Comments on: Destructive B2B Sales Practices http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/17/destructive-b2b-sales-practices/ A B2B Lead Generation Blog Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:40:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: Michael Gerard http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/17/destructive-b2b-sales-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-1016 Michael Gerard Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:11:33 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=617#comment-1016 Hi Robert, Nice post! I especially like McKinsey's finding that one of the two greatest destructive sales behaviors is too much customer contact. One of the root causes of this problem was evident in the results of IDC's 2010 IT Buyer Experience study: >50% of IT sales reps are showing up to their prospect and customer meetings "unprepared". What's worse is that sales organizations are striving to increase "facetime" with customers without improving sales enablement and customer intelligence to better prepare their reps. (i.e., key levers for sales productivity) Hi Robert,

Nice post! I especially like McKinsey’s finding that one of the two greatest destructive sales behaviors is too much customer contact. One of the root causes of this problem was evident in the results of IDC’s 2010 IT Buyer Experience study: >50% of IT sales reps are showing up to their prospect and customer meetings “unprepared”.

What’s worse is that sales organizations are striving to increase “facetime” with customers without improving sales enablement and customer intelligence to better prepare their reps. (i.e., key levers for sales productivity)

]]> By: John Cousineau http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/17/destructive-b2b-sales-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-1013 John Cousineau Thu, 27 May 2010 16:35:51 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=617#comment-1013 Robert.: great stuff here. Appreciated learning of McKinsey's findings + your conclusions from same. Agree with you that sales organizations need to better detect and calibrate the impacts of bad sales behaviors. Often remarkable how much higher performing sales teams can become when armed with feedback on whether or not their sales practices are having an impact on buyer journeys. Sirius Decisions, at their Summit a couple of weeks ago, concluded this new type of business intelligence for sales will be part of the next big agenda in marketing + sales. If of interest, my summary of their findings (with links to others' summaries) is available here: http://bit.ly/af0DFT Trust this will add some value to the discussion. - John Robert.: great stuff here. Appreciated learning of McKinsey’s findings + your conclusions from same. Agree with you that sales organizations need to better detect and calibrate the impacts of bad sales behaviors. Often remarkable how much higher performing sales teams can become when armed with feedback on whether or not their sales practices are having an impact on buyer journeys.

Sirius Decisions, at their Summit a couple of weeks ago, concluded this new type of business intelligence for sales will be part of the next big agenda in marketing + sales. If of interest, my summary of their findings (with links to others’ summaries) is available here: http://bit.ly/af0DFT

Trust this will add some value to the discussion. – John

]]> By: Eric Blumthal http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/17/destructive-b2b-sales-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-1012 Eric Blumthal Thu, 27 May 2010 15:55:30 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=617#comment-1012 Robert - awesome post - thanks for sharing. The study brings up some questions for me: How could compensation could be tweaked (other than just quota) to incentify non-destructive behaviors? The highest percentage (35%) of most destructive sales behaviors was reps contacting the prospect too often - is that more of a sales skill issue or an indicator that there is not a good content / buying process alignment strategy in place? Robert – awesome post – thanks for sharing.

The study brings up some questions for me:

How could compensation could be tweaked (other than just quota) to incentify non-destructive behaviors?

The highest percentage (35%) of most destructive sales behaviors was reps contacting the prospect too often – is that more of a sales skill issue or an indicator that there is not a good content / buying process alignment strategy in place?

]]> By: Joel Lessem http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/17/destructive-b2b-sales-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-1010 Joel Lessem Thu, 20 May 2010 13:06:10 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=617#comment-1010 Great Post Robert! I could not agree more. We just won a major competition and the purchaser threw out a couple vendors with very strong product offerings because the sales people were "idiots" (to quote the buyer). Regards Joel Lessem www.firmex.com Great Post Robert! I could not agree more. We just won a major competition and the purchaser threw out a couple vendors with very strong product offerings because the sales people were “idiots” (to quote the buyer).

Regards
Joel Lessem
http://www.firmex.com

]]> By: Kevin Temple http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/17/destructive-b2b-sales-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-1009 Kevin Temple Tue, 18 May 2010 14:55:37 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=617#comment-1009 During 2009 we worked with several sales teams to change their engagement process. Primarily moving away from technology discussions, and focusing on the business drivers and impact reasons for the purchase. The range of sales growth over 2008 for this handful of companies was 20-47%. It's interesting to highlight that these companies experienced the highest level of growth in their business during the toughest economy. The dire situation helped them to realize the investment was necessary, it motivated their sales leaders and sales people to actually implement the training, and it convinced their customers that they could improve their business during a difficult market. The recommendations above will work, if you have the leadership drive to make it happen. During 2009 we worked with several sales teams to change their engagement process. Primarily moving away from technology discussions, and focusing on the business drivers and impact reasons for the purchase. The range of sales growth over 2008 for this handful of companies was 20-47%.

It’s interesting to highlight that these companies experienced the highest level of growth in their business during the toughest economy. The dire situation helped them to realize the investment was necessary, it motivated their sales leaders and sales people to actually implement the training, and it convinced their customers that they could improve their business during a difficult market.

The recommendations above will work, if you have the leadership drive to make it happen.

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