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6th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture
Written by: Dave KurlanArticle Overview: SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP Your salespeople can't wait to do the things at which they are: * most competent * most comfortable * having the most fun * in control * in the spot light The problem with all of that is with what they do: * present * demo * tell your story * provide capabilities * give references * do proposals * give quotes * use company resources and when they do it: * as soon as they can!
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6th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture
This is the 6th is my series of articles on the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies That Are Key to Building a Sales Culture.
SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP
Your salespeople can't wait to do the things at which they are:
* most competent
* most comfortable
* having the most fun
* in control
* in the spot light
The problem with all of that is with what they do:
* present
* demo
* tell your story
* provide capabilities
* give references
* do proposals
* give quotes
* use company resources
and when they do it:
* as soon as they can!
When your salespeople do what they are most comfortable with and most adept at, and they do it early in the sales cycle, they fail to develop any urgency for action and the result is an opportunity that doesn't gain traction, move, or close.
In the process I introduced in Baseline Selling, all of the above activity would take place between 3rd Base and Home Plate, but your salespeople are doing it between 1st Base and 2nd Base.
So what should they be doing between 1st and 2nd Bases?
* slow down
* ask more questions than anyone else
* ask better questions than anyone else
* ask tougher questions than anyone else
* listen
* care
* identify problems they can solve
* develop a relationship
* demonstrate their expertise (through questions, not presenting)
* develop trust
* slow down some more
* when they think they've asked enough questions, continue asking questions
The slower they go between 1st and 2nd Base, the more quickly the sales cycle will flow. If you want to shorten their sales cycle, get them to slow down!
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About the Author: Dave Kurlan RSS for Dave's articles - Visit Dave's website Dave Kurlan is a best-selling author, top-rated speaker and thought leader on sales development. He is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling (Dan Seidman), Stepping Stones (Deepak Chopra and Brian Tracey) and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2 (David Riklan). Click here to visit Dave's website Salesperson Selection Predict Sales Turnover Visual Pipeline |
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