How Mistakes Make You a Sales Management Genius

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Ralph

sales management mistakes I have a very close friend who is an incredibly successful internet entrepreneur.

Despite the fact that he toils in a highly competitive and cut-throat market, he has achieved an unprecedented level of success his peers could only dream of.

Last month, he made an enormous mistake. It was actually a catastrophic mistake. He was doing a project for one of his clients and documenting its success on his blog and he took his eye off the ball and just plain screwed up.

Instead of hiding from it, burying it, never mentioning it, he did the exact opposite of what most people would do:

He discussed it openly on his blog for his thousands of readers to see.

Curious about this decision to publicly “come clean”, I asked him why.

His answer: Continue reading →

New York Jets Coach Rex Ryan as a Sales Manager

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Dan

Jets coach Rex Ryan stood before the glaring lights of the national the media last week and admitted he was wearing a real dirty sweatshirt. Grease stains notwithstanding, the residue of a good greasy meal. But when your team is on a roll…you dont want to break any superstitions by actually washing your clothes.

Just about a year ago the Jets offered Ryan the head coaching job in New York after an illustrious 10 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He’s been about as unconventional an NFL head coach as you could ever imaging since then, stirring the pot by stating that he “didn’t come into the league to kiss Bill Belichick‘s rings” not to mention many other colorful comments.

Unconventional most definitely, especially in the hot media glare of New York City.

And his unconventional leadership style is exactly why we like him so much. Continue reading →

“The One Minute Manager” | The Greatest Sales Management Training Book Ever Written?

Posted on June 8, 2010 by ralphburns

: Cover of The One Minute Manager

In the early 1980s, Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. and Spencer Johnson, M.D. sat down to write a book on management called The One Minute Manager. It immediately became a huge hit and a near immediate bestseller.

Thirteen million copies later, its still considered one of the best books ever written in the field of management…and for that matter, sales management…or is it?

“Once there was a bright young man who was looking for an effective manager…” Continue reading →

How to Make Real-Life Sales Leadership Decisions…In A Panick

Posted on May 18, 2010 by ralphburns

sales manager showing the way Do your best sales reps feel disrespected when their sales managers assume they always have ALL the answers?

They hate it!

In fact, they feel that it’s a sign of disrespect, as well as a complete lack of belief (yours) in their inherent abilities (which they feel are enormous).

There is a “real life” trick that you can use to turn even the harshest dissenters into followers by simply changing the way you deal with them. It doesn’t take much, all it takes is for you to release a little control and let them feel the excitement of being on the business end of some kind of relevant policy change…especially one that directly impacts them.

So here’s the trick… Continue reading →