Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 9, 2024

Most sales teams win fewer than half their “games,” and while defense can’t be blamed, pitching can! Unlike the Red Sox, most sales teams have too much pitching (demos and presentations)! As of this writing, they have assessed 106 sales and sales management candidates.

Hiring 358

Hiring Lead Rank Lead Scoring Compensation 358

SBI Growth

JANUARY 6, 2013

How many changes do you have lined up for your sales organization to start 2013? Are you changing the compensation plan? Are you changing the sales process ? As a Sales Operations leader part of your role is enabling field sales to adopt change. 3 Keys to Navigating Change Management in Sales. Frustrated?

Compensation 317

Compensation Survey Quota Field Sales 317

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

The first monthly commission statements will soon be in your sales reps'' hands. This post is for Sales leaders and HR business partners. Are the compensation mechanisms driving the right behaviors?" To make your assessment easy, SBI has created a 10-point Compensation Inspection tool. is over $800B per year.

Compensation 288

Compensation Territories Hiring Commission 288

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

For HR leaders, a recent Harvard Business Review blog post provides a stark reminder of the difficult challenge of supporting Sales leaders in recruiting top talent. HR can help the Sales leader to improve recruiting results and play a vital role in making the sales number in 2013. First-rate compensation. Hot product.

Sales Talent 312

Sales Talent Territories Compensation Quota 312

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Your Sales Strategy. It is one thing to have a sales strategy. VPs of Sales are asking the question “What have I done before?”. VPs of Sales are asking questions like: Is our Sales Process good enough? Are my Sales Managers good enough? Do This— Start with a Sales Strategy Blueprint. This is flawed.

Compensation 325

Compensation Social Media Incentives Incentive 325

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 19, 2012

My VP of Sales wants me to research trends in inside sales and conduct account segmentation. The sales managers are yelling for updated dashboards and territories. HR is on my back about finalizing the updated compensation plan. Oh, and Marketing wants to discuss sales enablement improvements. Sales Strategy.

Sales Operations 303

Sales Operations Compensation Territories Segment 303

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 24, 2013

A post for Sales and HR Leaders to find root causes of Sales Manager (SM) vacancies. The Sales Manager position is the fulcrum between sales leadership strategy and sales force execution. Teams without effective sales managers lack morale and discipline. You will have access to guides, templates and tools.

Hiring 292

Hiring Positioning Sales Management Compensation 292

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan There are more sales experts, self-professed and otherwise, than ever before. There is more free content on sales and selling than anyone could have imagined. There are categories of sales tools and CRM applications where none existed a few years ago.

Sales Management 288

Sales Management Hiring Compensation Trends 288

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 4, 2012

A post for Sales and HR leaders to ensure success of 2013’s Sales compensation plan. As well, a tool is included – a sample rollout communication plan. A Chief Sales Officer is meeting with Sales VPs and the VP of Sales Operations. We spent countless hours ensuring a high-quality compensation plan.”

Compensation 292

Compensation Channels Fashion Construction 292

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

A few years ago, I interviewed Brent for a B2B sales rep job. This post is for HR and Sales Leaders who are seeking to hire the next Brent. It’s also for those who aspire to become top sales reps. This post includes a link to a valuable tool – the Top Sales Rep''s Satisfaction Index. What Top Performers Need.

Hiring 314

Hiring Social Media Compensation Buyer Persona 314

SBI Growth

JANUARY 27, 2013

She is the new HR Business Partner to the Sales Organization. This advantage will give her a long tenure serving sales. HR and Sales leaders who need better collaboration must read this post. It includes a tool: a profile of the Sales leader (Hanna’s advantage!) Can’t promote a sales manager to a director.

Hiring 308

Hiring Compensation Commence Sales Talent 308

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 12, 2013

Has your Sales Ops planning kept up with the new realities? Setting Quotas, territory structures, headcounts and total compensation budgets are examples. By doing so, you''ll also get the Sales Ops Planning Evolution Guide. By doing so, you''ll also get the Sales Ops Planning Evolution Guide. Where You Can Focus.

Buyer Persona 310

Buyer Persona Territories Compensation Buyer 310

SBI Growth

JULY 2, 2013

This is the top complaint we hear from Sales Leaders. When we ask “B” Leaders why they have a talent issue, here are the top responses: My compensation program isn’t competitive with the market. Our training and onboarding programs haven’t provided the tools and skills to be successful. Many of them are right.

