The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

- MOTIVATION -

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

- Winston Churchill

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<< If you only read one thing >>

The Improving Sales Performance Series focuses on helping sales leaders make an impact on their sales performance through insight on four key areas: people, process, planning, and performance.

Each week, host Matt Sunshine speaks with guests on essential resources and tools that sales leaders should use to improve sales performance. In this episode, Victor Giacomelli, Managing Director, Ads + Research at SoCast Digital, discusses how sales leaders can make an impact on their sales planning with sales calendars.

Tune in now or keep reading for a brief overview.

Have you ever heard music that was so brilliant, you couldn’t even carry on a conversation while listening? 

I had a friend in college who played like that. Her audiences would be nearly silent as she played, mesmerized by the sound, until her last note when they would go nuts!

She practiced both the piano and the guitar often, simply because she loved it, and she often played for us upon request. I’m not much of a musician myself, and I don’t know a lot about the business, but those who did were certain that she could be one of the few who actually made a career for herself in music. 

First, it was a phone call.

Then an email.

Finally, a text message.

Was my wife trying to get a hold of me? No, it was my doctor's office.  

It was that time of the year — time for my annual check-up. Ugh! Does anyone get excited to have a physical done by your doctor? It's uncomfortable, a bit invasive, and he's going to tell me all of the things that I've done wrong in the last year that I already know, but I don't want to admit to myself.

You have a salesperson who has a great, positive attitude. The clients love them and they do a great job at getting that first appointment and building a relationship with clients. 

BUT they tend to use the same few solutions over and over.

And when clients or coworkers come to this person with an issue, it ruins their day — it gets them completely off track, and they just can’t seem to find the way back. What’s the problem?! 

Is the individual's positivity not as high as it should be? Is discipline the issue? Actually, what you're witnessing may be their lack of ability to problem solve.

- MOTIVATION -

"Sales is not about selling anymore, but about building trust and educating.”

- Siva Devaki

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<< If you only read one thing >>

Have you ever come back to your office after a solid Needs Analysis meeting and shared the exciting news with your manager?

As you sit down to recap, your manager starts to ask you questions about the prospect, and you realize you can’t answer them.

Critical information that you need was never even discussed. The assignment that you uncovered and thought was strong is actually vague, and you begin to understand clearly that you're missing key pieces of information.

You start to deflate as you realize this meeting wasn’t as good as you thought after all.

To set your organization up for long-term success, you need more than just a goal. You need a strategic plan, and that’s where target drives come in.

How do you do a target drive? Why do you need help with them? And a question many sales leaders want to know, what does "good" look like?

In this episode, Alina McComas, VP / Senior Consultant at The Center for Sales Strategy, discusses how sales leaders can make an impact on their sales planning through Target Drives. Plus, she gives brand-new data related to top-performers!

Tune in now or keep reading for a brief overview.

It's obvious why sales performance is a crucial part of any organization. Good sales performance leads to increased sales and greater profits. These results become a motivating factor for your sales force.

A motivated sales team will perform well. This creates a cycle of continued success. However, it's often hard to achieve. 

Poor sales performance results in lost time and increased costs. Sales managers end up spending 90% of their time trying to manage poor sales performance. Your organization can avoid this by implementing an effective sales performance strategy.

This will facilitate the productive use of your sales managers' time and a motivated sales force that helps improve your company's bottom line. Read on to learn more about sales performance and how you can improve it with a comprehensive strategy.

Companies with highly-engaged employees grow revenue 2.5x as much as those who don't, and engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their organization. Creating and building a company culture of engagement is vital to a healthy company and business growth.