How aware are you of the impact you have as a Sales Leader...on your team and the results they achieve?

Bernie frequently speaks at industry events due to his unique and extensive background in B2B marketing and sales roles. Bernie sat down with Chris and Rick to talk about why content is so important for engaging buyers. Here's what he had to say.

As information is available in abundance, prospects are not willing to hear much. The prospects seek a emotional connect, a solution to their problem and that will only happen when you carefully listen to the problem and thereafter pitch accordingly.

All top sales people are vigilant about how they spent their time, and ensure that they are spending their time on those activities that lead to the highest return-on-time.

If you love sales and you believe in the product or service you are selling, then you should do every thing you can to get your product or service in the hands of the people it will benefit the most. Or are you there just to pass the time of day? Are you afraid to ask questions that will uncover their needs and then provide them with your product or service as the solution? Which salesperson are you?

Zig Ziglar is one of the most iconic motivational speakers at present; he is also credited for teaching sales people to immerse themselves in constant learning and training. Sales people do really make an impact on our society. Some of them have become the biggest names in history and you can emulate them in order to achieve greatness in your time.

"He has the gift of gab. He'll make a good sales person." It's been a while since I last heard that expression. The idea is, of course, that sales people are good talkers. If you are a good talker, you are well on your way to having the necessary qualifications for a sales career. While that figure of speech isn't popular today, the idea behind it continues to have currency. That idea is, like so many other pearls of conventional wisdom, completely and utterly wrong.

How do you propose to increase your leadership efforts during this weak economy and challenging sales environment? Remember your team will learn by your example and to coin a phrase: "monkey see, monkey do".

Great salespeople aren't born, they're made. The key attributes that make someone a good salesperson are all skills rather than talents -- meaning they're things that we learn and not things that we're born with. What your inborn attributes do is determine which kind of sales approach you'll be most comfortable with. Great salespeople are also constantly striving to improve themselves and their sales approaches.

Your business will experience pressure points along the way. Hiring the right people who know how to power through them on their own is essential to sustainable success. [...]