The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

In general, B2B companies seem to be a lot stronger with sales and marketing orchestration than they were two years ago. It would seem like more businesses are making it a priority,

But when you compare “sales marketing alignment” with a term like, say, “sales enablement” on Google Trends over the past five years, you don’t find the same growth in interest. >>> READ MORE

According to the latest data, around 3.5 billion people are now social media users. That’s nearly half the global population. If you’re a seller and you’re wondering whether you should be active on social, this number alone should answer the question.

Of course, it’s not enough to just be on social media. If it were, every sales pro with an Instagram account would be swimming in leads. Your social media use should be as strategic as any other sales tactic you use. >>> READ MORE

Information overload is real. And for today’s B2B buyers, it’s a real problem. There was a time when it was difficult to find enough quality information while researching solutions and weighing options. Now, this dynamic has swung starkly in the opposite direction. >>> READ MORE

Though the lines are sometimes blurred, inside sales and outside sales are generally separate functions within an organization that require distinctly different skill sets. Outside or field sales teams spend the majority of their workday on the road meeting with clients and prospects face-to-face, often performing hands-on activities like product demonstrations or account setup.

Field sales managers have unique considerations to keep in mind to empower their teams to be successful. We’ll outline some of the best practices that high-performing field sales teams have adopted, talk about why they work, and discuss how to incorporate them into your own business. >>> READ MORE

Outbound prospecting for new business has always been a bit of a numbers game. Years ago, when I first started as a Sales Development Rep, the formula was simple. If you made 100 phone calls, you could expect 10 appointments, and at least 1 of those prospects would turn into a client. The numbers would vary from industry to industry and market to market, but that was the standard everyone was shooting for.

Outbound prospecting is still a numbers game today. Unfortunately, the numbers are just a lot bigger. It requires more phone calls and more emails than ever before to get fewer responses, fewer appointments, and fewer clients. Why is it so hard? What’s changed? >>> READ MORE

For modern customers, there’s almost always more than one option when it comes to making a purchase. That makes it even harder for sales teams to close deals. But when customers are inundated by countless messages everyday, personalization can help.

Buyers don’t want to feel like they are part of the herd. They want to feel special and taken care of. Working to fulfill that need can help your team stand out. There are a variety of ways to personalize pitches and approaches. Be sure to keep these methods in mind when empowering your team. >>> READ MORE

Sales managers are a rare breed. The job is challenging. The most successful sales managers demonstrate a knack for hacking other disciplines. Successful sales managers combine the skills of economists, data analysts, psychologists, sociologists and entrepreneurs.

They also benefit from hijacking a few best practices from marketers. Here are some thought-starters for hacking your counterparts in marketing. >>> READ MORE

Succeeding in sales is all about developing the right habits. But not all habits are sales-generating.

The industry has changed a lot in recent decades, moving towards a consultative approach. Now, some once-hallowed practices will actively hinder your ability to connect with prospective customers and close deals.

If you’re still doing these things, you’re not offering real value to your customers. >>> READ MORE

The reality is not all salespeople are created equal (and neither are startups). Just because a rep has amazing sales numbers doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good hire. What they had to do to achieve those numbers may be totally different than what they’ll have to do to be successful with you!

So how do you know which salesperson is the right hire for your business? >>> READ MORE

Sometimes when you generate leads via inbound marketing, you can get a lot of information about your prospects and leads when they fill out a lead capture form. It really depends, though, on what you're willing to ask. You can ask things like name, phone number, email, company name, industry, revenue, and more. There's a lot of different variables you can ask for.

The tricky part is, when you ask for too much information, you might limit the number of people that are willing to provide all of that to you. Consequently, this might limit the number of leads you could generate. >>> READ MORE