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Jerry Stapleton

Jerry Stapleton
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The No. 1 reason we lose vital accounts

Nicole was just hired by XYZ Co. as its new vice president of sales. She was brought on at a time when XYZ had...

A collision in sales

Do you ever wonder why you feel the way you do about selling? For example: You probably want customers to think of you as...

Say this, not that

One of my favorite opening questions that I use when speaking to groups of salespeople goes something like this: “How many of you, when...

It’s not about you

What do customers and prospects use to evaluate you?

If you're like 94 percent of salespeople—we've measured it — youhttp://mbedit.sx.atl.publicus.com/apps/pbcsedit.dll/red# believe their evaluation is based on the knowledge you demonstrate and the personal connection you make.

Don’t just ask

Shortly after John Paul II became pope, he was interviewed by an Italian journalist, Vittorio Messori. That interview became the best-selling book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope."

It’s all in the presentation

Think about the last time you went to a movie. Or out to dinner. Here's one thing I can guarantee: You didn't call up the theater, ask what the price of their tickets were, and then pick a feature at random.

Sales hiring

Not long ago in these pages I laid down my own commandments (as I referred to them) of sales leadership. One of them – hire wisely, not well – seemed to touch a particularly sensitive nerve among business owners and senior sales management. Let me take the topic a little deeper.

Be accountable

Here's a subject that came up in a client meeting last week and caused no small amount of – very understandable – discomfort within the group of salespeople in the room. But it has a happy ending.

Take control

This week, I'm going to outline my nine commandments of sales leadership. Ignore them at your own risk.


The real deal

Forgive me! I've written about seek mode before, and I've probably even told the following story at some point in these pages.

Do you really want it?

I was in Vancouver recently working with Kris, the regional vice president of sales for the eastern region for a client company. Kris and I met for the better part of a day to work on integrating a qualification process into her team's everyday thinking and language. In short, the qualification process has two basic buckets: potential value (if we win), and winnability.

Identity crisis

One sure way to get a unanimous non-show of hands from a group of salespeople is to ask this question: "Let's see a show of hands. How many of you, when you set your objectives for a customer meeting, have at the top of the list: 'I want to come across to the customer like every other salesperson that customer met with in the last week?'

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