Giving structure to your sales

It is really hard to find a good sales book. “The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO” ticks all the boxes. It describes the sales process in detail, hands you a structure and gives you all the questions you need to ask. The book takes you through the journey of a consultancy assignment and, in that way, reminds me of “The Phoenix project”. It is excellent.

Forecasting

It starts with observing the forecast review of that company. In a forecast review, reps often find it difficult to be completely honest about their account situations. It becomes a combination of “happy ears,” rose-coloured glasses, and sandbagging efforts that force managers to qualify the accuracy of forecasts by listening to fictional stories and searching for the truth in the forecasted opportunities. With lots of superficial questions:

• Why do you think you’re going to get the deal?
• How long have you worked on this deal?
• When do you think the deal will come in?
• Do you think they’ll buy this quarter?
• Who is the competitor?
• Is there anything you’re worried about?

Learning session

For it to be a learning session (as it should be), the sales reps need to accept that they…