Direct Sales

Direct Sales Force

There are three types of salesforce models: 1) direct sales (selling direct), 2) selling direct and through resellers, and 3) selling 100% through resellers. The first case is obvious, the sales force (both internal and external) prospects or follows up on marketing-generated leads and sells to the customer directly.

The second is the most common within the hi-tech industry. The internal and or external sales force sells direct to named accounts or types, or to inbound calls, but usually without undercutting the reseller in price (to avoid channel conflict). The third has a sales force but they sell to the resellers (national chains) or act as reseller sales managers.

Sales Training Makes The Difference

Regardless of how a company sells, any inbound or outbound salesperson needs to know how to sell. The biggest difference between success and failure is often dependent on training (initial and ongoing).

I accepted my first sales position in 1980 and failed miserably. However, a year later I sold with a different company, but this time after a week of intensive sales training. The sales training made all the difference and I went on to become the top salesman, top sales manager, top recruiter, had the top region, won every company sales award, and was eventually promoted to run the entire program with over 300 salespeople.

Later, as a founder of a company that grew to become the world’s largest hi-tech product launch firm, with over 4,000 field reps, I created a sales manual specifically to work with resellers. Much of this manual is included within the Rep Training section of this site.

For help with recruiting your sales force, I recommend subscribing to the Manager’s Minute. This newsletter contains sales manager’s tips, but also comes with a free report, “How to Hire Top Sales People.” See the management section of this site for tips on how to manage a sales force (although it doesn’t discuss coaching and model calls).