The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

- MOTIVATION -

"Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.”

-Madam C J. Walker

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

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.

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?

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.

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.

- MOTIVATION -

"Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

-Stephen Covey

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

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?

When it comes to the sales pipeline, a good rule of thumb is — having nothing in the top of your sales funnel today, means nothing to close in the future.

This means it is important to add prospects to a sales funnel, as well as ongoing engagement to move them through the funnel. Simply put,  just because a prospect enters the top of the sales funnel, it’s not guaranteed they’ll move to the middle of the funnel.

To achieve your sales targets, it's imperative to effectively train the sales reps so they become more productive. Sales coaching can highly improve their skills as they become better salespeople. They can help generate more revenue for the company and help achieve business objectives. 

While sales experience is essential, it's equally important to train the sales managers to maximize sales productivity. Effective sales coaching coupled with good training and management can help skyrocket sales and build a stronger sales team.