I recently heard tell of a Fortune 1000 company with a sales force in the tens of thousands that discovered its sales representatives were spending too much time in low potential accounts. It is a “repeat” business, and the sales force was spending most of their efforts on either the big buyers of their products [...]

I was trained in a process – extensively. It was called “Solution Sales” – and many of you newbies out there would be well served by familiarizing yourself with it. IBM and Xerox developed this process and it fundamentally changed B2B Sales, turning it from a scatter-shot and hale-fellow well met kind of approach, to a professional endeavor in which the salesperson acted as a consultant and problem solver.

B2B Sales executives all have at least one thing in common:  We are constantly on the lookout for that next big deal, right? I used to know a sales person who called himself a ‘whale hunter’. He literally would say things like, “I stand on the deck staring out towards the horizon, sometimes for months, [...]

“Back then (not that long ago, really) in most companies, marketing was seen as inexplicably related to sales in B2B environments, rather than as a completely separate department. Not today. Marketing has become independent, and many a marketeer sees themselves as responsible for improving the sales process. In many organizations, because of marketings access to the executive suite with respect to strategy and analysis, sales is continuously competing with marketing’s vision of the world, and much friction can result. I do have to say that I know I’m biased as a salesperson, but I’ve also seen this pattern in dozens of organizations. I’ll try to stay evenhanded – let me know how I do!”

Most Sales 2.0 hyperbole starts off saying ‘enterprise sales is dead’ or talks about ‘rapid sales cycles’ or ‘executive buy-in’ – I mean, who are these guys kidding? The selling technique stuff they talk about is nothing new, but rather is just a repackaging of solution sales, strategic selling or smart account management (start with a small project and grow – I mean really, is this groundbreaking?). What is new is how the internet changes how you can connect with clients.