Issue Archives
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May/June
20105 ways that managers can impact sales this year
It's that time of year when sales managers look at first-quarter results and
begin to panic. We spoke with some of the top sales coaches and analysts who are
brought in to cure what ails small and medium-sized businesses across a variety
of industries. [728-word article]
March/April
2010Getting to Yes: Reclaim your meetings and
incentives budgets
Sales managers across a wide swath of b2b industries share the pain. As business ticks up, sales managers are looking to loosen the belts that got squeezed so tight over the past two years in the name of simply surviving. For middle managers, getting to "yes" starts with approaching things from your supervisor's perspective. [869-word article]
January/February 2010The pursuit of ROI is a noble one. High-performing businesses have built their competitive strategies around data-driven insights that generate impressive bottom line results. As a sales manager, you must continually ask whether you're using the data available to you to out-think your rivals? If not, you may be missing out on a potent competitive tool. [863-word article]
November/December 2009Like the crowd that dutifully feigned enthusiasm over the emperor's non-existent suit, too many managers today latch on to the latest business buzz without stopping to truly understand it or assess its value.
We decided to bust some myths that have made headlines recently in order to help you prepare your tactics and assemble your team for 2010. [162-word article]
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September/October 2009If offered a choice between an assortment of name-brand merchandise for reaching a sales goal or the cash equivalent, Ally Gunther admits that, like any other hard-charging salesperson who's focused on the bottom line, her first instinct would be to take the dough.
That was before she experienced "the adrenaline rush of a lifetime" this summer [1500-word article]
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July/August 2009Simple Steps Bring the Best Results
The Blitz Experience was launched seven years ago by Andrea Sittig-Rolf, president and founder of Sittig Inc. Satisfied customers include Hewlett-Packard, Office Depot and ING Financial Services. It provides a productive way to add structure to the necessary (but often dreaded) task of cold calling. Once learned, the tactics of the Blitz Experience are as simple as they are effective. [632-word article]
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May/June 2009
8 Ways to Keep Sales Teams Focused and Fired Up...
The ONLY way to weather turbulent times is with the willing engagement of a focused, fired-up, capably led work force. Because lots of business owners and managers are all balled up worrying about the numbers, however, they take their eyes off their people, who are probably the best answer to getting the numbers back where they need to be.
Your only hope of surviving a weak economy is to have the willing - not reluctant and not half-hearted - engagement of everyone in your work force. Here are eight things every business owner and manager ought to be doing...
9 Tips to Boost Sales Now
There are a lot of ways to increase productivity in your sales force. Incentives are pretty simple - they are awards offered to someone who can earn them, contingent on that individual's performance against a specific set of rules - and unlike threats, they're measurable. Incentives are rewards over and above compensation and are usually used for specific, short-term initiatives.
These nine tips (4 bonus tips in this online version!) will help you make the most of your incentive investment and your people as you wade through the murky waters of this economic downturn...
Plus: Why Do Business People Speak Like Idiots?, Social Media Attracts a Crowd, But It's Not Right For Everyone, Management Lessons With A Proven Track Record - Literally, Employees Motivated to Help Their Companies Survive, Don't Stop Believing: 3 Tips for Strategic Planning in Tumultuous Times...and more. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
March/April 2009
Keep your best people...
If you believe the quality of your salespeople is central to building value, you'd better reconsider your "they have no place to go" retention strategy...
If You're Going To Celebrate, Do It Right
Coaches frequently tell their players that the effort they put forth in practice will directly reflect how they will play in games. Perhaps it's similarly true for sales managers that how they celebrate their team's success will impact how much success they continue to have...
I Want It All And I Want It Now
Companies haven't abandoned long-term sales objectives and processes, but the economic downturn has many sales managers emphasizing short-term accomplishments more so than they did even a year ago. To that end, they are using recognition strategies that provide a quicker payoff...
Plus: Find the customers that matter most, Leaders love to learn, Some questions should have been asked long ago, Your most important meetings are with yourself...and more. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
January/February 2009
The Perfect Storm
Whether you call it an economic crisis, a downturn, a credit crunch, or any of the other "hard times" terms the media has used interchangeably since before last summer, sales managers across a wide swath of business-to-business industries agree on one thing: It's been a pain in the ass to sell stuff lately...
