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If you’re running a business right now, you already know something most business books quietly ignore: your problems don’t show up one at a time. You’re trying to close a sale while a key employee is giving notice. You’re revising pricing while your accountant is asking hard questions about cash flow. You’re thinking about culture […]

According to a Harris Poll survey commissioned by Zapier, 61% of Americans have had an idea for starting a business. Ninety-two percent of them never followed through. Sit with that for a second, because it’s not a small gap. It means the overwhelming majority of people who’ve thought seriously about building something of their own […]

I recently had the privilege of being a guest on The Mentors Radio, a San Francisco-based radio show where CEOs challenge your thinking about life and work. We discussed how you can apply world-class sales principles to your own life, no matter what your profession, background, or circumstances. Listen here: https://thementorsradio.com/416-david-p-wallace-on-how-to-sell-yourself-sell-your-ideas-sell-anything-secrets-from-the-pros-with-host-tom-loarie/

This is my fifth and final note in a continuing series discussing the five considerations that sales reps must employ when selling in today’s world. They are pull versus push marketing, media choices, disciplined timing, selling cycles and buying cycles. Today, we’ll look at selling cycles and buying cycles. Selling Cycles Tailor your campaigns to […]

No sales representative earns his or her base salary for just “showing up.”  Your sales compensation plan needs to specify clearly the activities for which reps are paid a base salary.  Here’s some language I’ve used in the past: Base salary is paid for the timely and accurate completion of administrative and other tasks associated […]

Here’s a false argument:  Hiring straight commission sales reps can reduce your cost of sales and motivate reps. I’ve often heard business leaders say, “Let’s hire reps at 100% commission.  If they don’t work out, we’ll replace them and they haven’t cost us a penny.”  Even at 100% commission, bringing new sales reps into a […]

Many commissions plans are easy to understand and easy to administer. Basically, they pay a percentage of revenue or gross profit for every sale. The plans encourage sales reps to sell as much as they can, driving revenue and growth for the company. When paying sales commissions, the company simply multiplies the total sales the […]

A territory plan is a sales rep’s individual strategic plan. It’s also a roadmap. It tells the sales rep where to go (goals) and how to get there (action plan). A territory plan is an essential operating tool for a sales rep and an essential management tool for a sales leader. Without it, your reps […]

This is the last in a series of posts on executing a global sales framework. To balance corporate control with local autonomy: Implement a global sales management framework that clearly identifies the responsibilities of both the corporate home office and the local sales offices. Ensure this framework defines culture, strategy, measurement and sales/territory management at […]

This is the sixth in a series of posts on executing a global sales framework. Successful implementation of a global sales management framework requires respect, local autonomy, communications, and leadership. Respect Successful global sales organizations respect the local cultures in which they operate. Sales leaders in the corporate home office recognize the different cultures, values […]