The World's Best Sales Blogs

It’s Not Your Close That Causes You To Win!We spend a lot of time talking about closing.  We focus on doing a great final presentation or proposal.  We worry about finding the right way to close–how to ask for the order in a compelling way.  Frankly, it’s too late–sales are not won or lost at the close, they are won or lost much [...]

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:00:15 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness — Well Almost!I always appreciate Tibor Shanto’s blog posts on cleaning out the pipeline, focusing on real business.  He always seems to find the right time to remind us to do this, In January, he encouraged us to Clear Out The Clutter, can’t start the New Year with garbage in our funnel.  In March, he reminded us [...]

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:00:42 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Sales Goals Or Sales Process, Which Is Most Important?Geoffrey James wrote an interesting article at BNET, Sales Goals vs. Sales Process:  Which Is Most Important?  Frankly, the question confuses me, it assumes that sales goals and sales process are mutually exclusive.  Geoffrey seems conflicted, as well.  Later, using the example of an Olympic athlete, he states, “For the Olympic athlete, the process leads [...]

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:48:11 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

For Sales Success – Everything Passes Through Finance!In Tom Peters’ The Little BIG Things, on Item #46, he makes the point that  “Everything Passes Through Finance.”  It’s such a important, yet too often ignored critical success factor for sales people.  In virtually every situation, Finance is always somehow involved in the sale.  Sometimes, it’s just paying the invoice; other times it’s issuing the [...]

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:55:31 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Applying My Lessons In Martial Arts To Professional SellingAbout 6 months ago, I started taking lessons in a couple of martial arts, Tai Chi and Kung Fu.  It’s been a tremendously interesting and frustrating experience.  Progress seems very slow, I feel as though I am still in the “Wax-On, Wax-Off David-san” stage.  Can’t wait to get to the painting the fence part.  A few [...]

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:37:41 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Will Your Sales Defy Gravity?Note:  This post originally appeared as a guest post in Rebel Brown’s Rebelations Blog.  Rebel’s book, Defy Gravity, will be published soon.  It’s an outstanding and pragmatic guide to developing and executing business strategies. Our guest post today comes from David A Brock, CEO of Partners in EXCELLENCE. David has been a leader in the sales [...]

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:02:45 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Did You Hear The One About 4 Blind Men And The Elephant?There’s the old story about 4 Blind Men, one on each side of an elephant, each is asked to feel the elephant in front of them and describe what they “see.”  You know the story, each describes the elephant differently because they each had a different perspective. I  think this is a good description of selling.  [...]

Wed, 26 May 2010 01:22:12 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Being “Tactegic”Earlier this week, I participated in a series of reviews with a sales team.  Each sales person was presenting their key deals and what they were doing to win.  I was uncomfortable in much of the meeting, but had trouble putting my finger on what was causing my discomfort.  Somehow, as I listened, I felt many [...]

Sat, 15 May 2010 19:52:40 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Is Sales Getting Soft?Many regular readers may be a little surprised about this post.  I’ve been very vocal about sales being consultative, customer focused, and creating value for the customer in their buying process.  I’ve been (and continue) to be very much against the old line “hard sell” tactics. Having said all that, over the past few months, there [...]

Tue, 04 May 2010 00:12:33 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Knowing About Your Customer Is Not EnoughEveryone in sales knows that it’s important to know your customer.  Sales people keep all sorts of information, both on individuals and the enterprises.  We know about the likes and dislikes of the people we sell to–those that we deal with every day.  We know their birthdays, families, what schools they went to, whether they like [...]

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:11:06 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

The World’s Greatest Salesperson!My colleagues have been talking about OgilvyOne’s contest to find the world’s greatest salesperson.  I was curious about it, went to the website to read the press release and to their YouTube Channel to learn more. It’s an intriguing notion.  I have to bow to the wisdom of Ogilvy, after all they are a prestigious advertising [...]

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:05:39 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

Coaching The Sales ProcessI’m getting all kinds of messages and emails.  I must be wearing people down with my incessant pleas for organizations to update their sales processes–to make them really work, to assure they reflect current realities, priorities, markets, and competition. A number of sales managers have contacted me asking for further guidance.  Last week, I got an [...]

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:16:59 +0000 Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference