The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Work and career are areas that are ever-evolving.

New ways of working emerge, skill sets and experiences change, and employee expectations shift. As a leader, it's important to understand where your priorities need to be and how you can position yourself to help your employees grow.

Did you know that there are 397,900 sales managers in the United States?

It's expected that this number will jump by 7% each year, which is the average amount of growth in the U.S. for a profession.

As a manager, you need to ensure that your team is successful and happy. Keep reading, and we'll guide you through the fatal sales leadership practices you should avoid.

Being a great manager is tougher than being a great salesperson.

Think back to when you were a new manager, what was one piece of advice you wish you knew back then, that you now know?

Here’s what a few of our experts at The Center for Sales Strategy said.

We're used to hearing “it takes a village” when we're talking about family, but what if that “village” theory is true in business as well.

Well, it sure helps!

Finding the right mentor can help you navigate your career and give you a village of knowledge instead of going at it on your own.

In addition to resetting your priorities, recruiting and selecting the right talent, and managing people individually — there’s another aspect sales managers need to focus on.

Great management begins and ends with YOU. It’s time to strategize what being a great manager looks like for yourself — it's time to focus on the Big Rocks.

No matter how good a product is, nobody will buy it if they have not heard about it. On top of that, sometimes it takes a skilled and informed presentation of a product for people to realize how much value it can bring to them. That is the job of the more than 13 million people who are employed in sales just in the United States!

Of course, the world of sales comes with its own challenges. One of the most common challenges that sales leaders work with is time management. Learning to manage this one area can greatly increase success and productivity.

But there is a reason that time management is one of the most common sales leaders' challenges. It can be difficult to figure out how to make it work for you. Read on to learn all about the time management techniques that can help you tackle this sales challenge!

It's more important than ever to engage with your sales team. Sales teams that are not engaged are much more likely to underperform, experience low budget attainment, and unwanted turnover.

Data shows that less than 30% of today's workforce is truly engaged. This is especially true for end-of-the-quarter and end of the year! According to HubSpot, if a seller is disengaged and underperforming, it costs 150% of their salary to replace them.

Here are a few causes of a low performing sales team and how sales leaders can help.

Working in sales isn't getting any easier. In 2020, the majority of sales reps weren't expected to meet their sales quotas.

As the leader of your sales team, it's up to you to motivate your team to reach their targets and more. But that's easier said than done.

We've created a guide with 7 sales team motivation strategies that you can use to overcome the sales leaders' challenges you encounter as the face of your team, whether you're new to the position or on your way to becoming an expert.

As a sales leader, you can count on the fact that there will be constant change. It's all around you — in technology, the economy, your team, and industry conditions.

At times, it can seem impossible to prepare for and navigate the sea of changes you face, but successful sales managers adapt and adjust, and even embrace the changes.

Whether the change is a small adjustment or a seismic shift, leaders have the ability to reduce uncertainty and smoothly maneuver the tumult of change.

Being a sales manager has always been a difficult job. But we can all agree that over the last couple of years, it’s gotten a lot harder.

In this episode of the Sales Leadership Series, Mike Searson, Vice President, Local Revenue at Corus Entertainment discusses sales and executive leadership tips. He also addresses some of the top KPIs he looks at and what sales managers should be focused on in the upcoming years.

Tune in now or keep reading for a brief overview.