I ran across a site with some great articles for sales managers. The author, Brian Jeffrey, runs Sales Force Assessments, and helps companies evaluate team members. He has a long history in sales leadership and coaching sales teams to higher performance. Be sure to check out his articles on Management and Leadership. There are also articles on coaching, compensation, hiring and sales tactics. Really enjoyed The Five Deadly Sins of Sales Management – “Sin #1 — Not Hiring the Right People” (I admit I am biased). Early stage companies might want to check out How Do You Know If You Need A Sales Manager?

Eliot

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Eliot Burdett

CEO at Peak Sales Recruiting

Before Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies, where he took the lead in recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software). He was also Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.

Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.

He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.

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Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)

• 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
• How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
• Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021

Our good friend, Alfredo Coppola, is Partner at e-Storm International Consulting, a marketing services company with offices in Canada, California, Europe and Asia. He recently offered his advice for Canadian tech companies wishing to sell into the US.

“Before investing the time and financial resources on setting up regional US sales offices, consider these three low-cost strategies for establishing credibility with prospects south of the border. It’s all about dressing up to appeal to Americans and not being perceived as a “foreign” company. And even more important, eliminating the “not invented here” mindset that may clog your relationship-building efforts with US-based prospects.

1. First of all, invest in a virtual U.S. office. Many business incubators in the US offer these services for as little as $100 per month. A legal U.S. mailing address, complete with voice mail and mail forwarding, can be yours without the expense and tax exposure associated with physical office presence. Add this contact information to your website, your email signature and your business cards.

2. Secondly, build a network of US prospects at relevant industry events and trade shows at US cities in your target area. Being armed with a US address and phone number on your business card will significantly increase your chances of receiving a call back.

3. Ask your marketing folks to “Americanize” all press releases and industry announcements on your website. This means adding context when name-dropping or referencing local press sources. For instance, it’s meaningless to an American prospect that reads a headline about your CEO being profiled in the local daily newspaper. The solution would be to shift the focus of the headline towards the content of the article, rather than its source. The same applies when announcing a big Canadian customer win. Americans may not think much about you winning a major contract with Telus, for example. Such a headline should mention a win with a “Tier 1″ telecom carrier rather than just the name of the customer.”

Solid tips and good common sense Alfredo! Thanks for sharing these with us.

Eliot.

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Eliot Burdett

CEO at Peak Sales Recruiting

Before Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies, where he took the lead in recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software). He was also Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.

Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.

He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.

Connect:

Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)

• 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
• How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
• Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021

Unless you have a product that sells itself (no such thing?), then you need an overachieving sales team to deliver growth.

“A” players in the context of sales, simply means that they consistently
create revenue from thin air, outsell their peers and make the company look exceptional. Because “A” players are creative and successful, they raise the value of everyone around them.

Unfortunately, we too often see teams led by someone who over simplifies the sales mission and hires accordingly.  Most recently, we had the misfortune of watching a young, unproven sales manager build a team of journeymen salespeople who lacked the skills and experience to deliver revenues. He hired people who will fill the chair but not the bank account and is now dealing with the issue of missing targets and expectations.

Why did this happen?  A lack of experience, forethought and vision?  Hiring people who can provide the desired results requires a hiring strategy, a vision for how you will entice the candidate to join you, a demonstrable pathway to success, and a set of criteria in terms of skills, experience and personality traits.  You must also do a ton of due diligence to make sure you are hiring the person you think you are hiring.  If you are the hiring manager and you can’t see any of this yourself, you should consider stopping the process of hiring and ask yourself why you are there in the first place.

“A” players want to know how they are going to succeed. If this is not clear, they will walk to a place where the team is stacked for success with other “A” players. If you act like a “B” player or skip key steps in the process of hiring top talent, the best you can hope for is to attract other mediocre team members.

Whether you are the CEO or the hiring manager, when you are hiring, never settle.  Have a set of success criteria that is matched to the role and continue searching until you get those people.  Don’t be afraid to set the bar high.

As sales leaders we should always expect more as the companies we work for
will always expect more from us…

-Brent

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Eliot Burdett

CEO at Peak Sales Recruiting

Before Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies, where he took the lead in recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software). He was also Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.

Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.

He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.

Connect:

Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)

• 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
• How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
• Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021

I just read Brian Tracy’s book “Advanced Selling Strategies” which presents the mindset and tactics used by very successful sales people. There are no old school tricks, just simple things that will help you develop rapport with your prospect, learn about their business and then help you close more deals. The book covers everything from how to dress to what language works well in certain prospecting situations. Also covers several of the most popular closing techniques. A very worthwhile read.

The book is available from Amazon via the link below:

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• About
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Connect:

Eliot Burdett

CEO at Peak Sales Recruiting

Before Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies, where he took the lead in recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software). He was also Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.

Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.

He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.

Connect:

Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)

• 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
• How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
• Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021

I have a bit of a problem with the notion of a “rainmaker” sales person. To be sure, a great sales person does work long and hard to create business where none existed before, but there is no magic rain that falls from their individual efforts. In order for a sales person to be highly productive, they need strong backing. Good brand, market profile, strong references, and solid customer support not to mention a compelling and reliable product or service offer – these are all required if a sales person is to produce win-fall results. Why do top performing sales people get paid more then? Because, unlike any of the sales person’s team mates, the sales person risks part of their income – they take a lower salary than their team mates in exchange for a higher return if they win new business. If the team doesn’t perform well together, the sales person earns less than the rest. If the team works well together, it pays off for the sales person and, more importantly, for the company.

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• About
• Latest Posts

Connect:

Eliot Burdett

CEO at Peak Sales Recruiting

Before Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies, where he took the lead in recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software). He was also Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.

Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.

He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.

Connect:

Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)

• 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
• How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
• Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021