How to Create a Win/Win Sales Compensation Plan Make use of this program to guide you through the process of creating a winning sales compensation plan, reduce your risks, and ensure that you make the best decisions. Let Dave show you how to create a win/win formula. more info
Transforming Your Sales Force for the 21st Century The book, written for sales managers and executives in the distribution industry, provides a blue print for executives to transform their sales forces into highly directable, effective, focused performers. more info
Helping you refine your sales systems and develop your people is the heart of our work. Read these sales management articles to find insights and ideas on how you can improve your company’s sales effectiveness.
Stop the Bleeding! Why an uneducated sales force is the biggest single drain on corporate profits
by Dave Kahle
The following scenario plays over and over again in every one of your sales territories every day. And it costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. I was working with one of my client's salespeople. The client was an HVAC commercial contractor. The salesperson had an appointment with a prospect who had called and requested a visit. ... [Read More]
Why Good Salespeople Often Turn into Mediocre Sales Managers
by Dave Kahle
We've all done it. Promoted a good salesperson, often our best, to sales manager. My files are full of cases where the results were below expectations for everyone involved. Principals and CSOs are often disappointed in the lack of results, and the sales managers are confused and frustrated with the lack of achievement of their teams... [Read More]
Are There Best Practices for Salespeople?
by Dave Kahle
One of the most debilitating myths about the sales profession is this: Salespeople can learn on their own, on the job, and eventually become good at their jobs. They'll eventually develop their own style, this myth implies, and that will bring them the maximum results. .... [Read More]
Fine in the Past: Are You Hindered by Formerly Effective Sales & Marketing Policies?
by Dave Kahle
I call it FIP. Fine in the Past. It refers to all the sales and marketing efforts, ideas, policies, principles, techniques, and strategies that worked well in the past, but are no longer effective. The past is everything that's pre-2005. I still recall a poignant moment with an attendee at one of my seminars. During the break he came up to me and said this: "I've been
in business for seventeen years. And we've done well. But now, it seems like everything is changing, and I don't know what to do." He went on to explain that he had built his formerly thriving tool and die business on certain core principles: Quality workmanship, competitive prices, and good service.... [Read More]
Frustrated with your company's inability to develop new customers? Try a sales blitz.
by Dave Kahle
One of the most common complaints I hear from my clients is this: "I can't seem to motivate the salespeople to call on prospects and develop them into new customers." There is a relatively simple, fun and inexpensive way to remedy this situation. It's called a sales blitz. Unfortunately, few companies are even aware of it, and fewer yet use it. Here's the problem. Most B2B sales efforts are organized around a sales rep who is responsible for a specific set of accounts, or a specific geographical area. Typically, that rep is expected to grow the business with the current customers as well as to identify and develop new customers. Clearly, most sales people are better at one part of this two-part responsibility than the other.... [Read More]
The Three Most Common Mistakes Sales Managers Make
by Dave Kahle
In most organizations, sales managers are the essential bridge between the company's sales goals and the realization of those goals. The gritty day-to-day interactions between the sales people and their customers are frequently filtered through the perspective of the sales manager on their way up the ladder. And the aspirations and strategies of the company's management must be imprinted by the realism of the sales manager as they come down from above. Sales managers are the conductors who carefully orchestrate the tentative entanglement of the sales people with their management.... [Read More]
What's a Professional Sales Manager?