No Time To Play It Safe
Conventional wisdom advises caution and control in this sort of economic climate - review your costs, tighten your approval criteria, narrow the business scope, and make sure everyone in the organization is as fully busy as possible. We offer these four steps to help your sales team become more spontaneous, innovative and reflexive...
3 Driving Principles for Selling in a Recession
In this selling environment, it's easy to lose focus on target customers, marketplace trends and what differentiates your offerings from those of your competitors. There are three driving principles that should guide the salesperson's behavior in a recession, says Ted Higgins, vice president of The Forum Corp...
Plus: A Downturn Is a Terrible Opportunity to Waste, Nix the Negativity, 5 Steps for Making a Powerful First Impression, Friendship and $4 Might Get You a Cup of Coffee, Management Lessons From the E.R....and more. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
November/December 2008
Off-Sites Are Down, But Not Out
"Did you know," asked the excited marketer of virtual meeting software and services who called me recently, "that we can create a hologram of a CEO so it actually looks like he's standing on the stage - at multiple locations, if necessary - even though he's back at corporate HQ?"...
What Do Your Meetings Look Like?
Your sales meetings are a great indication of the culture of your company. The warriors who fight the battles in the field have certain needs that must be met by sales meetings, but the purpose of having them often gets lost by companies and managers...
Plus: Stop Shooting, Prospect or True Sales Opportunity? Know the Difference, Stop Managing A Pipeline and Start Managing Your Team?...and more. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
September/October 2008
A Warehouse Of Motivation
Jordan Clark's Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's, had just completed a three-month campaign aimed at getting the sales team to convince corporate clients to spend more on food and entertainment. Everyone involved was underwhelmed with the results-the customers, the salespeople who participated in the incentive program and, most important, Clark himself. Rather than abandon the concept altogether, however, Clark and his sales representative at BI, the Minneapolis-based business improvement company that created the incentive program, began to analyze what went wrong...
Making Memories So They'll Want to Make Quota Again
Diebold Inc., a global leader in providing integrated, self-service delivery and security systems, sponsors its Master's Circle Sales Incentive Program every year to recognize top salespeople who meet and exceed their goals.
In 2007, about 175 Diebold salespeople earned a spot on the Mexico trip, which occurred last spring. The program helped Diebold produce its highest revenue ever - $20 million higher than the previous year! Ultimately, it's not Mexico or any location that Diebold management ends up promoting when it launches each year's incentive program. The exclusivity of the experience, the camaraderie with other top salespeople, and the VIP treatment are what leave award winners raving about an incentive travel experience and committing to making next year's as well...
Plus: Fill Your Pipelines and Leave Pipe Dreams for Your Competitors To Chase, Who Needs 'Em?: Two types of customers you should send to the competition, What's The Point?: Why Quitting Can Be A Step In The Right Direction, Some Are O.K. With Waving the White Flag, Whose Line Is It?: How improv can help you hone your management skills...and more. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
July/August 2008
Question: Why Train Unmotivated Sales Reps?
Answer: Because the Motivated Ones Go With Them
Training is an investment that many companies short shrift in good times. It's no surprise, then, that it's nearly impossible to get adequate training dollars allotted during economic downturns. It's even tougher when many of those who receive the training don't provide a return on that investment.
Why spend the money on training if one-third of the reps are going to tune out?...
Beta Brigade: For many, today's electronics are sexier than sex itself! (interactive web feature)
Nearly half (47 percent) of British men surveyed earlier this year by a consumer electronics retailer stated that they would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV. (One-third of women said they would do likewise.) Before you dismiss this as a wacky bunch of blokes who've lost their libido, know that MSNBC posed the same question on its Web site soon after the initial survey and 44 percent of the 10,185 responders, mostly Americans, (presumably both men and women) said, "Show me the plasma!"...
Plus: "What Works" articles in: Sales Management, Business Books, Sales training, Incentive Travel, Gift Cards...and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
May/June 2008
Sales Revival
There comes a time in every sales manager's career when nothing short of a sales salvation seems in order. Or perhaps an exorcism to drive out the demons of disenchantment that pervade everyone on your team except those perennial top producers. GoalQuest, a patented sales incentive strategy, has managers singing its praises for getting even ordinary performers to produce extraordinary results...
