Matt Sunshine, on May 18, 2021
Some people are skilled at closing a sale. It's easy for them to build rapport with customers, gather information, pitch a product or service, and then close the sale. Others excel only in connecting with prospects and find it incredibly hard to present a product or close the sale.
Utilizing a sales process can help salespeople become better at what they do. In this article, we cover the basics of the sales process and teach you how to improve sales performance.
Greg Giersch, on May 17, 2021
Without quality activity, sales teams fall short of their performance goals.
If it seems that more than a third, or even more than half, of your team is struggling with producing quality activity, it’s time to take a hard look at your sales structure, because your sales structure is perfectly designed for the results you’re getting.
To identify where you might have a problem with your sales structure, break the sales process into three key areas:
Is there one clear area that more than a third of your team is struggling with?
Amanda Meade, on May 14, 2021
-Madam C J. Walker
It breaks my heart when salespeople are resistant to change.
We’ve seen it happen again and again: A new trend emerges. LinkedIn lights up with hot takes from thought leaders. Every vendor within a 100-mile radius tries to put their spin on it and turn it into a reason you need their product. We beat it to death and then you tune it out.
Remember when an entire industry of salespeople disregarded the account-based movement? We failed to think through the changes our marketing teams were going to make, how that would impact our pipeline, and then what behavioral change we should make as a result. We didn’t invest the time to help build our territories, we didn’t participate in writing the nurture drips, we didn’t react to the new lead intel, and so on. >>> READ MORE
The Center for Sales Strategy, on May 13, 2021
Our team coaches salespeople from markets across the country on tactical things they can do within their sales process to help them connect with a decision maker or decision influencer faster to grow their new business.
Many things can be done to accomplish this, but one that seems to be resonating with salespeople lately is identifying their target persona so they can clearly define WHO their target is and fine tune HOW they plan to approach a new business prospect.
This is not a new strategy, just one that is often overlooked.
Matt Sunshine, on May 12, 2021
At The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS), our mission and reason for being is to Turn Talent into Performance. Talent is foundational, but it’s not the only element.
It starts with talent, but you must also develop. After you’ve selected the person, you must commit to growing and developing them if you really want to turn talent into performance.
How do you grow someone?
Beth Sunshine, on May 11, 2021
When you focus on a natural strength, magic happens. They say that when you spend time practicing and honing a strength you have, you can grow in that area by as much as 10xs!
Investing that same effort in an area that’s not a natural strength pays little return.
Imagine the improvement that a salesperson could see if they had the innate ability to ask probing questions and uncover meaningful information—and then spent time practicing and developing that ability! The potential would be huge!
But what if they were too busy to spend any directed time or energy developing that talent? Or even worse, what if they were simply unaware of their incredible potential for growth? That is a wasted opportunity that keeps us awake at night.
Jim Hopes, on May 10, 2021
Only 12% of employees agree that their organization does a good job with employee onboarding — a process where new hires acquire the necessary skills and knowledge in order to become effective and efficient employees.
When it comes to onboarding employees, first impressions last forever. It's your opportunity to introduce the company's mission, value and personality. If you fail to fully communicate everything a new hire needs to know, they’ll likely leave the company. 26% of American workers have quit a job simply because they were unsatisfied with either the training or the onboarding process.
To retain quality employees and maximize their productivity, it's imperative that you take the onboarding process seriously. Make your new hires feel welcome in your company by properly discussing their new roles, the company's mission and vision, and everything else they need to know.
Amanda Meade, on May 7, 2021
-Stephen Covey
As we approach what is typically “performance review season” many high performers are faced with two seemingly competing inner voices:
It’s not a false dichotomy. You should be grateful. And you should also continue to build your career, even if seemingly nothing this year went “according to plan.” Here are five tips for climbing the ladder, even if your ladder seems to be resting on quicksand. >>> READ MORE
Dean Moothart, on May 6, 2021
For as long as there have been Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools in existence, salespeople have been suspicious of management’s motive for insisting their sales teams use the software.
Sure, when everyone on the team is using a CRM, the sales manager’s job can be made easier, but what’s in it for the rank and file salespeople?
If you're a manager trying to get your salespeople on board with using a CRM, below are five reasons you can give them that convey what's in it for them.
Even your best sales reps aren’t immune to sales performance gaps.
There are common gaps like not following the sales process, poor listening skills, not properly preparing for calls, not identifying valid business reasons (VBR) early in the process… the list continues.
However, one of the most common sales performance gaps that you need to close in order to boost revenue is right at the very beginning of the sales process. Do you know what it is?