by Dave Kahle
I was in the depths of a major depression. As a third year salesperson with a good company, I was doing well, and was
on my way to becoming the top salesperson in the nation for that company. But business had slowed down a little, and I didn't have my usual number of proposals out for consideration. So, I wasn't as busy as usual. As my activity slowed, I began to worry. My doubts increased to the point where I had thought myself into a real depression, stuck on the
question of "What's the use of trying?" The more negative my thoughts became, the less energy I had. My lack of energy led to fewer and fewer sales calls, which of course, led to less activity. And that led to more depressing thoughts. I was caught in a powerful downward spiral..... [Read More]
Myths of Sales Management: The Entrepreneurial Salesperson by Dave Kahle
I just had a phone conversation with a client who had a familiar story to tell. He had built his business on the model of an entrepreneurial sales force. Give them a territory, pay them straight commission, and tell them they are in business for themselves, free to develop the customers they chose with the products they wanted. And for a couple decades it had worked well. The business grew and expanded. More entrepreneurial sales people were added, and the model was duplicated over and over again. So far so good. But then the growth in sales began to slow down..... [Read More]
Transforming Your Sales Force by Creating Specific Expectations
by Dave Kahle
I just finished a phone call with a potential client who had called to discuss a problem. His 18 person sales force was paid on straight commission. All had been with the company for 8 - 15 years and were earning healthy incomes. His problem was that he couldn't get them to do what he wanted them to do. Here's the example he shared. He wanted the salespeople to call on new prospects to expand the company's base. Instead of just seeing established customers, he asked them to call on prospects, and report back to him on the progress they were making. There were almost no results. Instead he got comments like: "I'm not going to do this, I'm not a new salesperson." Or, "That's just more paperwork." This list could go on and on..... [Read More]
Sales Management Myths: Straight Commission
by Dave Kahle
I had just hung up from a phone conversation with one of my clients. He was commiserating with me on the sorry state of his sales force. He had a group of seasoned, experienced salespeople, each of whom was making a good income on a 100% commission compensation plan. The problem was he couldn't get them to promote new products or seek new customers. They were content to stay within their comfort zones of established customers and familiar products. That contentment is more typical than most of us are willing to admit. Many sales managers and principals continue to strive under the myth that sales people are forever motivated to sell ever larger quantities. And we attribute much of that motivation to the 100% commission compensation plan. Unfortunately, straight commission plans rarely motivate an established sales force to sell more!..... [Read More]
Don't Fire All the Salespeople Just Yet!
by Dave Kahle
Should you fire all the salespeople? The temptation is there, and probably growing in strength weekly. That's easy to understand. Pressures are pressing on you from a number of directions. First, you may be in the middle of a flat or declining market. Many industries are experiencing the second or third year of flat or decreasing sales. That alone makes you wonder. If your sales aren't growing, what are the salespeople doing, after all? Could you maintain your business with out salespeople? Then there is the constantly drip, like a Chinese water torture, of price pressures from the competition. It's likely that their sales are down as well. Many of them, in a desperate bid to maintain their businesses, will continue to resort to more aggressive discounting. When margins fall, can you afford to pay salespeople?.... [Read More]
How Do You Change the Behavior of an Experienced Salesperson?
by Dave Kahle
Every client I deal with, in one way or another, eventually asks that question. The words may be different, but the question is the same. In this turn-of-the-century economic environment, it's a universal question. If you haven't confronted the issue yet, it's only a matter of time before you will. Here's the context in which this question surfaces. The company needs to make some change that impacts the sales force: A new compensation program, a new automation tool, a new sales process, a new way of working with inside salespeople -- a new something. Most sales forces are made up of a variety of people, ranging from the inexperienced rookies, to the veterans who have been around for anywhere from five to twenty-five years. The rookies are eager to learn and quick to adapt to the new thing, while most of the veterans are set in their ways and resistant to the new initiative. The question of how to get the veterans to embrace and implement the new thing always comes up within the framework of a specific change that the company wants to make. From my perspective, however, it is a larger issue.... [Read more]
Popcorn and Other Marketing Mistakes In a Changing Economy
by Dave Kahle
Ten years of competitive hell! That was the title on the seminar brochure I received recently. As I survey some of the forces flowing through our economy, and witness the way in which they effect my clients, I have to agree. The Information Age is certainly one of the most turbulent times business people have ever seen. And the force causing the greatest turbulence is rapid, unrelenting change. Consider this. In 1900, the total amount of knowledge that mankind had was doubling about every 500 years. Today, it doubles about every two years. And the pace continues to increase. One futurist predicts that today's high school seniors will have to absorb more information in their final year alone than their grandparents did in their entire life.... [Read more]
Can Customer Service Representatives Become Proactive?
by Dave Kahle
How can we get inside sales to do some proactive sales activities each day? We want our inside salespeople to use some of their time to shift into the proactive mode to make outbound phone contact to existing and new business.... [Read more]
Teaching Your Organization to Learn
by Dave Kahle
Are things changing rapidly in your business? Silly question, isn't it? Of course they are changing. Rapid change is the distinguishing characteristic of the new millennium. Take that rapid change and add to it growing competition, increasing complexity, consolidations at every level, and increasing demands from customers and you have the recipe for a business climate that will turn anyone's hair gray.... [Read more]
The Ultimate Survival Skill for the Information Age
by Dave Kahle
We're living in incredibly turbulent times. The well spring of this uncertainty lies in one of the characteristics of the newly-arrived information age. Business people are being buffeted by an increasingly rapid rate of change. Consider this. In 1900, the total amount of knowledge available to mankind was doubling about every 500 years. In 1990, it was doubling about every two years.... [Read more]
How to Deal with the Salesperson Who Has Leveled Off
by Dave Kahle
Every manager has, or will, confront this troublesome issue. It´s arisen in every workshop for sales managers or branch managers I´ve done. One or more of your salespeople has leveled off. Their performance hasn´t improved much in the last few years. Where before you were able to count on significant increases each year, now you can not. You know that these experienced salespeople can do better, but they seem unable or unwilling to break out of a certain level of performance. You are scratching your head, frustrated, and loosing sleep at night wondering how to improve the situation. What do you do?... [Read More]
How Sharp is Your Sales Structure?