A Woman's Touch (interactive web feature)
Women succeed using their own selling styles. Why not manage and reward them just as uniquely? Your incentives may be manlier that you realize as well. This feature provides a few ideas that are more in tune with the women on your team...
Plus: Shop Smart for Gift Cards, Reps Must Be the Value-Add They're Trying To Sell, Are You Teaching Positive Attitudes?...and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
March/April 2008
Inside the Meeting Planner's War Room: A Field Guide for the rest of us
Many full-time managers and executive assistants charged with planning meetings are not professional meeting planners. In fact, they rarely have any meeting planning training. Instead, they learn on the job, oftentimes discovering shortcuts, cost-saving tactics and potholes to avoid (the next time around because it's too late for the current event) through trial and error...
The Part-Time Meeting Planner (interactive web feature)
What's the first rule of thumb for the do-it-yourself sales manager (or the blindsided assistant) forced to play part-time meeting planner? Don't look like one. Who knows this better than you? We surveyed our readers and 74 percent of you said you are the decision maker for meetings and the destinations. You average almost four meetings per year, with a typical head count around 45. So how do you get it right the first time?...
Plus: Another Failed Sales Process?, Behind Every Successful Sales Process, Don't Disregard the Power of Pocket-Sized Paper, Stop Slashing Price and Start Adding Value, Secret Weapon In A Downturn: Focus On People...and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
January/February 2008
Jump!
Discussions at the start of a new year often turn to risk and reward. You reassess investments, consider career moves and, too often, decide to do nothing. We want you to shake things up with your sales team in 2008, and have found five unconventional strategies to get you started...
A Woman's Touch (interactive web feature)
Women succeed using their own selling styles. Why not manage and reward them just as uniquely? Your incentives may be manlier that you realize as well. This feature provides a few ideas that are more in tune with the women on your team...
Plus: You Are Where You Sit, Determining Dwarf Type Is No Small Matter, Tough Questions Should Be Cushioned, Facts Won't Do What You Want Them To, Simple Ideas/Straightforward Solutions, Does Your Team Have A Flight Plan? and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
November/December 2007 Issue
What's Next?
It takes only a few minutes into a conversation with Watts Wacker to realize that you don't so much interview this noted futurist as give him cause to package up and present a portion of his knowledge.
To be sure, Wacker is knowledgeable. Before a recent telephone interview, we provided him with a profile of the SalesForceXP reader and asked him to focus on three business topics that are included on the laundry list of subjects he's prepared to speak on: leadership, strategy and people management...
Meeting Mr. Big
Sales reps say it's unrealistic and a waste of time. Coaches and consultants swear by it. What's a poor sales manager to do?
Plus: More Than The Meeting, Best Response For Cogitators: No Response at All, When Your Buyer Leaves the Company, STUMPED? Multiple options can cement customer relationship, and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
September/October 2007 Issue
Reflections on Rewards: The world's largest manufacturer of corrective lenses clearly sees the value of non-cash incentives
"It seems the first tendency for a firm, if employees are dissatisfied or unproductive, is to throw money at them. That's often not the best answer," says Scott Jeffrey, an assistant professor of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo in Southern Ontario.
Jeffrey has done extensive research on goals, incentives and other aspects of employee performance management. His research has shown that non-cash incentives consistently produce better performance in workplace environments than cash...
The Trouble With Role Playing
Sales reps say it's unrealistic and a waste of time. Coaches and consultants swear by it. What's a poor sales manager to do?
Plus: Building a B.S. Detector, Slashing Prices? Get Something in Return, Life Is Busy, Sell Relief, Do your words mean business?, Get In Touch With Your 'Inner Customer', and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
July/August 2007 Issue
What Are Great Sales Managers Made Of?
The answer is as intangible as the definition of leadership itself
Leadership is defined so broadly that it's often up to each individual to decide what constitutes a good leader. The best leaders may be most easily identified by the performance of their teams.
The complexities of modern business make it difficult (some would say impossible) to encapsulate what great sales managers are made of. That didn't stop us from trying, however. In our opinion, there are no wrong answers and the "right ones" change as rapidly as the business arena itself...
What's It Cost To Improve Performance?
In general, the three elements of incentive program budgeting include number of participants, length of program and expected results. There are two types of award budgets - closed-ended, and open-ended. You must determine the maximum costs involved with a closed-ended program and an estimate of costs involved for an open-ended program...
