Sales – Page 2

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March 6, 2012

Why do so many companies make it so hard for their customers to buy? They try to be all things to all people and end up confusing the hell out of everyone as to what they are, what they do, why they are good at it and what is their value. Sound familiar? I have ...

Nail it before you Scale It

January 28, 2012

I love working with Robin Hopper, my co-EIR at the Innovation Factory, for the simple fact that the guy has more catchy cool acronyms and phrases that make me sound so smart when I repeat them. "Nail it before you Scale it" is one of his latest. Put simply, too many start-ups try to scale ...

Why is selling my product or service so hard?

December 6, 2011

This topic has come up repeatedly with clients over the past few weeks. Many companies, especially start-ups, suffer from longer sales cycles than they plan for or can afford. There are many reasons that can often be bucketed into categories as follows: Immature or unproven value proposition Immature or unproven vendor Lack of references and ...

Why do we hate (our own) sales people?

October 24, 2011

Have you ever noticed that in a company there often seems to be jealously, almost bordering on hatred, for the company's own sales team? Ever noticed the derogatory jokes being told about the sales team; the stereotyping of them as not knowing their product; their lack of attention to detail; their being motivated only by commissions, or their being shallow and self-centred? In the words of Rodney Dangerfield, they just "don't get no respect". Why does that happen, given that this team is the life blood of the company? If they don't sell, the rest of the company doesn't work.

Improving Sales: The Excuse Department is Closed

March 25, 2011

Improving Sales: The Excuse Department is Closed: by Mark Suster started circulating a few of weeks ago but I was too busy to do anything with it at the time. Nevertheless, its wisdom demanded that I come back to it and comment. Mark has done a fabulous job of succinctly articulating the challenges of managing ...

Being Competitively Different

November 12, 2010

On Monday morning, I attended a presentation by Professor Youngme Moon on how companies differentiate themselves from their competitors. Similar to her colleague, Clayton Christensen, Moon points out the danger of listening too much to your customers. Her point is that doing so will lead competitors to move towards a point where they look like ...

Software Pricing – What message are you sending your customer?

October 31, 2010

At a recent breakfast meeting, I asked a CEO to explain what he charges for his SaaS based solution. His company is an early stage start-up and is still testing its value proposition and pricing. Early prospects for the solution have ranged from mid-market size companies up to a few large multinationals with thousands of ...

How I hire Sales People

August 18, 2010

A CEO of a start-up recently asked me how I hire software salespeople. I have a simple rule that has served me well. I look for three things in a salesperson's resume. Experience and successful track record selling software. Selling software is different from other high tech. Your product is "selling a vision" more than ...

When is it time to fire?

August 9, 2010

I recently met a CEO of a start-up. He was describing his business to me and that even though he had hired a Sales leader, he was being dragged into every sales deal in order to close it. His sales leader had been hired to find & close deals, create & grow a sales force and ...

Category: Sales