Author: Jay Spielvogel

“The sales team is too quick to send a quote and are not qualifying their opportunities.”  “My team does a great job of delivering demos and explaining our products and services, but struggle with asking questions and actively listening.”  “My salespeople forget everything they learned in sales training the moment a prospect shows interest in a proposal.”  These challenges plague many organizations that have implemented sales process training. Regardless of the program, the goal is to help the salespeople ask more questions and better qualify their opportunities. Unfortunately, despite the investment companies are making in training, as well as technology,…

A managers guide to building an “A” team In the past few years there has been a shift in the way organizations are making buying decisions. The question sales leadership should be asking is, “Are we building a team that can handle these changes and thrive?” “We Better Not Make Any Bad Buying Decisions.” Companies are more risk averse than ever before. Whether it’s due to a bad experience with another vendor or simply because of a heightened fear of exposure, target prospects are looking for a much greater level of trust in the companies they engage with. Additionally,…

By Jay Speilvogel, Venator Sales Group, LLC “My reps are winging it on sales calls.” “Our salespeople are acting in an entirely reactive mode when in front of prospects.” “When I ride-along with my reps, I am surprised at how unprepared they are for each call.” We were all taught at a young age Napoleon Hill’s famous quote, “plan our work and work our plan.” Many might also be familiar with Ben Franklin’s quote, “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” The challenge for most sales managers is that their people, both seasoned and brand new, are…

“My greatest strength is creating relationships.” “My customers buy from me because they trust me.” “I am in sales because I love building relationships.” Sound familiar? Relationship selling will always be a critical capability; after all, people buy from people. In fact, most salespeople would define their relationship skills as their most valued asset; even more important than their hunting, qualifying, and closing. When asked on a job interview, the most common response to interview questions about sales capability would be one of the answers above. Take it one step further and relationship selling has become a common excuse for…

“I would prefer to work independently with little to no supervision.” “It feels like our CRM is there to look over my shoulder and track everything I am doing.” “I wish we could get rid of all these internal meetings where we discuss territory plans and do pipeline and deal reviews. I just want to focus on selling instead of being micro-managed.” Do any of these statements sound familiar? These statements are a common sentiment that managers are hearing from their salespeople. The movement in sales today – especially due to remote working over the past few years – is a…