It happened again last week… I was brought into an organization that did a poor job of hiring and had a bunch of salespeople who weren’t doing what they were supposed to be doing because they either had a poor attitude, poor work ethic, or both. Some difficult conversations ensued and afterwards I was asked […]
Hire Correctly or Drive Yourself Crazy Holding Producers Accountable Read More »
As the saying goes, “A house is only as strong as its foundation.” It takes a strong foundation to ensure sales success. Following are the six high-achievement ingredients necessary to build that strong foundation. The Six Ingredients Needed to Build a Solid Sales Foundation Ingredient 1 for high achievement: Be in sales for the right
The Foundation for Top Sales Achievement Read More »
Several important factors separate those who succeed in selling from those who fail. Although some of the following items are arguably more important than others, they are all critical to a salesperson’s success. When I talk about top salespeople, I’m referring to people who are not only great at the profession of selling, they are
The Difference between Success and Failure in Selling Read More »
In an article two months ago, I mentioned the five foundational personality qualities necessary for sales success: people skills, mental toughness, work ethic, attitude, and character (honesty and integrity). If someone is missing any one of these, they won’t make it in sales over the long haul. Of the five, I find that the one
Mental Toughness and Sales Success Read More »
I was recently speaking with a manager at a real estate office about what makes some agents successful and others unsuccessful. He told me, “John, I can sum up the difference between the successful agents and the unsuccessful agents with one quick example: during a major blizzard when everything is shut down and everyone is
Sales Success: Are you IN or are you OUT? Read More »
Recently I was speaking with an insurance agency owner about the lack of success of his two most recent hires. When I asked how many hours they were putting in, the answer was, “About 45 or 50 per week.” Keep in mind, these agents are in their 20s, are new to the industry and relatively
How Many Hours per Week = Sales Success? Read More »
You just hired the perfect person: great work ethic, positive and upbeat, they show up early, leave late, take ten minutes of a fifteen-minute break, and do more than expected and more than you ask for. Now let’s take that person and put them into an environment where people are negative, aren’t held accountable, take
Building a Successful (Sales) Culture Read More »
There are five primary mistakes when it comes to managing salespeople. Almost every organization makes one or two of these, but most make more, many make all five. Each mistake you eliminate will add about 20% in additional revenues to the bottom line. That said, if you have and clean up all five, it could
The Biggest Mistakes Made Managing Salespeople Read More »
By far the biggest reason salespeople fail is because they don’t make enough calls, to talk to enough people, to get enough prospects, in order to make the necessary sales. There are two causes for this, one: not putting in the hours necessary, and two: call reluctance. While the first one is a problem and
Overcoming the Salesperson’s Biggest Obstacle: Call Reluctance Read More »
Warning: if you’re looking for a short cut or easy way to your best year, you probably won’t like this article. What I have to say is not what the majority of the population wants to hear. That said, it is what you need to hear if you what to have your best year in
Have your Best Sales Year in 2019 Read More »