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"It's better than cold calls." That's the answer Terry Colston quickly gave to my question: Why do salespeople play so much golf? I laughed off his response as a canned […]

Looking to equip your sales force with cellular phones? Here's what you need to know. In 1991, the 3M Corporation was feeling a change in business climate. The pace was […]

A help desk can solve many problems salespeople have with technology When it comes to sales force automation, salespeople need help. Their jobs are to sell, to meet with customers, […]

The summer update of our 10th annual PC-based Sales & Marketing Applications Software Directory. Sales force automation. It's quickly becoming one of the most important issues for sales managers. This […]

This article features three U.S. companies whose pay plans received a transformation. In 2002, executives at FedEx Corporation, the shipping and logistics firm based in Memphis, Tennessee, realized they needed a new compensation plan for their sales organization. The problem was twofold. Number one was the volume of complaints coming from field salespeople and sales managers about how confusing and unpredictable the pay program was. While such issues are reason enough to overhaul a compensation plan, FedEx actually had a second, and equally important, impetus for change. The company's 5,000-member sales force had previously been charged with selling one main product, but with mergers and rollouts of the other product lines, FedEx needed to focus its salespeople on selling a good mix of all three products. In other words, the company had to provide its salespeople with the motivation to do something they were not used to doing, which was to sell a diverse product line. According to David Cichelli, principal with the Alexander Group Inc., a sales management consulting firm, thy needed to create a pay program that would encourage sales of all the products without displacing the sale of one product for any of the others.

Interviews Donna Panko of Professional Skill Builders and Jacqueline Whitmore of Protocol School of Palm Beach, Florida on where salespeople go wrong in their business interactions. Changes in business interactions; Mistakes being committed by salespeople during business interactions; Carelessness of salespeople with their use of profanity.

Focuses on the marketing strategies of AT&T. Views of Ken Sichau, president of the company, on managing sales people; Competitors of the company; Importance of employee motivation.

Reveals that companies in the U.S. are becoming more serious due to declining revenues in 2002. Significance of the cancellation of the holiday party at LightWare Inc. in 2001; Percentage of respondents to the 'SMM'/Equation Research survey who believe that their companies have become more serious; Chief executive officers who implemented cultural shifts at their companies; Strategies to motivate salespersons.

Focuses on the strategy used by companies by hiring the salesperson of their competitors. Disadvantages of hiring from competition's sales force; Benefits of hiring top salespeople from competitors; Factors to consider before hiring a rival's salespeople.

Focuses on the use of president's clubs or annual sales honors clubs to motivate sales personnel in the United States. Texas Commerce Bank's incentive programs; Xerox Corp.'s incentive trips to president's club members; Objectives of president's clubs. INSETS: When everybody wines, by Ginger Trumfio.;A presidential affair.;There's no `I' in team, by G.T..

Focuses on the certification of sales personnel. Requirements; Guidelines and standards; Background history; Financial issues; Benefits.

Recommends alternative incentive trips for sales people. Includes a trip to Portugal; Iowa; Malaysia; Galapagos Islands.

Sales representatives don't usually make the best actors. But 10 salespeople in a conference room in New York are currently playing the role of real estate agents. None of them have ever sold a piece of real estate before in their lives, but they're trying their hardest to convince reluctant buyers not to back out of a deal. It's the main message of this training course, produced by Huthwaite Inc., a company that provides corporate sales training services, based in Sterling, Virginia. And these 10 salespeople have come to the Huthwaite course, titled "Making Major Sales" and based on the company's SPIN Selling philosophy, to learn how to penetrate deeper into accounts and ultimately close more business.

Discusses the ways by which salespeople can be more productive with the time that customers give them. Other means of communication that customers offer to salespeople; Importance for sales organizations to do jobs that help customers with their businesses; Remarks from William Robbins, vice president of sales for GL Manufacturing.

Profiles Brad Ledwith, a salesperson of financial service company Edward Jones Corp. Face-to-face marketing strategy of Ledwith; Clients of Ledwith; Benefits of the strategy to the company.

Focuses on the common practice of giving commissions to salespeople after every sale even if the customers have not paid yet. Tendency of salespeople not to care about whether customers pay or not as long as they get their commissions; Problems caused by the practice to sales organizations; Debate on whether sales representatives should collect the bills before they receive their commissions.

After visiting 15 customers in a three-week period last summer, Philip Tyler decided that his sales force needed to be reorganized. As vice president of sales for Tri-Tech Inc., an electrical components company based in Pittsburgh, Tyler oversees a sales force consisting of eight field representatives and four tele-salespeople. Prior to January, those numbers were six representatives in the field and six on the phone. So Tyler decided to segment his company's customer base according to how they wanted to buy from Tri-Tech. Now, field representatives call on the customers who want an in-person sales process, and the tele-salespeople handle customers who want to order products via the phone or Internet. This kind of customer segmentation process is one that many companies are going through these days. But, while companies are often viewing their customer bases along geographic or industry-based lines, experts are saying that they need to take a deeper view of their clients.

Presents tips for companies on how to prepare their sales force for a price increase. Delivery of news of price increases to salespeople and customers; Need for the salespeople to be visible and available to answer the questions of customers; Information on how to explain the price increases to customers.

Relates how one sales professional closed a deal with a customer. Things which salespeople have to overcome to close large deals; Details of how he won a contract with a new company.