Plus: What Will Impact Meeting Spending?, Train For More Productive Meetings, Obstacle Courses Are So 20th Century, Boutique Mystique, Teamwork For A Cause, Investing In Employees' Home Life While On The Road, and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
May/June 2007 Issue
A Woman's Place: Can you land - and keep - today's top saleswomen?
Ensuring that your company is a good fit for women may not have been a priority when you hit this site, but that may change by the time you leave. If not, you risk losing - or never landing - the next Mariann Judge.
Executives and frontline managers must assess whether their work environment is welcoming to women. The saleswomen we spoke with for this article range from frontline sales reps to C-level management at Fortune 500 companies. To a woman, each stressed that they are not looking for special treatment in the workplace. To the contrary, they appreciate companies that provide equal opportunity for men and women, respect each individual's knowledge and skill set, are mindful of how women want to be treated and aware that what motivates them frequently differs from what motivates their male counterparts...
Glub, Glub, Glub: The sales team is sinking in your guest speaker's muck
"If you really want to inspire a sales team to evolve - to rise above the competition and drive extraordinary results - the first place that management should look is in the mirror," says Dirk Beveridge, sales consultant, author and speaker...
Plus: No Sex Appeal Needed, Keeping Score, 3 Sales Drivers, Sales Lagging? Hire A Hotelier, and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
March/April 2007 Issue
The Accelerator: Workplace recognition can bridge the gap between where your team is now and where it can be.
It's a formula that's anything but secret. So why do some companies pull it off while others flounder and eventually fade away? What separates those businesses that field strong teams year after year from the ones that struggle to stay alive?
There are four basic management characteristics that create a foundation for business success: goal-setting, communication, trust and accountability. The secret ingredient, as much as there is one, is recognition, or what the authors call "carrots"...
Nike Case Study: A Brand Name That's Also In the Game
Like the hair club for men president who's also a client, Nike is not only a supplier of branded merchandise, it's a user of them as well. An employee incentive program that used a series of giveaways to bolster employee attendance was recognized with a 2007 Pyramid Award by the Promotional Products Association International...
Plus: Achieve More By Doing Less Of One Thing, Sales Management In the 21st Century: The Five-Headed Beast, Know Who Your Client Knows, and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
January/February 2007 Issue
Loving Las Vegas
What's easier: planning a three-day corporate event in Las Vegas for 150 top sales reps and their significant others, or escaping from a car that's hanging over the edge of a cliff? That may seem like an odd question, but if you're like most of our readers - do-it-yourselfers who hold plenty of off-sites, but who put them together without the services of a full-time, in-house professional meeting planner - you may need a few seconds to consider your answer...
Pablum-Free Guest Speaker Video Extra
Salespeople are fed a steady diet of motivational messages. Your guest speaker selection can make or break your event. We've assembled web-exclusive video previews of three performers who don't follow the standard award dinner approach. Click to view these unique motivational speaker video clips...
Plus: Rebounding From Rejection, The Value of the Activity, Getting To No, Show & Sell, It's Not What You Know, It's How You Use What You Know, Kicking The 'Hopeium Habit', and more. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
November/December 2006 Issue
Lets meet at Frank's:
Hanging with the Chairman of the Board
Twin Palms, the 4,500-square-foot "mini-mansion" where Frank Sinatra lived from 1947 until about 1954, is regularly rented out by companies for team retreats, corporate parties, even celebrations around new product introductions like one that Reebok recently staged there...
Meeting Makeovers
A creative setting for an off-site sales meeting won't make up for poor planning, but it can create a better buzz about what you hope to achieve. Unique Venues works with executive assistants who are not full-time meeting planners, helping them pin down meeting needs and appropriate venue options...
Twin Palms Video Extra
View an 8-minute video profile of a property with as much personality as The Chairman himself...
Plus: Your Customers' Fingerprints Should Be All Over Your Proposals?, The Art of the Negotiation, Deep Six The Discount, ABN - Always Be Negotiating, Early E-mailers Catch Executives' Eyes, Warning: Meetings May Be Bad For Your Health, Athletes Never Stop Competing. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
September/October 2006 Issue
The Money Trap
Research released within the past year continues to support the widely held belief that people who earn enough income to cover basic needs are happier than those who don't. Beyond that minimum level, however, those who are much richer aren't necessarily much happier...
