Category Archives: Sales Management
The Dangers of Average Sales Skills
Has your sales department ever calculated the cost of sales reps with average sales skills? I am still trying to figure out the answer, but my initial thought was ten percent of top-line revenue. However, upon deeper reflection, it’s unequivocal that top sales reps are exponentially more productive than average reps. Therefore, the cost of […]
Stop Trying to Fit Sales Coaching in a Box
For many sales organizations, coaching is a tricky subject. As an ongoing activity, it is sandwiched between more exciting events, like onboarding and sales training. But sales coaching also suffers from a secondary malady. Though everyone agrees it is necessary, few do it right. As sales coaching and training experts, let us dispense with one […]
What We’ve Learned Supporting Telecom Sales Teams
“Sell telecom,” they said. “Work from home,” they said. “It will be easy,” they said. The new year is upon us, and this year looks to be anything but easy for telecom sales. It was a rollercoaster of a year last year for enterprise sales: It’s not how we start in January but how we […]
Is Coaching Salespeople Different Than Managing Them?
In sales, the terms “manager” and “coach” are common titles. Indeed, the two are often used interchangeably. Afterall, for each, their primary objective is supporting sales teams to boost performance and achieve success. In actual practice, however, sales managers and coaches may or may not be the same person. Also, they often focus on different […]
Onboarding Salespeople–Are You Doing It Right?
At some point, every top-performing salesperson was a new hire. For most, this means hours or days pouring over the orientation materials needed to be a good employee. Often, however, this has nothing to do with being productive sellers. For that, sales organizations rely on onboarding. This is the lengthy process of developing raw sales […]
What Sales Leaders Must Do to End the Year Strong
Are you a CEO, VP of Sales, or Chief Revenue Officer feeling pressured because your company missed its numbers last quarter? You are not alone. Early reports indicate that many companies fell short of their projections. If your company needs to find new sales this quarter, this article is for you. It explores the current […]
Selling in a Downturn
Headwinds. That’s the term that the CEOs of Salesforce and HubSpot describe the macroeconomic conditions for the second half of 2022. I’m not a sailor, but in the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” The headwinds these CEOs are alluding to mean softening demand and inflation. For sales organizations […]
6 Critical Skills Every Sales Professional Should Master
Sales skills are like a carpenter’s tools. You won’t always require them all, but when the need arises, you want the right one. Though hammers can look like mallets, each serves a distinct purpose. The same is true of flathead and Phillips-head screwdrivers. As the best craftspeople have complete tool kits, top sellers have the […]
The Search for the Perfect Salesperson
If your company needs help finding the perfect salesperson, this article is for you. While the perfect salesperson may be as elusive as a Leprechaun, knowing what to look for will help in the hunt. Based on our extensive experience working with salespeople across all industries, we try to answer this important question. Regardless of […]
