Vital Questions About Sales and Leadership
Doyle Slayton | Jun 24, 2009 | Comments 18
Team,
My friend Joe Frio from the SalesRoundup Podcast called and invited me to make another appearance on his show.
Joe suggested a great idea, “Ask my readers to come up with the discussion questions!”
Please use the comments section below to suggest questions you would like to have me answer on the podcast. Joe and Mike (his c0-host) will pick their favorites!
Questions should be focused on Sales and/or Leadership.
This should be fun… I’ll post a recording of the show in a couple of weeks!
-Doyle
NOTE of CLARIFICATION:
I’ve noticed, from some of the comments, that my original blog post may have been a little confusing. Please note that we are not asking for “job interview” questions here.
I’m going to be a guest on the SalesRoundup Podcast. The host of the show is giving you an opportunity to suggest the sales and leadership topics that we will discuss during the show.
In other words, you ask a question about the most pressing sales and/or leadership related issues you and your company are facing today… and then I’ll answer those questions during the show.
I hope this helps!
Check Out These Related Articles!
Filed Under: Blog • Fun-n-Stuff • Leadership • Reader Questions • Sales
What strategies do you use to monitor managers effectiveness and follow through?
How do you quantify results?
Doyle,
Let’s start with my three favorite questions from the book, “The Brand Gap.”
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Why does it matter to me?
Thanks,
Frank
1. What is your favorite book?
2. What book are you reading right now?
If they answer “The Bible” to #1, I acknowledge and ask for another.
For #2, I’m always hoping for more than one and/or that they tell me what they just finished reading.
How they answer is as important as what they answer. This leads to some insight into the actual person you are hiring.
Team,
I’ve noticed that my blog post may have been a little confusing. Please note that we are not asking for “job interview” questions here.
I’m going to be a guest on the SalesRoundup Podcast. The host of the show is giving you an opportunity to suggest the sales and leadership topics that we will discuss during the show.
In other words, you ask a question about the most pressing sales and/or leadership related issues you and your company are facing today… and then I’ll answer those questions during the show.
I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Doyle
Doyle,
What are the statistics of success for selling to high end CEO’s using “feet on the street” sales people vs. highly skilled telemarketers?
As a product manager (in your typical organization) what is the one thing I can do for you as a sales person that will make you more effective at selling our product?
How would your subordinates describe you as a leader?
What are your weaknesses and strenghts as a sales person? (Good question to check honesty and adequacy and self analyze – sometimes spectacular reaction).
Should the CFO be allowed to look over operations and HR in a start-up sales outsourcing organization? The CFO thinks numbers, employees need to be heard and the HR is apparently ‘controlled by’ and bends to the will of, the CFO. Should a neutral person in the top management be appointed to rein things in? Should this person then try and win the CFO over (for obvious financial reasons) or try and be neutral throughout, taking the right decisions?
How important is effective communication with your prospects/clients to transform leads into revenue and profits?
Is this top of mind for your organization?
If so, what is your vision,strategy and tactics you are putting in place to address this concern?
1. If a CEO, Owner, or President (decision-makers and approvers) tells you on the phone that he is not interested in your product or service without giving you a specific reason, does it make sense to call lower ranking officers at the company? The hope would be to get the lower ranking officers to be a champion on your behalf.
2. How do you keep a prospect interested when you have a very long sales process?
Don,
One question I would love to see answered is how long you studied sales before you were able to develop your “sales process.” I have been in sales for 12 years but really have only begun truly selling in the last 2. What tips would you have in developing my process?
thank you!
As a leader how do you go about making sure (or knowing otherwise) your Salespeople’s perception of what they are doing is aligning with their highest priorities and values?
And how do you go about knowing the company’s highest values and priorities are being translated through the ranks in a way that the Salespeople see them as being aligned to their own highest values and priorities?
The reason I ask this question is that when this alignment is there, you get focus, energy, initiative, organization and concentration, the person expands. When these are not aligned you get disorganization, lack of focus, scattered, low motivation.
It’s key stuff.
Doyle,
Hello,here are my questions:
1) Will selling become more difficult the last quarter of the 2009 or better? Why?
2) What are some leadership skills do you believe business owners need to learn now to have a profitable 2009?
3) What are some trends do you see in the future in sales and leadership?
4) What would you do differently in sales and leadership knowing what you know now going forward in 2009?
5) What are biggest challenges for sales people and business leaders in the last 6 months of 2009 and why?
I hope this helps.
Respectfully,
Arnel Tanyag
What is the best way to lead a group of very succesful Prima Donna’s in order to maximize the success for the entire organization!?!?
I second Ben Wallace’s suggestion and would like to learn about how people go about defining a sustainable sales process. I’d like to develop my own practice of tracking my process so that I can know the best way to spend my time, but after years of doing it one way, it is hard to change and hard to know where to start.
What does world class sales performance look like to you?
What characteristics do sales professions need to adjust in this economy?
Deals keep falling out of the funnel, going sideways, more players in the process, decisions taking forever!…how best do we keep ahead of the number given these trends? Do we focus on adding more into the funnel?
How do Sales Leaders best motivate producers when there is a drought of revenue?
How do you define sales productivity?
What are the best methods for measuring sales productivity?
What are the key factors for improving sales productivity?
SSC
What is the best strategy to develop a value proposition for a product or service which is more abstract and where the client outcomes are not always immediately measurable. ie you are selling consulting services or a process