The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

In a former life, I was a professional triathlete and triathlon coach. I helped athletes with a wide range of athletic backgrounds accomplish one of the greatest physical tests of endurance known to man: completing the Ironman, a combined 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. When clients would first come to me and ask for advice about their training plan, they would inevitably ask, “What do I need to do to be able to finish the Ironman?” The answer was the same for each client: “You need to be able to swim 2.4 miles, ride 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in one day." That was a very definitive end goal, and the goal had a definitive date. The challenge then became how to take them from where they were physically on that first day, to that end point several months (or for some, years) away, ending at the Ironman finish line.  

Maybe I’m a little late to the party, but I have just been turned on to the book “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy. I wanted to share a few thoughts on its relevance to sales managers and leaders—and how it relates to my story of someone training to complete an Ironman. You might not realize it, but some of the challenges that sales managers face when building a sales organization are similar to what triathlon coaches are up against when training an athlete for the challenge of the Ironman. These challenges are: defining the goal, creating the strategy to accomplish the goal, and taking the required steps needed to accomplish the goal.

You gotta know that modern software and a bevy of specifically-trained digital layout specialists is lifting the tide for everyone when it comes to creating absolutely gorgeous proposals. Who knows what tomorrow’s technology will produce for us. Perhaps 3-D versions of a proposal delivered by hologram, featuring the best-looking and best-sounding salesperson technology can conjure up.  Intriguing to think of, isn’t it?

Despite the fact that very few proposals are unattractive these days, I hear from salespeople that it seems fewer of them actually get read—or if they are delivered in person, not enough of them are being sold. So what is going on? What the high-powered graphics packages don’t take into account is that a proposal must me more than a pretty face. CONTENT trumps appearance 9.9 times out of 10.  A plain-looking proposal with strong content is more likely to sell than a graphically appealing production with weak or generic content. 

We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, so today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.

1. How to Find and Fix Issues in Your Marketing Funnel — Convince and Convert

A marketing funnel is the process that leads a prospective customer through several stages on their way toward purchasing your product. In order to craft a funnel that will be effective in getting prospects to convert to customers, you've got to be strategic. This article explains how.

We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, so today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.

1. 3 Ways Content Can Build a Bridge Between Marketing and Sales — Content Marketing Institute

An Aberdeen Group study found that businesses with highly aligned sales and marketing teams earned an average of 32% year-over-year growth, while those who reported less alignment saw a 7% decrease in revenue. Content can be used to get sales and marketing teams working together toward common goals. This article explains how.

Let’s face it. If you are managing a business and you don’t have access to data regarding how your business is doing, you are essentially flying blind. Without benchmarks and numbers to indicate how you are doing, it’s tough to know what the score is and who is winning. That’s why analytics and data have become so important to business owners and marketers over the past few years. Knowledge is power, and the same now can be said for understanding and being able to analyze and interpret data.

HubSpot understands the need that businesses have to analyze large amounts of data for the purpose of making sound business decisions, and they have recently launched a new Research blog. The HubSpot Research blog provides in-depth insight and information for marketers and business owners that are looking to make data-driven decisions.

We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, so today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.

1. Selling to the Modern B2B Buyer — Salesforce

The ever-evolving B2B selling space and increasingly complex sales process present new challenges for B2B sales teams. In order to remain competitive and hit revenue goals, it is critical that sales reps understand the shifting landscape, why these changes are happening, and how to sell to the modern B2B buyer. Here are five factors that influence B2B buyer behavior and steps you can take to more effectively sell to the 21st-century B2B buyer and drive bottom-line results.

We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, so today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.

1. The 7 R's That Turn a Negative Conversation Positive — HubSpot

When you work in a people-focused profession like sales, you’re bound to encounter conflict once in awhile. Trying to persuade people to part with their money, make a strategic decision for their company, or generally shake things up, dredges up a whole mess of emotion. There’s fear that a bad investment might incur company losses or hurt an employee’s personal reputation. Maybe there’s suspicion that you’re selling snake oil or aren’t being 100% truthful. There might even be anger if your prospect’s expectations aren’t being met fast enough. If you feel a conversation taking a negative turn, here are 7 ways to reframe and keep it positive.