Partners in Excellence

APRIL 25, 2024

Focus on the top of the funnel and everything else will work out. We seem to overlook the questions, “How do we know what ‘Top of Funnel’ we need? ” We cannot focus exclusively on Top of Funnel. What drives our Top of Funnel requirements is what happens in the funnel itself.

Top of Funnel 145

Top of Funnel Funnel Sales Qualified Lead Marketing Qualified Lead 145

Zoominfo

JANUARY 24, 2025

These tools offer visibility into every stage of the sales pipeline, helping teams track performance, identify opportunities, and refine their approach. By visualizing data through intuitive dashboards and providing predictive insights, sales analytics software transforms how businesses approach sales management.

Analytics 246

Analytics Software Software Data 246

The Sales Hunter

MARCH 7, 2017

What does your sales funnel look like? What is the % of leads at the top of your funnel that actually become customers? I see way too much time being spent on keeping names in a sales funnel just for the sake of keeping a sales manager happy. Is it full of junk? It’s time […].

Top of Funnel 266

Top of Funnel Marketing Qualified Lead Leads Funnel 266

The Center for Sales Strategy

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

Sales managers, lets talk about the lifeblood of your teams success your sales funnel. If its weak, your sales will be inconsistent. Heres how you can strengthen your teams funnel and keep revenue flowing. If its strong, your team will have a steady stream of deals to close. Make sure its built for success.

Top of Funnel 83

Top of Funnel Funnel Sales Management How To 83

Gong.io

JULY 25, 2022

One answer to this question is the Sandler pain funnel, a method of establishing need and urgency with prospects that feels more like a consultative interview than it does a sales pitch. In this guide, we’ll explain how the Sandler pain funnel works and illustrate the sales methodology in practice with an in-depth example.

Top of Funnel 117

Top of Funnel Funnel Scale Sales Methodology 117

SBI Growth

JUNE 16, 2013

Our ‘ Flip the Funnel ’ Guide will help you. There are 3 proven ways to really ensure you make the new number: Flip the Funnel : Crunch time leads to turning things upside. Turn your funnel on its head. But put your focus on the bottom of the funnel. Those opportunities in your 3, 4 or 5 stages of your Sales Process.

Top of Funnel 282

Top of Funnel Quota Funnel How To 282

Sales and Marketing Management

JANUARY 31, 2019

Author: Matthew Sunshine As a sales manager, you spend serious time and care setting clear expectations; this is how you help your salespeople approach their work with purpose. A sales manager I once knew was in love with a particular metric: the number of calls each seller made in a day. You’ve got so much on your plate?

Sales Management 184

Sales Management Proposal Top of Funnel Banking 184

Sales 2.0

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

This is the first in a series of interviews with sales management subject matter experts, examining the current and future states of AI in sales. This first interview is with Oliver Churchill , the founder and CEO of Acuity Sales Decision Science. I was curious to hear what he thinks. Oliver: Yes.

Sales Management 195

Sales Management Top of Funnel Data Intent Signal 195

SBI Growth

JANUARY 23, 2014

Marketing is not driving the quality sales leads the field needs. You’re hearing it from your Sales Managers and reps. Your VP of Sales is sick of the excuses. Sales Operations should implement this strategy to help manage the funnel. It will ensure a quality list of leads entering the funnel.

Forecasting 303

Forecasting Prospecting Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Lead 303

Cincom Smart Selling

APRIL 21, 2025

This shift has redefined the role of sales leadership. Its no longer just about hitting quotas; its about designing and executing sales management in a way that is data-driven, technologically integrated, and strategically aligned with the broader business objectives. What is Sales Management?

Sales Management 48

Sales Management Top of Funnel Strategy Scale 48

Sales and Marketing Management

JANUARY 31, 2021

For managers, the ultimate goal for sales coaching is to create an environment where their sales team feels more motivated to learn, grow, and take on greater responsibility. The role of a sales manager is a difficult one and takes a unique type of person. Turnover is notoriously high in sales roles.

Sales Coaching 317

Sales Coaching Top of Funnel Coaching Hiring 317

Funnel Clarity

JUNE 8, 2022

Far too often, companies invest in the sales process and skills for their reps but ignore the sales management process. There needs to be an equal amount of focus on both the sales process and the sales management process.

