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Although this article will provide a blueprint for building a strong, full, and sustainable pipeline, we begin with a hospital analogy. When I was in the hospital for surgery in February, and during the recovery that followed, I had specific KPIs assigned at discharge that I was required to meet. After a few weeks, I chose and added some personal milestones to demonstrate progress in my recovery.
Sales manager training is widely recognized as a key performance driver, yet many companies fail to invest in and deliver sales manager training programs regularly. In the latest episode of the Sales Readiness Podcast, our host Ray Makela sat down with Dave Lingebach, Senior Research Manager at SBI, to dive into the implications of providing dedicated frontline sales manager training.
Not all sales shortcuts are created equal. Some, like scheduling follow-up emails or creating a repeatable framework for researching prospects, streamline your day without harming the quality of your work. Others save you time but damage your results meaning youll ultimately be less productive for using them. As the expression goes, If you dont have time to do it right, you wont have time to do it again.
Despite writing about sales process quite frequently over the years, this article will take a very different approach. Let’s define a couple of terms: Sales Process – a series of 4-6 stages, each with 5-10 milestones, that provide salespeople with a repeatable framework for sales success. Sales Methodology – a repeatable approach that guides salespeople to have quality conversations that move the sales process forward from milestone to milestone and from stage to stage.
Today’s buyers expect more than generic outreach–they want relevant, personalized interactions that address their specific needs. For sales teams managing hundreds or thousands of prospects, however, delivering this level of personalization without automation is nearly impossible. The key is integrating AI in a way that enhances customer engagement rather than making it feel robotic.
One of the biggest challenges for a sales organization is moving upmarket. For example, if you target the small- and medium-sized business market (SMB) and now want to target enterprise customers thats where the money is you need to rethink how you sell. Enterprise and SMB selling are fundamentally different, and each requires its own sales process, metrics, and unique selling skills.
Last week I wrote this important article about how you can use sales process to increase revenue by 28%. The article was incomplete because while it discussed which category of sales process you had, what a proper sales process must include, the importance of a predictive sales scorecard, and the benefits of both, it did not include anything about governance.
Last week I wrote this important article about how you can use sales process to increase revenue by 28%. The article was incomplete because while it discussed which category of sales process you had, what a proper sales process must include, the importance of a predictive sales scorecard, and the benefits of both, it did not include anything about governance.
There are entire books written about building trust in selling, but for today, we will focus on one key element that may seem quite ordinary and obvious but is actually a well-honed skill of highly successful salespeople. And that skill is: Find out what your client or prospect wants. How is that done?
Even the most driven sales teams require the right resources to effectively target prospects, nurture relationships, and close deals. Theres certainly no shortage of sales tools available to help your team master every step in the modern sales process. The bad news? There are way too many of these tools, and their competing claims and different overlapping use cases make it challenging to assemble an effective GTM tech stack.
Top sales teams win with referrals. Are you keeping up? As Q1 comes to a close, CROs face a critical inflection point. The foundation you lay now will determine whether your teams spend the rest of the year scrambling to fill pipeline gaps or confidently closing high-value deals. Without a referral-first mindset, pipeline uncertainty loomsleading to missed targets, longer sales cycles, missed quotas, and end-of-year panic.
Coaching of sales teams is usually done as needs arise. If a salesperson has a deal he needs to close, he may talk it through with his sales manager. Or if a salesperson has a specific problem submitting paperwork or with technology, coaching may take place. Of course, these items must be addressed. But ultimately, we must coach for sales success. We must coach bankers and advisors to go out and win more business.
Are you struggling with slow quoting cycles, complex product configurations, and disconnected data in your manufacturing/distribution business? This article will help. Learn how industrial companies are revolutionizing sales processes with an integrated platform that includes quoting, inventory, and service, providing real-time data and offline access for field teams.
Ill never forget one of my first big sales meetings. I walked out feeling defeated, convinced Id blown it. The prospect had bombarded me with tough questions and objections, and the whole time I thought they were poking holes in my pitch because they werent interested. Later on, a mentor would point out that those grilling questions were actually a buying signal in disguise.
Kyle, a field sales rep from British Columbia is struggling with a common prospecting challenge: how to consistently prospect when you're constantly on the move. Kyle's situation likely resonates with many of you in outside sales. He described his typical daystarting at job sites at 7:30 AM, running between appointments, sending proposals from his truck, and working from Starbucks in between meetings.
The ability to track sales metrics and KPIs is the closest thing that sales leaders get to having a crystal ball. The right metrics can instantly reveal which reps are most active, which are most efficient and which need additional coaching in order to hit goals. But beyond merely revealing insight into reps’ performance, tracking the right sales KPIs is critical to assessing they overall health of your sales pipeline.