You Can't Trust People To Treat Themselves
Good managers are great listeners, but when it comes to creating incentive programs, it may pay to tune out your sales team. That's because many salespeople promise to bust their humps for cash bonuses, only to leave managers wondering what went wrong when more than half repeatedly fall short...
Fear Factor! - Coach Your Salespeople Out of Their Comfort Zone
Does it feel like sales were soaring just yesterday, but now it's a struggle to even make the numbers? Are your client lists stagnant, with just enough additions to keep pace with the defections? Are your dedicated customers buying less - and less often - than they used to? Placing blame for this all-too common situation is easy...
Plus: Stemming the Brain Drain, What To Leave In and What To Leave Out, Integrity as a Sales Strategy, Sales Management: It's Not for Milquetoasts, Power Picnics. Also: Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
July/August 2006 Issue
Remarkable Rewards, Extraordinary Results!
Why does a $2,000 gas grill motivate a top-performing salesperson more than a $2,000 bonus? Two words: hedonic luxuries. People are hesitant to spend money on non-essentials even if they earn a substantial income. Behavioral economists have long known that consumers often experience an immediate "pain of paying," which can weaken the pleasure derived from consumption or discourage purchases altogether...
3 Things to Remember
A quick check-off list to consider when planning you next incentive program...
Medtronic Knows How To Pamper Its Stars
Count Medtronic, a world leader in medical technology, among those companies that prefer to reward top-performing, high-salaried salespeople with merchandise and travel rather than cash...
Four Remarkable Rewards
See examples of some world-class products with the horsepower to motivate your hard-to-impress sales stars...
Plus: Harnessing Customer Competence, Are Customers Failing You?: Customers' increasing role in the sales process requires "foolproofing" your system, Questions are the Answer, Talent Search, Turnover Trouble Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
May/June 2006 Issue
Las Vegas' Love Affair with Small Business Groups
A city known for its high rollers offers red-carpet treatment to businesses on a budget. But it helps to know a few tricks.
Thriving On Chaos
People make careers out of event planning, but your corporate penny-pinchers have asked you to once again handle everything in-house. If you're Las Vegas bound, no worries! The city's resorts are ready to win hearts with their extra hands...
Roll the Dice at the Craps Table
8 ways to increase your odds of staging a successful Las Vegas event...
Plus: Story Selling: Good Tales Produce More Sales, Why Stories Sell, That's Why They Call It Sales!, Be an expediter for your employees, Sealed With A Kiss?, Are YOU Over-Coaching? Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
March/April 2006 Issue
Learn to Earn
New York Life Insurance Co. invests in its future with an intensive sales training program. How does yours measure up?
Learn & Earn - Microsoft
Sales managers may feel that training is its own reward, but an investment could be wasted if that opinion isn't shared by the salespeople. Microsoft maintains its competitive advantage by keeping its business-to-business resellers up to speed on new products and updated versions of existing software....
Salespeople Aren't Built In A Day
Few companies have the wherewithal to assemble a substantial in-house training program, but most businesses can strengthen their sales training without a dramatic increase in spending. It's a matter of dedicating time and resources as much as money, say the trainers we talked with...
Plus: Whad'Ya Know?, Look In The Mirror, Support The Local Library…And It Will Support You, Small Steps Can Improve E-Mail Efficiency, Attraction by Association, Who's Pushing the Price Button? Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
January/February 2006 Issue
Finding the 'R' In Off-Site ROI
Return on investment has always been a fuzzy concept with off-site meetings, but that's changing. Today's tight budgets result in every expense being scrutinized for value. Discover how others are getting the most bang for their off-site bucks and how you can do the same...
Off-Site ROI: The ROI Checklist
Run through these eight great to-do's to ensure your next off-site meeting or event delivers the return you expect...
Off-Site ROI: Finding the Right Fit
Off-site selection is more than a price issue. How do you decide where to hold your off-site meetings? Quality, price, proximity to participants, planned activities and past experience or referrals are the likely answers. Few sales managers factor their meeting objectives into site selection, but it may be the best place to start...
