I recently attended a conference in Las Vegas and had the opportunity to speak with the publisher of Selling Power magazine, Gerhard Gschwandter, who interviewed me for three video segments for his magazine's subscribers. We discussed the critical issue of business acumen for sales professionals in today’s complex selling environment. In fact, his first question was “Why do sales people need business acumen today more than ever?” We discussed how an understanding of a client's business -- especially how the company makes money -- can significantly enhance the level of conversation that sales personnel have with clients, leading to more wins and increased revenue.

With all the emphasis that sales organizations put on consultative selling today, I found the following statistic to be surprising - only 10 percent of sales professionals can actually read a financial statement or articulate the key financial metrics of a client’s business. If organizations truly expect their sales teams to secure meetings at the C-level, they must make sure that salespeople can clearly understand and articulate their client’s business issues – in other words, “walk the talk”. Join me in watching this short, five-minute video titled “Winning at Business Acumen, Part 1” (the first of three installments), and then let me know your thoughts on the subject.