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 and Marketing Management

JULY 6, 2017

Sales calls, presentations, proposals, territory plans – every key sales rep activity and interaction is (ideally) captured in CRM so leaders can answer their most critical questions at a glance: Are my salespeople doing the right things? Management Matters. And their lackluster sales managers.

Sales Management 205

Sales Management Quota Territories CRM 205

Sales 2.0

AUGUST 29, 2022

It can be a “triple whammy” for the company as they lose the revenue of a top performer, need to fill a critical “seat” in the sales organization and have a group of salespeople that are not performing to their full potential. Per David Brock, a sales manager’s job is to be a coach.

Sales Management 195

Sales Management Face-to-face Proposal Promotion 195

Sales 2.0

AUGUST 29, 2022

It can be a “triple whammy” for the company as they lose the revenue of a top performer, need to fill a critical “seat” in the sales organization and have a group of salespeople that are not performing to their full potential. Per David Brock, a sales manager’s job is to be a coach.

Sales Management 39

Sales Management Face-to-face Proposal Promotion 39

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 15, 2025

Do you ever circle back, repurpose slide decks and proposals, become nostalgic, rewatch movies or TV series? Informed: These are written by bonafide sales experts who know that BANT is as outdated as a horse-drawn carriage and a manual typewriter. When my son was small, he loved watching the same movies and shows over and over again.

Sales Process 173

Sales Process Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Lead 173

Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 25, 2021

The problem of missing decisionmakers most often shows up when companies submit a proposal and never hear anything back. Following a systematic process to identify decisionmakers, understand their interests, and have them “coauthor” proposals, can significantly boost closing ratios. Sales time sucks. Sales management.

Territories 396

Territories Compensation Scale Decision Maker 396

Cincom Smart Selling

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Quote and proposal software has generated a lot of buzz. Postings on social media, commentary from industry analysts, as well as user and vendor blog posts and white papers, all offer advice and information about automating the quote and proposal functions within the enterprise. Price, sophistication, and performance widely vary.

Proposal 48

Proposal Software Software Scale 48

Highspot

APRIL 1, 2025

That’s what traditional sales role-playing feels like: forced, vague, and anxiety-inducing. Sales managers know role-play is essential to improve sales performance , yet the old methods make it difficult to coach effectively and drive improvement. Mistakes are actual learning opportunities, not career setbacks.

Training 52

Training Sales Management Hiring Lead Rank 52

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

It''s their sales managers, who are almost as much in the dark as their salespeople. Want an example of sales management being in the dark? End of Quarter Closing is a great example of sales management dysfunction! Who is holding them accountable and allowing this malpractice to continue?

Decision Maker 313

Decision Maker Proposal Sales Cycle Exact 313

Sales 2.0

APRIL 27, 2014

And I didn’t even mention writing proposals. If you’ve read much of my stuff or hung out with me you will know I have several allergies to writing proposals. Proposal writing soaks up immense amount of time (and resources.) I’ve seen sales people in my teams spend a day generating a proposal.

Lead Rank 268

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Proposal Gatekeeper 268

Membrain

MARCH 19, 2025

The proposal trap: You just got off the phone with what you thought to be a promising prospect. At the end of the conversation, you told the prospect that youd be sending them a proposal.

Proposal 77

Proposal Customer Prospecting Conversion 77

SBI Growth

MARCH 22, 2013

In particular, the front-line Sales Manager - a critical role responsible for marshaling a team of revenue makers. This post includes a downloadable Sales Leader Curriculum. This tool is perfect for HR Business Partners who serve the Sales function. It will help to prevent vacant Sales Management positions.

How To 312

How To Sales Leadership Exercises Proposal 312

SBI Growth

JUNE 12, 2013

It was submitted by the head of sales at a client company of mine. If you have ever wondered “ why did the sales manager quit? I think the reasons this sales manager quit are typical, unfortunately. Replacing a sales manager takes lots of time and effort. this might be informative. Sincerely, Bob. -.

