April, 2025

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My Key to Building a Strong, Sustainable, Sales Pipeline

Understanding the Sales Force

Although this article will provide a blueprint for building a strong, full, and sustainable pipeline, we begin with a hospital analogy. When I was in the hospital for surgery in February, and during the recovery that followed, I had specific KPIs assigned at discharge that I was required to meet. After a few weeks, I chose and added some personal milestones to demonstrate progress in my recovery.

Pipeline 188
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Sales Manager Training is Getting Left Behind and It's Hurting Performance

SBI Growth

Sales manager training is widely recognized as a key performance driver, yet many companies fail to invest in and deliver sales manager training programs regularly. In the latest episode of the Sales Readiness Podcast, our host Ray Makela sat down with Dave Lingebach, Senior Research Manager at SBI, to dive into the implications of providing dedicated frontline sales manager training.

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Shortcuts Salespeople Should Never Take, According to Experts

Hubspot Sales

Not all sales shortcuts are created equal. Some, like scheduling follow-up emails or creating a repeatable framework for researching prospects, streamline your day without harming the quality of your work. Others save you time but damage your results meaning youll ultimately be less productive for using them. As the expression goes, If you dont have time to do it right, you wont have time to do it again.

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Use a Custom Sales Process to Increase Sales by More Than 28%

Understanding the Sales Force

Despite writing about sales process quite frequently over the years, this article will take a very different approach. Let’s define a couple of terms: Sales Process – a series of 4-6 stages, each with 5-10 milestones, that provide salespeople with a repeatable framework for sales success. Sales Methodology – a repeatable approach that guides salespeople to have quality conversations that move the sales process forward from milestone to milestone and from stage to stage.

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The Intersection of AI and Sales: Personalization Without Compromise

Speaker: Jesse Hunter and Brynn Chadwick

Today’s buyers expect more than generic outreach–they want relevant, personalized interactions that address their specific needs. For sales teams managing hundreds or thousands of prospects, however, delivering this level of personalization without automation is nearly impossible. The key is integrating AI in a way that enhances customer engagement rather than making it feel robotic.

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Selling to the Enterprise Customer vs. the SMB Market: 3 Key Skills

SBI Growth

One of the biggest challenges for a sales organization is moving upmarket. For example, if you target the small- and medium-sized business market (SMB) and now want to target enterprise customers thats where the money is you need to rethink how you sell. Enterprise and SMB selling are fundamentally different, and each requires its own sales process, metrics, and unique selling skills.

More Trending

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Building Trust in Selling

Anthony Cole Training

There are entire books written about building trust in selling, but for today, we will focus on one key element that may seem quite ordinary and obvious but is actually a well-honed skill of highly successful salespeople. And that skill is: Find out what your client or prospect wants. How is that done?

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Best B2B Sales Tools for 2025: The Essential Toolkit for Sales Success

Zoominfo

Even the most driven sales teams require the right resources to effectively target prospects, nurture relationships, and close deals. Theres certainly no shortage of sales tools available to help your team master every step in the modern sales process. The bad news? There are way too many of these tools, and their competing claims and different overlapping use cases make it challenging to assemble an effective GTM tech stack.

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Your Referral Edge: Lock in Your Q2 Pipeline Before It’s Too Late [Q1 Referral Selling Insights]

No More Cold Calling

Top sales teams win with referrals. Are you keeping up? As Q1 comes to a close, CROs face a critical inflection point. The foundation you lay now will determine whether your teams spend the rest of the year scrambling to fill pipeline gaps or confidently closing high-value deals. Without a referral-first mindset, pipeline uncertainty loomsleading to missed targets, longer sales cycles, missed quotas, and end-of-year panic.

Referrals 177
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Coaching Your Sales Team Starts with the Numbers

Anthony Cole Training

Coaching of sales teams is usually done as needs arise. If a salesperson has a deal he needs to close, he may talk it through with his sales manager. Or if a salesperson has a specific problem submitting paperwork or with technology, coaching may take place. Of course, these items must be addressed. But ultimately, we must coach for sales success. We must coach bankers and advisors to go out and win more business.

Coaching 295
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Streamlining Complex Sales Processes: The Ultimate Guide for Industrial Companies

Are you struggling with slow quoting cycles, complex product configurations, and disconnected data in your manufacturing/distribution business? This article will help. Learn how industrial companies are revolutionizing sales processes with an integrated platform that includes quoting, inventory, and service, providing real-time data and offline access for field teams.

