The last few years have given rise to ever increasing discussions on how the use of predictive analytics and machine learning will transform the profession of selling. It is quite compelling to consider how this technology may take root and how it might impact the profession of professional selling. First let’s consider what we mean… Read More
About Dan Weinfurter
Anyone Who Makes It Has a Mentor
Twenty years ago, Don Perkins, who was an outside Board member for the company that I was running at the time, gave me a copy of an article that he had authored for the Harvard Business Review a few years prior detailing the benefits that accrue to CEOs that have mentors. Don was my mentor… Read More
Greater Success Comes from Better Customer Success
A few weeks ago, I was at a conference where some of the latest McKinsey & Company research was presented describing how sales in the 21st century is different from selling in the previous century. For most of us that live in the sales and revenue generation ecosystem, the findings make complete sense and are… Read More
It Pays To Get Onboarding Right!
Last year, sales organizations on average replaced 25% of their total head count. For organizations with thousands of salespeople, and for those with far fewer, this results in a large need to recruit, assess, select, hire, on-board and train replacements who hopefully will deliver results that are better than those individuals that they have replaced…. Read More
Looking Back and Thinking Ahead: 2018 is Here Now
Hello everyone and welcome to a new year. It is early January and as such, it is an appropriate time to set some resolutions for the new year. Of course, setting resolutions is a highly situational and personal task, but that said, I will offer up some suggestions in the spirit of getting the readers… Read More
Recruitment and Retention: Words and Actions Must Match
I got a call recently from a former colleague asking if I would be comfortable being a reference for him. Of course, I was happy to do this, as this person worked for me previously in two different companies and had performed exceptionally well. He was super excited and all set to accept a new… Read More
The Critical Importance of Talent
U.S. firms today spend about $900 billion annually on the deployment of professional sales organizations. That’s more than 3x their total spending on advertising, more than 20x their spending on digital marketing, and more than 50x their current spend on social media. Selling is, by far, the most expensive part of strategy execution for most… Read More
The Founder as Sales Manager Scaling Sales Capability in an Early Stage Business
Inevitably, the time arrives in most early stage businesses when it becomes an organizational imperative to establish a real professional sales capability that is fundamental to the strategy of driving growth. For many, and in fact I would argue, for most entrepreneurs, achieving success in building an effective and predictable revenue engine is the most… Read More
The Myth of the Technical Seller
“For a salesperson to perform well in our organization, they have to be very technical.” “Our top salespeople must have a deep understanding the science behind our drugs.” “Since we are selling finance and accounting consulting services, the best salespeople in our firm are former practitioners – they were accountants before they became salespeople.” In… Read More
The Rise of the Chief Growth Officer
Historically there has been a substantial gulf between sales and marketing. Back in the day, there were countless stories about the enmity, hostility and lack of respect each profession had for the other. Some of the disputes are legendary. In my book (Second Stage Entrepreneurship), which was written in 2013, I advised against the practice… Read More