The Allegories Blog

This article originally appeared on hbr.org. Author: Joseph Curtis The best salespeople take pride in their work. They separate themselves from the rest of the pack regardless of circumstance. How do they do it? I’ve spent 16 years in technology sales. I’ve noticed that great sales professionals in tech and beyond share some habits and characteristics. I’ve distilled my observations into five recommendations for success. Here’s what I advise: — OWN EVERYTHING Elite salespeople approach their goals with a total-ownership mindset. Anything that happens to them, whether or not it was their... Continue Reading

This article is a recap of a presentation by Frank Cespedes, Strategy Expert and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, at Allego’s 2019 customer conference. The session was entitled, “Accelerating Learning and Profitable Growth: Aligning Strategy and Sales.” Once senior management has established and communicated strategic goals, these goals should inform opportunity management – a.k.a., customer selection – within the sales department. This is the second way in which companies can link their sales efforts and training with an enterprise-wide strategy.  Quantity over Quality Most incentive systems for sales reps are based... Continue Reading

This article is a recap of a presentation by Frank Cespedes, Strategy Expert and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, at Allego’s 2019 customer conference. The session was entitled, “Accelerating Learning and Profitable Growth: Aligning Strategy and Sales.” U.S. firms spend over $900 billion annually on their sales forces – three times more than they spend on all media advertising. About $1,500 is spent per rep on sales training, 20% more per capita than to train any other type of employee. Unfortunately, the return on this enormous investment is often disappointing. According... Continue Reading

Ryan Junius isn’t nearly as famous as Jaime Lannister, the “Kingslayer” from Game of Thrones, but he is far more popular than Jamie ever was, especially among sales reps. That’s because Junius, a sales training executive at Legg Mason Asset Management, was responsible for “slaying” the dreaded but mandatory 7:30 a.m. conference calls with Allego mobile videos, earning him the nickname, “The Conference Call Killer.”  And he isn’t alone. When it comes to keeping sales reps updated on the latest market news and trends, content creators at other financial services firms also... Continue Reading