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Buyers are people

Sales 2.0

People are people, so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully–Depeche Mode During a conversation with a friend who is the CEO of a small professional services firm the question came up how well do you know this person? and do you know them like a real person? Looking at these questions on the page, they seem a bit odd. But Ive found in practice they are not.

Buyer 339
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Shania Twain’s Lesson for Sales Leaders Who Want to Hire Stronger Salespeople

Understanding the Sales Force

I was driving with the radio on when the Shania Twain song from the 90s, Dont Impress Me Much , began to play. I hadnt heard that song in at least a decade and as I listened to the words, I was reminded that Shania is not impressed with: Rocket Scientists Brad Pitt Guys Who Kiss Their Expensive Shiny Cars Elvis Most women would probably be impressed with that group of men but Shania is much more discerning.

Hiring 173
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Pull the Pricing Growth Lever: Build a Profitable Pricing Strategy in 5 Steps

SBI Growth

67% of SaaS companies ignore value-based pricing , according to our latest 2024 State of SaaS report and research. They invest heavily in competitor-led or cost-plus pricing - and miss out on revenue opportunities as a result. From gaining a competitive advantage to strengthening unit economics, value-based pricing is a huge untapped growth lever. To pull it, you need to build an effective pricing strategy that aligns your company and business goals.

Strategy 156
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ZoomInfo Copilot: Get Deeper Intelligence for Every Deal Stage

Zoominfo

Sales teams today are under immense pressure to move fast, stay focused, and make every deal count. Thats why ZoomInfo Copilot is built to support sellers, all the way from first touch through closed-won. Whether youre qualifying a cold lead or trying to get a deal over the finish line, Copilot now delivers AI-powered insights that lead to: Timely Strategy and Execution More Opportunities Spotted Reduced Risk Data-Driven Decision-Making Fueled by ZoomInfo’s Go-To-Market Intelligence Platfo

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How to Create Sales Email Sequences That Convert

Modern go-to-market teams know it takes more than one email to break through the noise. Multiple touchpoints means more ways to get your pitch right — and, potentially, more ways to be wrong. The good news? Once you know how to write compelling, one-off emails to entice prospective customers, you can easily do the same across a short sequence of emails.

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“I Never Lost A Deal Because Of Objection Handling….”

Partners in Excellence

My thought partner, Lahat Tzvi, and I were having our monthly conversation today. We started discussing much of what we see about the “secrets to sales success.” We both see guru’s posting the determining secret to success. Somehow that secret is related to what they sell. They make claims about improving objection handling, improving closing, more effective discovery, better prospecting, better value creation, winning deal strategies, high impact sales calls, better…R

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How AI is Changing Sales & What That Means for Salespeople

Anthony Cole Training

AI is a leading topic in almost every industry publication these days from Forbes to Insurance Journal to the American Bankers Association. As it should be, since it is revolutionizing most job functions, including sales and business development. AI is another tool that offers many benefits for salespeople, and staying informed as AI is evolving will be important.

Journal 204
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Mixed Messages

Sales 2.0

Its darn tough to get through to anyone these days. People have become really good at ignoring what we want to tell them. I hear this all the time from all kinds of businesspeople and salespeople. Emails dont work. Calls dont work. Social media doesnt work. Nothing works! But I had an experience this week that reminded me that communication does work when its something people want, its a little different, and its from someone they know.

Fashion 195
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Mastering Sales Leadership in Furniture Industry (video)

Pipeliner

In a special episode, host John Golden talked with Shelley Rosetta. Shelley is a sales expert with over 30 years of experience in the furniture industry. She knows a lot about sales, leadership, and how to grow a business correctly. Lets break down the key lessons Shelley shared about becoming a strong sales leader in the furniture world. Why Sales Leadership Matters Great sales leadership is not just about selling more.

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The Trends You Need to Succeed This Holiday Season

October Prime Day is usually an early sign of how consumer spending trends ahead of the holidays. This one was no exception. Our October Prime Day Report breaks down what’s working: the products flying off the shelves, the categories winning big, big brands, and the search terms defining demand. All brought to you via Similarweb’s Shopper Intelligence platform.

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The Value of Building Strong Relationships and Rapport in Sales

SBI Growth

A foundational yet often overlooked element of successful selling is relationship building and rapport. In the latest episode of the Sales Readiness Podcast, Ray Makela, Managing Director of Talent at SBI, sits down with Ethan Radoff, Partner at SBI, to remind us that while modern sales teams invest heavily in technology, data, and automation, human connection is at the heart of every deal.

