SalesGiants interviews Dan McDade, author of The Truth About Leads

Dan McDade
PointClear

1) Dan, let's begin by talking about your book, The Truth About Leads. What's the idea behind the book? Why did you write it?

Mark Twain has often been quoted as saying: "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it." I think that is true with marketing and sales alignment: everyone talks about it but nobody does anything about it. I wrote the book because I simply could not stand back and watch so much money being wasted by so many companies.

2) In a short sentence, who should read your book? What kind of advice should they be looking for?

Senior executives who want to increase revenue while decreasing expenses will find this book packed with ideas about how to do that.

3) On the other hand, who shouldn’t? What will readers NOT find in your book?

It is not a sales training book or a marketing plan guide. If you are thin skinned you should stay away from this book because it is written to compel change and I take no prisoners.

4) What's the first thing someone should do after reading your book?

Establish metrics for what SiriusDecisions calls the Demand Waterfall: MQL to SAL to SQL to Closed Business (Marketing Qualified Leads to Sales Accepted Leads to Sales Qualified Leads…)


About your preferences:

5) Besides your own website ( http://www.pointclear.com), what other sales websites would you recommend?

- www.siriusdecisions.com;

- www.focus.com; 

- www.contentfactor.com .

6) What are your preferred sales/business books?

I like Unselling” by Peter Bourke and The New Solution Selling by Keith Eades.

         

About you:

7) How did you get started in sales?

I started in retail and then spent about ten years in the direct mail marketing business. I was a consultant with a services company in the early 90’s and that lead to selling becoming a bigger part of my job.

8) Most memorable sale?

Closing a $1 million deal with a software company on June 30, 2002.

9) Most disastrous sale (or funny situation)?

The company that closed for $1 million was sold to Microsoft on July 7th and our relationship changed dramatically. We still have Microsoft as a client and we still work with the woman who signed the $1,000,000 deal!


About your work as a sales expert:

10) What is the biggest mistake you see as a sales expert?

Being dogmatic about anything… Someone I used to work for said “don’t tell people to do something, make them want to do it and they will find ten ways to do it that you never thought of”. I think that is great advice and whenever I close my mind I regret it.

11) What is the best sales advice you have ever received?

“Go sell to someone who wants to buy.” I got hung up over a good situation here I could have really helped. Problem is, they were never going to buy and I was wasting cycles. Great advice that I still use on myself and others!

12) What advice would you give to someone just starting out in sales?

Talk to senior sales reps. Ask for help. Keep an open mind. Don’t fear rejection.

13) What are you working on right now that makes you feel energized? What's your next big project?

I am actually working on a novel and I am excited about that. The next big project, work wise, is creating a consulting solution around the processes in the book “The Truth About Leads”.

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Dan McDade founded PointClear in 1997 with the mission to be the first and best company providing prospect development services to business-to-business companies with complex sales processes. He has been instrumental in developing the innovative strategies that drive revenue for PointClear clients nationwide.

In addition to serving as president / CEO of PointClear, Dan is the author of The Truth About Leads, an insightful book that sheds light on the little-known secrets that help focus B2B lead-generation efforts, align sales and marketing organizations and drive revenue. The book was published in early 2011.

The Sales Lead Management Association named Dan one of the 50 most influential people in sales lead management in 2009. Dan is also the author of ViewPoint | The Truth About Lead Generation, a blog exploring issues related to B2B sales, marketing and lead generation.