Posted on January 30th, 2009 by Dave Stein
ESR estimates that 70% of all goods and services are sold via third-party sales channels, not direct sales. Our ongoing examination of sales training programs shows a significant disparity, with most training and content focused on field sales personnel, not channel managers. We understand that channel managers need significant sales skills, a deep operational and [...]
Filed under: Research, sales process, Sales Strategy, sales training, Technology | No Comments »
Posted on January 29th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I’ve been a proponent of psychometric/predictive testing for salespeople for many years. I was a non-believer until Nancy Martini, now CEO at PI Worldwide, put me through their Predictive Index and SSAT (see below) in 2001. After I took the two tests online, Nancy emailed me the manager’s version of my results and I nearly [...]
Filed under: Hiring, Interview, Measurement, Methodology, Professionalism, Research | 8 Comments »
Posted on January 28th, 2009 by Dave Stein
There have been some interesting conversations taking place on The Customer Collective on the subject of the adoption of social media and the changes required in approach and skills for B2B salespeople. If you’re interested in a little entertainment—snarking, social media-style—I would suggest looking at these two posts and more important the comment thread that [...]
Filed under: Methodology, Professionalism, Relationships, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies | 21 Comments »
Posted on January 26th, 2009 by Dave Stein
Although I met Charlie Green a number of years ago when we were both presenting at a sales conference, I’ve only recently gotten to appreciate his perspective, his integrity and his intelligence. Rather than me tell you about him, I asked him some questions instead. Read, learn and enjoy. Dave Stein: You’ve created a fabulous [...]
Filed under: Leadership, Measurement, Methodology, Professionalism, Relationships, Sales Strategy | 7 Comments »
Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by Dave Stein
The Brooks Group surprised ESR when we commenced coverage of them for our last Sales Training Vendor Guide. They scored very well in both solution breadth and solution effectiveness, even against many of the bigger, more well-known training companies. Al Case, Vivian and I did an analyst briefing call with the Brooks Group management team [...]
Filed under: coaching, Measurement, Methodology, Professionalism, Research, Technology | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 21st, 2009 by Dave Stein
Lead Gen is a big, big issue these days for many companies. Those companies that didn’t have an effective Lead Gen function coming into this economic crisis have a big challenge: investing the time and money now to get this done the right way. It’s like trying to change a tire on a racing car [...]
Filed under: Marketing, Measurement, Pipeline, Research, sales training, Technology | 3 Comments »
Posted on January 16th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I believe in checklists. Clearly the medical community just got the message as well. A study published online by the New England Journal of Medicine this week shows that adopting a surgical safety checklist (PDF) reduced deaths and complications by more than a third. From the Wall Street Journal: Researchers collected data on nearly 8,000 [...]
Filed under: Big Wins, CRM, Methodology, Opportunity Management, Professionalism, sales process, Sales Tactics, Technology | 14 Comments »
Posted on January 15th, 2009 by Dave Stein
Private pilots regularly—and legally—fly up and down “the Hudson River Corridor” below New York City airspace. I’ve done it 25 times. My friend shot this video from the passenger seat of my Cessna. I was flying north, approaching the George Washington Bridge at 900 feet, the same altitude that the pilot of US Airways Flight [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 14th, 2009 by Dave Stein
What caught my eye about this story from the Houston Chronicle was the subtitle: Voluntary rules cut out free gifts sales reps use to influence physicians The story lead: “The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the major lobbying group for drug companies including Merck, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, enacted new rules governing how sales [...]
Filed under: Professionalism, Relationships, Research, Sales Tactics | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 13th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I’ve been sick in bed with a nasty virus. I’ve got a bit of pneumonia as a dividend. I guess I can’t expect real dividends these days. Compared to many in the world, I’m lucky. But, I feel pretty short-tempered and was in no mood for my wonderful Dell 620 to be taken over by [...]
Filed under: Humor | 2 Comments »
