Mike Kunkle

MAY 30, 2023

Purposefully orchestrating organizational performance improvement is difficult. The goal of “enablement,” whichever term you use for it (sales, revenue, buyer, buying, performance, other) is ultimately to improve organizational performance. Unemployment and savings will only carry you so far.

Decision-making 295

Decision-making Sales Training Sales Stakeholders 295

Holden Advisors

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

Imagine if you could banish “no-decision” from your sales funnel. More deals that travel all the way to the win/loss finish line, less wasted sales time, more essential customer needs resolved, and a higher share of wallet. Top-performing strategic account managers get this. What’s standing in your way?

Decision-making 435

Decision-making B2B Profitability Account Management 435

Upland

MAY 4, 2023

So much so that we created this sales velocity equation to get sales teams moving in the right direction. How fast you get there depends on four key levers. Sales velocity vs deal velocity – what’s the difference? Deal velocity is how long it takes a deal to get through the sales cycle.

Sales 356

Sales Decision-making Negotiation Organization 356

Upland

MARCH 12, 2024

Now, after being broadly available for a substantial amount of time, we’re starting to get a better idea of how exactly sellers can use AI to do their jobs better. This sort of a seismic shift is worth taking note of – how can AI make your job easier and more fun? Sales AI is exciting, and also a little terrifying.

Artificial Intelligence 195

Artificial Intelligence Sales B2B Organization 195

Upland

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Sales leaders often find that commitment to change is the single most important ingredient in a successful account planning practice. The current world of sales is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not one for those who don’t like change. During the first year, he’d been fielding questions like, “Why am I doing a plan?”

Account Planning 195

Account Planning Management Leadership Organization 195

Upland

JANUARY 29, 2024

Let’s face it, B2B sales can’t happen without good leads. Winning sales teams know strong leads must be converted into successful sales transactions. If sales productivity isn’t achieved effectively—through high lead conversion rates, efficient sales cycles and low sales costs—overhead goes up, and revenue goes down.

Account Planning 195

Account Planning Sales Decision-making Shareholders 195

Mike Kunkle

AUGUST 8, 2023

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, the role of Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) or senior-most sales leaders (by any title), has never been more critical. When sales, marketing, and customer success operate in isolated bubbles, opportunities for collaboration and synergy are lost. This is a definite growth killer.

Sales 188

Sales Prioritization Innovation Leadership 188

Mike Kunkle

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

I am exceptionally pleased and excited to announce that Felix Krueger of FFWD and I launched The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement Learning Experience on November 25, 2022. You RESULTS probably RESULTS see RESULTS a RESULTS key RESULTS theme RESULTS emerging RESULTS here. That’s what the coaching will accomplish.).

Sales 200

Sales Leadership Transportation Sales Training 200

Mike Kunkle

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

“As in other studies we’ve done, this year’s enablement study found that sales process and sales methodology adoption rates above 75% resulted in above-average gains for revenue plan attainment, quota attainment, and win rates, with a big boost at adoption rates greater than 90%.” increase in revenue plan attainment 17.1%

B2B 198

B2B Sales Decision-making Negotiation 198

Brooks Group

MARCH 6, 2024

Sales effectiveness is your sales professionals’ ability to achieve their goals and objectives efficiently and successfully. Sales effectiveness also corresponds with the return your organization gets from its sales investment. But improving sales effectiveness is a complex task that few organizations do well.

Organization 84

Organization Account Management Sales Sales Training 84

Brooks Group

APRIL 10, 2024

In sales, it means staying focused. In the race to finish the quarter strong, prospecting often gets put on the back burner while sales professionals work on closing open opportunities. But your sales team needs to be able to do both: fill the pipeline with highly qualified prospects and keep deals moving. But it’s tough.

Sales 87

Sales Media B2B Publishing 87

Brooks Group

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Sales is a numbers game, but evaluating your sales reps’ performance involves much more than looking at a final revenue number. Revenue may be the ultimate performance indicator, but as a sales leader you should investigate the “why” behind a final result to truly improve the success of your sales team.

