salespodder

salespodder

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Generating new opportunities differently

Two separate experiences of mine today converged to the same point in my mind. They both suggested that for sales success, you’ve often got to think of extra ideas, and see them through, to stay ahead of competitors, or even generate new opportunites in the first place. The first

Forecasting categories

it’s long been my opinion that over-complication of forecasts is a disease eating away at proper sales management, whether by a rep themselves, or managers sifting through reams of spreadsheets. A pal of mine, Brendan Gillies, a winner originally from Glasgow currently selling in LA, firmly believes there’s

Dearth of a Salesman

Just seen programme two in Steve Coogan’s 1995 series Coogan’s Run. It’s the one written by the awesome Father Ted creators about Gareth Cheeseman. It was premonitorily called Dearth of a Salesman. He’s a truly awful, egotistical self-centred salesman selling the “Lancelot 2000 soundcard”. It’s

Quick Question for 1 in 4 Response

Was with a guy today I’ve a lot of time for that has just become, after takeover fall-out, the Head of Sales for a £¼bn business. One of his new teams, is a brand new part of the structure. An idea transfered from his new American colleagues, it’s

Skyrocket Your Sales, Part One

I’ve a pal who’s a demon cold caller. His name is Chris Howard. He works out of an office in a lovely part of England slap bang in the middle of the Cotswolds. He’s really into listening to self-help tapes focusing on selling skills. I often think

Bill's case study drive

Met a complete (and to his credit, self-confessed) non-sales person today at a first meeting, who’d somehow been put in charge of a small sales team. They sell Microsoft CRM software as part of their ‘business solutions’ offerings. It turns out that to keep their status as a MS

Scamper to Creativity

It’s not often you learn from a TV Cop show. The one thing about the genre, is that there’ve been so many, that anything that gets made these days has to have a highly original angle. The Beeb’s latest effort is New Tricks. About retired old policeman

Sven's Underachievement

Feeling unusually half-empty after this weekend’s World Cup disgrace. After all that, what a waster Sven’s been for England. If we did on sales campaigns what he did (or more importantly did not) do, we’d have been long since sacked. Best individuals don’t make the best

Somme-Inspired Selling

Learning about the First World War at school captured my imagination. At The Somme [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme_(1916)], senseless slaughter along 40ks of frontline. Almost one million combatants cut down. One of the turning points in warfare. Many sales texts historically feature hints from

Competition through Commission

I always maintain to newbie sales people that avoiding getting distracted by other reps performance is vital. They must remember in most sales teams different financial targets have evolved, often dependent on experience, markets and products, so someone pulling in a $10m deal cannot be compared to a starter dealing