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Todd Youngblood Articles

Written by: Todd Youngblood

Too Many Sales Reps Are Wimps - Click To Read Article
In general, sales reps represent themselves as a pretty tough, resilient, independent bunch. I’m not so sure about that.

The Rodney Dangerfield of Sales (aka Mr. Low Price) - Click To Read Article
Ever wonder how Rodney Dangerfield came up with his signature, “I don’t get no respect,” line? My guess is it first hit him when he still had his job selling aluminum siding. Yep, that’s how he supported himself and his family before his big break on the Ed Sullivan Show. Anyway, talk about a tough thing to sell! How could you possibly differentiate your aluminum siding from their aluminum siding?

“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” - Click To Read Article
The title of this post is a quote from William Gibson. Whoda’ thunk a science fiction writer would have such a compelling insight into the power of the E-Rep?

Sometimes Unintended Consequences Are A Good Thing - Click To Read Article
We’re all familiar with the “Law of Unintended Consequences.” My personal favorite is still the plastic whistles that were packaged with Cap’n Crunch cereal back in the ’70s. Blowing the whistle into your phone triggered a connection to AT&T’s long distance dialing AND by-passed their billing system. Free calls! Not exactly what Quaker Oats had in mind. (…and Ma Bell was not pleased.)

Sales Rep Lame Excuse #83 - Click To Read Article
Did you ever watch a customer or prospect make a bad decision? OK, dumb question… We’ve all lost deals because the guy on the other side of the desk just flat didn’t do a good job of making the decision. And because we hold the customer’s best interests near and dear to our hearts, it hurts to watch them do the “wrong” thing and buy from a competitor. But the sales rep certainly can’t be blamed for that, right? Wrong!

“Funnel” or “Incubator?” - Click To Read Article
Friendly violent debates are really a lot of fun. They’re also the best way to practice selling complex ideas. Fortunately for me, there are lots of folks ready, willing and able to have no-holds-barred, free-for-all arguments about my allegedly brilliant ideas. One of my favorites involves the traditional “sales funnel” metaphor.

More, Bigger, Faster - Click To Read Article
I'm a football fan and my team (the Atlanta Falcons) started this season with three consecutive losses. That got me to thinking about "back to basics." Ladies and gentlemen, this is a sales rep: One who moves a greater number of larger deals through the funnel faster.

Experience is not a substitute for the pre-call plan - Click To Read Article
Every now and then it's a good idea to re-visit one of those "everybody knows that" concepts and do a hard-nosed self-assessment regarding our personal sales performance. Always, always pre-plan every sales call, right?

Four facts all sales reps should always keep in mind - Click To Read Article
We are all conditioned to always remembering that the customer is always right. That's a good thing in general, but do we take it too far?

Is Your E-Rep Any Good? - Click To Read Article
As a sales rep, you know better than anybody what your customers and prospects need to know. You’ve done your research. You know their issues, challenges and objectives. You know the value they could accrue by using your stuff. They just won’t take the time to meet with you and listen! Well, maybe it’s you that needs to listen up. I think there’s a question that needs answering…

Go E#$% yourself! - Click To Read Article
As a sales rep, you know better than anybody what your customers and prospects need to know. You've done your research. You know their issues, challenges and objectives. You know the value they could accrue by using your stuff. They just won't take the time to meet with you and listen! Well, maybe it's you that needs to listen up. Are they telling you to...

Did Google screw up big time; or did they just transform B2B Social Media into a MUST-DO-NOW? - Click To Read Article
When your customers and prospects start their research in anticipation of buying something, they go right to Google, right? Do they find you? Unfortunately, probably not. They only find you or your company when they specifically include you in their search. Do you want to rely on them to do that? Are you crazy???!!!

There may never be a better time than now. - Click To Read Article
The cold, hard fact is that for most of us, this economy has jacked up the challenge of selling more faster BIG TIME. I'll give 5 to 1 odds there are two things you wish you had already gotten done.

What's the best way to make your verbal statements more compelling? - Click To Read Article
It's time to make (and stick to) another one of those "I know it makes sense and it's good for me and I really need to make time for it" resolutions.

Creative Abrasion and the Sales Knowledge Activist - Click To Read Article
I don't know enough. Not enough about my customers & prospects, or their customers, prospects, suppliers, partners and competitors. I don't know enough about the objectives, strategies, requirements, problems or people of any of those groups. I don't even know enough about how my own products and services - either alone or combined with other products and services - can address the issues of my customers and prospects. Eeesssssshhhhh... (Guess what? You're in the same boat!)

Would a wiki work? - Click To Read Article
A recent study conducted by CSO Insights indicated that poor sales knowledge management is hitting the top and bottom lines of companies in extremely negative ways. These included high sales rep turn over, longer sell cycles and lower win rates.

The Weapon - Click To Read Article
There is always a danger in focusing on the tools used to get a job done. (We all know the cliché about the six-year old with a chain saw...) That said however, a robust CRM system just might be the most powerful tool a sales team can have.

All Opportunities Are Not Created Equal - Click To Read Article
When reviewing an opportunity, most sales manages will ask about the odds to close. When asked about odds to close, most sales reps have a ready answer. Most often, it's wrong; based on some mystical gut feel, but it sure does makes everyone feel better - like authentic planning, prioritizing and time management actually occurred.

Discipline, Opportunity Management & Value Propositions - Click To Read Article
Time again to take a look in the mirror and pick a few items to get really good at executing over the next twelve months. (Seems like maybe I've seen a few of these before!)

