Comments for blackcanyon

Comment on Toxic Sales Training by Beth Bracken

Beth Bracken — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:05:10 +0000

Wayne,

Interesting perspective, and very accurate. It also reminded me of the old EST seminars as well.

Our company just finished a 6 week webinar series (one hour a week on Customer Service) that was specific to our industry. We all found it very useful and informative. We got much more out of that then any Toxic Sales Training seminars!!!

Beth Bracken
Client Services
Eye/Comm Direct Marketing

Comment on “Stand up and throw your shoes!” by Tom Denton

Tom Denton — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:31:04 +0000

Wayne,

I love it. Throw your shoes for Pete’s sake!

Funny, True and Sad all at once…

Comment on Rocket Surgery by Jay Valento - Long Beach Real Estate

Jay Valento - Long Beach Real Estate — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:35:56 +0000

What am I doing differently? Answering those questions…very thought provoking…how about a blog about “what would Tom Denton do?”

Comment on Amateur salespeople and objectionable pricing by Kim Peterson

Kim Peterson — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:35:59 +0000

Wayne

Your blog rings true to where my company is at right now. We are pioneering a method of alternative siting with no history of price except comparison to the traditional siting solutions. We saw the solutions as a onesy twosy unit per small targeted objectives. Our customers are looking at the product to fill large areas where 7 – 10 units will be needed.

Our value proposition was priced for the 1 to 2 units vs. 7 to 10 units. The 7 to 10 units is cost prohibitive based on the metrics being used. This is a good problem to have but one that makes us re-evaluate pricing and value proposition.

Wayne, you are right that all aspects of the product need to be aligned to the value it brings to the customers.

Kim

Comment on Feet on the Street by David Clark

David Clark — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:26:28 +0000

With regard to your feet on the street article there’s a lot that makes sense there. One thing I agree on is the fact that every salesforce is composed of several ‘rain makers’ (I call them impact players), a body of mediocre bread and butter performers and the bottom players.

The bottom players are either new and on their way or what I call the Willy Lomans (glorified customer service reps). These Willies are the ones who, in my opinion, need to go away. They drag the general performance of any sales force right down and into the dirt. They complain about price and/or how ‘if only we had that kind of equipment I could make the sale happen’. These people have not made a new account call in 5 years and are losing 20% of their customer base on a yearly basis.

In working with companies that say they don’t have any openings I always refer to the Willies and how the company is wasting a salary on someone that needs to go and do something else (print buyer?). There are good, solid impact sales reps that, through no fault of their own, have found themselves in ‘compressed’ situations or on the sidewalk due to recent mergers, acquisitions or their shops going through bankruptcy. They are hungry, will work for modest ‘start up’ salaries, remember the dark days and will more than likely join an organization and then heat up the rest of the pack with aggressive and hungry salesmanship.

These Impact Sales Reps are hard to identify, but are out there and willing to put their skills to work for printing companies that need top line revenue- badly.

Food for thought: Say Good Bye to Willy and hello to Ivan Impact.