Plus: Sleeping - Or At Least Talking - With the Enemy, Customer-Friendly To a Fault, E-mail: You can dish it out, but are you good at taking it?, Why Hungry Salespeople Are Not Always Preferable, Client Contacts: How Deep Is Your Bench?, Sharing the Love Long-Distance. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
November/December 2005 Issue
Payday
For all of the changes the business world has seen over all of the years that companies have done business with other companies, little has changed about how salespeople are compensated. Businesses typically follow one of four models: salary-only, base salary plus commission, commission-only and commission plus a draw on future sales. Which system works best?
Payday: Bonus Interview with Paul Dorf
Paul Dorf is the Managing Director of Compensation Resources Inc., an Upper Saddle River, N.J., company that provides compensation and human resource consulting services, including executive compensation, sales compensation, salary administration, performance management and litigation support.
Payday: Bonus Interview with David J. Cichelli
David J. Cichelli is Senior Vice President of The Alexander Group Inc., a national sales effectiveness consulting firm. He specializes in designing effective sales compensation plans, and is the author of Compensating the Sales Force: A Practical Guide to Designing Winning Sales Compensation Plans (McGraw-Hill, 2003). We spoke with him by telephone in October 2005.
Plus: Can Customers Reach Your Salespeople?, The 8 Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus, Moving Up? Not So Fast... Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
September/October 2005 Issue
Why Cash Incentives Fail
Competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package are great recruitment and retention tools, but money is not effective in keeping employees motivated. New research reveals the value of allowing peak performers to "earn the right to indulge" using travel and merchandise rewards.
Lock In On Luxuries
Americans are often viewed as the embodiment of overindulgence, yet the truth is many of us loathe spending money on what we perceive to be nonessentials. Indeed, behavioral economists Drazen Prelec and George Loewenstein state that consumers making purchases often experience an immediate "pain of paying," which can weaken the pleasure derived from consumption or even discourage consumption altogether.
When Should You Push Top Performers?
Successful salespeople are typically self-driven, but even the best need encouragement and enticing occasionally. When is the best time to galvanize a salesperson or an entire sales team to achieve a predetermined goal?
Plus: Growth Without Growing, The Partnership Problem, The Trouble With Girls... Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
July/August 2005 Issue
Get In Step With Channel Partners
Whether in Australia or Alabama, whether selling high-tech tools or wholesale building supplies, everyone is looking for the same thing: A way to motivate reseller channels to faithfully serve as "the last three feet of the sale."
Merchandise Motivates Partners To Complete Training
Training is an effective means of strengthening distributor relationships. As prices achieve parity, product knowledge and customer service become a more important differentiator. Increased product knowledge empowers the reseller in two ways: winning more sales and increasing the amount of the sales order.
Make Meetings Matter: 4 ideas for perking up supplier sales meetings from the people who sit through them
The purpose of a sales meeting with a distributor is to get that sales staff ready to sell. All too often, however, sales meetings turn out to be uninspiring lectures and redundant time wasters. The key to a successful sales meeting is to make it interesting, useful and positive.
Plus: Customer Appreciation: It's More Than Lip Service, Dealing with Difficult Customers, Buying Into Benefits, Are Your Salespeople Creating Mini Conventions?... Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, Coach's Corner, plus much more!
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July/August 2005: SYNERGIES SUPPLEMENT
Corporate Apparel Discovers Its Softer Side
Suppliers realize that if they're not serving the women's market, they may not be in the men's market.
Usefulness: What A Concept!
Fashion is taking a back seat to functionality, but in most cases you can have it all.
2005 Trend Report
The return of the preppie, colors make a splash and new fabrics mean less wear, tear and care.
Doublestitch or Doublespeak?
A handy glossary of apparel terms.
Case Study: Fishery Products International
T-shirt Promotion Makes A Great First Compression
Plus Case Study from Fishery Products International - T-shirt Promotion Makes A Great First Compression
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May/June 2005 Issue
The Play's the Thing
When work is a play Managers are increasingly turning to theater-based training as a way to liven up meetings and deliver information that makes an impact and is retained long after the meeting itself. Plus, 10 off-site meeting trends and other ideas for making meetings worthwhile.
Top 10 Meeting Trends for 2005
Benchmark Hospitality International, which manages 28 upscale resorts, conference centers and hotels in the United States and Japan, releases an annual top 10 list of meeting industry trends as observed by its properties.
Measuring a Meeting's Success
Marketing, training, and membership growth and retention programs are all measured for success. It only makes sense that meetings are being asked to prove themselves as well. Key areas that must be measured to ascertain a meeting's return on investment...