Sales 93

Sales Sales Training Communication Meetings 93

Brooks Group

MARCH 21, 2024

A powerful lever to improve your team’s sales performance could be hiding in plain sight: sales discovery questions. Asking effective sales questions correlates with success, according to new research : 51% of successful sales teams are effective at sales discovery and questioning.

Sales 90

Sales Sales Training Decision-making Value Proposition 90

Mike Kunkle

APRIL 8, 2023

In this post, I’m going to share some simple concepts that I’ve seen deliver radically improved results across a sales force. And by “radically,” I mean improve opportunity management effectiveness and skyrocket win rates by 25-40%. It’s entirely possible. Let’s dig in.

B2B 211

B2B Decision-making Sales Stakeholders 211

Brooks Group

JANUARY 24, 2024

This is good news for B2B sales teams that have faced economic headwinds, shrinking customer budgets, and delayed or canceled purchasing decisions. But even throughout this tough period, some sales organizations have found a way to meet or exceed targets—and feel confident in their ability to do it again this year.

Supply Chain 96

Supply Chain Negotiation Sales CRM 96

Account Manager Tips

MAY 25, 2021

So let's answer what it is, what it isn't, and how to do it well. Before we get to that, let me explain how key account management became a business strategy. Key account management origin story Once upon a time, not only did sales reps win the client, they also supported them long after the deal was done. Kurzrock, W.

Key Account Management 246

Key Account Management Account Management Management Suppliers 246

Mike Kunkle

MARCH 31, 2023

Sales process, sales methodology, and sales competencies are all important and related aspects of sales effectiveness. Because getting these right, having them support each other, and fostering adoption and mastery, improves revenue plan attainment, individual rep quota attainment rates, and win rates.

Sales 217

Sales Interpersonal Skills Account Management Sales Training 217

Account Manager Tips

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

In a survey of senior executive buyers, Forrester Research asked if sales people are frequently prepared for their meetings. What do you think the answer was? If you said “NO” then you were right. All eyes are on you - including your boss and a handful of your client's senior executives. How do you feel?

Value Proposition 246

Value Proposition Decision-making B2B Meetings 246

Account Manager Tips

AUGUST 14, 2022

It's not an easy job, and you need many different skills to do it well. Find out what those skills are, along with 21 free courses to help you become a better key account manager. Sales Find the course that's right for you How to identify your skill gaps Define success What goals do you need to achieve?

Key Account Management 246

Key Account Management Account Management Emotional Intelligence Management 246

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 19, 2023

You need to have a deep knowledge of all the different issues clients may have and examples and stories of how your firm has helped people in similar situations. You take time to understand the client’s pain points and business goals and provide relevant insight into the possibilities and potential strategies.

Emotional Intelligence 130

Emotional Intelligence Value Proposition Decision-making Digitalization 130

Mike Kunkle

JULY 2, 2022

Senior sales leaders and C-suite execs, this one’s for you. In an expanding number of vertical industries (but not yet everywhere), the concept of “enabling the sales force” has exploded. Way back in 2003, I worked in a department called Performance Development and led the Sales Performance Development team.

Sales 130

Sales Sales Training Leadership Decision-making 130

Brooks Group

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Qualifying prospects is one of the selling skills every great sales professional relies on. That’s because filling your sales pipeline is a numbers game. Buyers leave the funnel for many reasons as they progress through the sales process : lack of budget, timing, or wrong fit to name a few.

Prioritization 80

Prioritization Sales Training Sales Construction 80

Sales Outcomes

APRIL 22, 2024

When organizations need to improve sales results, they often focus on enhancing salesperson skills and competencies rather than sales manager enablement. Here’s why sales manager enablement should be the priority: 1. Sales managers and leaders are typically recruited from within. Sales managers are stretched.

Prioritization 52

Prioritization Sales Management Management Sales 52

Hubspot Sales

JANUARY 10, 2024

As a sales manager, I’m sure you have pipeline meetings often. But, do you ever ask yourself, “How can pipeline meetings be a coaching opportunity?” Pipeline coaching is when a sales manager mentors a sales rep during a pipeline management meeting. If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Meetings 96

Meetings Construction Sales Management Management 96

Hubspot Sales

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

In the past, sales managers often saw sales coaching as a means of correcting negative behaviors by providing real-time performance feedback. This approach was characterized by comments like, “I think you're doing a great job, but.” And if you're in a pinch, jump straight to the information you need.

