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Rainmakers Don’t Make a Sales Machine

by Eliot Burdett | Published on - July 8, 2009

We often hear business leaders say they wish they could hire some “rainmakers” to give sales a boost, but experience shows us that this kind of thinking doesn’t typically pay-off. Here’s why: 1. Rare – The salesperson who generates sales out of thin air is a rare breed. If you have one, you are lucky.

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How to Structure Sales Compensation Plans, Bonuses

by Eliot Burdett | Published on - June 29, 2009

We often receive questions about the merits of various comp plan elements and alternatives. Recently received a question about the frequency of bonuses. The right mix of incentives and structure depends on what you are trying to achieve. While commissions are typically tied to closed sales, while bonuses are often linked to other sales events

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Tips for Selling in a Downturn

by Eliot Burdett | Published on - May 22, 2009

I received an email about marketing in a downturn, from inmedia, a PR firm focused on the high tech sector. The article is about marketing tactics, but there is some good advice in here about selling tactics: 10 tips for marketing in a downturn 4. If you have channel or other partners, consider pooling budgets

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80% of companies don’t measure ROI on sales training – Dave Stein

by Eliot Burdett | Published on - May 10, 2009

Selling Power Interview with Dave Stein discussing approaches to sales training. His company, ES Research, helps sales management and corporate training organizations evaluate, select and implement sales training and productivity improvement programs. Some interesting notes from the interview: US companies spend $4B per year on sales training only 20% of companies measure the effectiveness of

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Stop Hiring Poor-Performing Salespeople – guest post – Brian Jeffrey

by Eliot Burdett | Published on - May 6, 2009

  Our friend Brian Jeffrey, President of Salesforce Assessments, recently sent out this articles on hiring superior sales people and we thought you would be interested in reading it as well. ================ Nobody deliberately sets out to hire salespeople who can’t or won’t perform. But it happens, and it happens more than you might expect.