Performance has many components, for example, our activities and abilities that are typically where many organizations focus on. Yet beneath the surface, our beliefs about ourselves, our customers, our job, can either help or hinder our performance. You may have heard the expression, “Whatever you believe you can do, you will and whatever you believe you can’t do, you won’t.” It’s ...

So, we have reached the end of Q1, and no doubt you are reviewing your sales results, and looking forward to an even more successful Q2. But how many of you will also be reviewing your personal goals - the ones you set at the beginning of the year? You didn’t set any? Well it is never too late. Success should ...

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is neither a Goal, nor a Key Result Area (KRA), nor a Target, nor a Result nor a Critical Success Factor. And yet these terms are often used interchangeably with a KPI. A KPI defines itself, to a large extent, by its name; it is a performance indicator, i.e. the performance of the process it is ...

As far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed solving problems and that has certainly been of great assistance during my sales career. You see, creativity is problem solving. That’s the essence of successful selling. The foremost function of the mind is problem solving; we solve problems with our imagination, and imagination is a function of our creative ability. A ...

Ahh, the holidays. A time for festivities. A time for vacation. A time for family. A time to relax, enjoy and reflect upon the year and your accomplishments. It is also a time when many businesses prepare for slow sales and a fall in performance and production. This is the time of the year when sales and appointments slow down and ...

You may have a drug problem. Many people today are hooked on a commonly abused, yet elusive drug whose widespread use seems to be flying under our radar. That drug of choice is adrenaline. The classic symptoms? Saying "Yes" when you mean "No." Overcommiting or overbooking your schedule, then finding it difficult to deliver on deadlines or complete tasks. Procrastinating until ...

Not long ago, a client of mine asked me how he could identify a successful sales person, and what kinds of sales people he should try to avoid. This question has since come up repeatedly in training sessions, and not just by managers trying to evaluate their team, but by sales people who are looking to improve their results, despite what ...

Only 20% of all sales people are top performers, which means that they regularly close at least half of their qualified prospects. At the other end of the spectrum, about 20% of the sales force are underperformers, brand new or on their way out. This means that the significant majority of sales people - roughly 60% - can be classified as ...

In today’s information-rich world, there’s no excuse for not staying current with the goings-on in your field, whether it’s real estate, technology or Web marketing. But while every industry and industry niche is awash in news sites and publications, you can uncover even more information by adding industry blogs and user-generated news sites to your reading list. Despite the proliferation of ...

Performance indicators in most organizations are not aligned to the goal of the organization. In addition, they are rarely designed to measure a single process and be unaffected by factors outside the single process. The usual result is that members of the organization only concern themselves with high level process indicators. For example, the value of sales ($'s) or the quantity ...

Musashi was said to be the greatest Samurai General in history. Musashi once said that in times of crisis, stress and turmoil that you never raise to your positive expectations, you raise or fall to your level of training. The same thing holds true in business. Our ability to perform successfully and consistently has a lot to do with our training, ...

Sales Creed • I call my best prospects first • Each and every call I make I start with an incredible level of positive expectation and prosperity I know that right now somewhere someone's life is better and more prosperous because of my products and services. • Every day and in every way I am continually improving and growing. • The ...

With webinars, e-learning, conferences, and professional trainers, there are a lot of opportunities to get sales training. Some are worthwhile, but some are worthless. If you are attending a training, watch out for these failures so you do not waste your time on a "strategy" that will never work. 1. Ambiguity Concepts are built using shorthand labels rather than the full ...

“To surpass the deeds of others is unimportant; to surpass my own deeds is all.” - The Scroll Marked VIII, From the Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino Entrepreneurial success and success as a sales person can be easily stifled by the status quo. Often top income earners in any sales arena could be even greater if they ceased ...

Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients. A few weeks ago, I had a phone conversation with Julie, who has been struggling with the old-style selling methods that her manager insists are the only way to sell their company’s technology solution. Regardless of what product ...

Over the past few years, many organizations have begun to allow their staff members to work out of their homes. With recent advances in technology, including the Web, email, intranets, modems, cheaper fax machines and voice mail, some people rarely go into the main office anymore. Working out of your home is a mixed blessing, though. There are certain benefits that ...

1. Every Individual is unique and their perceptions are true to them. Because we each absorb 2 million bits of information unconsciously and can only process around seven chunks consciously we each have our own unique perception of the world around us. If everyone reading this was asked to explain beliefs, each individual would give a different explanation. So who ...

Performance has many components. For example, our activities and abilities are typically what many organizations focus on. Yet beneath the surface, our beliefs about ourselves, our customers, our job, etc. can either help or hinder our performance. You may have heard the expression, “Whatever you believe you can do, you will and whatever you believe you can’t do, you won’t.” It ...

When I present to sales organizations searching for the Holy Grail to sell in this economy, I start with a very basic question. "What is your job as a sales person?" Usually, that question is met with silence for a moment; and then I'm peppered by a plethora of descriptions. "Sell something to someone!" "Generate revenue!" "Hit quota!" I'm always amazed ...

Jim Collins opened his book Good to Great with the statement, “Good is the enemy of great.” He explained that when we have good schools, good businesses and good government, we are prone to accept that level of quality as sufficient. Collins observed: “Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is so easy to settle for a good ...