Hiring 310

Hiring Compensation Salary Policies 310

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Perhaps you: Rolled out a new sales process. Changed your sales compensation plan. This article will give you the best practices to implement impactful sales initiatives. To assist you further, sign-up for SBI’s Sales & Marketing Research Review here. Included in this is the Sales Gamification Overview.

Lead Rank 321

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Hiring Airlines 321

SBI Growth

JANUARY 18, 2013

Talent management is a top priority for HR leaders who support sales organizations. But a recent interview with a HR leader revealed another level of sales leader support. At first, it may not seem like an HR leader would be involved in shaping sales force structure. The sales organization must continually adapt.

Compensation 292

Compensation Retention Ideal Customer Profile Territories 292

SBI Growth

JUNE 26, 2013

The average tenure of a B2B Sales VP is about 18 months. That means roughly one-half of B2B sales VP’s last less than 18 months. Today''s post provides ways sales operations can deliver value quickly to a new sales VP. Here''s part of the dialog from a recent call with a sales operations leader. Who will they hire?

Hiring 319

Hiring Lead Rank Compensation Guidelines 319

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 2, 2014

Salespeople loathe sales training. As a sales enablement leader, you know when training is adopted it’s a win-win. Implemented training is directly related to real sales dollars. Your value proposition is defined and justifies the need for future sales training. It’s a prestigious connection to your sales training.

Training 305

Training Commission Compensation Groups 305

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Find out your value with this tool. You have 15-25 years of experience starting as a sales rep. You became a Sales Manager, followed by a Sales Director. As part of the yearly planning process, your boss tells HR to research compensation in the market. HR doesn't have time to do a compensation benchmark properly.

Hiring 293

Hiring Compensation Promotion Territories 293

SBI Growth

JANUARY 19, 2013

Don’t hire the wrong sales leader. The smartest CEOs I know use a tool called The Bad Hire Cost Estimator. It will help you understand how much the wrong sales leader is costing you. This tool is to a sales leader hiring decision what a scale is to a weight loss program. The pain this causes the CEO is severe.

Hiring 326

Hiring Scale Salary Compensation 326

SBI Growth

JANUARY 26, 2014

Sales or marketing challenges exist in every organization. Sales performance may be suffering. The acute issues of 5-10 years back (sales process, CRMs, dialing or direct mail leads, etc.) Some challenges are eternal (sufficient quality talent, sales coaching, account segmentation.). The Wrong Way To Improve.

Hiring 292

Hiring Direct Mail Buyer Persona Salary 292

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 13, 2013

The next time you interview for a sales job, ask yourself a few questions. This article discussed the cost of a bad hire from the Sales Rep’s perspective. To assist you further, sign-up for SBI’s Sales & Marketing Research Review here. You will have access to guides, templates and tools. Research the interviewers.

Hiring 310

Hiring Lead Gen Top of Funnel Penetration 310

SBI Growth

AUGUST 31, 2013

How do you know if your sales force is a high-performing one? This post lists some attributes of high-performance sales cultures. A Culture Creation tool is available by signing up for the SBI Making the 2014 Number tour. It lists 11 traits of high performance sales cultures. Modified the sales compensation and quotas.

Hiring 310

Hiring Transportation Follow-up Lead Rank 310

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 16, 2020

Here are five important steps to make your team referral sales experts. If salespeople were self-motivated, they wouldn’t need sales managers or metrics. That’s why we need sales managers. Actually, what we need is strong sales leadership. Sales managers do what they ask others to do. I’m including myself here.

Referrals 328

Referrals Sales Management Hiring Scale 328

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 19, 2013

A few weeks ago, I was talking to an SVP of sales. The SBI Sales Initiative Assessment Tool has answers. No matter what initiatives your sales organization is considering, this tool carefully evaluates them. After you download the SBI Sales Initiative Assessment Tool , you’ll need to do a little customization.

How To 303

How To Incentives Incentive Demand Generation Targets 303

SBI Growth

AUGUST 7, 2013

Not all “A” Player sales reps were meant to be managers. If you’ve been in sales long enough, you’ve seen this mistake unfold. He neglects his skill development and sales initiatives. Frequently, the top manager gets the nod for the VP of Sales. An ill-prepared sales manager damages his region. His team flounders.

Construction 334

Construction Ideal Customer Profile Territories Compensation 334

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

Deploying a Sales Force Automation tool will not solve the challenges facing your Sales organization. The Sales organization isn’t short on data, it is short on knowledge. Every Sales Leader needs innovative recommendations right now. How are you going to help your VP of Sales to hit the number?

Territories 306

Territories Top of Funnel Compensation Penetration 306

SBI Growth

MARCH 13, 2013

The wrong structure for a sales organization kills performance. The power of the sharpest sales team is dulled by an overly complex organization. As the Sales leader or HR business partner to Sales, you understand the dynamics of sales effectiveness : Success = 50% Talent + 50% Performance Conditions.

Hiring 308

Hiring SAP Travel Compensation 308

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

One of the biggest purchases a Sales Department makes is the CRM system. More aligned sales reps and materials. And the sales team ultimately reverts to old habits. Get your copy by signing up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute ".

System 303

System CRM Compensation Pipeline 303

SBI Growth

JUNE 21, 2013

It’s June and you’re not sure your sales leader is going to last through the year. The secret to hiring a great sales leader is the ‘A’ Player Scorecard. The secret to hiring a great sales leader is the ‘A’ Player Scorecard. Get it free here and nail your next sales leadership hire. He’s missing the number. Competencies.

Hiring 320

Hiring Commission Compensation Account 320

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Successful sales people share certain attributes, some can be learned and developed, some we come by naturally, and if we have less of those than other, we can spend time and effort developing them, and improving our sales habits and results in the process. Two that are common to many successful sales people are ego and confidence.

Intent 288

Intent Face-to-face ACT Compensation 288

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 2, 2014

Salespeople loathe sales training. As a sales enablement leader, you know when training is adopted it’s a win-win. Implemented training is directly related to real sales dollars. Your value proposition is defined and justifies the need for future sales training. It’s a prestigious connection to your sales training.

Training 267

Training Commission Compensation Groups 267

SBI Growth

MAY 17, 2013

Well, a study by the Corporate Executive Board found that Sales and Marketing don’t. In fact, they say 87% of the terms Marketing and Sales use when describing each other are negative. Sure, successful Sales and Marketing relationships exist. So what happens when the head of Sales gets a new Marketing peer?

Marketing 312

Marketing Maximizer Compensation Campaigns 312

SBI Growth

APRIL 19, 2013

Sales “ problems ” make it on to your agenda in many ways. As CEO, sometimes the board feels there is a sales problem that needs attention. The competition is a source of sales problems. It is not uncommon for customers to be a source of sales problems. You could spend all of your time reacting to your sales team.

Lead Rank 276

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Segment How To 276

Score More Sales

JULY 11, 2013

He was my sales colleague. It can take weeks or months for some in sales to truly qualify a sales opportunity. This exercise will help you determine if a sales opportunity is probable or not – it can save you hours or months of effort, and it can help you close business sooner. Get More Answers. Get those answers.

Sales Qualified Lead 309

Sales Qualified Lead Opportunity Lead Rank Lead Scoring 309

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

As a sales ops leader, you face problems every day. For the Sales Ops’ Guide to Selecting a Consultant , click here. By registering for SBI’s Sales & Marketing Research Review , you''ll get the Guide. You''ll also get plenty of other tools to help you meet all types of Sales Ops challenges. Second Step.

Case Study 306

Case Study Face-to-face Compensation Retention 306

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

66% of Sales Reps believe that increasing the time invested by sales managers would help to increase their sales. Now is the perfect time to approach the subject when you’re in discussions regarding quota, compensation and 2013 goals. After all, sales management is responsible for Sales Performance Management.

Ideal Customer Profile 300

Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Lead Scoring Analysis 300

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 29, 2013

There is nothing more stressful than Q4 for a VP of Sales. We will use Sales Leader’s Q4 Critical Path Guide. Your Talent — How to improve your sales manager’s performance. You are strategizing with Sales Managers and reps. You know that there are certain things your EVP of Sales has no control over.

Territories 308

Territories Compensation Buyer Google 308