The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

One of the first signs that a sales organization of a small company is growing and maturing is that they no longer rely on the sales team to generate leads.

In the early stages of development, a new company requires that everyone “wear multiple hats”. Consequently, the salesperson usually plays the role of Chief Marketing Officer, Marketing Campaign Manager, and Business Development Specialist.

It’s quite simple really—if the salesperson doesn't generate leads, no one will. But as an organization matures, the various Sales and Marketing disciplines should be divided as soon as possible. Not doing so simply makes achieving growth objectives more challenging and makes your life tougher than it needs to be.

Season 3 of the Improving Sales Performance Series is focused on helping sales leaders make an IMPACT on their sales performance through insight on 4 key areas: people, process, planning, and performance.

In Episode 24, Jaleigh Long, Vice President and Market Manager, Atlanta Radio at Cox Media Group, discusses how sales leaders can make an IMPACT on their sales performance through recruitment and selection.

Tune in now to hear the Live broadcast or keep reading for a brief overview.

Being a decision-maker in today’s business world makes them a target for every over-enthusiastic salesperson with their landline number.

Can you imagine how exhausting that must be?

To avoid this trap and maximize every opportunity in today's challenging sales environment, you'll need a workable sales strategy and viable methods of researching prospects.

You know that you can make a real difference to this prospect if you can just get in front of them and show them your magical product.

Here's how to achieve exactly this without getting shot down by your prospect.

Have you ever thought about how the 10,000 foot view from an airplane is often more interesting and illuminating than the proverbial 30,000 foot view?

This is true when looking at a sales organization as well. The 30,000-ft. view that you tend to take with something like a SWOT analysis or other strategic exercises is good, but the 10,000-ft. view might be more appropriate

We use a process called the Sales Diagnostic to take the 10,000 foot view.

"The end depends on the beginning (and everything in between)."

Yes, we have heard this a thousand times, but no truer words have been said when it comes to developing proposals.

I had an epiphany pretty early in my sales career. I had been on a sales call to a restaurant, and they asked for a proposal. I rushed back to my desk so excited with the opportunity to get to present, only to stare at my computer for what seemed like an eternity. Crafting that proposal took a lot longer than it should have.

Later, when looking back, I realized it was because I didn’t have enough information. I had missed the mark on a number of things. Here's a little advice on how not to make the same mistake.

Season 3 of the Improving Sales Performance Series is focused on helping sales leaders make an IMPACT on their sales performance through insight on 4 key areas: people, process, planning, and performance.

In this episode, Beth Sunshine, Partner and VP of Talent Services at The Center for Sales Strategy, discusses how sales leaders can make an IMPACT on their people and teams through employee engagement.

Tune in now to hear the Live broadcast or keep reading for a brief overview.

Improving the performance of a sales team, or a specific seller on the team, is a top focus for any sales leader.

Often, we hear sales managers say they just need more activity or need to add more into pending, but the answer is rarely that simple. To know what is needed to improve performance, you need start by diagnosing where the problem is and what is causing the problem.

Simply said, you need to identify the bottlenecks in your sales process because adding more into pending doesn’t do you any good if your sellers aren’t closing what they propose.

2020 was one for the history books. From the outbreak of COVID-19 to heightened tensions during an election year, the sanest approach seemed to be simply taking one day at a time. However, sales professionals are forever optimists, always looking ahead, and ready to take on the next challenge.

The 2020 Media Sales Report studies the landscape over the past year, including the expectations for sales managers and the strategies deployed by media salespeople to assess their effectiveness across six key topics:

• Sales Department Structure (Size and Compensation)
• Training and Development
• Appointments and Sales Process
• Sales Enablement
• Culture and Industry
• Impact of COVID-19

You can see some of the highlights for the survey in the infographic below. If you'd like to read the full report, download it here.

- MOTIVATION -

"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

-John C. Maxwell

- AROUND THE WEB -

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Season 3 of the Improving Sales Performance Series is focused on helping sales leaders make an IMPACT on their sales performance through insight on 4 key areas: people, process, planning, and performance.

In this episode, Greg Giersch, Partner and VP of Client Experience at The Center for Sales Strategy gives viewers an overview and behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the IMPACT Sales Leadership System, digs into the user experience side of IMPACT to include what went into creating this system, the structure of the training, how long it took to build it, and more.

Tune in now to hear the Live broadcast or keep reading for a brief overview.