The Ten Golden Rules of Sales Force Productivity

Guest post by: Ellen Bristol
Become an Author

Free PDF Download
Fundraising Success: Seven Deadly Sins That Slow It Down - By Ellen Bristol

Successful sales people bring in lots of deals, no matter at what cost. Productive sales people bring in lots of high-profit deals, at manageable costs, retain more customers, and are happier at their jobs. Here are the Ten Golden Rules of Sales Force Productivity.
1. Know what your selling time is worth. It’s worth a whole lot more than your billable hours, your payroll, or your commission check. Selling time is Opportunity Value – and it’s probably worth $1,100 an hour or more.
2. Selling time is an investment. Don’t bet an $1100 hour on a $100 win.
3. Be selective with your prospects. Choose prospects that match your ideal customer; otherwise you’ll blow more of those expensive hours.
4. Time spent qualifying the right customer beats time spent flogging the wrong customer.
5. If you’re going to lose, lose early. With good qualifying skills, you can find out if the prospect is worth the effort, early in the relationship. Walk away before you invest in a demo, proposal, or negotiations.
6. Take NO for an answer. If the prospect’s not right for you, don’t pursue it.
7. It’s NOT all about the money. Money is the result of your effort, not the goal.
8. It IS all about the customer. If the customer wants what you’ve got, you’ll succeed – as long as you focus on delivering value.
9. Create metrics. Set targets for all aspects of the sales process. If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it. And if you can’t manage it, you can’t improve it.
10. Track performance. Once you set your targets and metrics, track performance relentlessly. Be honest with yourself.

And a bonus: Rule #11. Get some rest. Take time to recharge your batteries. Unplug the phone, laptop, pda; put your mind in neutral. Nonstop work lowers productivity.

Thanks to Jay Berkowitz for giving us permission to quote his company’s name in the title of our article. Jay is the CEO of TenGoldenRules.com, a nationally ranked SEO and Internet marketing firm based in Boca Raton, Florida.

"Everyone knows Sales Force Incentives Dramatically Increase Sales"

The Ten Golden Rules

An Organic Leader Used Power Versus Force

The Gooose That Laid The Golden Eggs

Time To Sell

Questions Every CEO Should Be Asking His Sales Managers

The Sales Force with Over Achievers Who Don't

How Soon Should You Make Changes to Your Sales Force?

Sales Success vs. Sales Productivity: Are They the Same?

Lesson #1: Live by the Golden Rule

Rule 20 Rules are Made to be Broken

The Rules Apply

Monitoring Inside Sales Productivity

Penney-Wise: The J.C. Penney Chain Explodes

Golden Rules for Crisis Management

Optimize Your Sales Force Without Spending a Dime

Can You Motivate Your Sales Team?

Do you have the sales force your strategy needs?

Silence Is as Good as Gold

FREE Salesforce Grader Tool

Home > Sales > Ellen Bristol > The Ten Golden Rules of Sales Force Productivity > Google +

Free PDF Download
Fundraising Success: Seven Deadly Sins That Slow It Down - By Ellen Bristol

About the Author: Ellen Bristol

RSS for Ellen's articles - Visit Ellen's website

Ellen Bristol is an expert in two fields: sales-force productivity for the commercial market, and fundraising effectiveness for the nonprofit sector. Ellen works with sales and fundraising organizations to improve their top- and bottom-line results, simplifying the processes that help these business development functions exceed expectations. Ellen and her team redefine the ways that fundraising and salese teams are deployed, managed and support for optimum outcomes, ensuring that mission, marketing, sales/fundraising, and operations are closely aligned, and that the organizations are truly focused on their key stakeholders - the clients or donors. Ellen founded Bristol Strategy Group in 1995. She is the developer of the SMART Way methodologies, Fundraising the SMART Way for nonprofits, and Selling the SMART Way for B2B sales teams. Ellen has a personal mission to improve the fields of sales and fundraising by making it easier for professionals in both fields to do their jobs more productively, with less work and better results. Visit www.bristolstrategygroup.com for more insights into our services, including our on-line assessment tools, the Leaky Bucket Assessment for Sales Force Productivity; the Leaky Bucket Assessment for Effective Fundraising, and the BSG Opportunity Risk Calculator.

Click here to visit Ellen's website.

More from Ellen Bristol
Create Donor Trust
Nonprofit Competitive Edge
Why Donors Give to YOU

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Share this post and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

The Ten Golden Rules of Sales Force Productivity

Related Articles

Related Forum Posts

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.


Name:
Email: