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. There is a direct and compelling link between frontline sales manager effectiveness and topline revenue performance.

Sales Management 218

Sales Management Hiring Compensation Scale 218

Sales and Marketing Management

JULY 6, 2017

For most organizations, the answer is to gain visibility into the activities of individual sales reps. If leaders can’t see what salespeople are doing, they can’t manage what their reps are doing. Nor can they make smart investments in improving sales capability. Management Matters. Management Matters.

Sales Management 205

Sales Management Quota Territories CRM 205

Sales 2.0

AUGUST 29, 2022

A classic issue in sales forces is promoting one of the top performing sales reps to the manager of a sales team, then having them fail in this new role. I just became much clearer on why this happens and what can be done about it, by reading just one section of David Brock’s book “The Sales Manager Survival Guide”.

Sales Management 195

Sales Management Face-to-face Proposal Promotion 195

Sales 2.0

AUGUST 29, 2022

A classic issue in sales forces is promoting one of the top performing sales reps to the manager of a sales team, then having them fail in this new role. I just became much clearer on why this happens and what can be done about it, by reading just one section of David Brock’s book “The Sales Manager Survival Guide”.

Sales Management 39

Sales Management Face-to-face Proposal Promotion 39

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

Cincom Smart Selling

MARCH 9, 2025

Introduction Selling products and delivering sales proposals that create customer value requires buyer and seller understanding of pain points, product and price. That process is quoting and proposing, and sales pros will tell you that knowing when and how to do this effectively is important. What is a Sales Proposal?

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Proposal Lead Rank Lead Scoring Customer 48

No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2021

This broken link is to blame for sales teams’ biggest closing mistakes. “My This is the frustrated lament I hear regularly from sales leaders. But not closing sales is never the real problem. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during earlier stages of the sales process. It’s just a symptom.

Closing 409

Closing Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring 409

SBI Growth

MARCH 22, 2013

This post is about developing Sales Leadership. 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. Sales Leadership.

How To 312

How To Sales Leadership Exercises Proposal 312

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

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 28, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan. 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. Who are they? What size are they?

Lead Rank 244

Lead Rank Sales Methodology Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead 244

Highspot

APRIL 1, 2025

Key Takeaways Traditional sales role play often feels forced and anxiety-inducing, limiting a reps ability to build genuine sales confidence. AI-driven simulations provide judgment-free, personalized feedback, helping managers improve skills without peer scrutiny.

Training 52

Training Sales Management Hiring Lead Rank 52

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!) Hanna first tried to understand what Sales thinks about HR.

Hiring 308

Hiring Compensation Commence Sales Talent 308

SBI Growth

JUNE 3, 2013

How often have you rolled out a new sales project that failed? I met with a veteran CEO and his new sales leader recently. 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. Meet ‘Yoda’.

Hiring 300

Hiring Follow-up Proposal Training 300

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Did you happen to see the movie Gravity? That''s exactly how most salespeople go through each day, through each sales call and meeting, and through each sales cycle. It''s their sales managers, who are almost as much in the dark as their salespeople.

Decision Maker 313

Decision Maker Proposal Sales Cycle Exact 313

Sales 2.0

APRIL 27, 2014

That’s how an initial meeting ended recently with a technology sales person. In general, I liked the way this sales person ran the meeting with us. Probably because I’m so keen on helping sales people I tend to be a pretty “open” buyer. Probably because I’m so keen on helping sales people I tend to be a pretty “open” buyer.

Lead Rank 268

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Proposal Gatekeeper 268

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 14, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan According to FreeDictionary.com , the original definition of Methodology is, "the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge." I''ve written about Sales Methodology before. Qualification.

Sales Methodology 271

Sales Methodology Negotiation Proposal Analysis 271

Sales Gravy

DECEMBER 29, 2024

As you'll learn in this Monday Money podcast episode and article, these goals are essential to helping you maintain sales discipline throughout your sales year. Maybe you want to be a sales manager, or if youre a manager, you want to be a director or VP of sales. Its loaded with rejection.

Face-to-face 98

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

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. Moneyballing: Improving Sales Competencies.

Ideal Customer Profile 300

Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Lead Scoring Analysis 300

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

Believe it or not, most people still believe that sales success boils down to getting a lot of people to agree to watch a demo. Dave Kurlan Inbound Marketing sales methodology closing sales performance sales selelction' I''m sure I''ve missed a few but you get the gist.

Sales Methodology 215

Sales Methodology Inbound Decision Maker Consultative Selling 215

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 22, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan This is the 8th 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. Why is that?

