Business-to-business leaders are searching for ways to improve sales productivity, battle rising selling costs, accelerate skills development and transition to solution selling. What most don’t realize is that the quality and effectiveness of their sales content are critical to addressing these issues.

Selling has grown increasingly complex and difficult. Research shows that over the past 5 years win rates have fallen and no-decision rates have grown.   Complete the form at right to download this article and learn the 3 questions that every sales leader must ask to make the best go/no-go decision.

While it is all well and good - even honorable, really, to associate selling success with being a trusted advisor, what does it take to earn that status with customers in today’s buying environment? Research by CSO Insights, the Aberdeen Group, and others has shown that just telling salespeople to be trusted advisors has not worked: win rates have fallen and no-decision rates have grown. Customer behaviors seem to be saying that they don’t trust salespeople’s intent, and don’t see them as a credible advisor. To address this concern, let’s explore three key principles that point the way to becoming a trusted advisor.

A brief scanning of The Wall Street Journal - or, tellingly, almost any other newspaper in the country - reveals the alarming prevalence and far-reaching impact of organizational dishonesty. Reports of malfesance or criminal conduct in corporate governance, accounting practices, regulatory evasions, securities transactions, advertising misrepresentations and so on have become all to commonplace. Its no wonder that business schools across the country have been rushing to design and introduce courses that emphasize a subject traditionally given short shrift: Ethics.   

Over the past year, I have written  blog  post after blog post at my site, http://www.thesalesblog.com.  Most of what I have written was written to be published later as book.  That book is coming in the not too distant future.      Of  all  the  topics I have written on, what I have written about cold calling has always struck  a  nerve, eliciting strong opinions—either for or against. Much of the email I receive is for advice and  ideas  about  how to be more effective at cold calling, or it is to remind me that Sales 2.0 has replaced cold calling (an idea to which I am vehemently opposed with every fiber of my being).      I collected a few posts on cold calling here to serve as a guide for those who would endeavor to improve their cold calling skills.  I hope you find it useful in improving your effectiveness and that you adopt these ideas into all of your prospecting activities.  

CSO Insights’ 2017 Sales Manager Enablement Report compared the win rates on forecasted sales opportunities between companies with a formalized approach to coaching—meaning there is a standard approach used by all sales managers—to those companies where coaching strategies were entirely left up to the manager or done informally. Their findings provide proof as to why a sales coaching initiative at your company is so important: companies who had adopted a formal approach to sales coaching achieved a win-rate on forecasted deals that was 19% higher. In short, developing a strong sales coaching culture offers a great ROI. And great leverage: Each sales manager trained is then empowered to improve the win rates of every sales rep on their team. Here are seven keys that will move you in that direction.

Most sales managers I know have a love/hate relationship with the prima donnas on their sales teams. They love the star player’s passion and hard work; they hate the self-centered behaviors that demoralize or discourage the rest of the team. That leaves sales managers with a dilemma: If they come down hard on a prima donna, that salesperson may just take his/her talents elsewhere. Not good. But a sales manager can’t afford to ignore the situation, either, because prima donnas are often engaged in behaviors detrimental to the team. A simple truth in sales management is that what you don’t confront, you condone. What can you do then?

Coaching and leadership are about people. People are unique and to compound the situation they behave differently under varied circumstances. So is it not an overstatement to suggest that there is a framework that can be applied to achieving greater success with people and through them? I will answer with my standard mini-exercise. Assume you are a recruiter. You are asked to identify a Field Commander for a hot war zone as well as a Guidance Counsellor for an all-girls high school. Did your mind automatically paint different pictures as to who will fill the roles? Intuitively, you recognize the differences but what are the factors that brought you to that conclusion? Also, what if the roles were not so far apart, could you intuitively distinguish among candidates? That is role and the value of a reliable framework. For decades, as a member of member of the Extended DISC™ network, I have been using an approach that I call DISCerning Communication to drive healthy interpersonal relations among a cross-section of groups. When people experience others communicating with them in a manner that is comfortable for them the opportunities for positive cooperation increases exponentially. Someone referred to it as communicating from inside the head of the other person. Course after course, webinar after webinar, article after article I receive encouragement to present DISCerning Communication principles in a concise publication to a wider audience. This is your invitation to join the mission and make a positive difference in how we communicate and relate to others.

Think about the best manager you ever had. We are assuming, of course, that you’ve had at least one good manager in your lifetime. C’mon, there’s got to be at least one. Think back to all the teams you’ve been on. This person could’ve been your boss at that horrible minimum-wage high school gig that you only showed up for because this person made it worthwhile. Maybe you had a strong leader during your college part-time work. Or, like many in today’s workforce, your first full-time, professional manager played a major part in developing you during your formative years into the kind of executive you are today.