Top of Funnel 98

Top of Funnel Sales Management Funnel How To 98

Funnel Clarity

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Effective sales coaching is one of the most important parts of the sales management process. It has a direct impact on a sales rep’s performance. Sales teams prioritize training for individual reps but tend to forget that sales coaching for managers is also a skill that needs to be trained and honed.

Top of Funnel 94

Top of Funnel Coaching Funnel Sales Management 94

SBI Growth

JANUARY 10, 2014

Top sales leaders know how to communicate and roll out a sales plan. Get your sales managers involved early in the process. The sales management team needs to have a clear understanding of the new quota. Today’s marketing organizations are generating 25+% of the sales funnel. Start Early.

Quota 316

Quota Top of Funnel Territories Marketing Qualified Lead 316

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 10, 2014

I''m sure this will cause outrage and debate from those who so strongly promote social selling, but when you look at an entire sales cycle, social selling takes place PRIOR to a first call or meeting, before we can consider whether or not to enter an opportunity into the funnel or pipeline. They are marketing themselves.

Top of Funnel 309

Top of Funnel Social Selling Funnel Sales Cycle 309

Apptivo

OCTOBER 8, 2021

Companies across the world, irrespective of their industry type, often have a defined sales process. The concept of sales process came into existence after considering the redundancies faced by sales teams due to unstructured sales management. Sales Funnel Vs Pipeline – An Absolute Guide.

Top of Funnel 98

Top of Funnel Funnel Pipeline Decision Maker 98

Miller Heiman Group

AUGUST 13, 2020

Sales managers are being tested in ways they’ve never seen before, and new managers have even more challenges as they assume their roles in the midst of sweeping change. Here are five ways that sales leaders can help newly minted sales managers accelerate through the turn and spearhead recovery.

Sales Management 107

Sales Management Top of Funnel Funnel Coaching 107

The Center for Sales Strategy

APRIL 17, 2023

If you're like most sales managers, driving revenue consistently and efficiently can be a daunting task. But there are ways to maximize the success of your sales efforts through managing each stage of the funnel properly - from top to bottom.

Top of Funnel 98

Top of Funnel Funnel Revenue Maximizer 98

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. Schedule your field rides with sales reps today.

Hiring 325

Hiring Top of Funnel How To Social Selling 325

SBI

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The Scalable Sales Manager: The Key to Unlocking Your Sales Teams’ True Potential. The role of Sales Manager has always been one of the hardest jobs in sales. To say that sales managers have their work cut out for them would be a massive understatement. by Howard Brown, CEO of ringDNA.

Sales Management 136

Sales Management Scale Top of Funnel Hiring 136

Miller Heiman Group

APRIL 13, 2020

Sales managers normally face a trifecta of shifting demands from buyers, their direct reports and their organization. The COVID-19 pandemic gives sales managers the perfect opportunity to work toward transforming into more capable leaders. Shift From a Sales Manager’s Mindset to Sales Leader’s Mindset.

Top of Funnel 110

Top of Funnel Sales Management Strategy Funnel 110

Gong.io

JANUARY 31, 2022

While the exact list depends on who you ask, the following (alphabetized) traits are all critical for a sales manager: Able to coach, analytical, available, confident, empathetic, good listener, innovative, leads by example, loyal, motivating, passionate, positive attitude, serves vs. dictates, strategic vision, strong communicator, and thoughtful.

Software 118

Software Software Sales Management Sales Forecasts 118

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 8, 2014

For those with difficulty at the top of the funnel, we would need to emphasize strategies to improve engagement and tonality. For those having difficulty at the bottom of the funnel, we would need to emphasize the multiple strategies and milestones that precede closing and how the conversation changes along the way.

Top of Funnel 252

Top of Funnel Proposal Coaching Networking 252

Connect2Sell

JULY 4, 2018

I wanted to give you this formula for pipeline sales management because I get a lot of questions from sellers about: time management, about how to keep the funnel filled, and about when (and if) you should take people out of your funnel.

