Articles for Sales Management Professionals

Where are your sales reps positioned in the eyes of your customers? Too many salespeople are not functioning as trusted advisers in their customers eyes but are just seen as order takers and fulfillers of what their customers need. This is a key differentiator in selling today between the successful reps selling as trusted advisors and those struggling as order takers and reactive responders.

I was speaking at a conference at a Disney hotel in Orlando. As my cab pulled into the hotel, the hotel valet got into an argument with my driver over who should pull my bags out of the cab. As I checked in at the front desk I shared the confrontation between their valet and my cab driver. I wasn’t expecting anything, I just thought they’d want to know a castmate needed more training. The authors did research on the best personality styles for a sales rep to have to be successful and win the most business.

Today’s video talks about the “Challenger Sale” and how, when you challenge your buyers by bringing new ideas and solutions so you can sell even more!

What can you do, as the leader of your sales team, to discuss with your reps the difference between solving symptoms and solving actual problems? Today’s video talks about this challenge of only solving symptoms and missing the real customer problems. When you can sell to your buyer’s problems, and not just their symptoms, you’ll sell even more!

Where are your sales reps positioned in the eyes of your customers? Too many salespeople are not functioning as trusted advisers in their customers eyes but are just seen as order takers and fulfillers of what their customers need. This is a key differentiator in selling today between the successful reps selling as trusted advisors and those struggling as order takers and reactive responders.

How many of your reps go to their customers asking the same questions of “Anything you need?” “Anything coming up?” “Anything I can help with?” And “How's the family?”

It's tough finding exactly what you want in a new salesperson. A great way to achieve better hiring decisions is to ask better questions. Considering including these four sets of questions to ask sales candidates. 

Could any of your reps benefit from help improving their efficiency and effectiveness?

Are you leading your sales team…or just acting as the head doer?