Managers who are not working with sales metrics technology have access to a fair amount of data that can help them manage and coach their sales teams more effectively. Although call reports, pipeline reports, customer status reports, and commission reports are far from ideal in terms of compiling specific data on the sales team and individual team members, these reports can if used correctly reveal a substantial amount of data about the health and activities of the team and individual team members.
(more…)

Now, finally, computer technology is just beginning to tackle the greatest mystery of all—what do salespeople and sales managers really do with their time? How do they really find new prospects? Who are those prospects? What do they sell them? How long is the sales cycle really? These and dozens of other questions are in the process of slowly being answered.
(more…)

Lee has gathered together an incredible group of over 120 hand selected top experts and gurus from around the world to offer the best webinar training courses you can get are extremely reasonable cost.  These one-hour courses are not the typical “come on” to sell books, DVD’s, CD’s, or anything else.  These are strictly hard-core training courses taught by leading trainers and consultants in their respective areas.
(more…)

Essentially, however, the task of the Sales Leader is to produce revenue for their company through the operations of the sales staff for whom they are responsible. The size of this revenue, and the profit (however defined) which it should show, are usually predetermined in order to achieve the aims of company policy. The objectives which they set for the various activities which are involved in carrying out this task should therefore be derived from, and be compatible with, company objectives, such as return on capital employed, cash flow, market position, growth.
(more…)

Seasoned sales managers are facing challenges managing new Millennial’s, also known as people born after 1980. These new sales professionals have a different approach to life. This greatly impacts their ability to sell effectively.

Understanding them and some key events that took place during their youth will help you manage your Millennial sales team with shorter ramp times.
(more…)

Instead of trying to understand marketing as a quantifiable activity, the marketing department would simply generate a number of targeted activities such as direct mail pieces, radio, TV and print ads, and other such promotional pieces, then sit back to see what happened. If sales increased, the marketing was working. Which particular pieces of the campaign were generating the inquiries and ultimately the sales wasn’t known, but the overall outcome was known.

As marketing became more disciplined and as the marketing department was put under increasing pressure from upper management to justify expenditures, marketers had to develop ways to quantify and analyze the results of each marketing activity they engaged in. Marketing metrics was born. Over the years, the ability of marketing to track and quantify each and every dollar spent increased. Not only did the marketing department become more accountable for their activity, their results increased. By analyzing the results of their activity they became better capable of determining which activities would work, what return they could reasonably expect from any particular activity, and how to very quickly spot activities that were not producing sufficient returns—and equally important, spot new opportunities.
(more…)

Sales managers frequently approach me for advice on how to keep salespeople motivated, especially when sales reps get into a rut - and seem to keep slipping deeper into it. Telling managers what not to do usually solves the problem. Most managers do things to de-motivate salespeople without even knowing it.

Let’s take the idea of funnels and forecasts, for instance. Funnels and forecasts are important aspects of running any sales operation. Both salespeople and managers need to know where they stand in terms of potential opportunities, and funnels serve to track those opportunities. No successful business can operate and properly plan for the future without accurate forecasting. In theory, these are absolutely essential to the success of any operation. In reality, however, few words strike terror in the hearts of salespeople like “funnel” and “forecast.”
(more…)