Posted on July 25th, 2011 by Dave Stein
Why don’t sales reps don’t utilize org charts for complex opportunities they’re pursuing? Why don’t their sales managers insist that they do? Those graphic representations of a company/division structure are invaluable in a complex sale. The most effective sales coaches I know refuse to help a rep with a deal unless they have an up-to-date [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Opportunity Management | 5 Comments »
Posted on May 17th, 2011 by Dave Stein
Good references are made, not born. Here is a continuation of the previous blog post, Part 1, beginning with step seven of the thirteen-step process: Train your reference. Whether he’s the ally you recruited and trained to sell on your behalf, or someone you met after the contract was signed, you have to train him [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Leadership, Professionalism, Relationships | No Comments »
Posted on May 10th, 2011 by Dave Stein
Good references are made, not born. References fall into two broad categories, which sometimes overlap: those your company maintains, and your personal references. Sales winners know how to use both to best effect. But, you may ask, if the company maintains references, why do you need your own? There are several reasons: If your company [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Relationships | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 16th, 2011 by Dave Stein
Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting an sales expert round table hosted by Focus.com entitled, What Advanced Selling Capabilities are Required to Win Today? Focus.com came to me asking what topic I’d like to discuss. The list is always long, but it occurred to me that a discussion among five experts in advanced selling [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Big Wins, Channel Management, coaching, Hiring, Interview, Measurement, Methodology, Opportunity Management, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies, social media | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 18th, 2010 by Dave Stein
For those of you new to this blog, my firm, ES Research Group, evaluates sales training companies. We deliver our findings in the form of reports, which we sell on our website, and through consultations with companies evaluating sales training providers. First a bit of background. For us, gathering data about sales training companies falls [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Buyers, Industry Analyst, Methodology, RFP, Sales Training Companies | 2 Comments »
Posted on May 18th, 2009 by Dave Stein
Years ago, as VP of marketing, I was responsible for industry analyst relations. Early on I made plenty of mistakes, but as time went on I figured out how to effectively manage my company’s relationships with industry research analysts, resulting in correct positioning, sales leads and plenty of positive coverage. I vividly remember the penalty [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Industry Analyst, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 4th, 2009 by Dave Stein
What’s going on here? Sales training has been around for more than 100 years. Yet every year, new approaches appear with the promise of being “The Silver Bullet.” Old approaches—even those that are relevant to fixing the proble—are labeled “old-school,” and rejected. On Amazon.com there are 29, 469 books under the category of “How to [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Buyers, Economy, Industry Analyst, Professionalism, Research, Technology | 26 Comments »
Posted on January 13th, 2009 by Dave Stein
Followers of this blog are familiar with the high value I place on planning, competitive selling strategies, and political leverage for winning complex sales situations as well as for effectively managing strategic accounts. I was first introduced to Holden many years ago by Steve Slaughter, a salesrep who worked for me who had been through [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Big Wins, coaching, Marketing, Opportunity Management, Research, sales process, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies, Technology | No Comments »
Posted on January 7th, 2009 by Dave Stein
One of the top firms among the 26 sales performance improvement providers ESR covers is Performance Methods, Inc. (PMI). Founder and managing partner Steve Andersen is recognized as a thought-leader in the demanding and often misunderstood area of strategic account management. (Listen to Steve in an ESR/Podcast.) To understanding what a strategic account management methodology [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Big Wins, Buyers, coaching, Competition, CRM, Economy, Measurement, Methodology, Professionalism, Relationships, Sales 2.0, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies | No Comments »
Posted on October 7th, 2008 by Dave Stein
At party I started chatting with a nice guy, late 20′s or so, neatly dressed, with bright, intense eyes. We talked weather, current events, the usual stuff, and then I popped the question. “So, what do you do?” He smiled. He said he recently bought a route in his area selling cold cuts and other [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Professionalism, Relationships | 1 Comment »
