Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

I read the majority of the reports, studies, white papers, and books related to sales development because others in the field might stumble onto a trend, an insight or a statistic of which I was not aware. That’s why I downloaded Xactly’s 2025 Sales Compensation Survey.

Data 220

Data Hiring Compensation Quota 220

SBI Growth

JANUARY 11, 2013

The fundamental trick is aligning your best salespeople with your largest prospects. In the normal course of business, reps secure appointments with key customers and prospects. How can you ensure a green, over-eager new rep doesn’t blow the sale? Here’s how: Add the " L ook-to-Book" ratio to your key account Win/Loss Analysis.

Account 297

Account Closing Analysis Coaching 297

Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 22, 2014

I’m a big fan boy of David Meerman Scott dating back to his (in my opinion) classic book The New Rules of Marketing and PR. I read that book in 2008 and it rocked my world. Now he’s got a new book focused on sales , The New Rules of Sales and Service. Some of these points may seriously imact your sales career.

Lead Rank 300

Lead Rank Cold Calling Lead Scoring eBook 300

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 10, 2021

My entire career had been sales and sales management, and my best business had always come from referrals. I asked salespeople and sales leaders I knew if they liked to get referral introductions. Get meetings with prime prospects in one call. Decrease the cost of sales. Flash Sale. None felt right.

Referrals 385

Referrals Cold Calling Inbound Webinar Metrics 385

Sales 2.0

SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

For those of us on the sales side you will know 3-4 weeks can go by in the blink of an eye. 3-4 weeks go by while you’re still learning your product and your market never mind filling your sales pipeline. For tips on ramping up your sales knowledge as fast as you can grab Jill Konrath’s new book, Agile Selling.

Scale 373

Scale Hiring Collateral Social Selling 373

Hubspot Sales

JULY 9, 2019

Specifically, the managers who lead your sales teams — they oversee the reps who communicate directly with your prospects and customers daily. Think about it this way: If you're a sales manager and you help each of your 10 reps sell 20% more, you've essentially just "created” two new salespeople. Motivate Reps.

Sales Management 142

Sales Management Hiring Buyer Persona Compensation 142

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 25, 2013

Book four breakfasts and five lunches each week, and watch your sales soar. As a smart, strategic sales professional, you know full well the value of building and maintaining a strong network of clients and referral sources. Referral selling is the most effective, most efficient prospecting strategy that exists.

Networking 270

Networking Referrals Decision Maker Small Business 270

Keith Rosen

OCTOBER 27, 2020

This was my motivation to create this coaching playbook for you, and why I’ve decided to offer my book for free. This will make every conversation a productive, coaching conversation and enable you to develop a team of sales champions. With compassion and gratitude, Keith The post New Book!

Sales Coaching 139

Sales Coaching Coaching Twitter Consumer 139

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Was just reading yet another post with “market data” declaring prospecting the most difficult aspect of sales. Thousands of blog posts about both the difficulty and importance of prospecting have been published in the past 5-7 years. We know prospecting is important, but we don’t do it on a regular basis.

Ideal Customer Profile 166

Ideal Customer Profile Prospecting Sales Qualified Lead Pipeline 166

Hubspot Sales

JANUARY 8, 2025

Somehow, the deal slips through your fingers, and so does the prospect. In this blog post, Ill break down what gap selling is, why its the secret sauce for successful sales, and how you can use it to connect with prospects on a deeper level. Know your prospects intrinsic motivation. Lets get into it.

Examples 113

Examples Strategy Hubspot How To 113

The Pipeline

JUNE 26, 2014

How would you like to be able to easily (almost effortlessly) track your ten hottest prospect and keep them moving toward a sale? In my world it is simply the ten hottest prospects you are currently working, ranked in order of their ability to be closed. Think about that, what we measure we have the ability to manage.

Pipeline 325

Pipeline Positioning Twitter Closing 325

SalesFuel

FEBRUARY 16, 2025

With over 15 years in sales and marketing divisions of three Fortune 200 companies, Mark has led significant projects, including the creation of a new 200-member sales force. He is the author of several influential books, including 'High-Profit Prospecting,' 'High-Profit Selling,' and 'A Mind for Sales.'

