Score More Sales

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Many sales leaders and smaller company CEOs are discussing sales tam planning for next year. This is something we work on routinely with technology and distribution companies for inside and outside sales teams – don’t hesitate to ask us if you have a question or two. Some have completed theirs.

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Territories Distribution Outbound Outside Sales 220

A Sales Guy

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

There used to be a time when hiring a new sales person, throwing him or her a phonebook and saying hit the streets was adequate. We marveled at the sales people who, with nothing less than determination, a rolodex, a half-baked product and some spit and gum could build a great pipeline and drive business. Today, things have changed.

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Sales Qualified Lead Leads Marketing Qualified Lead Hiring 112

SBI Growth

AUGUST 10, 2012

Trained the sales force and channel partners on the new product. Did you forget about enabling the sales force ? Where in your plan is getting your sales force ready to sell your new product? Who is responsible for Sales Enablement ? If you leave it to the sales force, it won’t get done. They’ve never had to.

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Sales Enablement Tools Territories Campaigns 267

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

For HR leaders, a recent Harvard Business Review blog post provides a stark reminder of the difficult challenge of supporting Sales leaders in recruiting top talent. HR can help the Sales leader to improve recruiting results and play a vital role in making the sales number in 2013. Avoid a Myopic Focus. Hot product.

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Sales Talent Territories Compensation Quota 312

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 4, 2013

This blog addresses how sales reps can ensure their quota is realistic and attainable. Many sales reps are forced to accept a quota that is neither. Over 65% of Sales Goals are driven by Executive and Corporate expectations. If their projections are unrealistic, so are the sales reps’ quotas. Bottom-Up Quota Setting.

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Quota Ideal Customer Profile Territories Demographics 306

SBI Growth

AUGUST 6, 2012

Are your sales resources properly aligned with growth opportunity ? The Sales Leader is about to receive the 2013 Revenue Number. He will rely on you, the Head of Sales Operations, for sales strategy advice. Find out if your sales resources are aligned with growth opportunity by using the Sales Growth Pin Pointer.

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Opportunity Strategy Banking Territories 316

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 6, 2013

This post is for Sales and HR Leaders planning 2014 Sales Compensation. It provides a number of common Sales Compensation complaints. Something you’ll need to go with this post is the Sales Compensation Complaint Checker. Something you’ll need to go with this post is the Sales Compensation Complaint Checker.

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Compensation Territories Incentives Incentive 293

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 10, 2013

At this point, your 2013 sales number is essentially decided. I speak with many VP Sales who say the same thing every year: “We have some underperformers that are killing us.” There are some ‘B’ Players who have already tapped out and won’t contribute more than they did in 2013. Are they in the right territories?

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Territories Scale Guidelines Groups 300

Pointclear

MAY 14, 2018

Momentum in sales and sports is a strange phenomenon. For salespeople and sales managers, few understand the Prime Directive of Sales Management: Enhance Sales Momentum (Never Interrupt It). Sales momentum isn’t about sales skills. It’s measured as a product of its mass and velocity of your sales efforts.

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Territories Quota Sports Compensation 124

SBI Growth

AUGUST 1, 2013

This time of year, Sales Ops leaders are often faced with a pressing question. We’re nearly 60% through 2013. Today’s post is about a simple approach to improve efficiency with current sales resources. Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour: " How to Make Your Number in 2014 : A Sales Strategy You Can Execute."

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Ideal Customer Profile Tools Scale Hiring 317

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

As if the looming year end wasn’t pressure enough for a sales leader trying to meet sales quota, will the loss of top sales reps pile on? The HR Leader can take some concrete steps to stop the exit of sales reps and therefore the loss of revenue. Immediate Help for Sales. But how do you know?

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Sales Talent Hiring Lead Rank Lead Scoring 288

Score More Sales

JULY 22, 2013

As a sales professional, you cannot rely on others managing you – you need to self manage. Think of yourself as an entrepreneur of your territory, or niche, or product line. Feeling out of control and not having enough time to get everything done are the biggest issues many sales reps have. Increase Opportunities.

