I’d contend that first-line sales managers are the key success factor in achieving sales results. Great sales managers will hire the stars, they’ll fire the dogs, and they’ll manage the team in such a way that the talent is well-developed and the results are attained – consistently!
Category Archives: Business Development
Don’t Waste Your Sales Team’s Time
Do you know how much money the average organization wastes on sales training? I don’t know the exact number, but you can bet it’s enormous. I get a few calls every year when a VP of Sales says, “I have a meeting with my sales team in 3 months and I’d like a proposal for sales training.” Of course the first question I ask is, “What are you trying to accomplish: Build the world’s best sales team? Improve sales performance in this tough economy? Or simply entertain your sales people for a day or two?”
Client Segmentation – How to Get Started
A proactive, well-defined, and well-communicated client segmentation strategy that gives the organization the guard rails that dictate the organizational behavior in selling and serving clients accordingly. Some key steps in the process.
The Transformation of Accenture through Client Segmentation
In the mid-1990’s when I was responsible for worldwide business development at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) we found that client segmentation was arguably the biggest challenge we faced. How did we know? As part of our transformation process we discovered the following symptoms.
All Clients and Prospects are Not Created Equal
Having worked with no fewer than 12 of the most well known professional services firms in this industry, both large and small, we’ve had a unique opportunity to see the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to business development and selling effectiveness within these firms.