The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

My favorite book in high school was George Orwell's Animal Farm. If you haven't read it, it is an allegorical novel that tells the story of how Communism took over Russia and ultimately ruined their economy. I loved this book because a) it's brilliant, and b) it's a great defender of capitalism, which I LOVE!

This is the fifth and last post in the series, "How to Get the Most Out of Your Sales Team." Check out other posts in this series - linked at the bottom of this blog post.

I'm back again for the fifth week to talk about ways you can get the most out of your sales team, and this week I'm talking about sales gamification.

Sales gamification is one of the hottest trends going in the world. Everyone wants to "gamify." It's what "the kids are doing." And as silly of a buzzword that it is, it's actually a pretty good idea to motivate your sales team and get the most out of them. 

What is sales gamification? It makes your daily activities into some kind of game. You want to motivate and get the most out of your team? You need to do this.

This is the fourth post in a series, "How to Get the Most Out of Your Sales Team." Check out other posts in this series - linked at the bottom of this blog post.

I'm back again with the "How to Get the Most Out of Your Sales Team" series, and this week, I'm talking about investing in your people. 

I realize that's not an "Exciting! Rah-Rah! Go Team!" sales contest-type of way, but it's important. When people know that you believe in them, support them, and that you're investing in them, they're going to be motivated to help you succeed. 

So, how do you invest in your people in a way that gets them excited and motivated? Here are three examples you can start today.

This is the third post in a series, "How to Get the Most Out of Your Sales Team." Check out the rest of the posts in this series - linked in the bottom of this blog post.

I'm back again to talk about ways you can get the most out of your sales team. One of the best ways to motivate your team is to build trust with your team. A trusting team is a motivated team.

Think about it. Have you ever had a boss that you didn't trust? Did you work really hard for them? The answer is: you probably didn't.

So, how do you build trust with your sales team? 

This is the second post in a series, "How to Get the Most Out of Your Sales Team." Check out the rest of the posts in this series - linked in the bottom of this blog post.

Last week, I started a series on how you, as a sales manager, can get the most out of your sales team. This week, I'm focusing on working with them in a way they like to be worked with, and how they want to be managed.

NEWS FLASH: You can't do that if you don't know your salespeople. The only way you'll know your salespeople is if you spend some time with them and ask them some questions about what they like, what they don't like, and honestly... what motivates them.

CASH IS KING… or at least that's what we've always been told. 

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to talk about how you can get more out of your sales team by motivating them. I'm going to focus on ways to motivate your sales team to get the most out of them.

We've always thought that cash is the way to do that. You do a sales contest, you give out money, people are happy, and BAM! You're doing great work. That's still the case, and it might be for your sales team.

But if you've found that cash isn't the motivator that you've always thought it would be, it's time to think outside the box and get creative. There's two main ways you can get the most out of your sales team by getting creative.

As I look into my "crystal ball," I foresee a future where the transactional salesperson is an elusive and rare creature. Have they all been completely wiped out by Artificial Intelligent (AI) computer networks where all advertising buying and selling occurs? Probably not, but I do know they will be an endangered species. In the future, AI networks and computers will be placing a larger and larger percentage of ad schedules. And even for the business that is placed the "old fashioned" way, we'll have a need for fewer transactional sellers. And those sellers will probably be covering not just clusters, but states and regions for your media group.

I know that no one wants to admit it, but advertising sales are changing at an unprecedented rate. The way that companies have done business over the last five years will not exist in the next five years.

But, it's not all bad news. Media companies that want to grow revenue in a marketplace where 50-90% of their revenue is handled by computers or an endangered species transactional sales rep, will have to find people who can call on small and midsize businesses and develop new business. So, while we wait on our computer overlords to takeover transactional business, we should probably prepare for the days of direct, new business development.

Here are three tips to get you ready for our new media world order:

We always talk to our salespeople about having better business acumen, and we teach them to speak like a business owner. This gives sellers leverage and credibility when talking with prospects and customers.

Growing up, my dad always told me that if you just read the front page of The Wall Street Journal, you'd be more informed than 95% of the business people out there that you'd be talking to.

Need some help connecting with target accounts when prospecting? Do you know the decision maker you need to connect with at a company, but don't have their email address? Have no fear. Trey is here... to share a hot tip that he uses regularly to connect with target accounts.