Trending Articles

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How to Get New Sales Reps Cold Calling and Building Pipe Faster (Ask Jeb)

Sales Gravy

Gaius, who runs an insurance brokerage in Ohio wants to know how to get his new sales agents cold calling and building pipeline earlier in their training cycle, without making them feel overwhelmed and sabotaging their confidence. If youve ever hired a sales class or tried to ramp up new hires in an industry with complex products or strict guidelines, youll relate to Gaiuss dilemma.

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How Leaders Leverage Data to Boost Sales Performance and Revenue

Force Management

In today's competitive market, leveraging data effectively can be the key to unlocking higher sales performance and increased revenue. Most leaders understand they must harness the power of data to drive success. But in order to effectively use data, you must first ensure you have the right structures in place to collect data about your sales activities and apply findings in a way that's relevant and actionable.

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5 Reasons Why Sales Teams Miss Revenue Targets [+ How to Meet Them]

Hubspot Sales

Why are revenue targets so hard to hit? According to a 2023 survey of over 450 sales leaders, 91% of their teams missed quota that year. And even with revenue up in 2024 , reps are still struggling to meet their sales goals. To shed some light on the matter, Ill offer my personal insights on why teams are missing their targets. In addition, I reached out to other sales experts to hear what they had to say about setting and meeting revenue goals so you can take home some best practices from their

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The Mutual Value Engine: Fueling Sustainable Organic Growth.

Luminas Strategy

The vocabulary around customer centricity is well worn. Now that weve admitted it, we can dispense with the pleasantries, examine the reality and ask the tough questions. Is your company structured to treat your customers’ bottom line as a direct extension of your own? Or in more simple terms, Is your customers business at the center of yours?

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5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.

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Sales Coaching for Managers: 6 Best Practices

Brooks Group

Effective sales coaching can have a huge impact on your business. The biggest benefit is its contribution to revenue: Sales coaching boosts team performance, with real-time coaching increasing annual revenue by 8%. A structured coaching program can lead to a 28% higher win rate and 88% increase in productivity. Research from The Brooks Group shows a culture of coaching can make a difference in todays competitive market.

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SNAP Selling: Simplifying Your Sales

Hubspot Sales

Being a salesperson today feels like trying to get someones attention in Times Square; buyers are swamped with choices, blinking lights, and loud pitches from every direction. One word: Overload. The internet makes research a breeze until youre drowning in options and cant tell whats worth your time. As a copywriter, Ive been there, wading through endless tabs, trying to separate the gold from the noise.

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How Sales Structure Impacts Performance: Key Benefits and Strategies

The Center for Sales Strategy

The structure of your sales team can make or break your success. Are you trying to organize your sales team? Are you trying to figure out what the best sales organizational structure is or trying to identify the problem within your current structure? Determining the best way to organize your sales team is important, and t ransitioning from a one approach to another model could significantly impact your sales performance.

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Latest Podcasts: Leading Complex Revenue Processes

Force Management

This month, the Revenue Builders podcast shared some detailed breakdowns of complex sales processes, growth stages and leadership challenges. Seasoned Chief Revenue Officers shared insights on how they create process rigor to ensure their organization handles high-stakes deals with tact to maximize returns. From complicated deal negotiations, to identifying influential champions, to handling your board of advisors, these episodes deal with some of the biggest execution challenges facing revenue

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10 Active Listening Techniques for Better Customer Communication

Brooks Group

Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Zoom, Google Meet, and GoTo Meetingno matter what program youre using, videoconferencing has changed sales and opened up new opportunities. But if your sellers lack active listening skills , the platform theyre using wont matter. They might as well be using tin cans and a string. Its a basic truth of sales performance that boosting customer understanding leads to greater success.

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What’s a Business Credit Score Anyway? Here’s What You Need to Know

Hubspot Sales

I walked into the bank feeling confident about getting a loan to expand my business. I had my plan, financials, and a solid pitch ready. But the loan officer shook her head denied. The problem? My business credit score. I didnt even know I had one. A business credit score shows lenders, vendors, and insurers how dependable your business is. Factors like late vendor payments and limited credit activity were pulling my score down.

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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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Email is Broken—Pick Up the Damn Phone! (Money Monday)

Sales Gravy

If youve hung around me for longer than five minutes, youve heard me say that sales is about talking with people. The fact is, the more people you talk with, the more youll sell. The good news is that there are lots of people to talk with. The problem is, far too many salespeople have quit talking with people. Email Prospecting Has Suddenly Stop Working Instead they keep prospects and customers at arms length through asynchronous communication channels like email - especially when prospecting.

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40+ CRM Custom Field Ideas For Your Business, Based on Industry Type

Nutshell

Not all businesses are built the same. A good CRM provider understands that sometimes you need specific information to track for the leads, people, and companies in your contact database. Thats where CRM custom fields come in. Custom fields are a handy feature that helps you personalize customer experience, automate workflows, and improve your reporting.

