The Competitive Advantage

May 4, 2020

Selling Success Requires 2 Things… a Good Sales Rep and a Better Sales Manager

8 Keys for Effective Sales Management

I was chatting with an industry colleague this past week and he mentioned he had just repositioned two of his Project Managers into Business Development roles… one as an account manager and one to go after new business.

And then he said something that really surprised me and even made me smile. He said, “This process has made me realize that I’m no sales manager!”

Wow! He is literally the first person in Market Research I have met who has said that. Out loud. Don’t get me wrong… there are a ton of really bad sales managers in our industry – he’s just the first one to admit it.

January 28, 2020

How to Create a Sales Commission Plan for Seller-Doers

I attended the Insights Association’s CEO Summit last week (by the way, if you run a business and have never been – put this event on your “must do” list!) and by far, the topic that generated the most audience engagement and questions was around sales commission plans.

So, for those of you who were not there, here are a few guidelines as you think about your seller-doer team…

December 23, 2019

5 MORE Easy Sales Hacks for Seller-Doers in 2020

Early last month, I published a blog post about ‘sales hacks’ for seller-doers. The feedback was so positive that I wanted to follow that article up with another one. So, to help you achieve your sales goals in 2020, here are five more easy sales hacks for you to employ next year…

December 3, 2019

This Seller-Doer Sales Strategy is Right in Your Own Backyard

Let me start with a few questions. As a seller-doer…

#1. Do you live in or near a fairly large city? [Everyone in NY, Chicago, Atlanta, LA and even in places like Nashville & Baltimore are putting their hands up in the air.]

#2. Do you have clients or potential clients (i.e. sales prospects) based nearby? [Most of the hands stay up.]

Final question. Have you visited any of those clients or prospects, in-person, in the past 3 months? [That sound you hear is all of the hands dropping.]

Why is that? Why would we not visit nearby “business opportunities” in-person?

November 12, 2019

5 Easy Sales Hacks for Seller-Doers in 2020

Hey! All you seller-doers out there… how are your sales efforts going this year? Are you going to hit your 2019 sales goals?

If not, don’t be too surprised. Being a seller-doer is hard work. You try to serve two masters, but inevitably, the “doing” gets in the way of “selling”… which makes hitting those sales goals all the more difficult.

Maybe it’s time to try something new. To help you get started, here are 5 easy sales hacks to help you kick-start your selling efforts in 2020…

August 6, 2019

Do you speak the “language of sales?”

We’re two weeks into the inaugural 3-week Seller-Doer Workshop… and with 30+ participants, I couldn’t be more pleased (or grateful).

In these first two weeks, we’ve covered a number of topics related to general selling philosophies, acquiring new clients and maintaining & growing existing clients. But the one topic that seems to have generated the most group discussion is the “language of sales.”

July 16, 2019

How to Maximize Your Time as a Seller-Doer

Does your firm subscribe to the seller-doer model for business development? That is, are there leaders and managers in your firm who, in addition to their primary roles, are also tasked with responsibility for revenue growth? If you answered ‘yes,’ then your firm is like the vast majority of others… the seller-doer model is, by far, the most popular sales structure in the MR industry among small and mid-sized firms.

Popular, yes. But also, incredibly challenging because…

April 16, 2019

Why the Seller-Doer Model is So Challenging

Does your firm subscribe to the seller-doer model for business development? That is, are there leaders and managers in your firm who, in addition to their primary roles, are also tasked with responsibility for revenue growth? If you answered ‘yes,’ then your firm is like the vast majority of others… the seller-doer model is, by far, the most prevalent sales structure in professional services industries like ours.