Team selling today is no longer required just for blockbuster business-to-business sales pitches. Whether you are in consulting, investment banking, or technology or are a financial advisor, home remodeler, or lawyer, pivotal meetings with customers and prospects now often involve more people — on both sides of the table. In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, "…the number of people involved in B2B solutions purchases has climbed from an average of 5.4 two years ago to 6.8 today."

In sales, we often find ourselves grappling with a false choice - do we focus on relationship building with the customer, or focus more on winning the deal at all costs? It can often seem like there is no middle ground, we have to either perform like a hardliner or try and gain the customer's favor. But it is not, in fact, an either/or situation. This white paper explores the middle ground between building relationships and winning the deal and offers helpful tips on ways to nurture both your relationship with the customer while keeping your eye on the prize. Read more to discover how it might be the way salespeople think about their customer relationships that prevents them from focusing on and winning the deal. JMReid Group is a training company that provides sales programs with this middle ground at top of mind. If you like what you read, contact us in the interest of your sales team at www.jmreidgroup.com.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the 17 innovations occurring to the methods of training and learning. Some are in their infancy; others are more mature. Additionally, we'll suggest some neuroscience-based practices to help you develop your organizational training.

How a Sale Was Lost Ann was not happy as she left the meeting with a long-term customer—now a former customer. "Ann, we have done business together for a long time," her customer started, "but we have decided to go in a different direction this time." Her customer went on to say how ABC Company, one of Ann’s biggest competitors, worked with them to integrate ABC Company’s solution into their own systems, resulting in faster inventory turns with fewer shipping errors. And they were able to demonstrate how this will increase margins and profit for the company. ABC Company’s salesperson sold value. The Selling to Value approach requires the salesperson to develop an ever-expanding mindset and skillset—and it requires a commitment to a purpose that goes beyond self-interest to include both the interests of the individual customer and the interests of that customer’s organization.  

At one time or another, every sales manager feels like they are stepping into an abyss.   They have to replace the sales rep who just left. Or they’re tasked with expanding their department to meet the challenge of growing sales for the company. Either way, they have to make a big decision.The candidate sitting in front of them could be an outstanding addition to the team, or they could be the manager’s worst nightmare.   Hiring an employee who turns out to be toxic can cost the company lost sales, higher rates of sales rep turnover, and turmoil. Research shows 1% of people are psychopaths and 4% are sociopaths, while another 2-3% of the population might end up behaving in a toxic way in the workplace. When you add it up, that’s one out of 13 people.   In this book, we offer a glimpse at 13 types of toxic personality types we’ve identified in the workplace for sales teams. We have ordered the chapters by the most difficult and problematic, the Jungle Fighter, to the least likely to be problematic, the Martyr. Using documented case studies, we also outline the steps you can take to address toxic behavior and restore harmony to your organization. In some cases, you may be able to adjust the work environment and coach employees who exhibit toxic behavior. In other cases, the best strategy may be to avoid hiring employees with toxic behavioral tendencies. If they are already on the payroll, you’ll have no choice but to get them out of your organization.

A sales rep turns a corner while driving to one of the biggest calls of the year when a jolt from under his car forces a change of plans: he just ran over a pothole and now needs to swap out his tire, except he’s never actually done a tire change by himself before. There’s no time to wait for AAA so he must figure it out himself. What does he do? In 2019, he calmly pulls up YouTube and watches a user-generated video demonstration of exactly how to perform the tire change on the make, model and year of his car, before turning around, grabbing his tools, and successfully executing the task himself. Within twenty minutes he’s back on the road driving toward the meeting feeling ready for anything. This is what it feels like to be ready in a world where you can pull a device out of your pocket and extract whatever day-to-day lessons you need from somebody else’s life experiences. Sales reps already use consumer apps like Waze to learn about open routes in real time based on other drivers’ experience of current road conditions, or Duolingo so they can practice and learn new languages using friendly competition with other would-be travelers. But what about the tasks involving the actual substance of salespeople’s work? What if our rep were to hit a different kind of "pothole" that day: one in the form of a text message from his internal champion letting him know that the company’s CFO would be joining the call unexpectedly? He doesn’t normally call on CFOs, and would need a five-minute debrief with a colleague to understand the pertinent discussion points to use, but no one is available right now. Click below to download this eBook.

