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Bob Etherington

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Founder and Managing Director, Bob Etherington Group

94 points

40 years in front line sales. SVP Sales Training for Reuters America (Thomson Reuters) EVP Sales Training Reuters Group International (London). Main Board Director Reuters Transaction Services Ltd. Now Managing Director Bob Etherington Group (International Business Persuasion experts).
4 books ...

40 years in front line sales. SVP Sales Training for Reuters America (Thomson Reuters) EVP Sales Training Reuters Group International (London). Main Board Director Reuters Transaction Services Ltd. Now Managing Director Bob Etherington Group (International Business Persuasion experts).
4 books in publication 'Presentation Skills for Quivering Wrecks'[amazon.co.uk best seller] ,'Cold Calling for Chickens', 'Selling Skills for Complete Amateurs' ,'Negotaiting Skills for Virgins'

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Dec. 29, 2010

Bob Etherington and 1 other person answered this question

How do you manage a negative sales person to be a positive leader?

Buy them a copy of Professor Richard Wiseman's "The Luck Factor". Insist that they do what it says and complete the daily log for just 30 days e.g, January 2011. Challenge them to tell you on 31st January that they didn't get luckier and feel ... more

Employee Conduct

Employee Morale

Dec. 24, 2010

Bob Etherington and 7 other people answered this question

What are some things that sales managers should NEVER do?

Ask returning sales executives the ubiquitous question "So did you close it?".
Generally the answer is 'No' and that is the last thing any seller wants to tell the boss. The knock-on effect is steady demotivation of the entire sales force. more

Management Best Practices

Sales Management

Dec. 23, 2010

Bob Etherington answered this question

What is your most effective opening statement that generates a conversation with the prospect?

What problems does your business fix for your customers?

Dec. 23, 2010

Bob Etherington and 11 other people answered this question

What has more impact on your business bad word-of-mouth or good word-of-mouth?

Yes I agree with the previous posts.
But it is also interesting to note that research shows that a customer who has had a problem with your company which you have fixed to their entire satisfaction tends to be more loyal than a customer who has ... more

Customer Service

Word of Mouth Marketing

Dec. 23, 2010

Bob Etherington and 9 other people answered this question

B2B Sales Trends: What are the biggest trends in B2B sales to follow in 2011?

Forget the current prevailing folklore that it is "all about price". Research shows that 90% of B2B buyers place 'Confidence' and 'Safety' way above all other benefits especially in apparently 'commoditised' markets. So keen are they on these factors that 85% say that they would ... more

Dec. 13, 2010

Bob Etherington and 4 other people answered this question

Do you have a large gap between top performers and the rest?

Yes Bob. Permanent adult behavior change is not quick or easy to achieve and it takes place in the front line where the real selling is happening. If there is no budget (or will) to do the coaching then hiring expensive excellent people is the ... more

Sales Management

Sales Representatives

Dec. 9, 2010

Bob Etherington and 5 other people answered this question

What are some of the most important things that you do as a company in order to retain your clients?

Follow the advice of Joe Girard (listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the best salesman in the World). He bases his enormous success on the simple little strategy of sending monthly postcards to prospects and past customers with the following legend on ... more

Client Retention/development

Customer Loyalty

Small Business Strategies

Dec. 6, 2010

Bob Etherington and 2 other people commented on a brief

5 Fast Steps to Better Relations (and Results) Between Sales & Marketing

Appoint a team of lead sales people to work in the Marketing Dept. We did this extremely successfully for 20 years at Reuters (now Thomson Reuters). We called them Market Managers. They were acknowledged experts in their market and had responsibility for designing and overseeing ... more

Dec. 6, 2010

Bob Etherington and 18 other people answered this question

Sales Voice Mail Best Practices: What are your 3 tips for leaving a good sales voice mail?