Hiring 331

Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Social Media Commission 331

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 23, 2012

Sales processes are almost always designed inward out. A group of sales managers and reps get together and determine how they think they should sell. They cobble together activities that occur during a sale. Submit a proposal (Phase 3). The reps race to get proposals on the table as fast as possible.

Forecasting 316

Forecasting Sales Forecasts Top of Funnel Proposal 316

SBI Growth

JUNE 23, 2013

In this post we will discuss how pipeline reviews can expose Sales Management. Here is an example pipeline review between a Private Equity firm and Sales Leader. This Sales Leader had aggressive goals. Sales Leader: Sometimes my team enters deals into the CRM once they are ready to propose. You get the idea.

Pipeline 321

Pipeline Quota Sales Cycle Proposal 321

No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2021

If your team has trouble closing, go back to the beginning—qualifying prospects—and examine your entire sales process for missing links and ineffective tactics. Ask yourself: How are sales reps sourcing leads? How are sales reps qualifying their leads? What is their sales plan for following up? And that’s referral leads.

Closing 409

Closing Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring 409

Sales 2.0

AUGUST 21, 2014

But I also write the things I need to write for clients, whether that is proposals or the actual writing that I do around the work we are doing together. I put sales and marketing first every day. Sales Management' I use the first hour to write.

Call-back 375

Call-back Proposal Course Benefit 375

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 28, 2014

This is the 10th article in a January series on the Architecture of the Sales Force. Here are the others: Organic Sales Growth and Its Impact on Sales Architecture. Overlooked Conversation Between Sales Managers and Salespeople. Do Technical Salespeople Need Sales Training? I will be speaking at the Sales 2.0

Lead Rank 244

Lead Rank Sales Methodology Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead 244

SBI Growth

AUGUST 22, 2013

It follows the format of your typical sales proposal. Presentation - the candidate presents the proposal to a Review Panel that consists of the hiring manager, HR and an objective 3rd party. Sales Manager - Scenario: Only 2 of 8 members of the sales team are making the number.

Hiring 300

Hiring Proposal Exercises Lead Rank 300

SBI Growth

JANUARY 27, 2013

She didn’t go to Sales with a traditional “here is what HR can do for you”. Instead, she took time to deeply understand Sales’ perspective. That made her a better partner – by proposing that she work on Sales priorities. Hanna first tried to understand what Sales thinks about HR. First Things First.

Hiring 308

Hiring Compensation Commence Sales Talent 308

The Pipeline

AUGUST 14, 2014

Examples in sales may be lead to opportunity conversions, or proposals to close. You often hear sales managers and director speak of how they are doing against their KPI’s. Determined in advance, measurable and quantifiable, they are instrumental in helping to assess progress, and plan course correction if needed.

Workbooks 288

Workbooks Incentives Incentive Distribution 288

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

While that''s the case with technology, it doesn''t vary too much from that in non technology sales where most people believe that sales success boils down to one of two things; either a critical mass of meetings, or a proposal or quote. I''m sure I''ve missed a few but you get the gist.

Sales Methodology 215

Sales Methodology Inbound Decision Maker Consultative Selling 215

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

However, when he demanded a proposal by 9:00 the next morning, I was out of there. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Salespeople Small Business' When we finally met, he was anything but pleasant. I should have trusted my gut and walked away. But I didn’t. I’m a pro. I can deal with anyone. What a relief!

Referrals 274

Referrals Case Study Energy Margin 274

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 17, 2013

Their sales managers are not holding them accountable for qualifying. Their lack of adhereance to a formal, structured, sales process allows them to sell by the seat of their pants, and skip directly to a presentation, demo, proposal or quote. Have a customized, formal, structured sales process developed.

Decision Maker 269

Decision Maker Consultative Selling Buying Cycle Proposal 269

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. As the sales manager, it’s your job to keep your top salespeople motivated. That’s the best way to lead your sales team to greatness! What’s the worst that can happen?

