Sales Productivity

Make every moment count To really crush it in sales, whether to close out the year on a high note or to consistently perform at your highest level every day, you have to make every moment count. The following is from Ernest Hemingway's classic book "For Whom The Bell Tolls:" “Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.” I like to modify that to say “But what will happen in all other moments that ever come…

Previous in this series: How to Break Into Medical Device Sales Dentists are tough prospects — they just don’t have the time to meet with sales reps between appointments. Your dentist has a tooth extraction, crown insertion, and cleaning to get done before lunch. He’s booked solid. But if you’re not meeting with dentists, then you’re not selling. As a dental rep, you need to be creative to get in front of your prospects. Each stage of the sales cycle is unique when it comes to dental sales. You have to initiate contact, qualify the lead, and present your offer all…

As you plop down in your cubicle you’re greeted with a week-old stack of potential leads. You have a meeting in 30 minutes to discuss the leads that you have yet to go over. You break into the pile of leads without even a sip of your first cup of coffee all the while ignoring voicemails that you know are urgent. The rest of your day consists of more coffee, dozens of phone calls, and maybe a visit with a client or two before you go home and prepare to do it all over again the next day. Sound about…

Business strategy is, in some ways, similar to chess. Your board (or sales territory) is full of the standard battle-ready pieces: pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, kings, and queens; each of which brings their own unique abilities to the game. A new sales rep is the rook: a relatively strong player because of their range of flexibility but limited in their movements. Similarly, the experienced sales hire would be the pawn. That’s right. A pawn. Our rep is the pawn because he tends to get overlooked in the hiring arena. But, like pawns in chess, sales reps are highly versatile.…