by Kahle Wisdom | Mar 6, 2019 | Sales Force Issues
Every salesperson talks about “Closing the sale.” The best salespeople understand that before you can close the sale, you must open it. What is opening? “Opening” means using well designed and delivered questions to thoroughly uncover as many...
by Kahle Wisdom | Mar 1, 2019 | Sales Force Issues
How do you sell when the competition has exactly the same product? Are you reduced to being the low price? Unfortunately, many sales people have never thought deeply about how to effectively sell commodities, and resort to discounting. Here’s a...
by Kahle Wisdom | Feb 19, 2019 | Christian Businesspeople, Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Managers/Sales Leaders
What may be the single most important predictor of an organization’s long term survival is that organization’s ability to learn. In a world that is changing more rapidly today than at any previous time in human history, the consistent practice of learning is the only...
by Kahle Wisdom | Feb 19, 2019 | Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Managers/Sales Leaders
We’ve all done it. Promoted a good sales person, 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...
by Kahle Wisdom | Feb 19, 2019 | Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Force Issues
Question: In regards to personality conflicts with an account, at what point do you walk away and let someone else in your organization try? Answer: Great question. Let me answer in two ways. First, from a purely theoretical perspective, a professional sales person...
by Kahle Wisdom | Feb 19, 2019 | Sales Force Issues
I often hear my clients lament that they wish they had a more professional sales force. That idea of a “professional sales force” gets a lot of conversation in sales management and sales executive circles. But what exactly does it mean? And why is it a good thing?...
by Kahle Wisdom | Feb 14, 2019 | Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Managers/Sales Leaders
Question: Dave, I’m a sales manager, and I’m increasingly losing my patience with sales people who constantly whine and complain. Any thoughts on how to handle the chronic whiners? Answer: Believe me, I can empathize with you. I had my share of whiners in my days as...
by Kahle Wisdom | Feb 14, 2019 | Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Force Issues
In my first professional, full-time sales position, the company brought all the new sales people to a six-week training class in Mill Valley, California. There, we memorized three, four-page, single-spaced sales presentations. Most days consisted of practicing those...
by Kahle Wisdom | Jan 30, 2019 | Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Force Issues
Question: We do not want to turn sales people into collection agents, but there certainly is a role that sales people can play in the process. Do you have any thoughts? Answer: Yes, I do. Like you, I don’t want to turn sales people into collection agents. Let’s...
by Kahle Wisdom | Jan 30, 2019 | Entrepreneurs & Executives, Sales Force Issues, Sales Principles and Practices
Best practices for salespeople? One of the most debilitating myths about the sales profession is this: Sales people 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...
