The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Last Friday's story from Research Brief reminds us that while more executives expect measurable results from their marketing investment, relatively few of their providers are able to demonstrate that ROI.  (Click here to see that briefing.)

If you'd like to build a winning sales team, take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a Cleveland Brown's fan, this breaks my heart to admit this fact; however, one look at the bottom line (wins) tells the story. Here are 5 things that you could do to build a winning sales tradition like the Steelers:

Honestly, that is not something that ever came out of my mouth… nor did it ever come to mind. When I was a kid I wanted to be a chef because I loved to cook and eat. I wanted to be a Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2. I wanted to be a Madonna (before she did all the weird stuff). After watching A Few Good Men, I wanted to be a lawyer, and for a brief moment, I worked at Express and thought I wanted to be a fashion merchandiser. Why didn’t I dream of becoming a sales person or better said, an expert in sales strategy?

The new year is almost here. Do you know everything you should about your top spending customers? If you are serious about improving sales performance in the coming year, here are 5 things you should know about all your accounts, especially your top spenders:

If you add up the value of everyone who sits in on a sales meeting—including yourself—you’ll realize how expensive sales meetings are. You should also remember the best training takes place in the field, with real accounts, not in a conference room with theoretical examples. But, there are still some legitimate reasons for having a sales meeting: education, training, team building, problem solving, positive psych and recognition. 

Too many people focus on quantity. You've heard this: It's a numbers game. Give me more, more, more! This seems to be the rallying cry of most leaders these days. As more organizations become seduced by the concept of quantity, many have walked away from the concept of quality.

I'm a big fan of quality. One does not exist without the other. Quality leads to quantity in just about everything in the business world (and life). If you want to improve sales performance in your organization, here are five areas that should have a foundation of quality: 

Expanding your sphere of influence—and getting to know more people within your current customer base—makes common sense. It also makes good business sense.

I loved this post on the Elm Street Economics blog today in which Mike Anderson says, "Walk through your store, office, lobby or dealership with a smile today.  Big enough that people stop and ask you, 'What are you smiling so big about?'  Then, just tell them it was nice to have some great economic news today."

In the wake of the untimely passing of Steve Jobs, plenty of people have written about their own experiences dealing with the legendary bigger-than-life persona that was Jobs. Could one of those articles actually offer sales advice?  You bet. I found this in the New York Times.

There is a natural tension between goals to be achieved in a sales organization and the values to be followed. This tension is good. There is an interesting truth about values. In a tough economy your natural instinct might be to double down on your focus on goal attainment and not worry so much about the values of the organization (sounds like something we can focus on once the economy comes back). That would be a big mistake. The values the organization chooses to be guided by are more important in a tough economy—similar to how the importance of a lighthouse increases in a bad storm.