achieving that goal. Continue reading

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Can you sustain a competitive advantage by product alone?

It is unlikely in today’s markets you can sustain a competitive by product alone. Great support and services are required … and a superior sales team. Continue reading

Posted in New Product Launch, New Product Launch Training, Sales Training, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

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