We’re seeing an increasing demand from sales leaders to develop their sales teams into value adding Key Account Managers. It’s a logical step, but for many salespeople it’s a big one which requires a better understanding of how customers buy and how their competitors sell as well as an increase in their account management skills.Given… Read More »
We all know about how Facebook is occupying a larger space in many peoples’ lives. If you were still unconvinced, have a look at the figures below: What is really interesting is not the member growth but the intensity of use. People are unloading more, updating more, just being on Facebook a lot more. As… Read More »
Did you see the Wimbledon mens final on Sunday? Raffa Nadal won in straight sets – 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Imagine not seeing the game and just having the result, how insightful could you be about how he won? For many sales managers, that is exactly the position they are in. They have the sales… Read More »
One on the tools that every budding business management student thinks they are familiar with is the SWOT analysis. Below we take a fresh look at its potential and how it’s misused. Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats Familiarity with SWOT has bred misuse. We often see it being used to simply capture obvious… Read More »
Matrix structures are sometimes the only effective way of deploying a multi-dimensional strategy. The problem is they are beyond many organisations’ maturity to successfully execute. In fact some attempts have failed so badly it can be career limiting to even suggest ‘going matrix’ around some CEO’s. However, for some organisations a matrix gives them the… Read More »
Most organisations, whenever their financial year starts, use the New Year as a time to look at their Training Plan and see if it’s fit for the year ahead. After the traumatic events experienced in 2009 all organisations need to plan for and anticipate the challenges expected in 2010. To ensure your Training Plan… Read More »
This year has shown that in tough times some approaches are more effective than others, some sales leaders really do shown a navigable path through to improved performance, whilst other less able managers add no value at all through their visible anxiety and single dimensional approach. We have captured the main difference in a… Read More »
Effective service delivery can be transformed by the effective and clever integration of appropriate technology. Anybody who has ordered over the internet and received an instant confirmation email showing everything is correct will know how effectively it reduces purchasing anxiety, especially when followed up with further emails showing order progress. Or the effective application of… Read More »
Not all customers behave the same way because they are motivated by different things. Cost-Oriented Customers Focus largely or exclusively on the cost of the product or service, will want to get to discounts and prices very quickly. See the product as a commodity easily substituted by a competitor’s product or service. Want a favorable… Read More »
Many organisations are dealing with the issue where parts (all?) of their market-place are commoditising, i.e. where the customer perceives the product/service they are purchasing is sufficiently understood by them so that the decision as to which one, independent of any technical or expert help where key benefit attributes like quality, reliability and availability can… Read More »
We are all familiar with being in our Comfort Zone, but what about the other performance/behaviour zones that can help you focus on being more effective and understand why you feel like you do when performing at certain levels. Working from the bottom up: If you are below the black line you are in the… Read More »
People buy when there is a gap between their current situation and their ideal situation. It is essential at the pre-presentation (sales investigation) stage that we find out the gaps or needs and wants of the customer. People do not buy products/services they buy what the product or service will do for them. In other… Read More »
It is the time of year where most sales people will be focusing on how they are going to achieve their objectives for 2008. We often prepare for meetings thinking only about our own goals and objectives; what we want to achieve from the meeting or presentation. A technique that can be particularly useful in… Read More »
As a salesperson, how many hours do you believe are available on average to you each year for selling? No. of days in a year = 365 days Less weekends = days Less annual leave = days Less national holidays = days Less illness = days Less training = days Less exhibitions = days Less… Read More »
We’ve been out and about working with clients over the last year, and 2007 looks set to be just as busy. As businesses are increasingly working across national and even continental boundaries, we’re noticing that employees are far more relaxed about working with colleagues from very different backgrounds. Diversity is becoming for many people a… Read More »