Pipeline 163

Pipeline Top of Funnel Funnel Sales 163

Zoominfo

MAY 17, 2018

Think about it, how often do deals stall out while your sales team chases down key decision-makers? How often do opportunities revert to an earlier location in the sales funnel or skip to the bottom quickly? For this reason, sales professionals don’t always have a clear view of their pipeline.

Sales Forecasts 232

Sales Forecasts Forecasting Pipeline Scale 232

Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 15, 2013

You can''t possibly know whether or not your metrics for sales cycle, margin, closing percentage, retention, or average sale are going to change until you have completed enough sales cycles to collect the data for an appropriate sample size. This is one of the advantages of pipeline management and CRM.

Top of Funnel 272

Top of Funnel Margin Sales Cycle Retention 272

SBI Growth

MAY 27, 2013

This creates a huge headache for every sales manager. One sales leader we know named Phil took a different approach. These actions stimulated enough opportunities into the funnel to save the quarter. Still, it’s completely subjective. Some reps are confident on every deal. He threw out the simple stage percentages.

Data 323

Data Top of Funnel Hiring Harvest 323

SBI Growth

AUGUST 10, 2013

The Dasboard will allow you to: Improve your sales team''s talent level. Generate more leads at the top of the funnel. Her sales manager knew her potential and sent her to a weeklong sales training. Convert more leads into opportunities. Julie was sick of battling on price.

Training 293

Training Top of Funnel Hiring Hotels 293

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Most clients are assessing somewhere between 10 and 20 candidates per month which, if used at the top of the funnel as recommended, are probably receiving 50% more applications than assessments as some candidates just can’t be bothered to take the assessment. What can we learn from the data? Client #8 is also doing something wrong!

Hiring 211

Hiring Top of Funnel Company Funnel 211

SBI Growth

AUGUST 23, 2013

Competition got more aggressive; funnels are filled with more “no decisions” than ever before. There is a better way to differentiate your sales force from the competition. General Release - You then have to train the entire sales force on the sale process. Q1 quota seemed to be a walk in the park.

Top of Funnel 276

Top of Funnel Competition Buyer Sales Methodology 276

Pointclear

APRIL 17, 2014

That’s how we get our sales funnels clogged with cold leads that waste our time and almost never pan out. From Chris Snell , Inside Sales Manager, SMB at Care.com. ISRs (inside sales reps) rely too much on being farmers, and when dry times come (just like they do for real farmers!)

Inbound 257

Inbound Marketing Sales Qualified Lead Outbound 257

Allego

JULY 29, 2021

Most recently, Cespedes published a new book—his sixth—entitled Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing. . The combination of Cespedes’ academic experience and his knowledge of real-world selling makes him one of the foremost authorities on the topics of sales and sales management.

Strategy 152

Strategy Top of Funnel Lead Rank Funnel 152

Hubspot Sales

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

In other words, as a hiring manager you want to do everything you can to bring the right candidates on your team. We asked HubSpot sales managers for their tips for avoiding costly hiring mistakes. Many hiring managers approach the hiring process feeling like they’ll know the right candidate when they meet them.

Hiring 102

Hiring Sales Management Hubspot Top of Funnel 102

The Center for Sales Strategy

MAY 21, 2024

As a sales manager, you know the frustration of watching your pipeline slow down to a trickle. Here are five lead sources offering a "short route to revenue" to help fill your funnel quickly. When you need a boost of new opportunities to drive revenue quickly, it's time to look beyond your typical marketing channels.

Revenue 127

Revenue Marketing Qualified Lead Leads Top of Funnel 127

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 29, 2014

Fear was only problematic for some, and only at the top of the funnel - when making cold calls. Recovery from rejection affects a much larger part of the sales population and occurs later in the sales process. Sure, a prospect on the receiving end of a cold call could hang up or say, "Not interested", rejecting the caller.

Cold Calling 251

Cold Calling Call-back Top of Funnel Licensing 251

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 27, 2022

We can name them: Account Executive, Territory Manager, Business Development Rep, Sales Development Rep, Account Manager, Key Account Manager, National Account Manager, Channel Manager, Application Engineer, Sales Consultant, Inside Sales, Outside Sales, and more.

Top of Funnel 296

Top of Funnel Sports Territories Outside Sales 296