Sales Challenges Sales managers face many problems, some of which they create for themselves. Others result from senior executives who impose unrealistic demands or from corporate cultures that work against salespeople and their leaders. If a sales manager performs poorly, so will the salespeople on his or her team. Salespeople create problems for their managers…
The New Sales Manager The sales manager’s job is to lead. People often rise to the rank of a sales manager from a successful career in sales. But the skills required to sell are very different from the skills required to be a leader and manage a sales force. A few of the differences are:…
Elusive Greatness When this nowclassic manual first appeared in 2001, it rapidly became one of the most popular business publications of all time. Prolific business author and consultant Jim Collins, a foremost analyst of how to build and sustain a business, also wrote How the Mighty Fail and Managing the Small to MidSized Company, and…
A Matter of Habit A habit is an activity that a person deliberately decides to perform once and continues doing without focus, often frequently. Think about the complicated procedures you automatically employ to drive your car. Habits develop because the human brain is wired to seek ways to conserve energy. Researchers who study the science…
Selling: The Eras Within the past 50 to 60 years, selling has passed through three eras: The script era – During the 1950s, the salesperson worked on techniques to manipulate the customer into doing what the salesperson wanted to be done. Sales training focused on making the case, parrying the objections and going for the…
Loudcloud, Opsware and “the Struggle” “There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience.” Every startup encounters the Struggle. Your product turns out to have costly flaws. Your cash runs low, and your venture capitalist tells you fundraising seems unlikely. A loyal customer leaves you. A valuable employee walks away. There’s no…
Generation Traits and Gaps Millennials form the “most educated and technologically savvy generation ever.” Their parents sheltered them and gave their lives structure. The US workforce now includes 31 million Millennials, and that number will increase steadily in the next five years. When people of the same age experience highimpact events, they develop a similar…
2020 brought the need to access services remotely sharply into focus. We now realize that working from home is not a temporary situation. Access to devices, the skills to use them and good quality connectivity are essential for nearly everyone in our new digital society. The world continues to change and the pace of evolution…
Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic dealt a major financial blow to many businesses across sectors. But that didn’t stop investors from cherry-picking opportunities in the India growth story and funding companies with strong fundamentals and growth potential. The country witnessed total deal value in private equity (PE) investments touching $62.2 billion in 2020, according to…