Data 156
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How Sales Teams are Using AI in 2025: Survey & Statistics

Zoominfo

ZoomInfos State of AI in Sales and Marketing survey, which gathered insights from more than 1,000 GTM professionals, reveals just how quickly AI is transforming sales teams and the roadblocks for further AI innovation. Power users on sales teams are saving time, closing deals faster, and seeing real, measurable business results. But despite the momentum, many sales professionals risk falling behind because they havent fully embraced AI.

Survey 130
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Beyond Transactions: How to Build Customer Relationships That Last

Sales and Marketing Management

Every stage of the customer lifecycle presents an opportunity to build trust, strengthen relationships and position yourself as more than just a service provider. Companies that get this right arent just vendors; theyre trusted partners. The post Beyond Transactions: How to Build Customer Relationships That Last appeared first on Sales & Marketing Management.

Customer 270
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9 sales email templates to inspire urgency in your prospects

Hubspot Sales

Most salespeople face the same persistent challenge: Their prospects lack urgency. There are a number of strategies both successful and unsuccessful reps use to overcome this inertia. Often, they end up offering huge discounts with expiration dates. While this technique might result in an initial sale, I advise against it because the companys margins and the reps commission bonus both take a hit.

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AI Strategies for Sales Managers: How to Cut Down on Tedious Admin Work

What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.

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Why the Basics Still Beat Fancy: The Unsexy Skills That Close Deals

Sales Gravy

Everybody wants the hacks. The quick fix. The shiny new tool. The LinkedIn post that magically draws leads like moths to a flame. But let me give it to you straight: Sales isnt won with hacks. Its won with habits. And the habits that win are the ones most reps abandon the minute things get uncomfortable or boring. If youre not hitting your number, its probably not because you need better leads, better tech, or better timing.

Closing 90
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Career Help for Neurodivergent Adults (video)

Pipeliner

The next interview hosted by John Golden talked with Shell Mendelson. Shell is a career coach with over 30 years of experience. She helps adults with ADHD find work they enjoy and thrive in. They talked about how hard it can be for people with ADHD in regular jobs. They also shared how companies can help these workers do their best. This post shares the most helpful tips from their chat.

Video 98
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Before You Invest in a New Sales Tool, Ask Yourself These Questions

SBI Growth

Sales enablement has boomed. The State of Sales Enablement Report for 2023 found that the number of businesses with a dedicated sales enablement team has grown to 90%, up from 75% in 2022. The Growing Role of Sales Enablement Sales enablement is a catch-all term applied to any practice that attempts to increase sales productivity. Its not uncommon to find sales enablement departments responsible for a plethora of disciplines such as strategy, sales processes, analytics and reporting, lead genera

Tools 156
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Systems Thinking: The Missing Link in Your Enterprise Data Strategy

Zoominfo

Throughout my career guiding B2B teams through data transformations, I’ve identified a recurring challenge: despite investing millions in sophisticated data tools, companies maintain operational silos that severely limit their return on investment. My colleague Ali Z. Syed recently highlighted this problem through the lens of Systems Thinking an approach that examines how components interact within a complex whole.

System 130
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Buyer’s Guide: 5 Tough Questions To Ask a Salesforce Managed Services Provider

This guide is for leaders who recognize the importance of Salesforce but would rather trust a team of external experts to do the heavy lifting. Choosing the right managed services provider is a significant decision that impacts your business's efficiency and success. In this 10-minute read, you'll find 5 essential questions to ask any potential provider.

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How to Maintain Brand Authenticity While Using AI-Generated Visuals

Sales and Marketing Management

AI-generated content is here to stay, but authenticity remains non-negotiable. If AI-generated content doesnt align with a brands established aesthetic, tone and values, it risks looking generic, or worse, inauthentic. The post How to Maintain Brand Authenticity While Using AI-Generated Visuals appeared first on Sales & Marketing Management.

How To 266
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There Will Always Be Excuses!

Partners in Excellence

I was listening to my friend Matt Heinz. He said something obvious, yet profound, “Every day there is an excuse.” There has always been and will continue to be any number of reasons to make excuses. We’ve seen the rapid change, disruption create new reasons for excuses. This week, we see global economic turmoil. And then there is always AI.

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You Need Sales Coaching

Sales Gravy

Lets kill the myth: sales coaching isnt just for newbies or underperformers. Its for closers, leaders, and the ones who want moremore pipeline, more wins, more control over their career. If you're in sales, you need coaching. Period. This isnt feel-good fluff. Sales is a performance sport. Every high-performance athlete has a coach, and every inspiring performer has a mentor for a reason.