Reports on the move of several companies to cut back travel for the rest of 2003 for their salespeople. Reason behind the move; Tips for salespeople faced with no-travel directive.

Provides tips for strategically adding personnel to the sales force. Information on hiring salespeople who worked for the competitors; Benefits of hiring amateur salespeople; Selection of the best salespeople.

Offers advice for managers to inspire their sales teams during summer. Comments from Jerry Mackinaw, practice leader for consulting firm JMG Inc., on salespeople; Importance of incentives; Advice on preparing an appointment with customer; Role of chief executive officer in motivating a sales team.

List five seminars for salespeople worth their time and money. Highlights of the American Management Association seminar; Information on the two-day session entitled 'Sell or Perish: Sales Essentials for Today's Business World'; Description on the Walt Slaughter Associates seminar.

Shows that sales representatives have many good excuses these days to avoid traveling to meet customers, especially those overseas. Comments from Vicki Contavespi of ASIS International; One reason business travelers are less resistant to getting on a plane; Advice before salespeople leave for a trip.

Reveals that a lot of sales executives deemed themselves more stylish than their salespeople, according to a 'Sales & Marketing Management' journal/Equation Research survey. Comments from Diane Craig, president of Ottawa, Canada-based Image International.

Deals with the program of Wicker Corporation designed to motivate its engineers, researchers, and manufacturing staffers to get involved in sales. Increase in the company's sales in 2002.

Focuses on how to increase profits while competitors cut their prices. Impact of lower prices on profitability of sales team; Action taken by Scott Jacobs of Technical Concepts Inc. to motivate his salespeople.

Deals with the hiring of sales personnel. Benefits of slow economy on the quality of sales staff; List of the important hiring criteria for EHP, a provider of human resource services.

Deals with the findings of a study by the SITE Foundation on the effect of management motivation on the productivity of sales personnel. Impact of the level of motivation on the quality and quantity of sales output; Examples of the successful motivational programs.

Reports on the prediction of the demand for sales professionals in 2003. Characteristic of a sales manager considered by companies; Opinion of Richard Harris, president of Sales Recruiters International, on salespeople recruitment.

Reveals that some companies in the U.S. are unwilling to shoulder the expense of a single-purpose business trip. Challenge facing salespersons; Importance of trips in building relationships.

Presents ways for salespeople to call on customers despite the crisis in public relations in the U.S. Information on how to relieve awkwardness; Importance of being prepared; Significance of a letter from the chief executive officer.

Presents tips for salespeople on proceeding when customer contacts are declining at client companies. Number of salespersons at DP Parts Corp. who lost their main customer contacts because of layoffs; Importance of being proactive.

Highlights the ranking system used by technology services firm Whalen Technology Inc. for its salespeople. Information on the ranking programs implemented by some companies; Cost of the lawsuit settled by Ford.

Offers advice on recruiting salespersonnel. Role of sales managers in the selection of salespeople; Time considerations in staff hiring.

Answers the question on the best way to motivate salespeople during a down economy.

Reports on the salespeople who overspend their company's meager budget. Incident involving an employee of Barclays Capital who overspend on rare wine at a London restaurant; Efforts of Corporate Lodging Consultants Inc. to reduce additional spending.

Presents ways for managers to motivate salespeople. Importance of asking questions to show concern to the employees; Need to celebrate small successes; Ways to set achievable goals.

Focuses on the increase in business trips of salespeople with children in the U.S. Impact of traveling with children on professionalism; Tips on traveling with children.

Presents information on the trend in business attire as of October 2001. Information on two-button and three-button suits for salesmen; Suggested colors and materials for men.

Presents tips on marketing in the U.S. List of suggested competitions for sales representatives and marketers.

Emphasizes the need for sales representatives to understand the mission statement of a company. Information on the mission statement of Siebel Systems; Suggestions for articulating a company's mission or core values to sales team.

Discusses job titles given by companies to their salespeople. Reason for the decision of companies to give sales personnel job titles other than salespeople; Effect of adopting other job titles other than salespeople on the image of a company; Importance of changing the roles of salespeople who were given enhanced titles.

Provides information on a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by Afro-American sales representatives against Xerox Corp. Allegations made by the Afro-American sales representatives against sales managers of Xerox Corp.; Comment given by a Xerox spokeswoman on the allegations made against the company; Charge made by sales representative Kenneth Jimerson against the company.

Provides information regarding vacation leave provided for sales representatives. Estimated number of vacation days received by sales representatives as compared to those given to sales managers; Trend concerning vacation policy in the sales and marketing industry.

Offers suggestions to sales managers on improving morale of their salespeople in line with their potential of not meeting their sales quota for the year 2001 amid the economic downturn. Impact of missed quotas on bonus and commissions of salespeople; Evaluating the compensation plans of salespeople; Way of motivating salespeople in dealing with the economic downturn.

Presents the fashion trends for sales personnel for the year 2001. Popularity of bright colors for men's attire; Style for women.

Presents statistics on cutbacks made by companies on travel budgets of sales representatives in the United States.

Focuses on the cuts made by sales managers on the travel and expense budgets of sales representatives. Cost-cutting measures adopted by Hewlett-Packard; Reason of MetLife for cutting down travel budgets.

Presents the results of a survey on which television star would be the best sales representative in the United States. Patrick Stewart; Regis Philbin; John Lithgow.