Procurement 100

Procurement Sales Construction Negotiation 100

Brooks Group

DECEMBER 20, 2023

In the dynamic world of sales, where every decision can make or break a deal, harnessing the power of data is critical. As a sales leader or sales manager, your ability to navigate the complex terrain of market trends, team performance, and individual contributions hinges on a crucial tool—sales metrics.

Sales 92

Sales Decision-making Sales Training Sales Management 92

Brooks Group

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Effective sales coaching can have a huge impact on your business. The biggest benefit of sales coaching is its contribution to revenue. Research shows that successful sales coaching programs increased average deal size, sales activity, win rates, and new leads by 25%-40%. Anticipate nerves.

Sales Management 78

Sales Management Management Sales Meetings 78

ACT

APRIL 16, 2024

Did you know that by 2025, 80 percent of B2B sale s interactions between buyers and sellers are predicted to happen virtually? That’s how fast the remote sales landscape is evolving. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the main challenges in running remote sales teams and strategies for effectively handling them.

Sales 52

Sales CRM Virtual Selling Communication 52

Brooks Group

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Unless you sell a one-of-a-kind product, you’re up against competitors with similar offerings. When this is the case, the most important thing you can do is differentiate yourself. You need to stand out to make buyers want to do business with you. If you don’t think that’s true, why even be a seller?

Emotional Intelligence 82

Emotional Intelligence Sales Sales Training Decision-making 82

Nutshell

APRIL 18, 2024

Your customer data is the key to understanding your customers better so you can improve your marketing, sales, customer experience, and more. However, when your data is scattered across various platforms, you can’t harness its full potential. Nutshell has what you’re looking for.

Government 77

Government CRM Decision-making Customer Experience 77

Nutshell

MARCH 28, 2024

Consulting firms need a great sales pipeline to attract leads and close deals, as well as generate recurring revenue from clients and referrals. Read on to learn tips and best practices for managing an optimized sales pipeline for consulting firms. What is the typical sales process for consulting firms?

Management 71

Management CRM Sales Negotiation 71

Nutshell

MAY 11, 2023

It seems everywhere you turn these days, you hear something about artificial intelligence (AI)—how it’s disrupting industries, helping people be more efficient, and sometimes causing controversies. You might be wondering, can you use AI for sales? And if you can, should you?

Artificial Intelligence 118

Artificial Intelligence Sales Decision-making CRM 118

Brooks Group

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Does your team have a sales process? But do your sellers follow it consistently? If not, you may see confusion, lackluster sales performance, and missed quotas. That’s because sticking with a sales process correlates with success—and lack of adherence is a problem at many organizations. If yes, great.

Sales Training 52

Sales Training CRM Sales Meetings 52

Nutshell

MARCH 28, 2024

As a startup, having a well-running sales pipeline is vital to facilitate sales actions and help your team close deals faster. Read on to learn more about the importance of sales pipelines for your business and how to manage a sales pipeline for your startup. What is a sales pipeline?

Management 71

Management Prioritization CRM Sales 71

Brooks Group

JANUARY 8, 2024

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. This is especially true for sales performance. Tracking key sales metrics and knowing how to influence them is critical. Leading and lagging indicators reveal how well your team is navigating the complex B2B sales cycle. This is great, right?

Sales 96

Sales Sales Training B2B Organization 96

Hubspot Sales

OCTOBER 4, 2023

In sales, where every conversation counts and every opportunity demands precision, your team needs more than just the ordinary training programs. Without sales training software, it would be very difficult to ensure reps are applying best practices, staying up-to-date with the products and services they’re selling, and closing deals.

Sales Training 74

Sales Training Software Software Sales 74

Hubspot Sales

OCTOBER 18, 2022

Any company's sales leadership needs to keep a pulse on how its salespeople are performing, both individually and on a broader organizational level — getting there often starts by understanding the degree of effort reps are putting in. That's where performance indicators known as sales productivity metrics come in.

Management 110

Management CRM Leadership Sales 110