I recently read a great book called “Sales Differentiation: 19 Powerful Strategies to Win More Deals at the Prices You Want” by Lee Salz which is a unique book because it focuses on Differentiation by the Sales team rather than the typical differentiating messaging done by marketing. The…
Coaching Sales Reps on Pipeline Prioritization
Pipeline Prioritization is a critical process for a Sales Manager to coach their reps – see “Sales Coaching on Pipeline Management and Sales Forecasting“. Here is what Sales Manager should coach reps to start by looking at these key factors in their pipeline: Opp Age or Duration in…
Sales Coaching on Pipeline Management and Sales Forecasting
We all know that Sales Coaching is a critical job of any sales manager, whether a front-line manager (FLM) or a senior sales executive. Most FLMs know that Pipeline is one of the top 2 things in Sales and will need to focus their coaching on Pipeline Management…
What is an A-Player in Sales?
The term (or a portmanteau?) that we all hear a lot in sales management is “A-Player” and you typically hear it in “you should only hire A-Players”. But what does that mean – what is the definition of an “A-Player” in sales? Here is a great definition –…
Sales Management: Enterprise Field Sales vs. Inside Sales
I wanted to share the differences as well as similarities between the more complex and longer-cycle Enterprise Deals vs. Mid-Market deals where as the first type requires more Field Sales (and project-managing the complexity) while the second has more of an Inside Sales motion. It’s obvious that Mid-Market…
Best Sales Teams Avoid Causing “Discovery Fatigue” (and Don’t Say “Discovery” to Prospects)
There is a noticeable pattern in SaaS sales. After a prospect registers to see a Demo of the SaaS product, an SDRs follow up on that demo registration will email you back and ask to schedule a 30-minute “Discovery Call”. I believe there is a real “Discovery Fatigue”…
Building Winning Sales Teams: Fix Your Recruiting Process
Hiring sales talent is the top priority and probably the most urgent skill for a CRO / VP of Sales (or a CEO who is hiring their sales executive). However, most companies’ sales hiring process is not done well – I’ve seen this often. Here are a couple…
Sales Management: Pipeline “Red Flags” that Sales Managers Must Assess With their Reps
A VP of Sales must operationalize a process for all the Sales Managers to conduct assessments of the Opps in the Pipeline during an Opp Review meeting and check for “Red Flags”. Otherwise you get a lot of “UFOs” (i.e. “Unlikely & Failing Opportunities”) that you just don’t…
Pipeline Management – Prioritize High-Probability Sales Opportunities
As a VP of Sales, you know your reps don’t have unlimited time to work their live deals. You must coach them to prioritize their Opps in the pipeline to ensure that they are on track to hitting its goals. By analyzing the Pipeline and focusing on the…
Make Your Sales Recruiting Systematic and Scientific to Scale Effectively
Finding good salespeople is hard but it is much harder if you don’t have a process to make your hiring systematic and scientific. While some of the hiring can be an art, a lot of it can also be a science too. Key Steps: First create a good…