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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Weekly Roundup: Ways Your Sales Team Can Give Back, Closing Phrases for 2020, + More

Ways Your Sales Team Can Give Back, Closing Phrases for 2020, + More

- MOTIVATION -

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

-William Jones

 

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

8 Ways Your Sales Team Can Give Back To The Community – CloserIQ

Sales is an unpredictable profession. But even with all the stress, you and your team still have much to be thankful for this season. 

As you move towards the end of the year, giving back to the community can be a great way to remind your team about what you value most. Try one (or more!) of these activities to give back to the community this holiday season. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

Want to Accelerate the Sales Cycle? Slow Down!

Want to Accelerate the Sales Cycle Slow Down

Studies show that reaching out to leads within an hour of them contacting you makes you seven times likelier to have meaningful conversations, and up to 50% of sales go to the vendor who responded first. There’s also a tenfold decrease in your odds of making contact with a lead if you wait more than five minutes to reach out after they submit a web form.

Whether it’s from clients, management, or themselves, salespeople are under a lot of pressure to perform faster when it comes to their sales process. We live and work in a fast-paced, “want it now” culture that can feel overwhelming at times. Sometimes there’s only one solution to closing more deals, and that’s to SLOW DOWN!

Topics: Needs Analysis sales process sales accelerator

The Art and Science Blend of Sales Leadership

The Art and Science Blend of Sales Leadership

World-class leaders understand improving performance is part art and part science. A recipe that includes the proper blend of both—art and science—is often what separates failure from success and exhibits the following:

  • Outstanding performance (beating others in their peer group)
  • High level of employee engagement and satisfaction
  • Low turnover
  • A culture of engagement
  • A tribe that everyone wants to be part of

The debate on whether successful sales leadership is truly an art or a science has been running for decades. At The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS), we know that it’s a perfect combination of both. When blended and configured correctly, the fusion between art and science results in a powerhouse sales team and business.

Topics: company culture talent focused management

2019 Media Sales Report - How to Book More First-Time Appointments with Prospects

2019 Media Sales Report - How to Book More First-Time Appointments with Prospects-

Want to know the secret to booking more first-time appointments with new prospects? It might surprise you!

In the recent Media Sales Report, we learned 93% of sales managers agree that salespeople should be averaging 4+ calls per week. However, 40% of sales managers believe that their salespeople are missing the mark at only 2 to 3 calls per week. 

Add to this the finding that 85% feel that appointments with prospects are harder to secure today than they were 5 years ago, and this leads us to the secret to booking more appointments.

Topics: media sales report

Weekly Roundup: Unblock Your Holiday Sales Funnel, Best Time(s) to Make 2020 Calls, + More

Unblock Holiday Sales Funnel

- MOTIVATION -

"You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win."

-Zig Ziglar

 

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

5 Sales Prospecting Tips to Unblock Your Holiday Sales Funnel – Sales Hacker

The period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s can be a tough time in B2B sales. You still have goals and quotas, but instead of workplaces abuzz with activity, you encounter tapped-out annual budgets, vacationing decision-makers, and an overall atmosphere of wanting to take time off.

The holiday season is huge for retailers, representing up to 30 percent of annual sales, but sales departments in B2B tend not to expect much from this time of year. It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy — some teams find that their close rates in December plummet by 10–20%.

It doesn’t have to be this way. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

Social Selling: 10 Social Media Best Practices for Salespeople

salespeople social sellingIn an ever-changing sales landscape, maintaining a healthy personal brand on social media has become a necessary tool for sales professionals to build and maintain relationships with prospects. According to a Forrester Consulting study, Social Selling: A New B2B Imperative, “49% of B2B enterprises have developed a formal social selling program, and 28 percent are in the process of doing so.”

Even though using social media to sell has been widely adopted in many industries, our 2019 Media Sales Report found that only 12% of sales managers said their salespeople are using social media effectively to set appointments with prospects.

If you aren’t utilizing social selling as part of your sales strategy, you could be losing sales to more social-savvy salespeople. 

Topics: Social Media Sales personal brand

How Talent and Fit Affect Client Experience

How Talent and Fit Affect Client Experience

Great client experience is key to increased revenue and overall growth. And there are many things that affect your client’s experience with your company. From every encounter with the receptionist and support staff to the product itself, the client is forming an opinion on what the experience is like working with your company. While all of these aspects have an impact on experience, for many, it’s often the salesperson that has the biggest influence.

The best salespeople will focus on the client's needs and delivering their desired solutions. This, along with many other reasons, is why we focus on coaching sales talent and finding the perfect fit when hiring a salesperson.

Topics: company culture

Humanizing Your Sales Strategy [VIDEO]

Whether you’re a sales manager evaluating your team or in the field coaching salespeople who are trying to get quality appointments, you’re always looking to improve results.

Based on years of experience, we often see salespeople develop strong valid business reasons, but the delivery is too formal. Listen to the video for great before and after examples and keep reading for the secret to a successful sales strategy.

Topics: valid business reason sales strategy

Weekly Roundup: Do You Need a CRM? Sales Enablement Trends for 2020 + More

Do you need a CRM, Sales Enablement, More

- MOTIVATION -

"Leadership belongs to those who take it."

-Sheryl Sandberg

 

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

10 Reasons Why You Don't Need a CRM – HubSpot 

You’ve seen article after article telling you why you should implement a CRM, but the last thing you need right now is another piece of software to learn.

