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Without a sales plan, the lofty goals of business plans have trouble coming to life. Business plans often contain spreadsheets filled with optimistic numbers and outrageous revenue targets. What they rarely do is outline a strategy for getting there. A…
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Many companies have found the challenge of driving sales difficult, and growth hard to achieve. Some Managing Directors might say that this is because of stronger competition, changes in the market or price erosion. But this is very often only…
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Salespeople must understand and be able to articulate how their offerings differentiate from competitors. They need to be intimately familiar with their place in the market, and also that of their competition. And of course, they also have to ask…
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Virtually every veteran MD has horror stories about salespeople who gave away far too much for far too little. In many cases, those salespeople thought they were benefitting the business. In many cases, they settled for too little because they…
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Business speaker Jaynie Smith, states a value proposition must provide a clear answer to a single question: "Why should I buy from you and not your competition?" According to the Vistage post where Smith made that point, 95 percent of…
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In businesses turning over less than £10 million per annum, it’s not uncommon for the Managing Director and the Sales Director to be the same person. For companies of all sizes, this may seem to be an efficient and cost-effective…
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In a previous article, I covered the basics of finding and choosing strategic channel partners for your products. In this article I’m going to cover my best practices for making the most of those channel partnerships, once you’ve done your…
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A value proposition is an organization's best chance to make their product or service attractive to potential buyers. It is how the organisation conveys its purpose to its clients, customers and partners. It must be crisp, tight, easy to digest…
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The success of any team depends on strong top-down communication and coordination. As the Managing Director, responsibility for making sure that salespeople have the information, knowledge and skills to perform at their best falls on your shoulders. It’s up to…
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Is good communication an issue of quality or quantity? Trick question: it’s both. Effective communication is integral to maintaining strong internal relationships and a culture of accountability and collaboration in your organisation. In a previous article, I gave concrete tips…
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If the bad aspect of people management is dismissing employees, the good aspect is promoting them. Great sales teams must be led, guided and inspired by strong, committed managers. A talented, experienced leader who can win the trust and confidence…
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A close look at the way we do business today confirms that in terms of pace, product knowledge and process, retailing in the 21st Century is markedly different from what we’ve been doing up until now. But how? What’s Driving…
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25 years ago, a salesperson might have been forced to unplug an entire PC and load it into a car to give a presentation to a client on the road. In today's sales technology landscape, cloud-connected mobile apps let salespeople…
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A sales review carries more weight in today's business climate than ever before. Good or bad, online reviews and critiques hold enormous sway over potential buyers, and businesses must take an active role in maintaining, nurturing and presenting their online…
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Selling retail goods isn’t what it used to be. With online sales giants and direct access for customers to an international market of goods, retailers need to be strategic to stay ahead of the game. That’s why a retail sales…
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Selling a product and selling a service require very different approaches – that probably goes without saying. With physical goods, the need to have a tangible product means you’re always at risk of spending money before you make a sales…
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Selling a product to a buyer, unlike selling a service, is a waiting game, and it privileges skilled players. Experienced salespeople make pitching look easy because they’ve been practising the dance, and they know the moves – for the rest…
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Company culture is infectious — whether it is good or bad. A vibrant sales culture benefits not just the employees who bask in it, but all stakeholders. When salespeople are happy, positive, fulfilled, motivated and secure, numbers rise and sales…
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I’m not sure why, but the term “growth leader” is often considered “just” a media term, and seriously underestimated in the business world, outside of academia. This is unfortunate, because in my opinion all Sales Directors should be Growth Leaders;…
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There are different leadership roles within a sales department, each of which require a very different skillset to perform the job well. The qualities that make a great sales director, for example, don't translate very well into being a good…
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It is always sad when talented, ambitious people leave a company because they’re convinced they will never get out of the shadow the owner — but it happens all the time. It’s natural for many managing directors to use their…
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We all know that practice makes perfect, but for some reason sales teams overlook this basic fact time and time again – especially when it comes to sales training. That’s a huge shame, because the right onboarding process – one…