Introduction Starting a new sales job can feel like joining a game midway where everyone else knows the rules but you. You need to learn new tools, have targets to hit as well as interact with people who seem to have been doing this forever. Doesn’t it take a toll on your confidence? It does, and that’s normal! This is exactly where sales onboarding becomes your saviour.
Modern go-to-market teams know it takes more than one email to break through the noise. Multiple touchpoints means more ways to get your pitch right — and, potentially, more ways to be wrong. The good news? Once you know how to write compelling, one-off emails to entice prospective customers, you can easily do the same across a short sequence of emails.
Like the rest of us, sales managers and their teams are creatures of habit. In many ways, their routines and schedules are influenced by their environment, and change can be frustrating. With so many sales teams currently working remotely, managers need to be mindful of how such changes affect the day-to-day activities that keep their teams productive, such as offering praise and using technology.
The next interview hosted by John Golden talked with Shell Mendelson. Shell is a career coach with over 30 years of experience. She helps adults with ADHD find work they enjoy and thrive in. They talked about how hard it can be for people with ADHD in regular jobs. They also shared how companies can help these workers do their best. This post shares the most helpful tips from their chat.
Sales training programs fail due to not understanding the pitfalls in selling to todays connected buyer and the solutions they expect, which go way beyond the product. Read on to why many sales training programs fail and why. Sales training programs are critical to a business seeking to acquire new customers and deepen relationships with existing customers.
Everybody wants the hacks. The quick fix. The shiny new tool. The LinkedIn post that magically draws leads like moths to a flame. But let me give it to you straight: Sales isnt won with hacks. Its won with habits. And the habits that win are the ones most reps abandon the minute things get uncomfortable or boring. If youre not hitting your number, its probably not because you need better leads, better tech, or better timing.
October Prime Day is usually an early sign of how consumer spending trends ahead of the holidays. This one was no exception. Our October Prime Day Report breaks down what’s working: the products flying off the shelves, the categories winning big, big brands, and the search terms defining demand. All brought to you via Similarweb’s Shopper Intelligence platform.
Whether you love them, hate them, or simply tolerate them, quotas are synonymous with sales. They set expectations, structure compensation, and give revenue leaders a number to chase. But lately, many sales teams find that quota attainment has become harder than ever. Fewer reps are hitting their numbers , account slippage makes forecasting unpredictable, and territory planning often feels misaligned with actual sales opportunities.
Im not sure theres any activity more closely associated with sales than cold calling. It can be the trial by fire that preps SDRs for a career in the field, the day-to-day responsibility that keeps reps diligent and engaged, and the basis for a ton of sales org's prospecting infrastructures. Its been a staple of several salespeoples professional lives one that can be every bit as obnoxious as it is essential.
As a sales rep, you can read all the sales books and blogs, watch all the instructional videos, and become something of a minor theoretical knowledge expert. And while this is both valuable and helpful, what will likely make the biggest impact in your sales career is receiving expert sales coaching. Why? Because expert sales coaching takes concepts and applies them to real-world scenarios, so you can clearly see the what and how of doing things more effectively.
In a special episode, host John Golden talked with Shelley Rosetta. Shelley is a sales expert with over 30 years of experience in the furniture industry. She knows a lot about sales, leadership, and how to grow a business correctly. Lets break down the key lessons Shelley shared about becoming a strong sales leader in the furniture world. Why Sales Leadership Matters Great sales leadership is not just about selling more.
What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.
Introduction In todays hypercompetitive market, having a fantastic product is no longer enough to guarantee sales success. The difference between a sales team that hits targets and one that consistently exceeds them often lies in the support structure around itsales enablement. This strategic discipline ensures that salespeople have the necessary tools, content, processes, and technology to engage buyers effectively and close deals more efficiently.
Dennis from Chesterfield, Missouri, wants to know if sales coaching truly moves the performance needle, especially when shifting from transactional approaches to more consultative selling. Below are the key insights from our conversation on why coaching matters, how it boosts sales and culture, and what leaders should do right now to make it happen.
People are people, so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully–Depeche Mode During a conversation with a friend who is the CEO of a small professional services firm the question came up how well do you know this person? and do you know them like a real person? Looking at these questions on the page, they seem a bit odd. But Ive found in practice they are not.
Every sales professional has the same experience: The end of the quarter looms, and youre still waiting for leads to convert into paying customers. As a business owner, Ive been there too juggling multiple clients, pitching new writing projects, and managing endless follow-ups. But, the days of manually managing business may be over. AI sales agents are reshaping the landscape, automating the sales process, and guaranteeing that no lead goes cold.
This guide is for leaders who recognize the importance of Salesforce but would rather trust a team of external experts to do the heavy lifting. Choosing the right managed services provider is a significant decision that impacts your business's efficiency and success. In this 10-minute read, you'll find 5 essential questions to ask any potential provider.
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