The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Outbound prospecting for new business has always been a bit of a numbers game. Years ago, when I first started as a Sales Development Rep, the formula was simple. If you made 100 phone calls, you could expect 10 appointments, and at least 1 of those prospects would turn into a client. The numbers would vary from industry to industry and market to market, but that was the standard everyone was shooting for.

Outbound prospecting is still a numbers game today. Unfortunately, the numbers are just a lot bigger. It requires more phone calls and more emails than ever before to get fewer responses, fewer appointments, and fewer clients. Why is it so hard? What’s changed? >>> READ MORE

For modern customers, there’s almost always more than one option when it comes to making a purchase. That makes it even harder for sales teams to close deals. But when customers are inundated by countless messages everyday, personalization can help.

Buyers don’t want to feel like they are part of the herd. They want to feel special and taken care of. Working to fulfill that need can help your team stand out. There are a variety of ways to personalize pitches and approaches. Be sure to keep these methods in mind when empowering your team. >>> READ MORE

Sales managers are a rare breed. The job is challenging. The most successful sales managers demonstrate a knack for hacking other disciplines. Successful sales managers combine the skills of economists, data analysts, psychologists, sociologists and entrepreneurs.

They also benefit from hijacking a few best practices from marketers. Here are some thought-starters for hacking your counterparts in marketing. >>> READ MORE

Succeeding in sales is all about developing the right habits. But not all habits are sales-generating.

The industry has changed a lot in recent decades, moving towards a consultative approach. Now, some once-hallowed practices will actively hinder your ability to connect with prospective customers and close deals.

If you’re still doing these things, you’re not offering real value to your customers. >>> READ MORE

The reality is not all salespeople are created equal (and neither are startups). Just because a rep has amazing sales numbers doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good hire. What they had to do to achieve those numbers may be totally different than what they’ll have to do to be successful with you!

So how do you know which salesperson is the right hire for your business? >>> READ MORE

Sometimes when you generate leads via inbound marketing, you can get a lot of information about your prospects and leads when they fill out a lead capture form. It really depends, though, on what you're willing to ask. You can ask things like name, phone number, email, company name, industry, revenue, and more. There's a lot of different variables you can ask for.

The tricky part is, when you ask for too much information, you might limit the number of people that are willing to provide all of that to you. Consequently, this might limit the number of leads you could generate. >>> READ MORE

An empty sales funnel is a relatively straightforward (albeit not necessarily easy) problem to solve: enhance your prospecting efforts to produce more qualified leads.

A leaky sales funnel is another beast entirely. When we’re driving sufficient leads, but too few are reaching the finish line, the causes aren’t always obvious. This can lead to wasted prospecting efforts, seller frustration, and organizational discord. >>> READ MORE

Every time we think we've gotten a grip on the weird, wonderful world of sales, we learn something new that forces us to change our perspective and question our beliefs. Like just 17% of salespeople think they're pushy -- compared to 50% of prospects.

And along similar lines, only 3% of buyers trust reps. The only professions with less credibility include car sales, politics, and lobbying. Ouch. Luckily, not all sales-related data will bum you out. This list of sales statistics has invaluable nuggets of wisdom on everything from which words to avoid in your email subject line to the optimal number of questions to ask during a discovery call. >>> READ MORE

Deals aren’t qualified just the one time and then locked down as golden opportunities forever more; they need to be constantly tested and retested, with the goal of exiting (either one direction or the other) as soon as possible. 50+ sales leaders at companies like Dell, Workday, Oracle, and Cornerstone were interviewed, and based on what was learned, it’s clear the best sales teams practice proactive disqualification (DQ). >>> READ MORE

These days, there's a lot of talk about influencing sales through social media or "social selling." However, I firmly believe you must measure what's effective in order to be successful. This post looks at how a podcast I developed has helped our company significantly influence the sales pipeline. It also explores how social media fits into a true multi-channel approach. >>> READ MORE