CRM — or customer relationship management — refers to software that tracks interactions with prospects and customers. But do you actually need to be using a CRM, if you’ve been getting by without one? Ultimately, the choice is yours. If you’re on the fence, here are the reasons why you don’t need a CRM. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

How to Know if Your Job is Right for You

 

How to Know if Your Job is Right for You

Research shows us that 1/3 of our life is spent at work, that's over 90,000 hours. Given those statistics, it's safe to say that it's highly important to our overall well-being that we're in the right job.

We have a short window of time to make our mark on this world while at the same time finding happiness. At some point, we all complain about our jobs—and the grass can often feel greener somewhere else. But there’s a difference between job slump and being in the wrong career.

If you're asking yourself whether your job is right for you, here are some simple steps you can take to find out!

Topics: hiring salespeople

2019 Media Sales Report - What 95% of Sellers Think About Training and Development

Training and Development

All great sales managers will tell you that training and development are the cornerstones for building an exceptional sales team. The sales industry constantly changes and evolves as prospects learn and alter tactics to deal with enthusiastic salespeople. And, every salesperson needs to learn how to adapt to these changes and continue to grow in their field of knowledge.

This is why sales managers and salespeople share common ground when it comes to learning and developing new skills, but as the 2019 Media Sales Report found, there’s still room for improvement when it comes to performance.

Topics: business development sales training state of media sales media sales report

5 Ways to Reduce High Turnover Rates

5 Ways to Reduce High Turnover Rates

From prospecting clients to making the pitch, it’s the sales team that brings your business profits. When you work in a profession where quarterly quotas and revenue goals need to be met, you can’t afford a high turnover rate.

When meeting with clients, how often are they experiencing sales problems that are often due to extreme turnover on their sales team? There are multiple reasons behind sales rep turnover, one of the biggest being ineffective sales managers. Other reasons range from poor company culture and inadequate pay to lack of training.

A modest amount of turnover is expected. Plus, it’s good to bring on new people with different perspectives, ideas, and capabilities. However, turnover rates near 35% can be costly and reflect poorly on your organization in more ways than one.

Topics: hiring salespeople reduce turnover

Weekly Roundup: Metrics for Tracking Goals, How Millennials Are Transforming Sales + More

Metrics for Tracking Goals, How Millennials Are Transforming Sales + More

- MOTIVATION -

"Everyone lives by selling something."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

 

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

The 5 Sales Metrics That Every Sales Rep Should Be Tracking As Goals – Databox 

Sales management is not for the faint of heart. Not only are managers responsible for recruiting, retaining, and training high-quality teams  – they’re ultimately responsible for showing the results of those efforts.

Goal setting is widely seen as one of the most effective ways to manage teams. Not only can goals create motivation and measurability, analyzing the results can provide data that helps managers refine training programs and coach team members who could benefit from course-correction. But what kinds of goal-setting works best for these needs? What should you measure, and how often >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

How Inbound Marketing Can Create Raving Fans for Your Business

How Inbound Marketing Can Create Raving Fans for Your Business

Every business wants raving fans; consumers that are so overwhelmed with great customer service that they can't stop talking about your brand. This is particularly important if your business has a relatively long sales cycle. If prospects take their time to research different offerings, building brand awareness and trust is big.

And, businesses are catching on. Those using effective inbound marketing initiatives are producing sales leads and, at the same time, establishing expertise and thought leadership in their specific industry. Those experiencing this success will tell you that it's contagious, but requires the constant sharing of quality content, which attracts interested prospects to their companies.  

So how do you get consumers to not only know about your brand, but like your products and services enough to engage with your company frequently, and rave to others about you?

Topics: content marketing content strategy Digital Inbound Marketing

2019 Media Sales Report - 100% Salary is Not What Salespeople Want!

2019 State of Media Sales Report - 100% Salary is Not What Salespeople Want!-1

Highly-talented salespeople are more in-demand than ever. In fact, of the top ten emerging high-growth jobs listed by LinkedIn, five of them are some form of sales role. One significant result from our recently published 2019 Media Sales Report is that salespeople in these roles (and other sales positions) don’t want to be paid on 100% salary. 

Salespeople have repeatedly told us they want the opportunity to make as much as they can. Research supported this with over 57% of the salespeople saying that they prefer a salary plus commission structure with 30% to 40% of their total compensation coming from salary.

Rethinking the sales organization is a big topic in the media industry. Knowing how to compensate is just scratching the surface of what we uncovered in this year’s Media Sales Report. While compensation is one way to motivate salespeople and bring them to your organization, non-financial elements also play a significant role when it comes to hiring, coaching, and development.

Topics: sales team state of media sales media sales report salary

How to Upsell Key Accounts Using the Consumer Journey

How to Upsell Key Accounts Using the Consumer Journey-1

Whether they realize it or not, consumers travel through a series of steps before purchasing an item. For the consumer, this journey is not something they think about; they’re simply trying to make a decision.

The process consumers follow to purchase a product or service has changed significantly over the years. To truly understand the consumer journey today, we must look at the past relationship between the brand and the consumer and how it has evolved over time.

Topics: Buyer's Journey consumer needs

Weekly Roundup: The Future of Work, Things Salespeople Can Do Before 2020 + More

The Future of Work, Things Salespeople Can Do Before 2020 + More

- MOTIVATION -

"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."

-Albert Einstein

 

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

The Future of Work Is in These 3 Things – HubSpot 

People are changing the way they work. The root of this change is the growing acceptance of flexibility in the workplace. So, when we talk about the future of work, we have to focus on what’s influencing change. 

What has been found is symmetrical value between how customers want to connect with the businesses they support and employees who want to work for the businesses they support. This aligns with flexibility. The future of work is finding that happy medium of meeting both employees and customers where, when, and how they want. Take a look at how flexibility is going to assist in this concept impacting the workplace.>>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up