The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Let’s face it—not every prospect deserves a spot on your call list.

That can be a tough realization, especially for newer sellers who assume every business with a budget is a viable lead. But experienced sales pros know better. Your time, energy, and focus are limited resources. If you want to grow your revenue and hit your goals, you have to get ruthless about prioritization.

Here are three key questions to help you separate real opportunities from the ones that just waste your time.

Prospecting is the cornerstone of sales success. It’s the process of identifying, qualifying, and engaging potential customers.

However, many sales professionals find prospecting daunting. This is where targeted training programs can make a significant difference.

Effective prospecting is the backbone of sales success, yet finding candidates with the right skills can be challenging.

Sales professionals need a unique blend of persistence, creativity, and communication to excel in prospecting. Companies can better evaluate these abilities by focusing on key indicators during the hiring process.

Here, we'll guide you through the steps to identify strong prospecting skills in potential hires, ensuring you select the best candidates to drive your business forward.

The ability to prospect effectively can make or break a team's success. It's the lifeblood of the sales process, the crucial first step that fills the pipeline and drives revenue growth.

But here's the challenge—identifying candidates who excel at prospecting is no easy task. It requires a keen eye, the right assessment tools, and a deep understanding of what makes a great prospector tick.

Think about it—how often have you hired a salesperson with a stellar resume and charismatic interview presence, only to find they struggle to generate new leads?

The cost of a bad hire in sales can be staggering, not just in terms of lost revenue but also wasted time and resources.

One of the most effective ways to connect with potential clients is by providing a valid business reason (VBR). But what exactly does this mean, and why is it so important?

A valid business reason goes beyond simply stating that you have a product or service to offer. It's about demonstrating real value to your prospects and showing them why engaging with you is worth their time and attention.

As sales leaders, we've all noticed a shift in buyer behavior over the past few years. At The Center for Sales Strategy, we've been tracking this trend closely, and it's clear that the landscape has changed dramatically.

Recent studies, including one from HubSpot, suggest it takes anywhere from 12 to 15 touches before a prospect is ready to meet with sales.

This might sound alarming, but it's our new reality. The question is: how do we adapt our strategies to meet this challenge head-on?

Ever feel like you're giving a killer sales pitch, but your prospect just keeps staring at the wall?

The truth is a one-size-fits-all sales approach rarely works. Prospects have unique personalities, and understanding these differences can be the key to unlocking sales success.

But how can you possibly tailor your approach to every single person?

The answer is to adapt your sales style to match your prospect's personality type. By doing so, you'll build stronger rapport, improve communication, and ultimately close more deals.

The initial encounter with a prospective client can feel like navigating a minefield of uncertainty. This delicate phase is fraught with what we call relationship tension—a natural byproduct of unfamiliarity and the inherent skepticism that accompanies interactions with sales professionals.

Understanding and effectively managing this tension is paramount to fostering productive conversations and building trust, which are essential ingredients for successful sales outcomes.

• You’ve worked with your marketing team to develop your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
• You’ve built a database of target companies that match your ICP characteristics.
• You’ve researched to identify the key decision-makers of your target prospects.
• You have a great solution that has helped other similar companies.

You have a great story to tell.

Now you have one last problem. You need a chance to tell your story.

You can’t sell anything until you first talk to a decision-maker. But you can’t get a decision-maker to pick up the phone or even open your emails.

How do you break through to seemingly unresponsive decision-makers?

Salespeople, even great salespeople, sometimes have trouble closing the deal. Getting to yes is often the hardest part of the sales process.

How hard?

As many as 57% of salespeople reported difficulty converting prospects into customers. If your team is having trouble with conversions, the first thing to do is figure out why.