<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=585972928235617&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Top Reasons Salespeople Don't Close The Deal

Top Reasons Salespeople Dont Close The Deal

For any sales manager, it's incredibly frustrating when their salespeople don’t seem to be able to close the deal. A successful sale often depends on the product and customer knowledge of the salesperson, but what happens when the hard work isn’t translating into results?

Let’s take a look at some of the top reasons why your team may not be closing deals - from common hurdles like difficulty establishing credibility and understanding client needs to more nuanced issues like forgoing preparation time before meetings or failing to ask questions throughout conversations.

Here's our breakdown on how you can help your team move past these sticking points and finally start seeing those eagerly awaited closed deals!

Topics: successful sales meetings sales process

4 Ted Talks To Show in a Sales Meeting

sales-team-meeting.jpg

If your sales meetings are typically focused on reviewing the budget pacing numbers and other housekeeping notes, then WOW are you missing a great opportunity. Sales meetings are a great place to do sales training or sales warm ups.

While most sales managers agree with this, they often share that one of the reasons they don’t do that sort of activity is because they don’t have time to prepare. Clients of The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS) often use one of the “sales meeting kits, ” but not everyone has that available to them. So, if you're looking for some content to enliven your next sales meeting, here are four TED talks that we recommend.

Topics: successful sales meetings COVID19 Resources

Hold Your Applause

Hold Your Appaluse

Thank you! Thank you!  Really, Thanks. Please hold your applause until the end of the sales meeting. 

What? 

You mean that you haven’t been interrupted during your sales meeting by thunderous applause from your salespeople?  Really?

Topics: successful sales meetings Sales

5 Mistakes Businesses Make When It Comes to Virtual Sales Meetings

5 Mistakes Businesses Make When It Comes to Virtual Sales Meetings

Sales meetings have always been stressful. But with the recent shift to digital, many sales professionals have had to adapt to a whole new way of closing deals.

Naturally, as with anything new, mistakes are still being made. And since sales meeting blunders can cost you business, we've created a list of the five most common ones so you can avoid them in the future.

Topics: successful sales meetings

Selling Success Using Case Studies

Selling Success Using Case StudiesCase Studies and campaign recaps are powerful tools to help sell success. When managers share individual wins with their team, it boosts morale, sparks ideas, and motivates others to do similar work.

Salespeople value the real-life experience of their peers. After all, the best part of working in sales is celebrating your biggest wins after hours, weeks, maybe even months of hard work. Sales wins are a combination of strategies, tools, and content doesn't other players on your team want to know what worked well for the salesperson who sealed the deal?

Topics: case studies successful sales meetings

How to Crush Perceptions and Build Trust with Prospects

How to Crush Perceptions and Build Trust with Prospects

Someone once said that perceptions can’t be wrong because it’s a perception, an opinion and impression of someone else. However, perceptions are often wrong because if they were right, they would be called facts.  

Whether we deserve it or not, we’re judged by every person that we connect with. The words that come out of our mouth firmly establish an imaginary tattoo on our forehead as we stand in front of a quality prospect.

Perception is everything, and how you’re seen by your team, prospects, and clients is a key to success. New research shows that you have 27 seconds to make a positive impression and 1 minute to prove value in any given situation. Like it or not, how you look, dress, and speak helps people to form an opinion of you.

Topics: successful sales meetings prospecting perception

Why Salespeople Find Meetings With Their Manager a Waste of Time

Why Salespeople Find Meetings With Their Manager a Waste of Time

Sales professionals are inherently focused on closing deals and increasing the number of accounts under their purview. As such, they are often impatient when it comes to their time and meetings with superiors are no exception.

One-on-one sales meetings need not be inefficient. Sales managers that want to maximize the effectiveness of their sales team can do so with Individual Focus Meetings. Far from your average sales pow-wow, these intense sessions will motivate your sales team to meet goals that may have seemed impossible before.

Topics: successful sales meetings Individual Focus Meeting

3 Ways to Improve Your IFM's

3 Ways to Improve Your IFMs

Your IFM's should be the most productive and most important time spent with your sales reps every week.

For those unfamiliar with the acronym IFM, it stands for Individual Focus Meeting. What is an IFM? It's what our team at The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS) calls your weekly one-on-one meetings with your salespeople (CSS loves to create an acronym for more common sales terms to keep you on your toes.)

Numerous studies support the fact that one-on-one meetings have a large impact on your team’s performance. So, if you’re struggling with IFM’s, it’s time to prioritize and improve with these three tips.

Topics: successful sales meetings IMPACT Individual Focus Meeting

Tips to Make Sales Meetings Meaningful Instead of Meaningless

Tips to Make Sales Meetings Meaningful Instead of Meaningless

When you think about the sales meetings you attend, are you delighted or disappointed? Are you engaged or enraged? Is your time spent in the meetings worthwhile or wasted?

Sales meetings are a staple in most every sales department. Time is money to every salesperson and sales leader. It’s up to the sales leader to make sure each meeting is positive, motivating, and worthwhile. Treat your sales team like customers who want to feel like their needs have been met and that they leave the meeting enlightened and energized.

Topics: successful sales meetings Sales

How to Get Results in Individual Meetings with Your Salespeople

How to Get Results in Individual Meetings with Your Salespeople

Sales managers often ask us how to make Individual Focus Meetings (IFM) with their salespeople more productive. What's interesting about this, is that salespeople also ask us (on a weekly, if not bi-weekly basis) why they even need an Individual Focus Meeting with their sales manager.

As you can already tell, there seems to be an issue with this weekly meeting — neither side is getting what they want out of it. And we understand why this is happening.

Topics: successful sales meetings sales performance sales coaching