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Richard Ruff

Richard Ruff
For more than 30 years Richard Ruff has worked with the Fortune 1000 to craft sales training programs that make a difference. Working with market leaders Dick has learned that today's great sales force significantly differs from yesterday. So, Sales Momentum offers firms effective sales training programs affordably priced. Dick is the co-author of Parlez-Vous Business, to help sales people have smart business conversations with customers, and the Sales Training Connection.

Developing a road map for a major account negotiation – A STC Classic

Because of the complexity of the negotiation itself and the significance of getting it right, the actual plan for a major account negotiation must...

Sales excellence – understanding the clutch player

An interesting article – Performing Best When It Matters Most – appeared in the Kellogg Insight (August 2011).  The report was a summary of the...

Optimizing your sales training investment

In October 2010, McKinsey & Company published an interesting white paper – Getting more from your training programs. The focus was on optimizing...

Tips for designing sales training for global implementations

Suppose you are a large U.S.-based global company with three operating divisions totaling 2,300 world-wide sales people. When it comes to sales training, historically...

How to improve your sales training programs – look to hybrids

Plucots? Peacharine? Plueberry? In search for the perfect fruit, breeders are creating new hybrids. These hybrids seek to be juicier, sweeter, and easier to...

Changing sales performance – practice doesn’t make perfect

Some sayings are right on the money; some are just plain misleading; and some are partial truths. When it comes to changing sales...

Sales calls – 8 tips for call planning

Although sales people may not do it as often as they should, most would rally around the notion that call planning is a good...

Active listening – a forgotten key to sales success

When talking about sales skills, the first thing that comes to mind for many is asking questions. Rightly so. Asking questions, however,...

Five best practices for networking in b2b sales

Everyone knows it – some because of a leap of faith and some because of experience. A centerpiece for success in major B2B...

Emerging importance of medical sales key account executives

Changes in U.S. hospitals are not within most people's definition of average. Taken collectively they are transformational. And, as with any transformational shift,...

Goldilocks and the sales process

Goldilocks and the Three Bears was penned by British author and poet Robert Southey. When first published in 1837 the lesson of the...

Three mystifying misperceptions about sales training

A lack of consensus exists as to when the foundation for modern day sales training was established. One date around which a number...

Winning complex sales – defining fundamentals

A complex sale is not just a big little sale. It is qualitatively different. The buying process is more complex, the sales...

Medical device sales – planning the commitment

Much time has been spent talking about pre-call planning, but what about planning the close? Closing the call is all about obtaining a commitment...

Medical device sales – asking questions isn’t what it used to be

Everyone agrees … if you really want to be good at <a href="http://www.saleshorizons.com/medical_devices_sales_train.php ">good at selling medical devices, you must have great questioning skills. While...

6 sales best practices

Selling is a complex discipline involving many kinds of activities. Some are customer-facing (e.g., making a presentation). Others are background activities (e.g., researching the...

Quantifying your value proposition – making the business case

As we sell in these tough economic times selling value is more important now than ever. Quantifying your value proposition requires creating and communicating a...

Developing a roadmap for major account negotiation

Because of the complexity of the negotiation itself and the significance of getting it right, the actual plan for a major account negotiation must...

Dispatching with three myths of sales coaching

Many, including me, agree that sales coaching is a critical piece of the puzzle in developing a world-class sales team. Yet, there is less...

Implementing a new sales process – moving from compliance to adoption

"We've just introduced a top-flight sales process but it has fallen flat. Why?" The answer is often straight forward. Too often companies institute a...

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