SBI Growth

DECEMBER 10, 2013

At this point, your 2013 sales number is essentially decided. Your thoughts should now turn to 2014. I speak with many VP Sales who say the same thing every year: “We have some underperformers that are killing us.” Before you really make any decisions, start with these questions: What are my key strategic initiatives for 2014?

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Territories Scale Guidelines Groups 300

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 17, 2013

With 2014 on the horizon, new sales targets will soon be set. Your 2014 number will inform decisions about the makeup of your team next year. Many sales leaders think an increase in revenue targets translates to an increase in headcount. Learn how to achieve this with the Sales Rep Productivity Guide.

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Hiring Follow-up Top of Funnel Analysis 292

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 12, 2013

Most companies are in the heart of their planning process for 2014. Has your Sales Ops planning kept up with the new realities? Today’s post provides recommendations for revising your approach for 2014. If that covers most of your plan’s components, you better catch up. Sign-up here to get it.

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Buyer Persona Territories Compensation Buyer 310

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 3, 2013

A year ago at this time, you decided what sales improvement projects to pursue. Download the Sales Leaders’ Execution Guide here. You will receive the following benefits: Avoid the execution mistakes of the past. Accelerate the behavior change in your sales leaders. A detailed plan to drive sales rep adoption.

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Groups Follow-up SalesForce Training 297

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Top sales reps share a common trait. Why Top Sales Reps Will Be Unemployed in 2 Years set an SBI record for most views in one day. The post offered advice for top sales reps to avoid becoming obsolete. What can sales and HR leaders learn from this massive response? What separates top sales reps from the rest?

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Hiring Social Media Comparison Forecasting 308

Customer Centric Selling

AUGUST 2, 2013

Sales Training Article: Is Your Team Ready for 2014? By George de los Reyes, Sales Benchmark Index (SBI) Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Have you started thinking about 2014? They follow an annual planning process that starts in July with a Marketing Productivity Benchmark.

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Outsourcing Services Training Lead Rank Buyer Persona 45

Customer Centric Selling

JULY 2, 2014

Sales Tips: How to Boost the Remainder of Your 2014. By John Holland, Chief Content Officer, CustomerCentric Selling® - The Sales Training Company. Early in my sales management career, I was astounded by how hopeful salespeople were that had achieved 35% of their annual quota going into the fourth quarter.

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Face-to-face Negotiation Proposal Pipeline 69

SBI Growth

AUGUST 7, 2013

Not all “A” Player sales reps were meant to be managers. If you’ve been in sales long enough, you’ve seen this mistake unfold. He neglects his skill development and sales initiatives. Frequently, the top manager gets the nod for the VP of Sales. An ill-prepared sales manager damages his region. His team flounders.

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Construction Ideal Customer Profile Territories Compensation 334

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Over these remaining weeks, conversations with SVP-Sales have focused on 3 areas: What can I still do to Make the Number in 2013 ? How should I be preparing to Make the Number in 2014 ? Sales Kick-Off is right around the corner – what am I going to do? As 2013 winds down, 2014 naturally ramps up.

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Hiring Buyer Persona ROI Follow-up 296

SBI Growth

JULY 23, 2013

Sales Operations leaders have seen the power of Social Selling. Sales cycles that begin with an online referral are closing more rapidly. Corporate Communications sees inherent risk in mobilizing a social sales force. Implementing a successful sales transformation. They had to play catch up.

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Social Selling Benefit Top of Funnel Guidelines 323

SBI Growth

AUGUST 15, 2013

Organizations that have achieved real sales and marketing alignment are as rare as unicorns. This is the time of year when leaders start mapping out 2014. Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute.” sales cycle duration. This wasn’t easy.

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Top of Funnel Marketing Lead Generation Face-to-face 282

SBI Growth

JULY 26, 2013

started a sales improvement effort. He worked with sales leadership to bring in consultants. Hank is pushing to start the next recommended SFE (Sales Force Effectiveness) initiatives. However, Chief Sales Officer Victor wants to know if the first initiative is successful. It will surely help sales recruiting.

