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Colleen Francis joins me on the Salesman Podcast to take a look at why most salespeople have peaks and troughs in sales throughout the year and if it’s possible to eliminate this common sales phenomenon.
Sales ups and downs
I start the show by asking Colleen if this up and down nature of sales is something that she see’s everywhere or if it’s industry specific.
“I remember my reps pushing really hard at the end of a quarter and working huge amount of overtime to get the deals done, then crashing. Then nothing would get put on the books for the next 2 weeks.”
Colleen explains that this goes deeper than just prospecting which she claims is easy to spot and solve. This can go all the way up the corporate ladder though as Colleen explains an example of how a company bought another business and then promoted their products to the detriment of everything they were doing before, leading to issues down the line.
Salespeople need to put on their business hats
Salespeople are often told what to sell, what to push, which is best for ‘the business’. I ask Colleen if they should put their own business caps on and think about what is best for their customers and quarterly turnover instead.
“I truly believe that all salespeople need to think like business people”
Colleen explains how this corporate (and salesperson) tunnel vision can be dangerous and will cause boom/bust sales cycles.
Online platforms
We wrap up the show by discussing if salespeople should have their own online platform to push content out to prospects and to keep conversations going over the long run.
Colleen explains that if you’re relying on leads from elsewhere within a company you’re putting yourself at risk as you’re not in control of the quality or quantity of prospects that you can sell too.
Guest info:
Colleen is driven by a passion for sales – and results. A successful sales leader for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today’s market and that business leaders can no longer rely on approaches to sales based on techniques from decades ago.
Colleen works with business and sales leaders to design, implement and hone their sales teams to seize market opportunities. Whether designing strategy to target a new market or working with a team to improve their productivity, Colleen’s results have attracted clients such as Merck, Abbott, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Canada, Dow AgroSciences, Adecco, Trend Micro, United Online, and over 1,000 other leading organizations.
Show notes:
Colleen’s excellent sales blog
Books mentioned:
