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 Incentive Incentives 325

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 Scoring 321

Lead Scoring Lead Rank Hiring Airlines 321

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. It seems to have worsened!

Sales Management 288

Sales Management Hiring Compensation Trends 288

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. Poor compensation.

Positioning 292

Positioning Hiring Sales Management Compensation 292

SBI Growth

JANUARY 28, 2013

He made more money than your sales leader. In sales, it’s a different story. We regularly survey sales forces. Download the Sales Exit Interview Guide. You’ll be surprised what comes out ahead of sales compensation. Training needs. Sales process issues. Compensation problems. Want proof?

Sports 332

Sports Compensation Lead Scoring Lead Rank 332

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

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. The next finding explains the previous finding.

Data 227

Data Hiring Compensation Quota 227

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

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

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

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. Brent was clearly an “A” player.

Hiring 314

Hiring Social Media Compensation Buyer Persona 314

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

Sales and Marketing Management

JULY 26, 2018

Author: Erik Charles When sales professionals look at artificial intelligence (AI), what do they see? And, at that point, the winners and losers will be separated by how well they combine their sales talents with skills for using AI. Before that happens, though, the AI has to be trained?—? Additional data sources.

Training 206

Training Penetration Government CRM 206

Sales 2.0

APRIL 23, 2020

Adapting your sales collateral/marketing pieces to the specialized needs of large accounts. Adapting your sales collateral/marketing pieces to the specialized needs of large accounts. Adapting sales compensation plans to the realities of selling to large accounts.

Enterprise 432

Enterprise Enterprise Penetration Gatekeeper 432

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 22, 2024

Over the past thirty-nine years, I have seen this at so many companies and with executives who believed they could apply DIY to any or all of the following ten functions: Evaluating their sales team – it is usually biased and limited to what they recognize as good.

Comparison 218

Comparison Construction Compensation Sales Leadership 218

No More Cold Calling

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Digital isnt a sales strategy. A sales strategy isnt about tools or trendsits about how your company attracts and serves customers. Yet, too many sales leaders fall into the trap of believing the latest digital sales tools or automation platforms will solve their sales prospecting problems. Hope isnt a strategy.

Referrals 310

Referrals Face-to-face Sales Leadership Quota 310

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Sales compensation planning can be a tricky beast to tame — but know that you’re not alone. I asked 12 incredible sales leaders across the SaaS industry to share their biggest challenges with comp planning and how to overcome them. Related: New to sales compensation planning? Top 10 sales compensation challenges.

Compensation 122

Compensation Lead Rank Commission Engineering 122

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 Social Selling 308

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 Scoring Lead Rank 309

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 5, 2013

The sales organization is into the final run for the year. How has Sales Operations done this year? Did you directly enable the sales organization to close more business? Did you help keep sales expenses in check? With focus, Sales Ops leaders can positively impact sales revenue and costs.

Top of Funnel 296

Top of Funnel Territories Scale Segment 296

SBI Growth

AUGUST 13, 2013

Remaining effective as a sales force means continuous improvement. This might be a new buyer-aligned sales process. Or a redesigned compensation plan. Or training to add emerging practices to your sellers’ skill sets. Or sales recruiting to staff a new go-to-market channel. Who Should Pay?

Hiring 288

Hiring Incentive Incentives Benefit 288

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

66% of Sales Reps believe that increasing the time invested by sales managers would help to increase their sales. Go to your manger and get the training / coaching that you need and deserve. Employ the old Give-Get strategy to negotiate more coaching, training and metric-based analytics. Are you among this 66%?

Ideal Customer Profile 300

Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Lead Scoring Analysis 300

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

SBI Growth

JUNE 4, 2013

For example, how long is your sales cycle? For many of our clients, the average sales cycle exceeds 6 months. In this situation, the sales leader better be evaluating net new leads NOW. Compensation Planning. Why does everyone evaluate sales comp at the end of Q4? Sales Process/Sales Training.