Motivation 314

Motivation Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Guidelines 314

Sales and Marketing Management

JANUARY 1, 2018

Davis In a SMMConnect webinar I delivered to over 100 sales managers recently, I talked about eight instincts they developed as salespeople that are now harming their effectiveness as team leaders. Interestingly, about 30 percent of the participants said that the sales instinct they struggle with the most is “avoiding conflict.”.

Hiring 260

Hiring Webinar Metrics Forecasting Proposal 260

Sales Gravy

DECEMBER 29, 2024

Maybe you want to be a sales manager, or if youre a manager, you want to be a director or VP of sales. Add to that the grind: making call after call, stuffing data into the CRM, pushing through proposals, handling endless follow-ups and sellingbecomes tedious, hard, rejection dense work.

Face-to-face 98

Face-to-face Decision Maker Call-back Commission 98

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 14, 2014

If a modern-day sales process is milestone-centric (key outcomes that must be achieved during a sales cycle), then a modern-day sales methodology must support those milestones. As sales processes go, the steps could be as simple as the following: Appointment. This is a horribly designed sales process! Negotiation.

Sales Methodology 271

Sales Methodology Negotiation Proposal Analysis 271

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 8, 2014

They find a few opportunities and spend hours writing and delivering proposals, presenting, following up and chasing closable prospects with little to show for it. Nothing changes without effective sales managers spending half of their time coaching and growing their salespeople and impacting their opportunities!

Top of Funnel 252

Top of Funnel Proposal Coaching Networking 252

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 20, 2015

If you’re a sales manager, you’ve probably even said it. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during early stages of the sales process. I asked my client how the sales reps prepared. ” Was their sales manager clueless, or what? You are now a true sales manager.

Closing 120

Closing Sales Management Referrals Ideal Customer Profile 120

SBI Growth

JUNE 3, 2013

Yoda’s’ new sales leader was proposing a new sales process project. The sales manager was nervous as he spoke. Make your next sales project successful. However, your sales managers are inexperienced. You could actually see the sales leader begin to relax. Completion dates.

Hiring 300

Hiring Follow-up Proposal Training 300

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 12, 2014

Of course, youll never get to hear about their problems or propose your solutions if you drop off the radar until its time to renegotiate annual contracts. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Salespeople Small Business' So when was the last time your clients heard from you? Hello, Stranger. Comment Here.

Face-to-face 266

Face-to-face Cold Calling Small Business Small Business 266

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

The most troublesome loss is one the sales team virtually guaranteed. I recently spoke with a sales manager about a big deal one of his reps lost. We were finishing up some last bits on the proposal and T&Cs. Conduct an internal post mortem with your rep and sales manager. The Situation. We had a verbal.

Call-back 282

Call-back Guarantee Exercises Follow-up 282

Sales and Marketing Management

MARCH 18, 2019

That’s why our ideal B2B sales processes draw on our Three P’s – prepare, probe and propose. Think of it as an opportunity to uncover interests, issues, and insights that will fuel how you propose options to move the deal forward, rather than jumping directly to assumption-based solutions.

Negotiation 214

Negotiation B2B Proposal Ideal Customer Profile 214

The Pipeline

JUNE 12, 2014

Regardless of the title, the role of the front line manager is to lead their teams in executing the process, by leveraging and balancing activities and the coaching of their team to consistently better execute the high value activities that drive the process. Straight forward enough but not necessarily simple. sell better Tibor Shanto'

Penetration 267

Penetration Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face Coaching 267

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

66% of Sales Reps believe that increasing the time invested by sales managers would help to increase their sales. After all, sales management is responsible for Sales Performance Management. Your manager is one of those tools. Two simple strategies: Increase your access to coaching.

Ideal Customer Profile 300

Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Lead Scoring Analysis 300

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

Author: Matthew Sunshine If you’re a sales manager, you know this to be true: Having that tough conversation with a salesperson who isn’t meeting goals is never fun. As a sales manager, see whether this sounds familiar: You sit down with an underperforming salesperson and open with a statement like, “You’re not hitting your numbers.”

Coaching 257

Coaching Construction Pivotal Positioning 257