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Commercial Efficiency is the CEO's Greatest Growth Lever

SBI Growth

As CEOs move through 2025, understanding how to drive sustainable revenue growth while navigating declining go-to-market (GTM) efficiency remains a critical challenge. CEOs are tasked with delivering consistent revenue growth while facing unpredictable demand cycle and increasing costs of operation. Many CEOs are grappling with sales cycles increasing, mounting inefficiencies, and unoptimized commercial teams.

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Measuring Operational Excellence: Key Metrics & KPIs for Continuous Improvement

Kainexus

Operational Excellence isn't just about improving processesits about sustaining and scaling those improvements over time. But how do you measure success? Organizations that excel in Operational Excellence rely on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track progress, align efforts with strategic goals, and drive data-driven decision-making.

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2024, The Year of the Customer

2023's struggles fueled a shift: companies are ditching wasteful strategies in favor of data and AI-powered growth. Enter 2024, the year GTC takes center stage. Discover 5 ways a customer-centric approach unlocks new revenue and delivers lasting success.

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6 Essential Entrepreneur Skills and How to Build Them, Straight from Businesses Leaders

Hubspot Sales

My first job out of college was one I made up. People become entrepreneurs for lots of reasons , and for me (like most) it was the flexible hours. Armed with an English degree and a basic knowledge of marketing, I started a small agency creating written content for anyone who needed it. I built a book of business by relying on my network and a surprisingly reasonable number of targeted cold emails.

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The President’s Club Vulnerability Paradigm (Money Monday)

Sales Gravy

No matter if you've had a great month, closed a big deal, or made it to the winner's circle at President's club, winning makes you more vulnerable to losing. A Winning Message for Sales Winners Last week I delivered a keynote at a large company's Presidents club event. It was fun! Great hotel. Tropical destination. People were upbeat and happy because they were celebrating success.

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Scaling the Unscalable: AI for Sales Coaching and Reinforcement

Brooks Group

AI is transforming sales. Consider these amazing statistics: 300 million weekly active users are sending over a billion messages daily on ChatGPT. ( Source: PCWorld ) 65% of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using generative AI (Gen AI), up from one-third last year. ( Source: McKinsey ) 83% of sales teams using AI saw revenue growth this year vs. 66% not using AI. ( Source: Salesforce ) In our recent webinar, How AI is Shaping the Future of Sales Training , sales experts

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Nutshell partners with IT services provider Proactive Technology Management

Nutshell

At Nutshell, we want to make it as easy as possible for businesses to access and use the tools they need to grow. Thats why we built an easy-to-use CRM with powerful sales, marketing, and engagement features, and its why we partner with businesses that share our mission. Were excited to announce a new partnership with Proactive Technology Management , an IT services and support company based in metro Detroit.

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1st, 2nd, and 3rd Party Intent Data: Which Is Right for You?

How do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party intent data compare? 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party data each have specific advantages and disadvantages. It comes down to four factors: accuracy, cost, control and quantity. This infographic explains the pros and cons of each and helps you understand which one is best for meeting your business objectives. Intent data can be a great way to fill your pipeline and close more deals.

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How Leader Standard Work at Every Level Builds an Improvement Culture

Kainexus

In some organizations, the leaders who are good at putting out fires are considered the best managers. But what if, instead of putting out fires, leaders had the luxury to spend time on fire prevention? What if, when the rare flame was spotted, every leader was skilled in identifying and correcting the root cause? These conditions are possible with an approach called Leader Standard Work.

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Lead Scoring Tactics That Actually Work: 4 Lessons from HubSpot’s +$30 Billion Growth Strategy

Hubspot Sales

Every sales leader has been there: Your inbox is seemingly flooded with leads, but your pipeline feels emptier than ever. Marketing keeps sending you qualified prospects, yet your sales reps are stuck wasting valuable time sifting through them, trying to figure out whos actually ready to make a move. The issue isnt the number of leads; its knowing which ones are worth your reps time.

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Your Sales Depend on Your Messaging

Sales Gravy

How many times have you gotten to the meeting but your pitch fell flat? You went in guns blazing, thinking the hard part was over and youd land the dealbut instead you face-planted. Its not your product or your pricing. Its your messaging thats failing youand blocking you from a sale. A Framework to Tap Into Your Prospects Pain So whats missing? A framework that actually speaks to your prospects pain, builds urgency, and moves them toward a yes.

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Delivering Value to Executives: Avoiding Pitfalls and Driving Business Outcomes

SBI Growth

Transitioning from traditional sales to enterprise sales can be a major shift, as SBI Executive Consultant, Sarah Bedwell, knows all too well. On our latest episode of The Sales Readiness Podcast , hosted by Ray Makela, SBIs Managing Director, Sarah shared her firsthand experiences and insights on selling to the C-suite, a process that requires a different mindset, a tailored approach, and an unwavering focus on delivering value.

