The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

If you’ve ever been in sales, you know first-hand that one of the most powerful ways to go from good to great is having a strong sales manager. The best sales managers are active listeners and innovative thinkers. They know how to inspire and motivate their teams.

So, is there a secret that only these superstar managers know?

Of course not. But what we know for certain is that they are the ones who give just as much attention to managing their own talents as they do to managing their teams.

And how do they do that?

They begin with themselves and their own self-awareness. It sounds simple, but you truly can’t know and lead others if you don’t know yourself.

In this episode, we’re continuing our season-long deep dive into the latest Talent Magazine from The Center for Sales Strategy.

And today, Emily Estey and Tirzah Thornburg are here to help break down the latest facts and trends when it comes to selection.

Together, Emily and Tirzah bring so many great points to the table, such as:

• Why it pays to do the stressing BEFORE the hire, not after
• How talent banks are a great tool for hiring both internally AND externally
• And, finally, why holding out for talent, even when the candidate pool is tight, is always the right decision.

I have some news for you, both good and bad.

The good news is that your team's success depends entirely on your salespeople. Now, for the bad news... your success also hinges on the salespeople on your team.

In other words, your sales team's ability to close deals and meet targets determines whether you win or lose.

It may sound daunting, but it doesn't have to be. You have control over your destiny. You get to choose who joins your sales team and how they perform based on your hiring and leadership.

So, when your team is underperforming, resist the temptation to point fingers and blame external factors like the market, economy, product, or the team itself. The truth is, it reflects on your leadership. This is your team, your salespeople, and it's up to you to address the issues.

We consistently talk about the importance of growing and developing others. It’s a vital part of any leadership role. But as a leader, while you’re busy helping others grow their talents, are you still nurturing yours?

When you focus on growing a talent, you can improve performance by up to ten times. Don’t just help your team take advantage of their potential. Take advantage of your potential as well.

Here are five things you can do right now to nurture and grow your sales leadership talents.

In this episode, we’re kicking off our season-long exploration of The Center for Sales Strategy’s latest Talent Magazine. In other words, we’ll be diving into exactly how you should go about recruiting, selecting, developing, and engaging your people.

Each week, Matt will be joined by experts from here at The Center for Sales Strategy to help break it all down.

In today’s episode, Trey Morris and Mindy Murphy are here to discuss the latest facts and trends relating to Recruitment, and they both share a ton of awesome insights, like:

• How the leaders who have the most success in recruiting almost always use multiple recruitment methods
• Why you won’t find as many Millennial and Gen Z job seekers on LinkedIn or Indeed anymore
• And how making recruitment part of your weekly routine is one of the best ways to avoid the dreaded “desperation hire.”

Salespeople are all aware of the difficulties that can arise during the off-season.

Reduced sales activity and a lull in customer demand may cause frustration and lower income. But this downtime offers a special chance to plan and strategize for the coming busy season. Planning and forecasting sales during the off-season is essential for maximizing revenue.

In this blog, we'll discuss the value of planning and forecasting sales during the off-season and lay out seven essential steps salespeople can follow to succeed.

Training.

It is usually something that we undergo when we begin a new position or new company, but the best sales organizations, like the best sports teams, are constantly training all of their people.

Simply put, well-trained salespeople drive more revenue. 

Training should be seen as an essential ongoing investment designed to develop and help each of your salespeople grow. As you develop and invest in your people, their skills improve and ultimately drive results for the organization. It is the foundation created by effective employee training that drives performance of your team.

Sales management is a tough job.

I googled why sales managers fail and got “About 206,000,000 results (0.40 seconds).” “About 60% of new managers fail within the first 24 months in their new role”, according to research from CEB Global.

Why?

There are a lot of reasons (just ask Google), but it often comes down to not knowing how to manage people effectively and not being able to implement changes and improve the selling process.

Simply put, to be successful as a sales manager, you must understand people and how to help people sell.

In this fast-paced digital era, staying ahead of the competition requires mastering the art of customer relationship management (CRM).

A robust sales CRM system is the key to optimizing your sales process, improving team productivity, and ultimately driving revenue growth.

From selecting the right CRM platform to implementing automation and analytics, we will uncover the secrets to maximizing your sales efforts.