The Sales Management Trick to Motivating A Players

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Ralph

a player sales management I once had a salesperson who just wanted to be left alone.

He was one of my top salespeople, an A player, and I figured he knew best.

“Leave well enough alone”, I thought. And I happily spent my time coaching my other, less effective sales reps; the ones who “needed me”.

I figured this was a pretty solid sales management strategy.

That is, until he left to go to the competition in his third year with the company. It was almost exactly a year after I had become his sales manager.

I always regretted that “leaving him alone” decision and I learned never to do it again…especially after he started eating our lunch in the territory he vacated to go to the competition.

The Sales Management Dilemma of The A Player

Your sales people probably tell you that they want to “run their territory as if it’s the business”. They think they’re in charge of their own destinies and all I have to do is just Continue reading →

Sales Management Training | How to Achieve Sales Management Nirvana

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Ralph

sales management nirvana After about twenty years of sales and sales management experience under my belt, I finally realized something.

It only took me over twenty years to realize it, but at least I realized it I suppose.

In those twenty years, I was fortunate to have managed quite a few incredible salespeople.

Their performance enabled me to accumulate a solid track record of success; success and skills I later used to start this blog as well as my online sales management training business and other offline businesses.

When I think back on my sales management career, what I am most proud of is that many of my former salespeople went on to have tremendous careers after they were with me.

Many were promoted within their companies, some went on to different careers outside of sales and many just achieved a higher level of success in their current sales role.

Its amazing to me that I still get requests on LinkedIn to do recommendations for salespeople I had the good fortune to manage, sometimes as far back as fifteen years ago. Every time I get one of these requests, I am humbled but mostly, just plain proud.

When I talk to these old sales reps Continue reading →

How to Manage The Egotistical Salesperson

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Ralph

The sales person with an ego the size of Jupiter is notorious in the sales management world.

That’s because most sales managers think of them as incredibly difficult to manage…or are they?

If you feel this way, you’re not alone. Many sales management experts would agree with you.

But in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Its unfortunate that most sales management training focuses on the problems associated with these kinds of sales reps. But with the egotistical sales rep, they are really the easiest for you to manage…you just have to know how.

Not sound like a Freudian sales management training psychoanalyst, Continue reading →

The Ultimate Sales Management Leadership Weapon REVEALED

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Ralph

Forget the clever speeches.

Forget the “atta-boys”.

Forget the monthly sales plaques.

No sales management training leadership strategy works better to motivate your sales team than this.

I am talking about a guttural, visceral, “cut to the quick” sales management motivational strategy and there is nothing pretty about it.

This is the kind of motivational tactic that when someone does it for you, you will kill for them (figuratively, not literally of course). So much so that:

…the Army Rangers do it.

…the Navy SEALs do it.

…the Green Berets do it.

…the Special Forces do it.

And now, you need to do it.

And here it is: Continue reading →

Sales Management Training | What Lobstering Can Teach You About Sales Managememt

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Ralph

We went fishing for blues, striper and lobster the other day.

Living on Cape Cod, you are surrounded by people who fish, lobster, clam and crab for both fun and for a living.

I do none of these things. I don’t own a boat, I don’t even own a fishing pole. This makes me kind of an oddity in the neighborhood.

I once consulted with a guy who owns a fishing charter business. But aside from that, I really know nothing about fishing.

When the boys are sitting around the outdoor fire on the weekends telling fishing tales, I have absolutely nothing to add except the occasional: “that must have been a big fish” or “wow, how’d you reel that one into the boat?”

As a sales management training and Internet guy, I am Continue reading →