To thrive the salesperson must make the discussion, not about the lowest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in selling, but the levels above it. And the levels above it are all emotional. The progressive salesperson plays in this emotional space. The Chairman of a renowned multinational manufacturing concern once startled his staff when he
Entrepreneurs are not salespeople. To begin with, have you ever noticed how casually dressed a top notch tailor is? Or how worn a cobbler’s shoes are? Or, how the best performing salesperson is rarely the best sales manager? Such is life and it is not for us to judge it but only to learn from
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The typical pyramidal organizational structure does not favour the sales orientation many organizations say they want. So these organizations shoot themselves in the foot. We shall look at two scenarios, starting with the first today and the other next week. To begin with is the organization that chooses to have a specialized sales force. Everybody
Stellar salespeople struggle as CEOs. Leadership calls for a “generalist”. A salesperson is a specialist, which is a narrow approach to leadership In the past couple of weeks, acres of editorial space globally have been assigned the transition at the helm of Microsoft. Finally, a Satya Nadella took over as captain from Steve Ballmer. According
I was recently invited to a sales achievement awards ceremony and a few things stood out for me. The most prominent one (selling ethically) was the topic of last week’s column. Today we focus on the other five on what winning salespeople and firms share. To begin with, the event was held at a prestigious
To begin with, I was recently invited to a sales achievement awards ceremony and five things stood out for me. Today I share one. Sell ethically for sustainability. Next week. I’ll share the rest. Now. Like in any other awards ceremony, there were different categories. The one that I found of greatest interest is the
Shrewd salespeople don’t play by the rules. While the bank insists that all documentation must be in order before an account is opened, the salesperson gets all the documentation and has account opened but not necessarily in that order. The order is dependent on the situation at hand. Like a soldier, he adapts Successful salespeople
What happened to the calendar and diary? Was it caught in a time warp? Like me, you have possibly witnessed a steady decline of the two with every passing January. To a point this year, when I’m almost at zero sightings. There was a time when the two were all the rage. The transition to
What’s in it for me? That’s what the salesperson who wants to progress in his profession must ask. He must set selfish goals to succeed in selling. Especially now in the beginning of the year. Here’s why? Sales is not a desk job so this column has repeatedly averred. Systems and structure for reporting is
New Year new things they say. And for the progressive salesperson, New Year, new opportunity to learn from the goings-on this season. Because he knows sellers must be good advisors. This season some things will remain the same. From tomorrow, just like last year and all the years before it, like the exodus out of