Posted on May 27th, 2009 by Dave Stein
When the subject of hiring salespeople comes up, the Rolodex, virtual or otherwise, isn’t far behind. A salesperson’s business networks are only of some value. Certainly not as much value as many candidates would like their interviewers to believe. In my experience, a candidate’s business network is only one component of their overall Personal Capital. [...]
Filed under: Hiring, Sales Strategy | 7 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 April 30th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I was asked by my friend Charlie Green representing The Customer Collective to contribute to an e-book that was just published. I recommend that you download it, read it and use it. Selling Through A Slump: An Industry-by-Industry Playbook A Guide by Salespeople for Salespeople on How to Sell Your Way to Recovery Download this [...]
Filed under: Book Recommendation, Economy, Sales Strategy, Sales Tactics | No Comments »
Posted on April 8th, 2009 by Dave Stein
ESR’s Sales Training Vendor Guide: Third Edition was published this morning. The Guide analyzes, compares, and contrasts 23 leading sales training providers across many areas including: Solutions Range Range of Target Companies Range of Target Audiences Range of Training Programs Adaptability Range of Instructional Aids & Tools Quality of Instructional Design Measurement Programs Post-training Reinforcement [...]
Filed under: Book Recommendation, Buyers, Methodology, Research, Sales 2.0, sales process, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies, Technology | No Comments »
Posted on April 6th, 2009 by Dave Stein
With the assistance of The TAS Group, ESR recently surveyed nearly 400 users of the following technologies to determine the effects that these new technologies in helping them win B2B sales opportunities: Jigsaw; LinkedIn; Twitter; Plaxo; Facebook; Hoover’s or OneSource. The pace of technology development today is dizzying. It seems as though a new sales-related [...]
Filed under: Marketing, Relationships, Sales Strategy, Technology | 9 Comments »
Posted on March 30th, 2009 by Dave Stein
A while back messaging and branding expert Maureen Blandford asked me to lend an endorsement to what was then her new book, Branding Doesn’t Work in Business to Business. I had not met Maureen. I was skeptical. By the time I got through with the book, I was a Maureen Blandford fan. Why? Maureen provides [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Marketing, Sales Strategy | No Comments »
Posted on March 26th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I’ve been involved in a number of posts on The Customer Collective where there have been some personal attacks by a few social media zealots against some of us that have a more balanced view of the capabilities and tools required for effective B2B selling going forward in this new(est) economy. Jonathan Farrington1, Dave Brock, [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Economy, Professionalism, Relationships, Research, sales process, Sales Strategy, Technology | 5 Comments »
Posted on March 25th, 2009 by Dave Stein
After seven days on a bike tour through Northern Thailand, my wife and I wound up at the Anantara Resort at the Golden Triangle. She was ready to sit by the pool for the day. I was ready for one more ride. Last day. Only 25 miles. I got used to the left-side-of-the-road traffic the [...]
Filed under: On the Road, Sales Strategy | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 25th, 2009 by Dave Stein
ESR has a unique perspective on sales performance improvement. We don’t deliver sales training or sales consulting. We’re sales training industry observers, analysts, researchers and advisors to our clients on what works in sales effectiveness and training. Here’s what’s been going on at ESR: A large client in the financial services sector is working very [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Competition, Economy, Hiring, Measurement, Methodology, On the Road, Opportunity Management, Presentations, Research, Sales 2.0, sales process, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 16th, 2009 by Dave Stein
Years ago I was based in Europe, opening up operations there for Datalogix International, an ERP software company. Datalogix “wound up” in Europe after selling a large deal to a Boston-based adhesives company, Bostik. Bostik came to us with a problem: the were being sold by their parent company, Black & Decker, and Bostik had [...]
Filed under: Buyers, On the Road, Professionalism, Relationships, Sales Strategy | 9 Comments »