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Inside Sales Guidelines Lead Rank Lead Scoring 203

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 28, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Before we discuss how to improve sales training, a quick promo for the latest and greatest taking place over at the ever improving Top Sales World. The June issue of Top Sales Magazine has been published and you can download it here. More on Baseball and Sales.

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Understanding the Sales Force

JUNE 4, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan The Selling Power Blog published a new article of mine, The Top 10 Steps Salespeople Can Take to Improve. While persistence has always been important in sales, we are in uncharted territory. What about the prospects who are far along in the sales process when they suddenly go missing?

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Territories Exercises Video ACT 268

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Unfortunately, no one on their sales team was qualified to do the work; a territory design project. Not only this, but this territory design will need to be updated year after year. Most often VPs of Sales view this situation as a major hurdle – a problematic hole in their organization. How will you know it’s done right?

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Sales Qualified Lead Hiring Face-to-face Territories 267

Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan An interesting article, Secrets to Developing Successful Sales Managers , by Xactly's CEO, Christopher Cabrera, was posted on Selling Power's 2/19/13 blog. This article lists the top 10 sales management competencies. c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan Selling skills!

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Hiring Sales Management Territories Analysis 242

Score More Sales

DECEMBER 27, 2013

In the first two posts in this series we talked about gaining visibility to grow sales as well as putting a plan in place. If it is a new plan, or new territory – find the upside to it and see how you can make it work for you. What projects are you going to commit to get done which will lead you to more sales in the coming year?

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Lead Rank Lead Scoring Decision Maker Sales Qualified Lead 255

Mindtickle

AUGUST 28, 2023

The intricacies of pharmaceutical products, stringent regulatory guidelines, and the critical role healthcare professionals play in decision-making create a complex environment for sales reps. With those unique circumstances in mind, the importance of effective sales training cannot be overstated.

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Pharmaceuticals Training Collateral Face-to-face 52

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

Congratulations, your organization is launching a new product in 2013! As the leader of sales operations, I am sure you are working on: Updating CRM systems with new product information. Revising or building a new sales process to enable sales reps. What about the sales compensation plan? How do we drive change?

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Compensation Incentives Incentive Penetration 244

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 22, 2012

It’s especially for HR leaders to increase their Sales recruiting channels. This post will show how to use LinkedIn for some free sales recruiting sources. Since the world didn’t end, you still need to recruit Sales personnel. Q1 of 2013 is a busy time to refill empty Sales territories.

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Hiring Territories LinkedIn Groups 275

SBI Growth

APRIL 24, 2013

SBI recently accepted nominations for the Top Sales Operations Leaders to Watch in 2013. Each one of these individuals has been identified as an outstanding Sales Ops leader. There''s a good chance you''ll have a new VP of Sales within the next year. That new VP will have certain expectations of his Sales Ops leadership.

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Hiring Buyer Persona How To Ideal Customer Profile 257

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

If you’re caught totally unprepared, the territories are vacant for months. Don’t be the Sales VP who misses the number before the year begins. Sign up for our 2013 Tour and receive the Talent Retention Checklist to start planning for your new year. Poach from the top sales personnel in lesser roles.

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How To Territories Hiring Quota 296

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Over 42% of all Sales Managers don’t make their yearly number. A VP of Sales first thought is to terminate those Sales Managers. Who needs a Sales Manager if they can’t make their number?”. You need to ask yourself: How are you measuring your sales managers? Are you losing A players due to poor sales manager?

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Hiring Lead Rank Lead Scoring Quota 308

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Today’s post is the first of three directed to Sales Operations leaders. Resource allocation is critical to success for sales. The word has come down - sales costs need to remain flat next year. Sitting with the Regional Sales VP, the scowl returned to his face. The sales team on the street delivers the revenue.

