Sales Transformation Blogs
Your target market is smaller than you think it is…
Choosing target markets and market segmentation have always intrigued me. Although there are many ways to think of it, I had an epiphany as I reread one of the classic strategy books over the weekend, the book is “The Discipline of Market Leaders” and is available at...
Sales keys for the product leaders!
Over the past few weeks I’ve written about Tracey and Weirsma’s great book “The Wisdom of Market Leaders”. Last week we talked about companies who compete based upon “Customer Intimacy” (see below) and today we’re going to discuss those who compete on product...
Sales keys for the “customer intimate” company
Last week I wrote about Tracey and Weirsma’s great book “The Wisdom of Market Leaders”. Over the next few blog articles I want to dive in a bit deeper and analyze each of those types from a sales perspective. This is, afterall, a sales blog! If you remember, your...
Sales keys for Operationally Excellent companies
This is the third installment in my series of blogs about the implications on sales of Tracey and Weirsma’s great book “The Wisdom of Market Leaders”. Last week we talked about companies who compete based upon “Product Leadership” (see below) and today we’re going...
A quick story on the value of account planning…
I have been a Miller Heiman sales consultant for ten years and have worked with small and large accounts implementing the Miller Heiman methodologies. My client is a small system integrator, I’ll call them XXX in the Boston area and they have used LAMP to define their...
Anatomy of a bungled CRM sale..
As a sales consultant, I get to work with a lot of great companies. One that I’ve worked with over the past few years was in an interesting situation, they were going to buy a new CRM system. Being on the buying end, rather than the selling end was quite a learning...
Three reasons forecasting is more important than you think it is
As a sales leader, you know the importance of forecasting. Management needs to know how much revenue you will attain in the next week, month, quarter or year. But, my guess is that it’s more important than you think. Here are three reasons why it’s probably more...
Why selling is like golf…
Those of you who know me know that I am an avid golfer. While I am not the best golfer in the world, I’m not bad. Recently, I had an epiphany on the green of the 17th hole at my course. Here’s what happened... I had a tricky twelve footer or so, downhill with a...
Sales Summits member issue – My CEO won’t let me fire someone!
Our Sales Summits group discusses a lot of sensitive issues. Members come to the group to help them solve these big gnarly issues. If you were part of this group, how you you advise this SVP? The Situation: SVP of sales for a software company who sells to both...
The three pillars of a sales system
Sales is a complicated topic with lots of moving parts. Being able to make sense of those parts, and maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of each of those parts is essential. A “Sales System” is nothing more than a way to organize the pieces of your sales...