Phil Lauterjung

Posts Tagged ‘sales process’

We all know that sales cycles have lengthened for most of us.  However, The TAS Group, a sales software and training company, has aggregated anonymous data from their customers to come up with some very interesting insights into what’s really happening with sales cycles.  Please note that they kept in mind good business practices and privacy issues in this data.

Here are 5 facts that you might find to be surprising:  Read more... (456 words, 2 images, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

If you are a regular reader you know that I don’t do book reviews.  The reason is, as a very wise man once said, there is nothing new under the sun.  I don’t mean to say that there aren’t very good books published on various topics.  There are.  But, once you’ve read some of the really top books on a given topic you really don’t need to keep reading new ones – most of them simply repackage, or state things with a different twist. [ I probably just blew any chance of a publisher ever picking up anything I might write with that comment.]  Read more... (576 words, 2 images, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

In the previous post – Why Should You Care About Data Driven Marketing – I gave you data from a study done by the Aberdeen Group showing a very significant difference in performance between Best-in-Class companies and Laggards in the use of data driven marketing.  I promised to not leave you hanging with just data, but to furnish some steps to success from the report for the Laggard companies.

The number one thing to remember is that any improvements that you hope to attain will require you to develop a plan.  The findings in the study showed that laggard companies lacked formal processes to actually use the data they collect.  Data without insight on how to use it is still just data.  Read more... (437 words, 2 images, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Whenever I come across a new study or research report the first question I usually ask myself is why should I care?  Is there something I can learn or use that will help me?  I think most people have the same attitude.  At least I hope so, otherwise I’m not as normal as I think I am.

So when I came across a new white paper by the Aberdeen Group called Data Driven Marketing I approached it with the same level of skepticism.  I already know that marketing is important and that data can help make intelligent decisions.  Right away I’m thinking that this looks like another wonkish rendering of what should really be common knowledge.  Quality data drives effective marketing – end of story.  Read more... (514 words, 2 images, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

When one has been in sales for more than a few years you think you’ve got it down pretty well.  If this recession has had any positives, it’s that we have had to examine our professional assumptions.

Difficult times force us to face reality as it is, not as we thought it was.  If you haven’t worked through this process it’s not too late.  If you’ve been out of work and frustrated with the lack of opportunities, now is the time to reassess.  If you have a job with constant pressure to “make the numbers”, this is for you too.  Read more... (880 words, 2 images, estimated 3:31 mins reading time)

As the recession wears on more and more companies are trying to find sales nirvana.  The number of articles, postings, tips, tricks, and short cuts are increasing every day.  But, once again, reality bites.  Point-of-the-post alert!! – There are no short cuts, only hard work!!

A report released a few months ago by Dow Jones and CSO Insights on Sales Performance Optimization noted that the number of companies using a formal or dynamic sales process decreased this year.  The reason they concluded that happened was that it required hard work.  An astounding 63% of the companies surveyed only had a random or informal sales process in place.  I hope I don’t need to tell anyone that those companies had worse sales results than the 37% with a formal or dynamic sales process.  Read more... (483 words, 3 images, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)