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There’s no way an outside consultant, or even a VP of Sales for that matter, can tell an experienced rep how to do his or her job. It’s like the old joke about trying to teach a pig to dance. It frustrates you and annoys the pig Read More

Wisdom from a race care driver: “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” Mario Andrett Read More

A strong value statement is critical. A weak one is a loud, clear signal for the buyer to press hard for a lower price. (They teach that at purchasing agent school.) Consider the following three scenarios Read More

It’s quite instructive to examine the nature of offerings from the hordes of sales consulting and training firms. The overwhelming majority of them are focused on developing sales skills. Clearly, what sales managers are demanding is precisely that Read More

The examples used throughout this series of “Selling With Finance” posts show a five year time horizon. Does anyone actually think a financial projection stretching out that far could possibly be accurate? Frankly, even financial professionals find making accurate one-year forecasts to be a challenge. As sales reps, therefore, we need to be careful about implications regarding precision. Read More

This is a story about risk, but a bit of background is necessary, so please bear with me through the first paragraph.

Eleven years ago, when The YPS Group was launched, “we” made a strategic decision to focus on serving small to mid size customers, from $5 to $500 million in revenue. “We” also decided to stay small ourselves; to be a boutique consulting business; to not hire any employees and to use contractors sparingly. “We” are still here. (OK, OK, “I” am still here…), proving, at a minimum that the strategy is at least valid Read More

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Winston Churchill

Don’t ever forget how easy it is to get lost in our own brilliance and lose site of the real objective. Read More

Principle 1: Continuous improvement of the sales process is a fundamental necessity.

Principle 2: Objective metrics are required to determine the amount and rate of improvement.

Principle 3: A well defined sales process is a pre-requisite for determining meaningful sales metrics Read More

Every now and again I get blown away by a great demonstration of sales and customer service. Had to share this one.

In August, it’s hot in Georgia. The thermometer has topped 90 nearly every day for what seems like forever, and as I write this, it’s 94 degrees out there. The A/C in my house never seems to shut off. This morning, I decided to do something about it. (OK, it was actually my wife who decided I was going to do something about it. Read More

We all waste time. Sometimes it’s un-avoidable, like cooling your heels in the customer’s lobby waiting to get escorted up to the decision-maker’s office. Sometimes it’s self-inflicted. Ever had “one more cup of coffee” in the break-room or check your stock portfolio during working hours? Sometimes whiling away a small chunk of the day can even be a good thing. If I blow a sales call, five or ten minutes of feeling sorry for myself somehow helps me get back on track Read More