The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Besides being arguably some of the best athletes ever, what do Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods have in common?

They’re all, or were, known for being the hardest workers during practice. Jordan and Brady were famous for being the first on the court and practice field and the last to leave. Tiger hit thousands of golf balls on the range every day. They began their careers practicing hard and with a mindset that they would get out of the game exactly what they put into it.

Persistence, discipline, competitive spirits, drive, and resilience — athletes and salespeople share a lot of common traits. However, one noticeable difference is that salespeople rarely practice or rehearse.

In part one of this three-part blog series, we addressed the overall power of employee engagement. Engaged employees mean a reduction in regrettable turnover, increased productivity, and an increase in key customer retention. 

In part two of this series, we’re incorporating transparency as a way to boost overall employee engagement. When done well, transparency creates trust between employers and employees, helps improve morale and lower job-related stress, and therefore increases employee engagement, boosting performance. An added bonus — being transparent is absolutely free, which gives it a notable ROI.

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"You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end."

-Jessica Herrin

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Great sales managers truly want to grow and develop the salespeople that report directly to them. And, we’re not just talking about the new hires to the organization. We’re talking about all the salespeople they are responsible for.

At our Talent Focused Management workshop — a workshop that sales managers who are clients of The Center for Sales Strategy attend — we highlight a famous quote from Peter Drucker:

“It is the people who determine the performance capacity of the organization.”

The best investment a sales organization can make is to commit to grow and develop its people. The great news is that salespeople want to learn and develop. In fact, the 2019 Media Sales Report found that 95% of salespeople said that learning and development are important to them. One of the best ways to grow and develop your salespeople is through the effective use of feedback.

Sales managers in every market say the same thing —finding great salespeople is hard. We empathize, but of course, it is! Salespeople are often really good at selling themselves, and when you do hire, it takes six months to a year to know whether you made the right decision.

This is one reason you must develop a plan and execute that plan at all times. Managers often reach out to us looking for creative ways to recruit people to their companies. Unfortunately, most wait until they're in need. If you're waiting for an opening on your staff to begin recruiting salespeople for your talent bank, it's too late! 

Corporate culture has arguably always been important, but in recent years it’s become a popular point of discussion. To some, it’s become a buzzword, with an overabundance of content and discussions surrounding it. However, our 2019 Media Sales Report revealed some telling information related to how salespeople and sales managers feel about the culture of their company and industry today. 

Company culture is becoming even more important as the modern workplace continues to evolve. This is proven throughout the report as the biggest takeaways are related to how prepared salespeople feel to face the future and how likely they’ll be to recommend their company as a great place to work.

- MOTIVATION -

"Always do your best. What you plant now, will harvest later."

-Og Mandino

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These days, there's a quick fix for everything. From a 21-day diet to a 3-step skin care plan and a 24-hour credit repair, it's our natural instinct as humans to look for quick solutions to our problems. We’re impatient by nature, and we want the kind of solution that turns everything around now.

While some of these quick fixes may work in the short-run, most are not sustainable and they leave you in worse shape than you were before. Ironically, the quick fix delayed the real solution.

In our world of quick fixes for everything, we also expect a quick fix to be applied to sales. However, the best sales performance solutions combine a jump-start plan to deliver immediate results together with a long-term plan to assure sustainability. And, the long-term plan must include three fundamentals.

When it comes your bottom line, employee engagement is a powerful source you must have for growth and profit. 

Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, and a two-way commitment and communication between an organization and its people.  A strong company culture means employees are engaged.  In turn, there is:

• A reduction in regrettable turnover
• Increased productivity
• Increase in key customer retention

In part one of this three-part blog series, we'll address each attribute of a strong company culture, as well as tips on what you can do right now to lead the charge of increasing employee engagement at your own organization.

Why is sales enablement important? Because buyers are more informed, and selling is more challenging than ever before. Our 2019 Media Sales Report found that some of the major challenges in sales today are that sales reps’ time is not actually spent selling and salespeople are simply not equipped with relevant materials.

Sales enablement is a strategy that aligns marketing, sales, and operations while lowering costs, increasing revenue, ensuring brand integrity, and ultimately closing more deals. Even the most talented sales reps can benefit from the right support, structure, and technology.

So, why did nearly 1 out of 4 sales managers feel that they don’t have the right sales collateral pieces to help their sellers in all stages of the sales process?