Are your prospects singing the blues like Ray Charles and telling you, "Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more!"  Or are they screaming like James Brown, "You got, you got, you got WHAT I NEED!" Listen up! If you’re constantly turning people off and getting nowhere...and you’re not rocking the right approach to connecting with your buyers...you’re going to be hitting sour notes and going broke in a hurry, my friend! Fortunately, there’s a way to change your tune to one that strikes the right tone with your prospects. And it involves embracing just a few mindset shifts and learning a simple but powerful 3-step formula we developed called the PVC Sales MethodologyTM — which stands for: • Personalization • Value • Call-to-action Leveraging the PVC Methodology will turn you into a rock star connector, prospector and seller! But before we dive into the details of the PVC Sales MethodologyTM, there are a few other things we need to cover as we set the stage for your success. So sit up, and get ready to learn how to strike the right chord with your prospects!

Download this eBrief to find out how to streamline sales content management to a digital approach that solves content challenges—for sellers AND buyers.

Learn the #1 skillset sales leaders and professionals most need to create personal success today.   Sales is the growth engine of any successful organization. Modern sales skills will position you to earn trust and help your clients solve their biggest challenges. These skills are even more critical in times of disruption and uncertainty. Written for sales leaders and sales professionals, this eBook offers modern strategies to win new business, expand your current clients, and create stronger relationships.

As we enter 2022, Covid-19 and uncertainty continue to impact every aspect of incentives. Adaptation, flexibility, and communication will continue to be key as companies weigh their options about bringing employees together, whether it’s opening the office or travelling on an incentive trip. Incentive professionals are called to motivate a changing workforce while corporate goals also continue to change. For the foreseeable future, a remote and hybrid workforce is here to stay. A Mercer survey last May found that 83% of employers will continue to provide flexibility at greater scale post pandemic. Given the importance of recruitment, retention, and engagement, incentive programs will be more important than ever. Dramatic hiring shifts are driving companies to examine how to be even more competitive in the job market, and a robust incentive program is an important part of a company’s full benefits package. According to the IRF’s Industry Outlook for 2022, overall incentive budgets are expected to increase by 34% in 2022, with the per-person spend increasing to $806 from $764 the prior year - although these budgets will need to accommodate price increases resulting from workforce, inventory, and supply chain challenges. Click below to download this important report.

Good onboarding is critical for sellers—it sets them up for success or failure. Yet too often, it's overlooked or poorly conceived.   In our new guide, you'll learn how to ensure your onboarding process is efficient, engaging, and effective.   Download the guide to discover: Proven onboarding frameworks that drive results A simple checklist to build a seamless onboarding experience Real-world success stories that highlight high-impact onboarding ...and much more. Get your copy today.

A year into virtually all sales teams working from home, salespeople have adapted to the new normal of selling and organizations have updated their tech stacks to help their teams through the remote process. However, now that teams have acclimated to remote selling, it’s time to turn your sales team into a data-driven machine and accelerate pipeline, advance deals, and close more revenue. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered guided coaching is an investment in your sales team’s productivity. AI assistants identify coaching needs in real-time, providing your reps with the right messaging during live calls to improve performance and progress deals. With the guided coaching capabilities of conversation intelligence technology, sales leaders can provide their remote salespeople with even more informed coaching insights than they could while in the office. This guide demonstrates: What sets real-time AI-guided coaching apart from other sales tools How AI-guided coaching can benefit your sales team What to look for in an AI-guided coaching provider Features to look for in a solution, and more!

You know the old saying - great leaders are made, not born. But not all leaders are the same. Our research has found that leaders typically fall into one of three types. The first leader, known as the Pleaser wants consensus. The second type, known as the General values compliance. But the 3rd leader, known as the Creator, is different. They create clarity around what matters most. What type of leader is your organization developing? Meet the 3rd Leader. Learn more in this white paper.

They say what gets measured gets done. But are managers measuring the right metrics when trying to monitor the performance of their teams? Most workplace performance management processes have multiple conflicting intentions, according to an HR expert cited in this report. Insights shared here include five common-sense dynamics that capture a large part of an employee’s performance and why collaboration should be part of every worker’s performance metrics.

Despite growing popularity, marketing automation remains underutilized in many organizations that could greatly benefit from it. It can open a world of new opportunities for your business as described in our free ebook, Guide to Marketing Automation.   Marketing automation streamlines complex marketing processes, allowing companies to efficiently manage campaigns across multiple channels. By automating repetitive tasks like email marketing, segmentation, and lead scoring, it frees up valuable time for strategic planning and creativity. Marketing automation streamlines your marketing efforts to:  1. Save time and money on your marketing efforts  2. Drive more sales  3. Get to know your clients better and strengthen customer relationships  4. Improve the user experience  5. Automate repetitive tasks  With Brevo, marketing automation has never been so intuitive and approachable. Don’t wait to take action and drive growth for your business.