There are 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management Element 1: Establish Your Foundation Over the course of my career building and managing sales organizations, I identified 8 keys to effective sales management. I’ve recently published them in my new book, The Sales Executive Handbook: 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management, available on Amazon. Over the next few […]
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There are 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management. How Many Do You Do Well?
Posted by David Wallace on December 9, 2020
Over the course of my career building and managing sales organizations, I identified 8 keys to effective sales management. I’ve recently published them in a book, The Sales Executive Handbook: 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management. How many of these elements does your organization really do well? Element 1: Establish Your Foundation – define your goals and develop a […]
Read More“The Sales Executive Handbook” is now Available on Amazon!
Posted by David Wallace on November 18, 2020
I’m pleased to announce the availability of my new book, The Sales Executive Handbook: 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management. This book is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle (ebook) versions. The Sales Executive Handbook presents the 8 elements that are essential to building and managing a successful sales team. They are: Establish […]
Read MorePandemic Sales Trends
Posted by David Wallace on November 17, 2020
Four B2B sales trends have developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. I think they are here to stay. Planning. Most customers and prospects are working from home, so it’s easy for them to ignore your calls. Many, if not most, do not want to see sales reps, even if they are working in the office. As a […]
Read MoreElection Campaigning and Sales
Posted by David Wallace on November 3, 2020
Today, November 3rd, is Election Day in the U.S. I’ve found it fascinating to watch the campaigns run by President Trump and former Vice President Biden as they’ve accelerated their pace to capture voters. Election campaign are very similar to sales campaigns. The candidates are the products and voters are their customers and prospects. During […]
Read MoreDeveloping Trust in the Age of Covid-19
Posted by David Wallace on October 28, 2020
In response to my email last week, Selling in a Pandemic, one reader asked, “How can a sales professional can build trust with potential buyers without personal contact? “For me, I am thinking about more Zoom type meetings.” Zoom and other video-based tools are certainly important in building trust. The face-to-face interaction allows for communications […]
Read MoreWhat’s Your COVID-19 Response? Bridge the Social Distance
Posted by David Wallace on October 22, 2020
Efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19 by using social distancing are forcing all of us to work differently. Sales included. Gone (for now) are face-to-face sales calls; trade shows to present our products and solutions; and conferences to meet vendors, suppliers and industry experts. Many businesses now require personnel who can work from home […]
Read MoreSelling in a Pandemic
Posted by David Wallace on October 21, 2020
Since time immemorial, sales have been intimate, personal interactions. Sellers knew buyers. Buyers knew sellers. Transactions were conducted face to face. Trust formed the basis of long-term sales relationships. More recently, advancing technology has caused sales relationships to evolve. Buyers are becoming more self-sufficient as the speed of information increases. The need for salespeople to […]
Read MoreHow Much Commissions Should I Pay?
Posted by David Wallace on February 18, 2020
When designing a sales commission plan, you need to take into account your expected cost of sales as a percentage of the total revenue. The cost of sales has two parts, a fixed component (salaries, benefits, car allowances, etc.) and a variable component (commissions, awards, bonuses, etc.). The graphic below shows sales commissions as a […]
Read MoreA Tale of Two Sales Teams
Posted by David Wallace on January 22, 2020
The CEOs of two different companies recently asked for my help. They have similar challenges, how to grow their revenue and market share, but from different perspectives. Company 1 delivers high-quality products to nationally known customers. They’ve grown their business by growing their customers and expanding their footprint across their customers’ business lines. Their customer […]
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