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Hiring How To Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face 267

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 21, 2013

As you plan for 2014, are you investing enough in both? Sales Operations is responsible for creating that winning environment. Performance culture is studied in depth in our 2014 Research Tour. Performance culture is studied in depth in our 2014 Research Tour. 80% of its sales team was outside sales reps.

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Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Margin Face-to-face 293

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

A few years ago, I interviewed Brent for a B2B sales rep job. This post is for HR and Sales Leaders who are seeking to hire the next Brent. It’s also for those who aspire to become top sales reps. This post includes a link to a valuable tool – the Top Sales Rep''s Satisfaction Index. Brent was clearly an “A” player.

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Hiring Social Media Compensation Buyer Persona 314

SBI Growth

AUGUST 4, 2013

Most HR and Sales leaders who just completed this mid-year chore would agree. It does not answer the question that is top of mind with Sales and HR leaders, “How can we improve the performance of our sales team?” A more Agile way of assessing sales talent has emerged. It did nothing to get closer to Make the Number.

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Territories Lead Rank Lead Scoring Demand Generation 282

SBI Growth

JUNE 30, 2013

In B2B sales, activity leads to results. The correct time to add sales people is when business is soft. More sales people means more sales calls. This means your sales force will be in more deals. You reduce the number of sales reps to cut costs. Let’s not beat up Oracle. Your 2014 quota is going up.

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Hiring Oracle Lead Rank Lead Scoring 308

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 9, 2013

A critical issue you face as CEO is how to increase sales productivity. As you head into 2014, you have identified or hired your key sales players. The unknown factor is the crop of new sales reps. Then off to training back at corporate. Sales Methodology Overview. Travel & Dinner. Competitive Overview.

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Hiring How To Travel Face-to-face 301

LeadFuze

JUNE 7, 2021

What are Sales Training Programs. Sales training programs are any type of formal or informal training that helps employees sell more effectively. These programs often teach sales forces to “fence” when the new game is mixed with martial arts. Why are Sales Training Programs Important.

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Training Hiring Trends Retention 52

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 2, 2013

We write frequently about aligning your sales process to your ideal customer''s buying process. Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute.” Learn why your team ignores your sales process and how to fix it. Team meetings are run by sales managers.

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Sales Process Webinar Metrics Vendor Energy 308

SBI Growth

JULY 22, 2013

You have to make the rest of 2013 with the sales heads you have.” Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute." In the guide you will learn: Make the number with the remaining sales people you have. Make the sales job fun.

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Hiring Top of Funnel How To Social Selling 325

SBI Growth

AUGUST 23, 2013

There is a better way to differentiate your sales force from the competition. Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute." Learn why a customized sales process is the ultimate competitive advantage. Not Just a Regular Sales Process.

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Top of Funnel Competition Buyer Sales Methodology 276

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan. Last week I led our annual Sales Leadership intensive and hosted the best group of sales leaders to ever attend the event. Chad Burmeister , who is well known throughout the inside sales community, was one of the attendees. Sure enough, the numbers were amazing.

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Inside Sales Outside Sales Study Distribution 212

SBI Growth

AUGUST 3, 2013

The CEO just introduced her to the new sales leader. The last VP of Sales got canned at the end of Q2. Kathy had done everything she could to support the sales team. The sales force neglected to utilize marketing developed sales support materials. Frees sales from day-to-day dependence on marketing for leads.

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Meeting Top of Funnel Marketing Lead Gen 303

SBI Growth

JUNE 4, 2013

For example, how long is your sales cycle? For many of our clients, the average sales cycle exceeds 6 months. In this situation, the sales leader better be evaluating net new leads NOW. Your 2014 revenue number is already on the line. Why does everyone evaluate sales comp at the end of Q4? Compensation Planning.

Hiring 308

Hiring Lead Rank Lead Scoring Demand Generation 308

Steven Rosen

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Guest Post by Jeff Shore: An excerpt from “Be Bold and Win the Sale” by Jeff Shore. Available from McGraw-Hill Business in January 2014. In sales and in life, most of the familiar moments of discomfort can be predicted with some degree of accuracy. In other words, I can train my mental muscles before I need to use them.

