15
2012
“Be Prepared” is not just a Boy Scout Motto, but also a rule by which all great salespeople live by!
Clearly one of the greatest challenges facing sales organizations today is making sure that their sales people are as prepared as they need to be to effectively win more business. We constantly hear reports from organizations like IDC, Aberdeen Group, Forrester Group, etc. that only 25% of prospects rate salespeople as being knowledgeable, effective, or prepared when they call upon them. 25% that means that…
07
2012Which sales performance technology REALLY delivers?
The challenge for many companies today is to provide tools that will improve sales performance that salespeople will actually use. During the past decade, we have witnessed the launch of many sales force automation (SFA) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications and technologies that have promised to more efficiently enable sales and help close business. However, several years on, the performance benefits promised by such…
11
2012What is the smartest way to increase sales effectiveness?
Living through some of the most economically challenging times that any of us have ever faced, we are constantly reminded of the fact that we need to be resourceful in coming up with ways to increase business without increasing the cost of obtaining that business. However, current research shows that, if anything, we are doing worse not better. The findings of a recent report, based…
03
2012Why are there so many new positions for Sales Enablement Managers?
I started a discussion on the Sales Enablement Leader Exchange group in LinkedIn that asked the above question. I believe that this whole area of Sales Enablement is gaining recognition and interest as something that has evolved into a valuable asset. I would ike to share with you one of the comments that came from Len Ramsay who is a principal at Mindful Sales in…
24
2012The Enlightenment of Sales Enablement
I had the good fortune to be invited to join four new LinkedIn Groups all around the area of Sales Enablement. In Brian Lamberts’ “Sales Enablement Leader Exchange” Group, Brian makes this statement: “What exactly is Sales Enablement? Sales enablement is the process of arming an organization’s sales force with access to the insight, experts, and information that will ultimately increase revenue. It is a…
19
2012
The key factors driving sales effectiveness
According to a recent CSO Insights 2011 Sales Effectiveness Review, by Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie, the current top-three annual sales objectives are: Increase Revenues Capture New Accounts Increase Sales Effectiveness No big surprises with the first two. As far as I know, every VP of Sales in the world wants to increase revenues, primarily because if they don’t they won’t be in that position…
11
2012The Top-20 challenges salespeople face
Sales directors and managers spend much of their time thinking about what types of advice, tools and support they can give to their teams in order to improve productivity and performance. That got me thinking. To provide the most effective support for salespeople, you first need a detailed understanding of what challenges, problems and issues they face on a regular basis. So I made a…
03
2012Are you keeping up with your content?
I was thinking recently about the number of challenges a company’s marketing department faces each and every day. In addition to such expected tasks as branding, advertising, lead generation and the creation of a firm’s marketing collateral, many marketers now also are charged with social media strategy and content development. The world has changed dramatically in the past five years. Consumers expect good quality and…