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10 Ways to Leverage Buyer Signals and Drive Revenue

In today’s ultra-competitive markets, it’s no longer enough to wait for buyers to show obvious signs of interest. Instead, sales teams must be proactive, identifying and acting on nuanced buyer behaviors — often before prospects are fully ready to make a purchase. In this eBook from ZoomInfo & Sell Better, learn 10 actionable ways to use these buyer signals to transform your sales strategy and close deals faster.

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What Are the Positive Effects of Strategic Thinking?

CMOE

Positive Effects of Strategic Thinking: Operational Benefits for Your Business Effective leaders use strategic thinking to approach team building and operational action. This gives them an advantage over the competition and positions them to achieve their goals. While strategic thinking does not guarantee business success, it does put organizations in an advantageous position to gather information, solve problems, and make informed decisions.

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Pre-sale Planning: Account Planning Use Cases

ProlifIQ

Pre-sale Planning: A Smarter Approach Account plans are often seen as time-consuming, cumbersome, and less valuable than other activities sales and business development teams could be focusing on. However, pre-sale planning positions your Business Development and Sales teams to engage target accounts in alignment with marketing strategically. A Proven Approach to Pre-Sale Account Planning After working with hundreds of B2B businessesfrom Health and life Sciences to Manufacturing, Telecommunicati

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I Tried Three Generative AI CRMs: Here Are My Thoughts

Hubspot Sales

AI is becoming a core part of CRM systems. Considering the time-saving benefits, its unsurprising that generative AI CRMs can be incredibly valuable in helping businesses grow. Ive already written an article on CRMs with AI , but I wanted to take my curiosity about AI and CRM one step further. So, in this article, Im focusing specifically on three generative AI CRMs, how generative AI can improve the sales process, and much more.

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How a Growth-Oriented Mindset Can Help You Sell More

Sales Gravy

Youre stalled. Youre stuck. Youve plateaued. No matter how you put it, youre seeing your sales hit a rut. And lets face it, youre in a rut, too. So, how do you pull yourself out of it? The answer: invest in yourself. The Power of Personal Development In sales, it's easy to get caught up in the grindcalls to make and deals to close. But if you dont make time to invest in yourself, sooner or later, youll hit a wall and fall into a rut.

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How to Prove Marketing Value: Demonstrate Content ROI and Contribution to Sales

Every marketer knows how important it is to prove their efforts drive sales opportunities, but that’s easier said than done. When problems like sales and marketing misalignment, lack of data, and wasted efforts persist, marketers can’t measure, prove, or increase their impact on revenue at a time when demonstrating marketing value is critical. Using analyst and expert data, this guide to marketing impact and content attribution explains: How B2B buyers use content The most common types of conten

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Unlocking Enablement Success in 2025

SBI Growth

Sales enablement leaders are facing an increasingly complex and evolving landscape. The modern buyers journey has evolved, proficiency gaps persist, and AIs role in sales continues to expand. In a recent webinar hosted by SBI in collaboration with Allego, Ray Makela, Managing Director of Talent Development at SBI, and Deniz Olcay, VP of Marketing at Allego, shared data-driven insights from SBIs 2024 Revenue Enablement Effectives Survey and Allegos State of Sales Enablement Report 2025.

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9 Pillars of Strategic Thinking You Can Learn and Teach

CMOE

Organizations that leverage a strategic thinking framework position themselves to establish competitive differentiation and relevance in the marketplace. In recent survey, the vast majority of senior leaders97%pegged strategic thinking for leadership as the most important factor in success. This level of consensus is far from typical; anyone can clearly draw the conclusion that strategic thinking isnt just valuable, but essential.

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B2B Account Planning Best Practices for Enterprise Sales Success

Revegy

When it comes to enterprise sales, driving real success goes far beyond chasing quick wins. Rather, it’s about building sustainable, long-term relationships with your top accounts through a well-formed and strategic approach. For enterprise sales teams, implementing strategic account planning can lead to some serious wins. This is because when you reach an in-depth understanding […] The post B2B Account Planning Best Practices for Enterprise Sales Success appeared first on Revegy.

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Partner Ecosystems: How Partnerships Can Help You Expand Your Offerings and Retain Business

Hubspot Sales

When I think of ecosystems, I picture the rainforest, and Im not too far off. Sure, in the business world, there are fewer plants and animals. However, there are still interconnected entities that coexist, compete for resources, and work symbiotically. Some members of your ecosystem are your competitors. Others are partners who can work with you to enhance your offering.

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How to Leverage Intent Data for Better Outcomes

Speaker: Susan Spencer, Principal of Spencer Communications

Intent signal data can go a long way toward shortening sales cycles and closing more deals. The challenge is deciding which is the best type of intent data to help your company meet its sales and marketing goals. In this webinar, Susan Spencer, fractional CMO and principal of Spencer Communications, will unpack the differences between contact-level and company-level intent signals.