Hiring 52

Hiring Prospecting Face-to-face Twitter 52

SBI Growth

AUGUST 7, 2013

However, we frequently see Sales VPs still stuck in the sales manager mindset. An ill-prepared sales manager damages his region. A Sales VP focused on the wrong things can ruin the entire company. They cross collaborate with manager peers, their reps, and the VP. He helps the new reps ramp up quickly.

Construction 334

Construction Ideal Customer Profile Territories Compensation 334

PandaDoc

JANUARY 27, 2020

‘Tis the season of packed yoga classes, downloadable budget templates, and book recommendations. If you’re looking to level up your sales career in 2020 but don’t know where to start, we suggest checking out one, two, or all three of the must-read books listed below to get you equal parts inspired and fired-up to crush your quotas this year.

Cold Calling 121

Cold Calling Proposal Quota Sales Cycle 121

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Today’s post is the first of three directed to Sales Operations leaders. Resource allocation is critical to success for sales. Customer/prospect segmentation is a key first step in making wise allocation decisions. What is the revenue opportunity from prospects? The sales team on the street delivers the revenue.

Segment 288

Segment Customer Territories Penetration 288

Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 22, 2012

Their career prospects will not be good. Is there a way to speed up the adoption of Social Selling and Sales 2.0? Vehicles like the Sales 2.0 conference and Anneke Seley’s great book Sales 2.0 have certainly brought these approaches to the attention of sales people and managers worldwide.

Social Selling 312

Social Selling Hiring Solutions Selling Travel 312

Sales and Marketing Management

JUNE 25, 2018

I know, you fell into sales, and perhaps from there, sales management. How do I stay fired up when I prospect? I listen intently and try to figure out what makes each business model unique and each prospect like a snowflake. If hesitation, don't work there - that's an anti-sales culture.

B2B 319

B2B Banking Conference Decision Maker 319

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 17, 2013

At the end of the day, sales is still about people buying from people. My new book— Pick Up the Damn Phone!: How People, Not Technology, Seal the Deal — focuses on the intersection of sales, technology, and referrals—the marriage of the old (relationships) with the new (technology). No More Cold Calling Audio Book.

Cold Calling 252

Cold Calling Referrals Small Business Small Business 252

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 21, 2013

The only way to keep your pipeline full of HOT, qualified leads is to prospect through referrals. To learn all about the role of technology and referrals in sales, get your copy of my new book: Pick Up the Damn Phone!: It’s been nominated as the “ 2013 Top Sales and Marketing Book ” by Top Sales World. (I’d

Sales Qualified Lead 263

Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring Leads 263

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 22, 2013

In fact, 86 percent of business buyers engage in research independent of the sales cycle. Before they make contact with us, prospects have usually checked us out, compared pricing, read a white paper or two, listened to a webinar, and/or viewed a demo. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business' Comment Here.

Buyer 271

Buyer Face-to-face Social Media Small Business 271

SBI Growth

JULY 22, 2013

There are 10 best practices Sales VPs have taken to ensure this doesn’t happen. Below are five of the 10: Sales Manager/VP field sales rides : Participating with your sales reps on more field calls leads to increased revenue. Make the sales job fun. Sales people get referrals more often through Linked In.

Hiring 325

Hiring Top of Funnel How To Social Selling 325

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 12, 2014

Others say prospects use objections to test your sales savvy or to see how you respond. Either way, moving qualified buyers into your forecast and increasing your sales pipeline means addressing objections—without being defensive. Here’s his take: “How do you overcome that objection prospects always give?

Objections 240

Objections Face-to-face Small Business Small Business 240

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 24, 2013

But while referrals are our biggest competitive differentiator, most companies have only a hit-and-miss process for referral prospecting. So sales teams miss out on the most powerful business-development tool that exists. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business' It’s in our DNA to share great finds.

Sales Process 266

Sales Process Referrals Small Business Small Business 266

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 14, 2019

As I reflected on my career in sales and sales management, I realized my best business had come from referrals. I did my “feet on the street” research and interviewed sales leaders and salespeople. Prospects trust us. Soon, people began asking if I had a book. Was this company asking? But I had to ask.).

Referrals 291

Referrals Cold Calling Survey Scale 291

Hubspot Sales

MARCH 7, 2018

It’s in most motivational speeches, it’s all over LinkedIn via “sales gurus,” and it’s used in almost every book about sales, sales leadership, or sales management. Check out my book on how to run a more human-centric sales process to win more customers. Why do I like this definition?

