Chad Banman

Perhaps the greatest change in organizations today is the shift from independence to interdependence, from individual efforts to teaming. Teamwork is having a profound impact on selling.

Innovative sales management is critical to becoming and remaining strong as an organization. As a sales manager, you have to design your sales network to yield the greatest possible coverage for each segment of the market within tight budget constraints. At the same time, the network must be flexible enough to be redesigned and redirected as priorities and opportunities change.

During times when both business and training budgets are tight, management often asks what can be done to improve the return on the company’s investment of training dollars. While there’s no easy answer to this question, there are a few basic points, known as the Training Discrepancy Model, which illustrate key areas that must be targeted for your company’s training investment to be 100% effective.

All too often, salespeople focus on the wrong elements in their attempt to increase sales. They turn their attention to the features, benefits, and value-added aspects of their product or service in an attempt to differentiate it from that of the competition and ultimately convince prospects to buy. While these elements may eventually play a part in the presentation (more on that later), it is not the place to start.

In today’s marketplace where there is more access to information, more knowledge about pricing and competition, and more choices for your customers, all professional salespeople need to make all the right moves to build their business. First things first – make no assumptions! Assumptions like the ones that follow.

Is your sales training stuck in the wrong era? It sounds like a strange question but it your sale team is forced to compete on price to sell value-added products or services or even if they’re trying to sell solutions to problems that customers know they have, the answer is probably yes. The business and the sales profession at large have evolved tremendously during the past 50 years. Problem is, the highest percentage of sales training courses haven’t kept pace with the evolution.

What scares you about the selling process? Which part of the selling process causes you the most stress? Whatever it is (and maybe it’s nothing at all), deal with it by using Sandler’s Up-Front Contract.

I have never been able to understand why some people can only see as far ahead as the end of the current day. Instead of aiming for long-term goals, they just wallow in their everyday problems. Sure, the job of running a business, selling, and hanging on to your clients day-to-day can be a full-time job. But a crucial part of that job – any job – is to look far ahead, to anticipate change and new challenges, and be prepared for them.

Ask salespeople to list their least favorite selling activities, and you can count on “prospecting” being at the top of the list. And, the least favorite of all prospecting activities is unquestionably making cold calls.