The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

In this episode, we’re continuing our season-long deep dive into the latest Media Sales Report from The Center for Sales Strategy. Today, Trey Morris, VP/ Senior Consultant here at CSS, is joining Matt to help answer the question, “Why is it getting harder to convert prospects and renew clients?”

Trey brings so many great points to the table, such as:

• How too many salespeople are pitching products instead of solutions
• Why sellers need to do a better job of helping existing clients figure out what’s working and what’s not working early on in their business relationship
• And, finally, why it’s so important for every seller to give the best reason possible for prospects to want to meet with them

In this episode of Improving Sales Performance, we’re once again diving into The 5th Annual Media Sales Report by The Center for Sales Strategy.

Today, we’re exploring why sales managers are experiencing such increased difficulty in achieving organizational goals.

Joining Matt to discuss that and much more is Stephanie Downs, SVP/Senior Consultant here at CSS. Stephanie provides valuable insights, like:

• How a sales manager’s calendar should reflect a strategy of developing and coaching their people
• Why we often make recruitment harder on ourselves by not having a firm plan in place
• And, finally, why adding more people to your sales team is not always the solution

In this Quick Take episode, we’re kicking off our season-long exploration of The Center for Sales Strategy’s 5th Annual Media Sales Report by highlighting some of this year’s most eye-catching findings.

In other words, by the end of this short episode, you’ll have a good idea of how salespeople and sales managers are currently feeling about their own organizations as well as the entire media sales industry.

We’re so proud to be celebrating Women in Sales Month once again.

For each week in October, we have an amazing slate of women sales leaders who will be sharing their unique insights. Today, our guest is Stephanie Slagle, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Graham Media Group. Stephanie has so many amazing insights to offer, like:

• Why customer results should always be your North star
• How even the Michael Jordan’s (or Lebron’s) on your team crave coaching
• And, finally, why the mark of a great sales leader lies in the ability to articulate the path forward

We’re so proud to be celebrating Women in Sales Month once again.

For each week in October, we have an amazing slate of women sales leaders who will be sharing their unique insights. Today, our guest is Laura Coristine, General Sales Manager at Cox Media

Laura makes so many awesome points. Such as:

• Why, instead of asking for feedback, you should ask for “feedforward."
• How emotional intelligence really can boost the overall morale of your sales teams.
• And, finally, why, if you’ve got a happy, engaged team of people, success is only a matter of time.

We’re so proud to be celebrating Women in Sales Month once again.

For each week in October, we have an amazing slate of women sales leaders who will be sharing their unique insights. From offering advice for sales managers new and more experienced to surveying the anticipated landscape of sales in the years ahead, when it comes to Improving Sales Performance, these ladies know how it's done.

Today, we are joined by Giovanna Savorgnan, Director of Sales at WFAA.

Gio shares so many amazing observations, such as:

• Why it’s important for everyone, from the top down, to fully believe in the mission of the organization.
• How the best managers are as good at coaching as they are teaching.
• And, lastly, why really great sales leaders have to lean into the unknown.

We’re so proud to be celebrating Women in Sales Month once again!

For each week in October, we have an amazing slate of women sales leaders who will be sharing their unique insights. From offering advice for sales managers new and more experienced to surveying the anticipated landscape of sales in the years ahead, when it comes to Improving Sales Performance, these ladies know how it's done.

Today, our guest is Lauren Cooley, Chief Revenue Officer at ExpertVoice. Lauren brings so many awesome points to the table, such as:

• How the pandemic challenged us and changed us for the better.
• Why you shouldn’t want a team of “you,” but, instead, a team of people who are authentically themselves.
• And, finally, how, even with the rate at which the world is changing, there’s still no substitute for spending time with your people.

In this episode, we’re wrapping up our season-long coverage of The Center for Sales Strategy’s latest Talent Magazine.

Today, we’re taking some time to discuss a group of people who too often get the short end of the “development stick.” That’s right; we’re talking about leaders.

Joining Matt to uncover the ways in which leaders can most effectively tap into their innate strengths is Beth Sunshine.

Beth makes so many awesome points, like:

• How 360 Executive Coaching allows leaders to see both where they are using their strengths as well as areas where they could stand to develop their strengths even more.
  
  
• Why, even if you have raw talent, you still need to focus on developing it into an actual skill.
  
  
• And, finally, why leaders who aren’t intentionally focusing on their strengths are missing out on opportunities to develop not only themselves but the teams they manage as well.

In this episode, we’re once again consulting the latest Talent Magazine by The Center for Sales Strategy.

Today, we’re focusing on Engagement with Kate Rehling and Deborah Fulghum, joining Matt to help break it all down. Kate and Deborah both provide super valuable insights, like:

• How a company culture is like a garden. If you regularly tend to it, what you plant will flourish. If you don’t, weeds will start sprouting in no time.
• Why the success of your organization doesn’t depend on WHERE you work but HOW you work.
• And, finally, why engagement and satisfaction are in no way the same thing.

In this episode, we’re taking a good look at the Development section of the latest Talent Magazine from The Center for Sales Strategy. Here to help Matt determine the best ways to go about developing your people are Stephanie Downs and Kelly George.

Together, Stephanie and Kelly highlight some amazing points to think about, like:

• Why employees want to be coached rather than managed.
• How AI tools may soon be helping leaders build personalized learning paths through the identification of employee skill gaps.
• And, finally, why you should never assume that development is solely for new hires alone.