This article is based on my 17 years of direct sales experience working in SME, Corporate and Public Sector.

Many companies spend time and money trying to understand what methods they can employ to encourage personnel to work hard and to meet high sales or other targets. 

It could be argued that a company’s sales force is its most valuable asset; they need to feel appreciated and well remunerated and, in return, should be more loyal to the company. 

Call centre staff often tune out when they’re introduced to a new piece of customer relationship management (CRM) kit, with reluctant staff tending to add the minimum data they can get away with, or simply ignoring it and continuing to use their existing personal systems. However, as John Paterson reveals, if bosses follow eight simple dos and don’ts, it’s actually quite easy to get agents on board at implementation time.

So you’re on a train, queuing at the bank or perhaps even in a lift and you start talking to someone rather interesting.

Does a salesperson sell a product, service or idea or does the customer buy what the salesperson has?

- Over half (51 per cent) of UK buyers would not be proud to call themselves salespeople
- Less than half of UK buyers (42 per cent) view sales people as business partners
- Buyers have increasingly high expectations of sales people and these are not being met