A Sales Enablement Conundrum: Who’s Coaching the Coach?
The room (and the online meetings) always become very quiet when we ask this question. Everyone knows the value of coaching, whether they’ve conscio…
Category: People Office
To assure that our culture produces the most energetic, equipped and high-performance sales team we can field in our markets
Sales Role Specialization
A couple of people I deeply respect have written outstanding pieces arguing that we have take sales role specialization too far. Amy Volas wrote, “Is…
Why Now is the Perfect Time to be a Sales Professional… Even for Millennials
In the previous article, I introduced the notion of Sales as a Profession (SaaP) and some of the steps that have been cataloged toward professionalism…
Buying Is About People, Why Isn’t Selling?
Ironically, while buying is getting more personal–more about people relating to people, selling seems to be, increasingly, less so.
Changing Sales Jobs: Why and the Impact on Sales Comp
Today’s market dynamics are significantly affecting jobs focused on driving revenue growth, resulting in the need to update sales compensation plans…
Comedian Trevor Noah: How Humor Helps Us Lead in Times Like These
Award-winning comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah released The Daily Social Distancing Show on YouTube March 15. The intent was to promote th…
Soledad O’Brien: Give People a Chance to Lead in a Crisis
In times of unprecedented crisis, like the one we are living in, there are opportunities for true leaders to rise to the occasion.
Sales Departments Seek to Protect Sellers’ Incentive Pay
Alexander Group’s COVID-19 Sales Comp/Quota Survey. Conducted during the week of March 23, 2020, the survey had responses from 203 sales departments…
Adjustments to Sales Quotas due To Market Disruption
The COVID-19 crisis is compelling sales leadership “to act” and to defend the variable pay of their sellers. The extent of this protective action …
Does Being On Commission Make You Untrustworthy?
I read a discussion between some wickedly smart people. One person took a position that one could not be a “Trusted Advisor,” and be on…
Why we need Role Clarity
Role clarity is important. People need to understand their jobs/roles–not just the activities they do, and their metrics/comp plan.
Are Sales People Coin Operated?
We are facing a crisis in sales retention. Average tenure for sales people and managers has plummeted to 16.5 months. As I speak to sales…
“I Don’t Have Time To Coach/Do Reviews!”
I sit with management teams discussing Sales Execution Discipline and the importance of a regular coaching and review cadence. Inevitably, during the discussion, one manager…
“The Right Commission Plan Will Fix Everything….”
It’s that time of year. Many senior sales execs are starting their planning for next fiscal year. Inevitably, the commission plan becomes part of the…
Sales Managers are Killing the Sales Organization!
It may be that time of year. or maybe I’m just more aware of it, but it seems that too many sales managers are focused…
What Makes a Learning Initiative World’Class?
Reflecting on the numerous client conversations I have had throughout my career, and the projects that have generated significant impact, I identified…
