<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

The Center for Sales Strategy

Recent Posts by The Center for Sales Strategy:

For the Best Results Don’t Wing It. Follow A Process!

For the Best Results Don’t Wing It. Follow A Process!

Have you ever tried to make chili by throwing all the ingredients together in a giant pot, stirring, and then slowly cooking all day?

If you had, you’d know that is NOT the best way to cook chili! First, you brown the meat. And if you were an onion lover, then you’d add onions during this stage to get the most flavor. 

After the meat is browned and fully cooked, drain the fat (if healthy eating is important to you), and add the chili seasoning, followed by the rest of the ingredients, which could vary depending on where you’re from and personal preferences. If you were to rush through the process and skip browning the meat first, you’d find the results are remarkably different. 

When you change the process, you change the results.

Topics: sales process

A Sales Strategy to Double Time Spent Selling

A Sales Strategy to Double Time Spent Selling

When a colleague conducted a "time spent selling audit" for one of her clients, the data showed the organization's best sellers spent slightly over 20% of their time actually selling. Keep in mind the audit included the best sellers in the organization!

Here are five reasons why this happens.

Topics: Lead Generation sales strategy

The Best Way to Sell Change to Management

 selling_an_idea_to_management

In business, change is necessary to adapt and grow to meet the needs of prospects and clients. Many companies and business executives tend to resist change - because change is hard and uncomfortable.

As a salesperson, you probably have some good ideas to help your company achieve its goals. Maybe you want to implement inbound marketing or add webinars or videos to your marketing mix. But how can you sell your ideas to management?

Proposing your change can be a daunting task, and rightfully so—only 54% of change initiatives succeed. To increase the chances of your idea for change to be successful, use an organized change management system.

Topics: sales management

The Importance of Asking Quality Questions in B2B Sales

The Importance of Asking Quality Questions in B2B Sales

Have you ever experienced having to answer the same questions twice during a doctor's appointment?

It’s frustrating, but it can also make us reflect on the questions we ask our prospects. Are we asking the right questions to make us think deeper if it were our own business?

Even the most experienced salesperson can overlook the importance of being highly prepared for the initial needs analysis. To address this, you can start implementing "The 5-Phase Hourglass Needs Analysis" for all new business calls and existing clients you want to grow.

Topics: Needs Analysis sales performance

Balancing Priorities During Q2: Tips for Leaders

CSS Q2

As the second quarter continues to move in quickly, sales managers and business leaders may feel pressured to balance their short-term goals with long-term initiatives.

The complex demands often result in burnout as leaders attempt to juggle competing priorities while meeting deadlines and preparing for upcoming tasks. To help navigate this challenge, we have compiled a list of effective tips to assist sales managers and business leaders struggling to prioritize during Q2.

From allocating time management appropriately within your team or department to understanding which tasks require additional resources, you will find all the necessary information here that is needed for meeting individual and organizational goals during the second quarter.

Topics: leadership development

Top Reasons Salespeople Don't Close The Deal

Top Reasons Salespeople Dont Close The Deal

For any sales manager, it's incredibly frustrating when their salespeople don’t seem to be able to close the deal. A successful sale often depends on the product and customer knowledge of the salesperson, but what happens when the hard work isn’t translating into results?

Let’s take a look at some of the top reasons why your team may not be closing deals - from common hurdles like difficulty establishing credibility and understanding client needs to more nuanced issues like forgoing preparation time before meetings or failing to ask questions throughout conversations.

Here's our breakdown on how you can help your team move past these sticking points and finally start seeing those eagerly awaited closed deals!

Topics: successful sales meetings sales process

How to Manage Each Stage of the Sales Funnel to Generate Revenue

How to Manage Each Stage of the Sales Funnel to Generate Revenue

If you're like most sales managers, driving revenue consistently and efficiently can be a daunting task. But there are ways to maximize the success of your sales efforts through managing each stage of the funnel properly - from top to bottom.

In this blog post, we'll discuss how proper management at each stage of the funnel is an essential part of developing a consistent pipeline with reliable and successful returns. You'll learn how incorporating targeted activities related to each step in the process can help ensure more satisfying results for everyone involved.

Topics: sales strategy revenue performance sales tech

Here’s What Effective Sales Coaching Looks Like Today

Here’s What Effective Sales Coaching Looks Like Today

As a sales manager, you understand the benefits of sales coaching. Not only does it help your sales reps close more deals, but it also improves communication, builds confidence, and enhances teamwork.

With so many different coaching styles and techniques, how do you know what's effective in today's fast-paced, ever-evolving sales environment? Here's what effective sales coaching looks like today and how to implement it in your sales organization.

Topics: sales coaching

Track, Measure, and Improve Cold Email Prospecting

Cold Email Prospecting Tracking the Sales ROI

Email is a critical part of a prospecting strategy, as long as it’s used in the ways in which it’s intended for. HubSpot defines a prospecting email as an outreach email a salesperson sends to a potential customer to introduce themselves, their business, and how they can help their prospect.

Email prospecting is not for building relationships, communicating a strategy, sharing an idea, or conversation in general. Create your prospecting email the right way, integrate it into a sound prospecting plan, and then you can dramatically enhance the cold calling process by getting your first closethe appointment.

Topics: sales process prospecting email marketing

Mastering the Art of Sales Management: Balancing the Pending vs Pipeline

Mastering the Art of Sales Management Balancing the Pending vs Pipeline

Sales management is an art that requires a delicate balance between the present and the future.

The key to success lies in mastering the art of balancing the pending vs pipeline. This means managing your current deals while also prospecting for new ones. As a sales manager, you must be able to prioritize your time and resources effectively to ensure that you are not only closing deals today but also building a strong pipeline for tomorrow.

In this highly competitive market, mastering this art is essential for any business that wants to stay ahead of the curve. In this article, we’ll explore the key strategies that will help you strike the perfect balance between the pending and pipeline, and take your sales management skills to the next level.

Whether you are a seasoned sales professional or a newbie in the game, read on to learn how to master the art of sales management.

Topics: sales management sales pipeline