MXL Partners
SalesNote )
June 2010
In this issue
  • Your Best Pitch
  • Evaluating Sales in 2010
  • Sales Rule #21
  • MacArthur on Sales Management
  • Assessing Sales Teams
    There are a variety of Assessment Tests out there that managers use to try and determine viability of current or future salespeople. Here's a sampling of types:

    Most common, but a big mistake, is to use Personality and Behavioral Styles tests for salespeople. While accurate, the results do not provide answer or actions that management can use for selection/recruitment, coaching and development. An effective assessment tool must answer the following questions:
    • What makes a particularly salesperson successful?
    • What makes a particular salesperson unsuccessful?
    • Can this salesperson improve or not?
    • In what specific areas must the improvement take place?
    • Which obstacles are preventing sales success?
    • How much improvement can we expect?
    • What actions must be taken for improvement?
    • How do the problems impact their performance in the field?
    • What sales competencies are impacted?
    If you want to accurately predict which existing salespeople or hiring candidates will succeed in a particular sales position, at your company, selling your products or services, into your target market, against your competition, with your pricing model, performance requirements and compensation package, there is only one assessment tool that will provide this.

    Contact us to learn more about a proven and affordable and comprehensive salesperson/team assessment test.


    Your Best Pitch
    Your Best Pitch

    Your Best Pitch
    In daily life we are all often confronted with the need to briefly articulate a message or summary of who we are, what we do and represent. In the sales world, one of the most overused terms is "Elevator Pitch." But it really goes beyond a simple introduction. This is your big chance to make an impression and capture an audience.

    Michael Griego, MXL Partners' founder/president recently presented webinars heard by hundreds of salespeople in the US and Europe on 4 Keys to an Effective Sales Pitch. This event was sponsored by CitrixOnline and ModernSelling.com.

    Evaluating Sales in 2010
    Sales Evaluations

    Evaluating Your Sales Organization
    When evaluating the effectiveness of your sales organization there are 5 key output components:

    1. Sales Management Implications - those crucial areas that must be improved or changed outright to grow and reach sales potential.
    2. Business Strategies - examination as to whether your sales force (and organization) are capable of executing company strategies.
    3. Pipeline Evaluation - determination of pipeline's health relative to the number of opportunities, qualification and accuracy as a predictive tool of business success.
    4. Crucial Elements for Success - crucial elements or conditions in people or organization that must be present in order to affect growth and change.
    5. Hidden Major Weaknesses - weaknesses, usually hidden, when present in certain combinations, are powerful enough to neutralize all of a salesperson's strengths and skills.
    Got a complete handle on what needs to be fixed and adjusted with your sales team? Contact us and let's discuss an surprisingly affordable 30-Day Test and Review Program.

    Sales Rule #21
    42 Rules

    Rule #21: Develop a 360o Account Snapshot
    The 360o Account Snapshot is a practical and useful tool to help us think through all the actions necessary to move an account forward and stay focused on the necessary actions you and others need to immediately take on major sales opportunities.

    The following is an excerpt from Michael Griego's book '42 Rules to Increase Sales Effectiveness.'

    ...Like war, the sales battlefield requires good planning and tools to prepare for battle.

    I've been involved in numerous strategic account reviews that can run for hours and be quite extensive in preparation and follow-up. Over the past 15 years, while I have seen the continued value for these sessions, I see the need for an alternative methodology that may apply for fast moving environments or where "quick and dirty" strategy sessions are appropriate. I've developed an account review process that can be done in 20 minutes on a whiteboard or where the rep and manager can brainstorm up to 3 accounts in one hour with no preparation. The net result however is a clear and usable game plan for immediate execution and follow-up....

    MacArthur on Sales Management
    Douglas MacArthur

    You Are What You Lead
    "A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him." - General Douglas MacArthur

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