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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

How Social Selling Can Damage Your Professional Brand

strengthen your personal brand with social sellingSocial selling is a powerful part of the approach in our now transparent sales landscape.

By now, every salesperson should be embracing LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Facebook, as they plan to approach and attempt to engage with new business prospects.

Whether you choose to use paid services or choose to navigate social media on your own, it’s a platform where you can earn trust and establish credibility with your very best prospects.

It’s also a platform that if used incorrectly, could damage your credibility with your very best prospects.

Topics: Social Media personal brand social selling

How to Practice Active Listening in Sales

Active Listening in Sales

Is it possible to sell faster by talking less? 

Absolutely. 

When sellers rely more on listening — active listening to be specific — their ability to understand client needs throughout the sales process accelerates. This not only gives sellers an edge in crafting unique solutions for each client, but it also helps sellers discern early on if a client is the right fit for their product before investing large amounts of time with them. 

Active listening is a skill that can be learned and benefits both sellers and clients alike.

Topics: active listening

Why You Should Have a Talent-Based Sales Organization

Why You Should Have a Talent-Based Sales Organization

To thrive, an organization needs to be able to attract, hire, and retain top talent.

Top talent are the people that are going to take the team to the next level. They’re the ones who instinctually want to be the best and are the best. They serve clients in a way that no other can. They uncover client needs, close and grow your key accounts, and solve problems in a way you wish everyone could.

In fact, superior talent is up to 8xs more productive than typical talent!

Topics: sales talent assessment sales talent

7 Unexplored Merits of Investing in Employee Experiences

7 Unexplored Merits of Investing in Employee Experiences

Great business leaders have a knack for leveraging all plausible merits of different business tactics. What enables them to do so is their incredible vision to innovate and drive exceptional outcomes from usual scenarios.

It's commendable and inspiring how you always look at the brighter side of things and align them to the success of your business. But have you ever thought about laying great emphasis on the experiences you offer to your employees? Is facilitation of positive employee experiences a part of your core business strategy?

Topics: employee engagement

Weekly Roundup: Managing a Quota-Crushing Sales Team, How to Use Inbound Marketing + More

Managing a Quota-Crushing Sales Team, How to Use Inbound Marketing

- MOTIVATION -

"“Establishing trust is better than any sales technique."

- Mike Puglia

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

13 Ways to Manage a Quota-Crushing Field Sales Team Spotio

Looking to build an efficient, high-performing field sales team?

There’s no “right way” to make a sale. Some companies prefer an inside approach, which means their reps make sales from the comfort of a corporate office. Other companies take an outside approach and physically meet with their prospects in the field.

The approach you choose for your organization will likely depend on the kind of products you sell. Brands that sell simple products and/or have short sales cycles usually opt for inside sales, while B2B companies with complex offerings and longer sales cycles tend to have more success with outside sales.

In this guide, you’ll learn about the top field sales management challenges, as well as strategies that can be used to propel your sales team to new heights. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up

When the Golden Rule Fails, Try the Platinum Rule

When the Golden Rule Fails, Try the Platinum Rule

The idea that you should “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” dates back at least to Confucianism (551 BC) and has precedents in nearly every religion.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Treat people with the same kindness and respect that you would want to be treated with yourself… and don’t do things to people that you wouldn’t want them to do to you.

Simple and true, this Golden Rule is one of those kindergarten lessons that guides us to interact better with others. 

Except when it doesn’t work.

Topics: sales talent

Sales Leadership Series with Carrie Berkbuegler, Director of Sales at Zimmer Communications

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Straight from the Director of Sales at Zimmer Communications, Carrie Berkbuegler discusses sales leadership, sales performance tips, and answers a few questions that we all have.

You’ll get answers to questions like – what are the key performance metrics you track? What are the big rocks that you’re focused on? And how has sales management changed over the past few years?

Tune in now or keep reading for a brief overview.

Topics: sales performance sales leadership

Slow Down the Sales Process So You Can Speed Up the Sale

Slow Down the Sales Process So You Can Speed Up the Sale

Everybody wants to sell faster! No matter your industry or product, every organization is in a hurry to close more business. And on the surface, that sounds like a good idea but it's not.

Too often, we're in such a hurry to close the sale that we rush and make mistakes in the sales process that actually slows down the act of closing.

In our haste, we tend to overlook certain obstacles in our path in an effort to sell quickly. These obstacles often come up as a surprise to the client, which can derail the conversation and cause us to back-track and overcome the objection, which takes more time than if we had discussed it from the beginning.

Topics: Proposal sales process

Top Development Trends and Tips

Development Trends and Tips

Does your organization have a turnover problem? Do you worry that your top talent will leave for another opportunity?

It may be time to refocus on people development and revisit employee growth plans.

We all know that ongoing coaching, training and development are important and key factors in retaining employees long-term. According to LinkedIn, 94% of employees say they would stay in their role longer if their company invested in their professional development. Yet in another survey, nearly 59% of employees claim they had no workplace training and that most of their skills were self-taught.

Topics: sales talent leadership development

Weekly Roundup: Enough Pipeline to Meet Quota, Importance of Candidate Feedback + More

Enough Pipeline to Meet Quota, Importance of Candidate Feedback

- MOTIVATION -

"Don't worry about failure. You only have to be right once."

- Drew Houston

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

Does Your Sales Team Have Enough Pipeline to Make Quota? Selling Power

Sales managers, there’s no way to sugar coat this: Most B2B sales leaders (69%) reported that their teams did not have enough pipeline to hit quota.

Don’t get me wrong — I realize that sales managers have the hardest job in our profession: Revenue executives have an insatiable appetite for data; HR demands ongoing coaching and training; and the sales reps themselves need assistance daily with customer issues, moving deals forward and crafting proposals.  

It’s extremely easy to lose sight of fundamentals when you’re swimming in a sea of demands, data, and deteriorating sales productivity.  

What’s the solution? A strategic prospecting strategy that enables you to separate the shoppers from the buyers. >>> READ MORE

Topics: Wrap-up