The effectiveness of a company’s sales force has historically had a major, if not decisive, impact on its ability to grow its revenues, profits, and market share. Although recent years have seen significant changes in the ways buyers approach their purchasing decisions, effective selling remains an indispensable key to marketplace success. In today’s increasingly challenging…
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Cold calls are almost universally hated—in fact, 63% of salespeople call them the worst part of the job. Of course, sales reps have to do more than cold calling. There are follow-up calls, sales demos, calls for retaining relationships, and (especially for key accounts) calls for customer support. Calls remain one of the most important…
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Sales skills take practice. But having new—or even experienced—reps practice sales calls on hard-won qualified leads or referrals can make anyone balk: what if the call goes badly? It’s not just the sale on the line; it’s also your business’s reputation. At the same time, giving reps cold leads to practice on can quickly burn…
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When training managers mention role-play sales training, one word comes to mind for most salespeople (and the managers themselves): cringe. It’s awkward and embarrassing for several reasons, not least that most people dislike performing and like getting judged on performance even less. However, this discomfort doesn’t change a core truth about role-playing: it’s one of…
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Top sellers are the backbone of your sales team. Leadership teams want to replicate that talent and disperse those skills among other reps. So it makes logical sense to promote your top sellers, right? Not exactly. There’s a name for this—the “Peter Principle.” We promote based on people’s success in their current role without considering…
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Today’s marketplace and technological landscapes are marked by constant change. Rapid advancements in technology, new entrants into the competitive arena, and quickly evolving expectations and demands from customers all contribute to a selling environment in which the challenges sales organizations face seem to increase almost daily. As a result, selling skills that were once top-of-the-line…
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In 2022, over 20% of surveyed sales leaders listed leveraging their company CRM as a top priority for the year ahead. But what does this goal actually look like? How can you measure it? How do you know if it’s the right goal to prioritize in the first place? Setting sales goals is an important…
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According Salesforce’s 2023 “State of Sales” report, today’s selling environment is particularly challenging: almost 70% of sales professionals say that selling is harder now than it used to be. As the report notes, the sales landscape has become “both more competitive and resource constrained” due to factors such as supply chain disruptions, global inflation, and…
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Hiring customer-facing employees is both a gamble and a long-term investment. Companies hiring new employees might have to wait up to six months before breaking even. The risk of frequent turnover, a slow burn to full productivity, and changing market norms that make it feel like sales teams are constantly playing catch-up with customer expectations…
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In 2023, sales training simulations address a new concern that sales managers are just beginning to face return anxiety. As employees return to work after extended periods of remote work or reenter the workforce after COVID-related interruptions, companies find they can resolve return anxiety through experiential learning. Sales training simulations fit the bill: they provide…
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