I am talking to every sales rep, SDR, BDR, Sales Manager, Head of Sales. Spoiler alert: YOU’RE GOING TO LOSE DEALS! Yes, you are no matter how good you are. How good your company is. How great your product is. Therefore, you can take these losses two ways. 1). Cry and play the blame game.
Read MoreKnow Your Customer or KYC is a term used in the financial services industry and is regulated by FINRA. It is meant to protect the investor and ensure their advisor knows their situation inside and out and make the appropriate recommendations. While all sales reps are not regulated, we should be taking the KYC, discovery
Read MoreCan you tell me what your pricing is? A question that is bound to come up at some point. Sometimes, not until the very end of your presentation, and other times right after you exchange hello’s. Sales people, switch roles for a second. You are the buyer and you have to work with a sales
Read MoreNormally creating buyer personas is the responsibility of the marketing team. I would suggest if you inherit buyer personas and you are not in agreement with them or think new personas should be created, set a meeting with head of marketing and have a nice discussion. Nice, being the key word. If you do not
Read MoreAll I hear and read is the new way to sell. You need to engage this way, and the buyer is doing more research than ever before you even speak to them. You must engage with them socially first, but don’t try and sell them. Use data and spreadsheets to sell. Blah…Blah…Blah. Can we be
Read MoreMost companies have a Mission Statement and leverage it as much as possible – on their website, with employees, customers and investors. I think this is important, and can align the company. However, I think each group within the company can have a mission statement as well. And let me be clear, it must jive
Read MoreTotal Addressable Market – TAM
HashFlag / Pipeline Management / SALES / sales cycle / Sales Process / TAM
TAM is so important for understanding the potential and opportunity for a given business. Management needs it. Board expects it. Investors demand it. This is a metric that should be a living breathing number and tracked and entered into board decks and discussed at length. HOWEVER, your TAM is NOT a bunch of Opportunities that
Read MoreThe dreaded weekly pipeline call. Sales people are notorious at having a bloated pipeline filled with Opps that will never close. Why? Because most sales reps think when it comes to pipeline, size matters...which it does. A rep typically needs 3X their quota in actual pipeline to hit their numbers. However, a bloated pipeline, filled
Read MoreSo many companies get to the point to hire sales people and build a professional sales team. GREAT! But, it’s not all about human capital. You need to have an infrastructure in place in order for these new sales professionals to hit the ground walking and be successful. A sales team is just one part
Read MoreWhen I manage opportunities, I bring the prospect into my pipeline management. What do I mean? I don’t disguise what I am doing and I am transparent about entering them into my funnel. I’ve also had success in asking, what should I put as the close date on the opportunity? And talk through that so
Read MoreSweat the Small Stuff in Sales – when speaking to a prospect or a client over the phone, I am always standing and smiling. Standing helps me with energy, enthusiasm, voice projection and confidence. Smiling because it is felt by the person on the other side. #sales #sweatthesmallstuffinsales #standandsmile
Read MoreSales pro’s need to sweat the small stuff. That’s what we do, we pay attention to the details. We must use our AI (Actual Intelligence) to know what the prospect wants and needs and provide it to them before they ask. I am going to start a series called: Sweat the Small Stuff in Sales.
Read MoreThe look your sales manager gives you when you tell them you forgot to update your pipeline. #sales #pipeline
Read MoreMost sales people are ineffective at managing their pipeline. Because most companies do not take the time to educate and walk through what the process is. Also, companies do a poor job at explaining why the pipelines is an important barometer for the health and future forecasting. As a sales leader I do both. I
Read MoreWhat is your average sales cycle? Important question to ask. An even more important answer to have. I am baffled when I look through a company’s pipeline and see opportunities that are 700 days some even 1,000+ days old. Really, you have a 2 or 3 year sales cycle? I am a firm believer that
Read MoreHear this debate all the time – who owns my LinkedIn page, me or the company I work for? This should not even be debatable. Your LinkedIn page is YOURS and represents your brand. Now, be aware that the content you post directly affects your brand. Posting about the company and product you’re working for/with,
Read MoreAlmost every company goes from not having a professional sales team to having one. Many CEOs think the first step is hiring a head of sales. And sometimes that makes sense. We think for every other time using a sales consultant to come in and establish and enable a sales team to perform their jobs,
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