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Face-to-face Energy Twitter Follow-up 316

The Sales Hunter

AUGUST 19, 2013

The truth is, though, that when you build your sales plans to make your goal, chances are pretty high that you will MISS your goal!! Many of you are building your 2014 sales goals as you read this, and if you’re not, you need to start. We’ll say you want to achieve $1 million in sales next year. Aim higher!

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Motivation Selling Skills Sales Goal Follow-up 219

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 8, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan I''ve seen this happen in youth baseball so many times. Are there sales versions of this? An example of a successful, but not necessarily busy salesperson, would be the one whose two whale-sized deals generated three times more business than the rest of the sales force combined.

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Top of Funnel Proposal Coaching Networking 251

The Sales Hunter

MARCH 7, 2014

SPS — Sales Prevention Syndrome — is the great killer of salespeople. Do you or your friend ever suffer any of the following conditions: A hesitation to answer the phone when a customer is calling. ” A desire to spend too much time preparing to make sales calls as an excuse to not actually have to call.

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Cold Calling Territories Consultative Selling Motivation 226

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

One of the biggest purchases a Sales Department makes is the CRM system. More aligned sales reps and materials. The software never lives up to expectations. And the sales team ultimately reverts to old habits. They don’t adequately train the reps (usually opting for a one day session). They give up.

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System CRM Compensation Pipeline 303

SBI Growth

AUGUST 17, 2013

Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014: A Sales Strategy You Can Execute." Participate and learn what top companies are doing to make the number in 2014. The ability to clearly define roles allows for better alignment with sales and shared metrics (leading & lagging).

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Ideal Customer Profile Hiring Lead Rank Analysis 328

SBI Growth

JULY 31, 2013

As a sales leader, you know the importance of field execution. A big part of execution is how the team uses the sales process. You are asking yourself, “ Is Our Sales Process Good Enough? ”. During the research for this VP of Sales event , over 5000 sales leaders shared their biggest obstacles. Your Challenge.

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Sales Process Buyer Persona Buyer Segment 321

Score More Sales

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

There is no argument among sales leaders that finding, hiring, and retaining good sales reps is the biggest challenge in leading an organization to higher profits. But how to hire the right sales reps? Assessment Tool: Objective Management Group Sales Candidate Assessment. Increase Opportunities. Expand Your Pipeline.

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Hiring How To Lead Rank Lead Scoring 229

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 1, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan It''s a big problem with many of the sales blogs you read. One-person sales consulting firms, self-appointed experts, telling, but not doing, what they say. The rest of you should be doing the following at least on an annual basis: Evaluate your sales force.

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Hiring Webinar Metrics Channels Policies 218

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Sales Leaders hate Q4. Jim is the Senior Vice President of North American Sales and Field Operations at Motorola Solutions. For the complete list of Jim Welch’s New Year Preparation Tips, register for SBI’s Sales & Marketing Research Review. You have to get out with your team and take a bottoms up approach.

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Hiring Trends Call-back Research 303

Sales Training Connection

JUNE 4, 2014

Sales Managers. Growing up, when my I did something wrong, my Mother often lumped my Sister and I together – saying “You and your sister both ….” The more successful the salesperson, the more likely that they regularly follow-up with buyers in a timely way. This good idea also holds true for sales managers.

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Sales Management Face-to-face Pivotal Sales Leadership 123

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 28, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan. This is the 10th article in a January series on the Architecture of the Sales Force. Here are the others: Organic Sales Growth and Its Impact on Sales Architecture. Overlooked Conversation Between Sales Managers and Salespeople. Who are they? Where can they be found?

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Lead Rank Sales Methodology Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead 240

Score More Sales

APRIL 29, 2014

You went up to the counter and there was no one in sight to help you. It is unbelievable that in 2014, there are still big brand companies with poor response to people who are looking to buy their products and services. You have a potential buyer and you don’t follow up? Set yourself up to win.

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Retail Lead Rank Lead Scoring Study 239