Another spin on Value Propositions - Click To Read Article
Quite often the inspiration for a great sales idea comes from a source way outside our industry or normal frame of reference. What follows is a story about a really creative value proposition. How can you use its message for your own business?

You can't afford to let the knowledge leak out! - Click To Read Article
The sales rep with superior knowledge is a formidable competitor. That's why you have a Sales Excellence Council in place. (Right?) And that group is charged with identifying the best and newest sales best practices and tools. (Right?)

The Hawthorne Effect is Alive and Well - Click To Read Article
Genuinely good ideas have staying power, right? What if you could find a proven approach to continuous improvement with roots nearly a century old? Would you pursue it?

Try Selling Them A Better Buying Process - Click To Read Article
How much work do you expect your customers to do to for you? How much work do you need your customers to do for you? How much work are your customers doing for you?

Three Things That Kill CRM (...and how to counter them) - Click To Read Article
According to the best research I can find, roughly 2/3 of CRM implementations fail. How can this be? After so many years why haven't sales leaders and CRM vendors figured this out?

Value, Value Stream, Flow, Pull, Perfection - Click To Read Article
Manufacturing executives said it didn't apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Software development executives said it didn't apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Business & technology services executives said it didn't apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Sales executives, managers and professionals KNOW FOR SURE it doesn't apply to them. And of course they are right. Right?

There's Value, Value, Value & Value! - Click To Read Article
None of us can ever invest enough time in increasing the punching power of our Value Propositions. Ever think in terms of their ubiquity and staying power?

Are you an expert? (...at anything?) - Click To Read Article
Read any trade publication. Surf the net for a sales trainer or consultant. Listen to the radio or TV. We are surrounded by experts. The gurus are everywhere!

How sticky are your ideas? - Click To Read Article
Every now and then I come across a book that really nails its topic. "Made To Stick" by brothers Chip and Dan Heath is one of them. Their insights into consistently creating memorable messages is must reading for anyone in sales.

It's The Experience, Stupid! - Click To Read Article
Take a few minutes and read through all the statements of value on your web site and in your recent proposals. Think about the value propositions you have articulated during customer calls over the last few months. Do they strike you as static statements? Or do they communicate a sense of a living, dynamic, ongoing, integrated, valuable experience?

It's always about productivity - Click To Read Article
The US lost 2.5 million manufacturing jobs from 1994-2004. Does that mean I should jump out the window? Or is it a cause for celebration?

Your learning/self-improvement process is probably obsolete - Click To Read Article
I don't know enough. The pace of change in the world of sales, sales management and consulting is such that my traditional process for learning simply can't keep up. I know you're in the same boat. Guess what? We can help each other.

Do you speak the universal language of business? - Click To Read Article
Communication is one of the obvious cornerstones of a successful sales career. You need to speak the language of the country where you're doing business. You need to know and understand each industry's specific lingo. You need to have a solid grip on the unique dialect of executives with different functional responsibilities. You need to be particularly fluent in the one language common to every decision-making executive.

Are you a real doctor; a PhD? ...or just a physician? - Click To Read Article
Innumerate: Unable to understand and use numbers in a calculation. No, this isn't your "new-word-of-the-day" newsletter. It's a wake-up call. Innumeracy is rapidly and relentlessly reducing the relevance of one set of professionals after another. Are sales professionals next?

The University of Sales - Click To Read Article
Is everybody on your sales team as dedicated as you are to continuously augmenting and upgrading personal knowledge and skills? There's no question that it's absolutely essential ...unless of course all your competitors are lazy and stupid.

Think and act like business manager - Click To Read Article
The traditional role of sales rep as provider of information is obsolete. That role got outsourced to Google because it's a lot faster and easier that way.

Take a SWOT at all your key customers - Click To Read Article
There is a reason some concepts stand the test of time. They work! The notion of analyzing customer strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is one of those concepts you can't afford to ignore.

Tell them exactly what you're going to do to them - Click To Read Article
Ever think about selling your sales process? And I don't mean going into the sales training business by selling it to competitors or companies in similar industries. I mean did you ever think about selling your sales process to your customer?

Are you clueless, unsure, confident or awesome? - Click To Read Article
None of us can know everything about everything. In fact there is so much to know these days, that our level of competence in the wide range of topics we discuss with customers varies all over the place.

Create Chaos, Change & Controversy! (...or at least chase after them) - Click To Read Article
There's a new buzz-word making the rounds. Have you focused on the "trigger event" concept? Can you make it work for you?

Maybe I really DO want to appear to be an order-taker... - Click To Read Article
Technology has changed everything. It used to take multiple face-to-face sales calls to get a prospect up to speed on the potential value of our products and services. More importantly, those calls enabled us to acquire a broad, deep understanding of their issues, requirements and problems. Now, web 2.0 makes our info available 24/7. They don't need us to learn about us. AND, they now refuse to take the time to educate us regarding what they need.

...and by gosh, this Web 2.0 & Social Media stuff is fabulous for selling knowledge! - Click To Read Article
When you blow all the smoke away, knowledge is the only thing any of us has to sell any more. That's always been the case for a consulting-type business, but today, profitably selling even the most commoditized of commodities requires lots and lots of knowledge. It's all about finding and/or purchasing and/or packaging and/or shipping and/or installing and/or applying and/or maintaining and/or disposing of and/or... It's all about the intellectual content. It's the knowledge, stupid!





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