The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Every company has an online brand, whether it’s crafted intentionally or shaped by external perceptions.

If you're unsure of your company’s brand, do a quick Google search and look at the reviews. Websites like Glassdoor and other employment platforms can offer valuable insights into how your company is perceived.

Ask yourself: Does your company appear inviting to potential candidates?

If not, this could explain the lack of qualified applicants when you have job openings. In today’s uncertain job market, companies with a strong, well-defined employer brand are flooded with applications, while those with a mediocre or negative reputation struggle to attract talent.

Let’s cut straight to it: Talent is something you’re born with.

You can’t create, mold, or magically inject it into someone. You either have it or you don’t. As much as we love a good rags-to-riches story, the truth is, talent can’t be trained into someone—it’s hardwired. And if you’re trying to force a square peg into a round hole by “developing talent” in someone who simply doesn’t have it, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Think for a moment about a manager in your career who made you a better professional. 

What was it about them that helped you grow and uplevel? 

While they surely had some expertise to share, no doubt it was their ability and commitment to give you their attention and coaching.

Leveraging technology to gain a competitive edge is not just advantageous; it's essential. AI-powered communication coaching is at the forefront of this transformation, offering sales teams a revolutionary way to enhance their performance.

By integrating artificial intelligence into sales training, organizations can provide their teams with personalized, data-driven insights that traditional methods simply can't match.

Let’s cut to the chase—there’s no magic formula to building a successful sales team.

Unless, of course, you consider “hiring the right people” a kind of magic. The foundation of any high-performing sales structure starts with one thing: talent.

You can have the latest CRM, a killer product, and the best marketing team behind you, but you're spinning your wheels without the right people in the right roles.

Recruiting the right talent isn’t just important—it’s everything.

Social listening is a powerful tool that can provide crucial insights to help guide decision-making.

Most businesses know this and may already have some social listening tactics. But does your current social listening strategy drive sales?

Keep reading as we explore how social listening is linked to sales and offer some tips to help you grow your sales by improving your social listening.

Prospecting is the cornerstone of sales success. It’s the process of identifying, qualifying, and engaging potential customers.

However, many sales professionals find prospecting daunting. This is where targeted training programs can make a significant difference.

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time talking with managers about their underperforming salespeople.

I want to help leaders win, and having AEs who are not performing is a huge problem for most. This made me reflect on how leaders hire and where they spend their time. Unfortunately, many leaders spend a lot of their time with AEs who have a “talent” deficit.  

You can’t go back to the same dry well looking for water. No matter how much time and energy you put into the well, water will not suddenly appear.

Still, many leaders think they can change the person, and they keep putting time and training into them, hoping they will suddenly “get it”.

Successful leaders coach.

Period.

It’s a skill that is absolutely necessary to succeed in sales and sales leadership. Sellers who don’t receive coaching and feedback get off track, pursuing the wrong leads, prioritizing the wrong activities, and focusing on the wrong goals.

In contrast, sellers who receive good coaching tend to stay on track, finding and connecting with strong prospects, focusing on potential, and realized key accounts, meeting and exceeding their goals.

And leaders who receive ongoing training on improving their interpersonal, business, and leadership skills have teams everyone wants to be a part of.

Not all leaders are natural coaches, but all leaders can learn how to coach.

Here you are again. It’s Monday morning, and your team looks like a pack of zombies. They’re physically present but mentally checked out.

Sound familiar? If so, your team’s engagement levels may be in a slump, which means it’s time to breathe some new life into your workplace culture.

Here are six tactics to boost motivation and performance. Your team will thank you.