Speak slowly especially your name and Phone number 90% of left messages are too fast
Keep it simple and intriguiging. Just your name and phone number plus use of my name at the beginning and end are the most intriguing of all.
Don't read from a script. ... more

General Management

Dec. 5, 2010

Bob Etherington answered this question

Since the start of the recession, how have your sales training programs changed?

In US and UK we have had to make sellers understand that the main presumption that it is 'all about price' is completely wrong. There is no evidence that cutting prices brings more business during hard times. LIke 'Just work harder- see more customers' and ... more

Sales Training Techniques

Sales Training/development

Dec. 5, 2010

Bob Etherington and 8 other people answered this question

What skills/talents do you look for when hiring sales reps?

All the regular psychological research projects conducted over the past 4 decades by sales giants like (Xerox, Motorola and IBM) into what major traits and talents to look for in effective selllers always end up with one word: Attitude.
It appears to account for 75% of ... more

Employee Evaluations

Sales Management

Sales Performance

Dec. 5, 2010

Bob Etherington and 3 other people answered this question

Sales training: any recommendations on how to properly train entry-level sales reps?

Exceedingly good results have been obtained by one company I've worked with frequently over the past few years called Factset; they are a major international vendor of financial information and are regularly rated one of the best companies to work for in US and UK. ... more

Entry Level Sales

Dec. 4, 2010

Bob Etherington and 5 other people answered this question

What are some tips for improving the level of sales training and coaching for your team?

Craig you're so right to talk about coaching in the same breath as 'training' . Classroom training is expensive and completely useless on its own. Within 30 days of the average in-house 'course' most delegates have returned to their previous behavior. A regular planned and ... more

Coaching & Training

Dec. 3, 2010

Bob Etherington and 16 other people answered this question

Sales Enablement: What are the top sales enablement trends to watch in 2011?

Customers in the US and the UK are currently telling researchers that they would actually pay for just one hour with a competent sales executive who instead of attempting to 'communicate value' concentrated instead on 'creating value'.
The differentiator that enables the effective seller to persuade ... more

Sales Enablement

Dec. 2, 2010

Bob Etherington and 3 other people answered this question

Why don't sales teams use materials sent from marketing?

The copy is normally written in the 3rd person ('Our customers will find that...' Traders only have to key in....' ' We are delighted to introduce our new...') NO customer is interested in some vague 'other people' who have used or might use the product ... more

Marketing Analytics

Dec. 2, 2010

Bob Etherington and 7 other people answered this question

What Content Attracts You to Read a Blog?

Yes the headline is key.
Then provide the unanticipated solution to a common business problem.
Keep each post short 300 to 500 words max. Few readers will plow through more. Yet the self important waffle in many blogs indicates that most bloggers just don't get it. more

Blog Best Practices

Dec. 2, 2010

Bob Etherington and 30 other people answered this question

Best Practices in Reducing Employee Turnover: What are your 3 tips for reducing employee turnover?

Research shows that employees, internationally, value the following in this order.
1 Feeling appreciated for what they do (Thank you/ Well done/ I'm proud of you, are the rarest phrases in Global business)
2 Having something interesting to do.
3 Being kept on the inside track by management ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Employee Turnover

Dec. 2, 2010

Bob Etherington and 14 other people answered this question

What are your best practices for delivering a great customer experience?

Rules
1.Remember that you are not there to prove to the customer that you are right.
2.When the customer is wrong see Rule 1
3.Keep your word even if it costs you every penny of your commission/profit.
4.Fix problems fast and efficiently because research shows that a customer who ... more

Customer Service

General Management

Customer Experience Management

Nov. 23, 2010

Bob Etherington and 9 other people answered this question

Why are people against taking cold calls more often than before? Are you scared to speak?

It's nothing to do with people being scared. It's the job of the gate keeper to stop sales calls from businesses. Most people who cold call are in too much of a hurry to make sale or speak to the right person. Sometimes it takes ... more

Following 3 Topics

Sales Management

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Knowledgeable in 23 Topics

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