Does Sales Training Matter?
Of the 4,158 colleges and universities in the United States, only 35 offer sales curricula. Nevertheless, more than 50% of the 1.3 million college graduates in 2007 will become professional sellers on the first day of their employment. Yet, turnover rates, attrition and failure in-the-field for these young salespeople are astounding. The question is why?
Obviously, there is a dearth of effective sales training programs in the educational marketplace. Salespeople are simply not being properly equipped or prepared for their jobs. Ifas Huthwaite contendssales is a science, then it can be learned. But in order to be learned, it must first be properly taught.
Perhaps a far more compelling reason why sales training matters is illustrated in the chart below, which details the breakdown of factors impacting sales success.
Branding strategy, pricing, product positioning and the competitive landscape all contribute to producing sales results. While other issues exist, their cumulative effect is minimal and as such these are designated as etc. The largest slice of the piethe piece that actually differentiates companies in a commoditized worldis sales skills. In an increasingly homogenized marketplace, the brass ring goes to sellers who differentiate themselves in the sales processthose who know that success has more to do with how you sell than what you sell.
Sales leaders and L&D specialists have little if any impact on branding, pricing and product strategiesand neither group can influence the market forces that define the competitive landscape. But they can and do have a direct and profound impact on the skills of their salespeople. Sales force effectiveness is entirely within their control. In an environment where product features and brand identity are no longer enough to close the deal, sales skills are the primary engine of differentiation, value creation and profit margin growth in the new millennium.
My Boss Conducts Bad Meetings
What to do?
Your boss conducts terrible meetings. You can put up with it.
Or, you could try:
1) Start with praise, such as: “I know you work hard. And I have an idea that would help you get more done.”
2) Offer to help with some small part of a meeting that would make the process more effective.
3) Leave a book on effective meetings on your desk.
4) Give your boss a book on effective meetings as a gift.
5) Conversationally (such as during lunch) mention that you read an article about meetings that told about a “really great” technique for . . . . (something such as preparing an agenda, or making decisions, or etc.)
6) Confront your boss directly with an idea, such as, “I think our meetings would take less time if we had an agenda.”
7) Offer to prepare the agenda for a meeting. As part of this task, ask your boss questions such as, “What is your goal for the meeting?” or “What result do you want to have at the end?” Then ask other questions such as, “What do you think is the best way to accomplish that result?”.
Ask your boss to use a facilitator for a meeting.
9) Ask your boss to send everyone to a workshop on holding effective meetings (because everyone else needs it). And of course, your boss should attend, just to find out what everyone else will be learning.
10) Wait until your boss complains about bad meetings. Then ask gentle guiding questions such as, “What makes you upset with that?” Perhaps, such questions can lead your boss to accepting a new idea.
11) Complain about someone else’s meeting. For example, you could say, “Wow, what a waste to time. No agenda and no one know what to do. We just sat around and talked about everything except anything that mattered.” – - Caution. This can backfire if the boss reacts by defending the other person.
If none of these ideas work, then you might consider:
12) Wait until your boss retires, moves on, or quits.
13) Ask for a transfer to a different department (to enrich your career, for example).
Bonus: Have a question about meetings? Send it from my web site.
Truck Accessories
Do you love something big? Big is beautiful is your favorite quote? If that is true, the most suitable vehicle for you is truck. We cannot deny that when it comes to car, favor plays important role. It means there are just some people love cars and there are just some people love trucks. If you love truck, you must own at least a truck. When you have a truck and you really love that truck, of course you have to enhance it to look better and more luxurious. That’s why it is important for you to buy truck accessories to make your truck stand out from the crowd. There are some problems in order finding the best truck accessories for your truck.
The first problem is that it is not easy to find reliable store that sells various accessories for any kinds and manufacturers of truck. If there is a store sells high quality accessories for truck, the price must be pretty expensive and not affordable. Read more…
Trade Show Display
Have you ever established a trade show on a mall or in a big hall? If you have ever established a trade show, you must know the difficulties in preparing all the stuffs and the media needed to enhance our trade show booths. For you who just want to hold a trade show, you should read through this article because I will tell you the details and the stuffs needed to run a successful trade show. First, you should choose the right place to run a successful trade show. Try to choose the right place like crowded place and easy to visit place so you won’t waste your money by renting the place.
After you have done choosing the right place for your trade show event, you should prepare all stuffs such as banner stands, trade show lights, pipe and drape, table skirts and many others. Read more…