The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

I've worked with thousands of salespeople over two decades now, and it's interesting that so many salespeople are still afraid to have candid discussions about the results a client is seeking and how well what they have sold them is working.

Many sellers wax eloquently about the features and benefits of their product, and especially why it’s a much better value than the competition. At the end of the day, whether or not you get an order, and certainly whether or not you keep your client onboard for a long time, depends on the results you deliver—even if the person you sell to never mentions it.

It’s the sales leader’s job is to pay attention to both what is working and what is not working in the sales department and to make the appropriate adjustments so that the sales force has the best possible chance for success. To do that, the sales leader must pay attention to several things including sales process, sales activity, sales analytics (KPI’s), and of course, the customer.

In fact, paying attention to the customer is perhaps the most important of them all. In recent years, the way that customers have been engaging with sales has changed significantly. If you are a sales leader and you have not adapted the way you run your sales department, then you might find yourself slowly starting to lose ground to the competition.

“Wow, this is the best campaign recap I’ve ever received!”

As a seller, have you ever heard this from a customer? The odds of getting this type of feedback are low. Don’t feel bad because most campaign recaps are mediocre at best. Most are a bunch of data that do not tell a story. Most are forgettable at best.

Culture first… all the other stuff after that! 

“Until I came to IBM, I probably would have told you that culture was just one among several important elements in any organization’s makeup and success – along with vision, strategy, marketing, financials, and the like… I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.”                             - Louis V. Gerstner, JR – former CEO of IBM 

Most organizations dealing with performance issues miss this point. Traditional logic dictates performance improvement is tied to any or all of these factors:

• Product
• People
• Process

Don’t get me wrong, these things are important, but they are not as important as culture. 

Netflix claims over 45 million people have watched the movie Bird Box! Wow, 45 million people!

This post-apocalyptic thriller follows the story of a woman who must find a way to guide herself and her children to safety despite the potential threat from an unseen adversary. The story is partially told via flashbacks and takes place during three time periods.

Much has been written and said about the true meaning of Bird Box. Here are some theories—it’s all about:

• The negative impact of social media.
• The inability of people to see racism.
• The careless way some people deal with mental health issues.
• Demons wreaking havoc and driving people to harm themselves.

All these theories are pretty deep, but they miss the real meaning behind the movie. You see, Bird Box is all about sales! 

Music can help you push through a difficult workout, it can calm your nerves, and it can even get you pumped up and geared towards success. Music can have a powerful impact on your mindset, and using music and the right rhythm to support positive thoughts could definitely get your sales performance headed in the right direction.

Abba — Money, Money, Money

Listen to it here.

“Money, money, money. Must be funny. In the rich man’s world.” What do we all work for? Money, right? To some extent, for sure! The key to this song is honing in on your motivation. “All the things I could do if I had a little money.” What are those things? What do you want to use and spend your money on? Home improvements? A new car? A family vacation? Define those things and create a visual target or vision board that you will see every day. Know exactly what you want to make, and sometimes more importantly WHY.

Where's your motivation? What lights your fire?

Pet Shop Boys — Opportunities

Listen to it here.

“I’ve got the brains, you’ve got the looks. Let’s make lots of money.” To me this song really speaks to using your resources. Who and what do you have around you to help make your ideas bigger and stronger? What could you tap into to make you feel more informed? What areas do you need to improve in or what areas do you find you are lacking skills or knowledge? How can you close that gap? Using your resources helps to ensure you are maximizing each opportunity to the fullest extent. “Oh there’s a lot of opportunities if you know when to take them.”

Are you using your resources?

I’m a sales performance improvement geek, and I admit it!

I enjoy discovering, and sometimes creating, things that help sales organizations improve revenue performance. I encountered some really cool things in 2018 — here’s a list of my top 5.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on Liveplan.com.

The longer a sales proposal sits, the less likely it is to convert to an actual sale.

The trouble with these stalled proposals is that you could have 100 potential sales stuck in limbo, but you can’t use those possible sales to pay your real bills. A bloated sales pipeline can start to have a real impact on your company’s cash flow if you’re not careful.

Proper preparation prevents poor performance! 

Take these five P's for a test drive, and your sale performance will improve. 

As we get closer to the New Year, we are taking some time to reflect on 2018 and the success we've seen our clients achieve. While many are enjoying this special holiday with family and friends, we are bringing you a recap of the most popular posts we've published in 2018. 

Providing quality content that helps our clients and visitors improve their sales performance is a goal of ours, and we hope this blog has brought you insight, education, and tips to get you on the path to success. We've searched for the most popular blogs of 2018, and we've curated these lists that will publish each day this week to bring you some of the most informative content from the year. Check out these top blogs on sales management from 2018, and let them kickstart your 2019 sales strategy.