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Segment Customer Territories Penetration 288

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 27, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan This kind of story doesn''t happen every day. 5 people were placed on each team based on the following carefully selected scores from OMG''s Sales Candidate Assessment: 1 team had the best Sales DNA. 1 team had the strongest overall Desire and Commitment for success in sales.

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Case Study Study Lead Rank Lead Scoring 288

Pointclear

JULY 17, 2013

To read an excerpt from her latest book, Smart Sales Manager , click here. Today’s “new normal” sales landscape has sales leaders scratching their heads, wondering about the best way to structure their sales organizations. Should they keep their expensive sales duo: inside sales AND field sales?

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Field Sales Inside Sales Hiring Face-to-face 245

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 9, 2014

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan When most sales bloggers write about selling, we almost always discuss direct B2B sales. Channel sales is quite different. Some channel salespeople sell by pulling sales through their distributors. This is more like traditional B2B sales.

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Channels Retail Hotels Territories 221

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 20, 2012

HR leaders, get ready for the 2013 Sales Kickoff by fixing the flaws in your compensation plan today. And get your hands on a Competency Grader for compensation assesement providers as part of SBI's "Make The Number 2013.". Technology Company: More than 60% of the sales force are on a trajectory to miss their number.

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Compensation Incentives Incentive Lead Rank 267

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 16, 2012

And Sales Leaders are handed their 2013 goals by the CEO. At SBI, our findings indicate that over 65% of Sales Goals are driven by Executive and Corparate expectations. The sales force, devoid of all-stars, scrapped their way to 62% of the goal. After all, sales is the division is where rubber meets road.

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Quota How To Territories Guidelines 282

Understanding the Sales Force

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Eventually, most antiquated models are replaced by more up-to-date, efficient, and sometimes exciting models. Outside sales is being replaced by inside sales but not in the way that most people think. The people in outside sales aren''t being replaced by the people in inside sales.

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Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 31, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan The Growing Power of Inside Sales appeared on the Harvard Business Review Blog on July 29. The authors listed four scenarios where a move to inside sales could be effective: By market segment, By stage of the buyer engagement process, By geography, and. By product or service.

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Inside Sales SAP Sales Talent Lead Rank 211

SBI Growth

APRIL 30, 2013

Yet many front-line sales managers are slow to respond. Because speed requires more time and effort from a sales manager. The average sales manager will avoid these requirements. This post will explore ideas sales managers can implement to increase their speed. Jeff has been a sales manager for 5 years.

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Promotion Quota Social Media Territories 308

A Sales Guy

OCTOBER 16, 2012

The 4th quarter is the most critical quarter for sales. Head of sales, (EVP’s, SVP’s or VP’s) have two responsibilities in Q4. In Q4 head of sales is responsible for closing out the year successfully AND making sure the organization is prepared for next year. There are no more chances. What’s the cycle?

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Margin Territories Channels Sports 117

Score More Sales

MAY 27, 2013

An example would be a sales rep in telecommunications understanding where their telecom and data prospects (and customers) spend time online – so they can see and hear them talking about what’s new with employees bringing devices from home and how that might factor into data issues at their clients’ corporate offices.

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Inside Sales Trade Show Ideal Customer Profile Telecommunications 230

SBI Growth

AUGUST 31, 2013

How do you know if your sales force is a high-performing one? This post lists some attributes of high-performance sales cultures. It lists 11 traits of high performance sales cultures. Sales Turnover - A Symptom of a Low Performing Sales Culture. Dani, the VP of North America Sales, is frustrated.

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Hiring Transportation Follow-up Lead Rank 310

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

SBI Growth

JANUARY 6, 2013

How many changes do you have lined up for your sales organization to start 2013? Are you changing account or territory assignments ? Are you changing the sales process ? As a Sales Operations leader part of your role is enabling field sales to adopt change. 3 Keys to Navigating Change Management in Sales.

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Compensation Survey Field Sales Quota 317