Penny-Pinchers Beware: Trimming Expenses May Cut Results
Beware the pitfalls of frugality when planning an off-site sales meeting, experts warn. Every company must operate within a budget, of course, but cutting costs in key areas may cause more trouble than it's worth...
Plus: Are You Prospecting Or Just Cold Calling?, Swap Shop: A Web-based flea market of business contacts aims to revolutionize prospecting?, What's the Buzz? Your Salespeople Better Know, Dress for $uccess...Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, ReVerb, plus much more!
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March/April 2005 Issue
Is Your Sales Foundation Built With Bricks Or Sticks?
Lots of sales managers talk about the value of training for their troops, but few of them follow up in any meaningful way. In this month's cover feature, we talk with some who "walk the sales training walk" and hear how it has paid off. For those who are committed to investing in training, management consultant Allan Mackintosh describes how to avoid the No. 1 mistake -- failure to secure follow-up support, while authors Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden discuss setting training priorities.
Like a Virgin
What is it about Madonna Inc. that has allowed it to consistently reap profits for over 18 years on the trot? And is there something we in business can learn about branding from the chameleon of pop music?
The Pitfalls of Leadership
Consultant Robbie Baxter says leadership is worthless without a plan...
Incentive Product Focus: Cameras
Picturing sales jumps is easy with new cameras that make great incentives. (130K
Adobe Acrobat PDF document)
Plus: Are You Punishing With Rewards?: Thousands of companies are at risk from an IRS audit for rewarding incentives., When Dropping the Sale Trumps Dropping the Price: Do your salespeople have the courage and conviction to say "No"?, Study Uncovers Issues Impacting Personal Sales Effectiveness... Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, ReVerb, plus much more!
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March/April 2005: SYNERGIES SUPPLEMENT
The Incredibles!
New research reinforces some long-held beliefs about the impact, exposure and influence of promotional products
Is Your Business Gift A Proverbial
Tree Falling In the Forest? Select wisely or you're throwing good money after bad
Keeping Customers Satisfied
Customers who receive promotional products return sooner and spend more
Make A Name For Yourself
What does it tell you when one of the world's most recognizable brands starts shifting more dollars to promotional products?
Brand Identity
Selling your name without overstating it
Plus Case Studies from: DONALDSON COMPANY (Three-part mailing captures business for filter company), COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT (Courtyard by Marriott gets cooking for grand re-opening) and PRINT LOGICS (Printer puts products to work for open house).
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January/February 2005 Issue
Think Like Your Customers
Help your salespeople stay focused on the customer's reason for buying. It's what drives every buying decision. Investing in training and incentives is essential, but what too many sales managers overlook is the fact that if they change the way their salespeople think, their attitudes and behavior automatically change. These four "paradigm-busting truths" on how to approach every sale will help salespeople feel more comfortable focusing on the customer's buying process rather than their own sales process.
Leadership Is Plural
Providing the tools for a sales team to succeed is no small feat, but sales managers often are left to wonder if anyone notices their role in a team's success.
MYTHBUSTERS: How Major Sales Are Really Made
Generations of salespeople have been indoctrinated in the "common knowledge" of the profession - much of which we now know to be misguided or counterproductive. Can we rely on the traditional advice about how to sell? Research findings challenge the most cherished myths in our business.
Incentive Product Focus: Consumer Electronics
Few things can match the motivating power of the neatest and newest consumer electronics (180KB Adobe Acrobat PDF document).
Plus: Leaders Are Not Appointed, Survey Indicates Incentive Efforts Need Attention, Yikes! Three Out of Four Employees Are Looking for New Jobs, More Meetings On the Agenda, Stop Looking for Lightning Bolts, Dealer's choice: Individual incentive travel is an increasingly popular alternative to group trips. Also: SalesU, Incentive Product coverage, ReVerb, plus much more!
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Are Your Social Media Efforts Working?
Savings At Sea
Is the Sales Funnel Obsolete?
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When sales people aren't performing at expected levels, do you know why? There are two words that will guide you to the solution. Listen to this episode of The Sales Management Minute to learn how to improve sales performance.
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Audio. 60 sec. - 07/26/2010 |
Access products, pricing and reps that drive program performance!