Hiring 308

Hiring Lead Scoring Lead Rank Demand Generation 308

Sales and Marketing Management

OCTOBER 22, 2018

From sales force training and compensation to investments in sales processes and technology, organizations relentlessly seek to pull the right levers that will drive revenue growth and improve sales effectiveness. More than four in 10 sales managers lack the data/metrics to manage their sales reps effectively.

Sales Management 218

Sales Management Hiring Compensation Scale 218

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Can you count on your current Sales Rep behaviors to “Make the Number” in 2013? HR has a stake in this as the governor of company-wide behavior modification, including the Sales Department. Sign up for our Make the Number tour to learn more about how top performing companies will change Sales in 2013. says the Sales rep).

Education 303

Education Penetration Customer Service Sales Qualified Lead 303

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 Compensation Travel 308

Score More Sales

JUNE 30, 2014

To win in sales you, and your company, need a recipe for success. The ingredients to win in sales must be pure and of high quality to create a great, high-end, finished product. Here is what we believe it takes to compete with a strong solid sales team that closes the right deals with great sales velocity.

Hiring 247

Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Territories Commission 247

SBI Growth

AUGUST 17, 2013

Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute." The ability to clearly define roles allows for better alignment with sales and shared metrics (leading & lagging). The cost of mis-hire is 6-8X the base compensation. Are they trained, equipped and motivated?

Ideal Customer Profile 328

Ideal Customer Profile Hiring Lead Rank Compensation 328

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 5, 2012

Effective growth CEOs can balance working on short-term sales tactics and long-term business strategies. A theme emerged around how much time to spend “in” sales tactics. If you act as the de-facto VP of sales, you’re working in the business. Maybe the current sales leader isn’t your long-term player. Taking Action.

Hiring 303

Hiring Sales Talent Tools Exercises 303

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

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 4, 2024

Assessments Compared Data on Sales Excellence Coaching Salespeople MUST READ: Are Assessments as Evil as the Persona Movie Suggests? The Caliper vs OMG Comparison: Which Sales Candidate Assessment is More Predictive? How to Transform Your Sales Pipeline Today Can Malcom Gladwell Explain the Sales Hiring Problem?

Hiring 159

Hiring Sales Leadership Sales Forecasts Forecasting 159

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

It is the first night of sales kickoff for a $400 million communications company. My sales force tells me they can’t make it. Three years ago I dropped a King’s ransom with a compensation consultant. Before that I spent a small fortune on sales training. Did you know that I personally made 27 sales calls this year?

Banking 288

Banking Software Software Competition 288

SBI Growth

JANUARY 24, 2014

Chances are you have just returned from your annual Sales Kickoff (SKO). SKO’s are great to re-energize and learn about sales direction for the upcoming year. But what about that sales training you received? Companies invest a lot of money and resources in sales training. Having a solid plan. 4) Execute!

Sales Qualified Lead 299

Sales Qualified Lead Compensation Call-back Energy 299

Score More Sales

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

Imagine a time when you can work totally on the go with your mobile device – phone or tablet – to create business, follow-up with customers, train your team, assess your pipeline, and work a smooth system. There are new tools and ideas coming out now that will change forever how we think about business process, marketing and sales.

Workbooks 232

Workbooks Analytics Territories Compensation 232

Sales and Marketing Management

JANUARY 23, 2020

Author: Dave Gerry Building a winning sales organization is no small task. Finding and hiring the right kind of people with the right mix of skills, developing a compensation plan, identifying training needs and aligning everyone with business goals can all be daunting. . . Sales Takes the Lead.

Hiring 218

Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Scale Compensation 218

Sales and Marketing Management

MAY 7, 2018

Author: Bob Junke Recently, I had the honor of being asked by the Sales Enablement Society (SES) to offer my definition of sales enablement as an alternative to the one the SES Definition Working Group came up with. Defining sales enablement is important. Google “sales enablement definition” and you will get plenty of results.

Sales Enablement 192

Sales Enablement Hiring Compensation Buyer 192