<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=585972928235617&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Improving Sales Performance - Impact Your Sales Process: Sales Structure

large-ISP_Ep.26__ IMPACT-COVER GRAPHIC

To establish the foundation for sustainable business growth, a solid sales structure must be built layer by layer. People, resources, and processes must align and work together to produce the best results for your organization.

Is your current sales structure designed for the results you want?

In Episode 26, Mike Paterson, President / General Manager at Mid-West Family Illinois, discusses how sales leaders can make an impact on their sales process through sales structure.

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

Topics: sales structure IMPACT

10 Eye-Opening Email Statistics To Help Guide Your Sales Email Strategy

email statistics to guide sales email strategyRecently, I sat on a panel about sales and marketing, and during the presentation, another fellow panelist said, 'Email is dead! Social media is where to reach your people!' Well... I laughed (internally, of course)... but was he right?

Surely not. 

Topics: email sales strategy prospecting sales playbook

The Ultimate Bucket List for Sales Managers

 

Bucket List

A bucket list is an ultimate list of things you would love to have happen, or be able to do, at least once in your lifetime.

While many of us use bucket lists for personal achievements, we couldn't help but wonder what's the ultimate bucket list for a sales manager look like? Improving sales performance in your organization is critical. But how will you get there?

We invited several of our team members to help compile this list, which is certainly not a complete list, so we invite you to add to it in the comment box below.

Topics: sales performance Sales

Weekly Roundup: Top 5 Growth Sectors, Motivation Mistakes + More

Top 5 Growth Sectors, Motivation Mistakes

- MOTIVATION -

"Be an example. Are you prompt? Are you professional? Are you engaged? As sales leaders, we have to set the bar high for ourselves as well as our teams.”

- Lori Richardson

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

Prospecting Alert: Here Are the Top 5 Growth Sectors of the Decade– Inside Radio

To identify the hottest growth categories of the decade, radio and podcast sales teams may want to consider which industry sectors are doing the most hiring. Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by American Staffing Association (ASA) identifies the top five sectors for wage and salary jobs through 2029.

Thanks in part to the pandemic, Healthcare and Social Assistance tops the chart with 23.5 million jobs forecast by 2029. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

Why Post-Sale Service Matters to a B2B Salesperson's Success

Why Post-Sale Service Matters to a B2B Salespersons Success

As an effective sales professional, you can’t just close the book on clients after they’ve signed the deal, even if the bulk of the work then shifts to other departments.

How your team executes the post-sale experience has important implications for the company as a whole, as well as your relationship with the customer.

What occurs during this phase can result in the customer being even more satisfied than before (including with their experience during the sales process), or it can derail what was otherwise a well-executed marketing and sales strategy.

Topics: customer satisfaction sales strategy Sales

Improving Sales Performance - Impact Your Sales Process: IFM

large-ISP_Ep.25__ IMPACT-COVER GRAPHIC

1-on-1 meetings play a large role on your team’s sales performance.

In this episode, Stephanie Downs, VP and Senior Consultant, discusses how sales leaders can make an impact on their sales process with 1-on-1 meetings, or what we call the IFM. Plus, she covers the fundamentals of IFMs and how you can turn this dreaded weekly task into productive meeting.

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

Topics: sales process IMPACT Individual Focus Meeting

Follow this Growth Formula to Increase Sales Performance

Follow this Growth Formula to Increase Sales Performance

Our team spend hours a day talking about talent:

  • How to recruit talent
  • How to hire talent
  • How to develop talent

There's no doubt that talent is the foundation for success in any path we choose! But talent alone is not enough; the fit has to be right, too.

We encourage hiring managers to consider fit as carefully as they consider talent because talent is a strength only when the fit is right.

If your job involves growing a department or organization, the only way you can do that is to grow each person on board. How do you do that? Follow this Growth Formula.

Topics: sales talent growth formula

Resilience: How to Embrace and Learn from Mistakes

Learn from your mistakes

“I never lose. I either win or learn.” – Nelson Mandela

Let’s be honest, in sales you're apt to hear the word “No” more than you hear “Yes”, and over time that can be a sense of frustration and in some cases a demotivating factor.

But it doesn’t have to be!

