Standardizing Sales by Peter Scholtes

Sales and Marketing have never been against systemizing the process. They have been against being systemized by the process. Recently, I have been re-visiting the work of Dr. Edward Deming and a few of the people that he worked directly with such as Peter Scholtes and Brian Joiner. I am amazed at the clearness of Read More …

Overcoming Sales Resistance with SOAR

The traditional marketing funnel built on a theory of manipulation is gone (Kill the Sales and Marketing Funnel). In this recent blog post, I discussed the Lean Marketing: 2-Step Marketing Funnel and how you are either marketing or selling. Evidence enough that it is becoming widely accepted that 70% of the customer decision is already Read More …

Sales Process Engineering is not Lean Sales and Marketing

It is not the Process, it is the Conversation Joseph Juran observed, “There should be no reason our familiar principles of quality and process engineering would not work in the sales process.” In Management of a Sales Force, a sales process is presented as consisting of eight steps. These are: Prospecting/Initial contact Pre-approach planning the Read More …

Sales and Marketing are not Product Development or Innovation

I find it interesting to watch as people try to take their product development skills and innovation tactics and apply them to Sales and Marketing. I will admit there are a “few” similarities but what works for development and innovation does not necessarily work for established brands.  Even when you go to market with new Read More …