The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

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"What you focus on is what you get."

-Bob Burg

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Regardless of the industry you work in; every company ultimately has the same goal: to increase revenue and grow business.

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.

In this episode of Improving Sales Performance, Alina McComas, VP / Senior Consultant at The Center for Sales Strategy, shares her insight on implementing target drives that help improve revenue performance. Keep reading for a brief overview or tune in now.

When you start a new sales job, there’s always a transition that includes many different learning curves. You learn how to embrace a new culture, learn to meet the expectations of new leadership, take on new functions within a sales job, and then there's the social pressure.

One of the best ways to ease the pain of transition is to offer new sales hires training—training in areas that help introduce skills needed or training for existing salespeople to enhance skills they may have already developed but can always improve. 

Sapling has found that “Without powerful onboarding, it takes around 8 to 12 months for new employees to reach their full productivity levels.”

By taking the time upfront to onboard people in a meaningful way, they’ll be able to begin contributing at higher levels quicker and make a more immediate impact on the organization.

Onboarding is a prime opportunity for employers to win the hearts of new employees. Don't waste it, experts say.

- MOTIVATION -

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."

-Sam Levenson

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<< If you only read one thing >>

Vertical targeting is one of the most effective ways to capture a focused, intent-driven audience. You can use specific messaging tailored for that segment and curate the content to cater to your target market’s unique needs and interests.

In this episode of Improving Sales Performance, John Matthews, President and CEO of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., shares his insight on targeting a vertical market to improve an organization's sales performance.

Scientists say music changes mood, motivation, cognitive processing, and the ability to retain information. Additionally, music just makes work more fun and time fly!  

Setting appointments is a common problem — in fact, the 2020 Media Sales Report found that 80% of sales managers find it harder today than just 5 years ago. Listening to music is just one small motivator that will help get the job done.

Effective sales prospecting is one of the most challenging — and most important —parts of the sales process. Getting it wrong means wasted time and frustration. Getting it right means a healthier pipeline and better performance.

This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com.

What’s the worst thing that can happen if you buy weak leads from a questionable source? New York City real estate broker Nathan Horne almost found out.

Like the thousands of professionals in his industry who collectively spent $10.5 billion on advertising in 2017, his employer, The Corcoran Group, focused on branding instead of strategic lead generation. So, when Horne called someone he thought was a hot lead, he got the surprise of his life. Instead of a potential buyer, the police detective who answered the phone made a veiled threat about having a gun and being willing to use it.

You mean well. You want to do it better this year. But, somehow every year, it gets away from you. 

We all have good intentions each year to do a better job planning, selling, and tracking all of the major sales opportunities for our organization. This is why you really need to start planning using a sales calendar.