Believe it or not, you can embrace those failures and become a stronger and better salesperson than before. The key to overcoming the negativity of rejection is resilience and it can be built and strengthened with some effort and thoughtfulness.

Topics: sales process

Weekly Roundup: Remote Sales Teams, Virtual Selling, and More

Blog_CSS 061821_virtual selling

- MOTIVATION -

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

-John C. Maxwell

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

Should Your Sales Team Go Forever-Remote?– CloserIQ

As the state of the pandemic is improving and more and more people are getting the vaccine, companies face the decision to remain remote or open up their offices again.

Despite changing circumstances, ensuring high sales performance remains a key goal for most companies. If your company took a hit due to coronavirus, boosting sales might be imperative.

A major part of making sales happen, and happen often, is setting up the right environment for remote sales teams. So, as full-time remote work transitions from the exception to a necessity to possibly an option again, is going forever-remote something that your sales team should consider?
>>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Rely on Your Sales Team to Generate Leads

old_lead_generation_strategy-1.jpg

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.

Topics: Lead Generation sales and marketing alignment

Improving Sales Performance - Impact Your People: Recruitment & Selection

large-ISP_Ep.24__ IMPACT-COVER GRAPHIC

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.

Topics: hiring salespeople recruitment IMPACT selection

How to Use a Sales Diagnostic to Improve Performance

How to Use a Sales Diagnostic to Improve Performance

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.

Topics: Sales sales diagnostic

How to Craft a Proposal that Won’t Get Rejected

How to Craft a Proposal that Won’t Get Rejected

"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.

Topics: Proposal Sales sales process

Improving Sales Performance — Impact Your People: Engagement

large-ISP_Ep.23__ IMPACT-COVER GRAPHIC

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.

Topics: employee engagement IMPACT

Identifying Three Sales Process Bottlenecks and the Tactics to Drive Improved Performance

Identifying Three Sales Process Bottlenecks and the Tactics to Drive Improved Performance

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.

Topics: sales performance sales process bottleneck

[INFOGRAPHIC] 2020 Media Sales Report

2020 Media Sales Report Infographic Header

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:

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.

Topics: media sales report

Weekly Roundup: Sales Video Examples, LinkedIn Message Automation + More

Sales Video Examples, LinkedIn Message Automation

- MOTIVATION -

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

-John C. Maxwell

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

10 Sales Video Examples to Crush Quota from Call to Close Sales Hacker

A hundred percent of the people we sell to are human.

And people like to laugh and smile. They enjoy interacting with people they trust and who seem authentic, and there is no better way to convey that than with video.

This post isn’t just a list of personalized video tips—it’s a strategy for using video throughout the sales process. Let’s let those humans on the other end know that your patient persistence is due to your winning personality – and not some software – like everyone else in their inbox. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

Improving Sales Performance | Impact Leadership System – Enhancing the User Experience

large-ISP_Ep.22__ IMPACT-COVER GRAPHIC

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 Leadership System, digs into the user experience side of the system 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.

Topics: sales performance IMPACT

Building an Effective Sales Strategy (Including Examples)

Building an Effective Sales Strategy

When you're starting your own company, you want to start out with the strongest foundation possible. 20% of new businesses fail in the first two years that they're open. The reasons why they fail can vary, but starting your business with the right planning will give you a better chance of success. 

If you're in the business of selling products or services to your customers, you need an effective sales strategy. A sales strategy will help you scale and grow your business and learn how to improve your sales. Each strategy devised by a business is unique to them and their customer base, but they all should include the same basic details.

This guide will go over what a sales strategy is, how your company can benefit from it, and different examples you can pull from.

Topics: sales strategy

The Center for Sales Strategy Appoints Susan McCullin as a Senior Consultant

CSS_SUSAN MCMULLIN_BLOG

Topics: press release

3 Ways a Target Drive is Different From a Sales Contest

3 Ways a Target Drive is Different From a Sales Contest

“We need to increase revenue” is something I hear frequently from Sales Leaders.

It often leads to a discussion around a Target Drive and how it can help. I’ve done a lot of Target Drive consulting over the years, and I commonly have to address the misconception that a Target Drive and a sales contest are the same thing.

So how are they different?

Topics: sales performance target drive