by Dave Kahle
How can I get greater productivity out of my salespeople? In one form or another, that's a question every owner and sales manager ponders regularly. As a sales trainer and consultant, it is the basic question that I confront. And it is the underlying question behind every attempt to train salespeople. Investing in training and developing your salespeople is always a good idea. But it isn't the entire solution for many organizations. Often, enormous improvements in sales productivity can be achieved by sharpening the structure of your sales organization.... [Read more]
Developing Your Salespeople
by Dave Kahle
Is there such an initiative? IS THERE ONE thing you can do that will help you keep the good salespeople you have, motivate your salespeople, stimulate your salespeople to become more productive, and attract good quality candidates? The answer? Of course there is. It's this.... [Read more]
On Fielding a Directable Sales Force
by Dave Kahle
Do you have a directable sales force? Directable means that your sales force can be counted on to quickly, thoroughly and positively carry out your directions. Such a sales force is both rare, and incredibly valuable to the company. In fact, a directable sales force is one of the greatest strategic advantages your company can have.... [Read more]
Do You Have a Selling System?
by Dave Kahle
Do You Have a Selling System? Should your company allow every salesperson to have their own style, or should you have system for selling to which everyone adheres? Almost any work can be systematic. "Systems" are how good work gets done. A selling system addresses the interaction between the salesperson and the customer, providing a "game plan" for success. Think of it as a template for the salesperson's face-to-face tactical encounters.... [Read more]
Is Telemarketing Feasible For My Business?
by Dave Kahle
Systematic use of the telephone is one of the fastest growing sales and marketing strategy today. Rapid growth of telemarketing has stimulated marketers from companies and organizations of all sizes to question whether or not there is some application of telemarketing in their business. Telemarketing, perhaps more than any other media, requires a commitment from management to resources and time to make it work.... [Read more]
For CEO's: How to Model Self-Directed Learning for Your Organization
by Dave Kahle
The challenge for every CEO is to transform his/her organization into a learning organization. Self-directed learning is the fundamental skill necessary for individuals and organizations to survive and prosper in our turbulent times. Those organizations who successfully transform themselves into learning organizations -- organizations which continually process new information and change their behavior on that basis of that information -- will be tomorrow's winners.... [Read more]
Is it Time to Revise Your Sales Compensation Plan?
by Dave Kahle
If you're paying your sales reps straight commission, you're using an obsolete formula. If you're paying your sales reps a straight salary, you're also using an obsolete formula. Read this article to find out a much more effective way to compensate your sales staff.... [Read more]
What's the Best Way to Find a Good Salesperson
by Dave Kahle
Good question! It seems that everyone has a favorite response. Some people only use recruiters, and others swear by networking. But classified ads continue to be the most common choice. Almost everyone who hires salespeople will, at some time, search for prospects via the "help wanted" section.... [Read more]
How to Create a Win/Win Sales Compensation Plan
Creating a new sales compensation plan can be one of the riskiest initiatives you undertake. Yet most sales compensation plans are outmoded vestiges of days gone by. Make use of this program to guide you through the process, reduce your risks, and insure that you make the best decisions. Let Dave show you to create a win/win formula.
A company concerned about revising its compensation plan has several options: learn by trial and error, attend expensive one or two day workshops, or hire consultants to help them. This kit provides a far more cost-effective option then these other high risk, high cost solutions.
The package consists of:
Three audio cassette tapes in which Dave explains each of the steps necessary to create an effective program.
A set of worksheets and exercises to help solidify and personalize the decisions made along the way.
A suggested and detail action plan for moving through
the process.
Online orders receive a weblink-accessible Excel spreadsheet - useful in measuring and modeling proposed plan changes. Other orders receive the spreadsheet on CD.
Take a look at what Just In Time magazine had to say in their April/May 1999 issue about Dave Kahle and his outstanding Sales Compensation Revision programs.
Articles about Sales Compensation written by Dave Kahle