Prospecting 145

Prospecting Hubspot Inbound Up-Sell 145

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

You are the ultimate sales technology! The same is true for your prospects and clients. Many of them have contributed to the effectiveness of salespeople, but none of them has managed to replace us. What you don’t do is rely on it to make a sale. The next time you connect with a prospect , really connect.

Sales Technology 249

Sales Technology Small Business Small Business Enterprise 249

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Inbound marketing might seem like the magic formula for easy sales, but it’s not. It doesn’t qualify our prospects, and it certainly doesn’t set us up to make quota. For more on how relationships drive sales, get your copy of my new book, Pick Up the Damn Phone!: Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business'

Inbound 253

Inbound Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Lead 253

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 3, 2013

However, isn’t your goal to connect with people, engage them in conversation, identify key prospects , and leave with follow-up actions? When you don’t treat every prospect you meet at tradeshows like potential customers , you’re wasting your time and theirs. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business'

Small Business 293

Small Business Small Business Cold Calling ACT 293

No More Cold Calling

JULY 14, 2015

No one had time to prospect, because they couldn’t keep up with the business coming in every day. The problem was that sales management had their heads in the sand. Leadership and Management—You Can’t Have One without the Other There’s an important distinction between sales management and sales leadership.

Sales Management 120

Sales Management Hiring Referrals Conference 120

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

We have some great news from the Proactive Prospecting Club , we have added a new course, and, members get a discount! Our new addition is timely “How To Conduct A Professional Video Meeting” Since the spring of 2020, it seems almost every meeting, sales, or otherwise is a video meeting. By Tibor Shanto.

Course 235

Course Hiring Video Discount 235

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

Social media is a great tool for researching prospects and Referral Sources, and for positioning yourself as a thought leader. But it is not the place for a sales pitch. If you’re sending sales offerings to strangers on social media, you’re pretty much cold calling. Click To Tweet - Powered By CoSchedule. Ask how you can help.

Cold Calling 281

Cold Calling Social Media Referrals Face-to-face 281

No More Cold Calling

MAY 13, 2014

” That’s the intro to my new book, Pick Up the Damn Phone!: Conversation is the key to problem-solving and relationship-building, which couldn’t be more important in sales. Share a story about a time when a meaningful conversation with a prospect helped you seal the deal. Are Your Conversation Skills Getting Rusty?

Twitter 250

Twitter Referrals Cold Calling Small Business 250

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 1, 2019

The problem is with typical sales metrics. If sales managers hold their people accountable for the number of phone calls they make, emails they send, and invitations and InMails on LinkedIn, that’s how they’ll prospect. The trust the prospect has for the referral source is transferred to the salesperson.

Referrals 289

Referrals System Cold Calling Social Media 289

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

What can we learn from our ancestors about connecting with prospects and clients? We probably still think like our caveman ancestors,” writes physicist Michio Kaku, author of a popular new book, The Future of the Mind. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Salespeople Small Business' Connect with No More Cold Calling.

Wireless 274

Wireless Face-to-face Fashion Cold Calling 274

Sales and Marketing Management

APRIL 1, 2019

So, as a sales manager, you need to guide your top salespeople in choosing new skills to learn and next-step goals to accomplish. Examples of skills and attitudes in your success profile could include: Prospects consistently, strong work ethic. Excellent at coordinating sales activities of each member of the account team.

Motivation 314

Motivation Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Guidelines 314

Sales and Marketing Management

MAY 10, 2020

To me, the most important role of management is to motivate and remove obstacles for their sales teams. While our sales teams at WhiteHat Security have always been distributed, communicating with customers and prospects exclusively over the phone or video is a new challenge. Finding the Right Customers.

Face-to-face 302

Face-to-face Hiring Lead Rank Lead Scoring 302

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 10, 2013

It’s easier to go along with what everyone else is doing—to write blogs, comment on social media, write catchy email subject lines, rely on inbound marketing to fill your pipeline, and believe that 67 percent of the buying process is complete before prospects ever talk to a salesperson. How do you use technology in your sales process?

Data 248

Data Social Media Small Business Small Business 248