Proposal 235

Proposal Sports Sales Qualified Lead Scale 235

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. Below is a letter of resignation.

Hiring 331

Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Social Media Commission 331

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 8, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan I''ve seen this happen in youth baseball so many times. Are there sales versions of this? An example of a successful, but not necessarily busy salesperson, would be the one whose two whale-sized deals generated three times more business than the rest of the sales force combined.

Top of Funnel 252

Top of Funnel Proposal Coaching Networking 252

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Sales reps love closing big deals. If your sales team has lost a big deal recently, this article is for you. The most troublesome loss is one the sales team virtually guaranteed. The most troublesome loss is one the sales team virtually guaranteed. We were finishing up some last bits on the proposal and T&Cs.

Call-back 282

Call-back Guarantee Exercises Follow-up 282

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 almost always write my daily post at www.thesalesblog.com first thing in the morning.

Call-back 375

Call-back Proposal Course Benefit 375

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. It lists 11 traits of high performance sales cultures. Sales Turnover - A Symptom of a Low Performing Sales Culture. Dani, the VP of North America Sales, is frustrated.

Hiring 310

Hiring Transportation Follow-up Lead Rank 310

Sales and Marketing Management

MARCH 18, 2019

Author: Andres Lares, Shapiro Negotiations Institute A sales negotiation is a process, not an event. Effective sales negotiations, however, are fundamentally proactive. B2B sales are typically more complex than B2C. It starts with a single question: What should my B2B sales process look like? It shouldn’t be complicated.

Negotiation 214

Negotiation B2B Proposal Ideal Customer Profile 214

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

SBI Growth

AUGUST 22, 2013

Some sales candidates look great during the hiring process. HR has worked hard to find capable talent, and Sales has committed time and money to ramp the new hire. If you’re a Sales or HR leader, this may be happening all too often. Sales can learn a lesson here. Here''s a 7-step overview of a tryout for a sales rep. (To

Hiring 300

Hiring Proposal Exercises Lead Rank 300

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

We see this happening to sales operations leaders often. Consistent use of one simple tool by sales will greatly reduce your pain. It's an ongoing sales aid for reps and a needed coaching tool by managers. It focuses sales on simple “yes/no” questions about the opportunity. Get in front of the scramble.

Forecasting 282

Forecasting Call-back Pipeline Face-to-face 282

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. Unless you address the broken links in your prospecting system , your sales reps will continue to struggle. I asked my client how the sales reps prepared.

Closing 120

Closing Sales Management Referrals Ideal Customer Profile 120

The Pipeline

AUGUST 14, 2014

Nice and practical concept, good resume fodder, often misused or abused by many, especially from a sales point of view. As a concept, KPI’s are great, helping sales organizations in defining and measuring progress against stated objectives or goals. Examples in sales may be lead to opportunity conversions, or proposals to close.

Workbooks 288

Workbooks Incentive Incentives Distribution 288

Sales and Marketing Management

APRIL 1, 2019

Sure, they keep the sales rolling in, but they also play a key role in keeping your entire team motivated. So, as a sales manager, you need to guide your top salespeople in choosing new skills to learn and next-step goals to accomplish. Excellent at coordinating sales activities of each member of the account team.

Motivation 314

Motivation Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Guidelines 314

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 17, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Last week I posted this article in reference to an Inc. This is known throughout the selling universe but sales people still suck at this. Non-Supportive Buy Cycle (the way that salespeople buy things doesn''t support ideal sales outcomes). Forget what we want to call the approach.

Decision Maker 269

Decision Maker Consultative Selling Buying Cycle Proposal 269

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

Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 25, 2023

And that, somehow, leads me to sales performance. If they haven’t been exposed to professional selling methodologies and sales processes, and had those demonstrated to them via expert, unscripted role-plays, then they would have no clue that the presenting and proposing they have been doing is woefully inadequate.

Outsourcing Services 201

Outsourcing Services Territories Proposal Sales Methodology 201

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

However, when he demanded a proposal by 9:00 the next morning, I was out of there. You can radically improve your sales effectiveness (and job satisfaction) by getting rid of clients who drain you, your organization, and your profits. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Salespeople Small Business' But I didn’t.

Referrals 274

Referrals Case Study Energy Margin 274

Zoominfo

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

You might not think that automatic sales dialers have that much to offer you. What Is A Sales Dialer? A sales dialer is pretty much what it sounds like: technology that automatically dials numbers for salespeople. You’re a sales representative. Here’s where the sales dialer comes in. You have hundreds.

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Closing Call-back How To Outbound 264