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.

  In nearly every organization, leaders are being held accountable to do something they cannot do-motivate others. Leaders can't motivate people, because people are already motivated. The question is not if a person is motivated but why.

Under the Sales 2.0 paradigm, high-tech resources allow sales teams to target and engage with leads in a way that feels seamless and non-invasive. The model lends itself particularly well to the bottom of the sales funnel, where prospects are nearing purchase-readiness. To ensure that top-of-funnel leads are not ignored, sales and marketing departments must do more than align—they must fully integrate.

We have all heard the closing lines: "What will it take to get you to sign today?" or "Would you like 5 or 10 in the initial order?" or even "We have a special offer, a 15 percent discount, but only if you will commit to signing now." Yet, we all know the gimmicks don’t work—and they certainly don’t lead to lasting customer relationships.

Think about your most recent sales training or the last sales book you read. It was all about the sale, right? Closing the deal. Making it happen. Taking control. But things are different in 2017.

Transform Your Sales & Marketing Enablement at the Speed of Business: Lessons from Microsoft’s Leading-Edge "Corporate MOOCs"   The challenge facing most organizations: transforming at scale and at speed. The answer for Microsoft was leading-edge "Corporate MOOCs" which they have continually innovated in their quest to transform to a mobile-first cloud-first company at 21st century speed.

Sales is in an effectiveness crisis, with 47% of sales professionals failing (according to CSO Insights studies). It's easy to blame outside factors. But the truth is, if we're going to turn sales performance around, we have to take a good, hard look at sales process.  To achieve consistent results, your sales team needs an actionable and measurable sales process consisting of your best practices. It needs to be repeatable and easy to follow. Download this white paper to: Learn why mapping out a formalized sales process is worth the effort. Get practical guidance on how to do it successfully. Learn how technology makes effective execution achievable for any sales organization. See inside an organization that increased their profit margin by 50% by better executing their sales strategy.

In today’s business world, important buying decisions are rarely made by an individual. Buying teams are the rule rather than the exception, and salespeople need to know how to sell to and influence multiple people, with multiple priorities, who have to make a single decision—whether to buy from you, someone else, or not at all.

94% of buying executives expect salespeople to have business impact discussions with them. But only 19% of salespeople are effective at this.

Have you seen the recent B2B buying research? Study after study report that buyers: don't trust salespeople do more and more of their own research don't believe they understand them or their businesses grow weary of stereotypical seller behavior.

We say that our sales reps should diagnose first, then prescribe. But as sales enablement and sales effectiveness leaders, are we doing the same, internally? Are we really using a data-driven approach to determine our next performance improvement initiatives, to help our sales force move the needle? Would you like to know what levers to pull to have more reps hit quota?

US companies spent 15 billion on sales training in 2018 according to LinkedIn’s State of Sales Report. For companies who didn’t focus on management training to make that training stick, they likely lost up to 13.5 billion of that investment to the Forgetting Curve- where up to 90% of new information is lost within a week of their training ending.

Leaders are challenged to manage change, transform teams and processes, and build talent - all without the benefit of in-person work with their teams. There’s never been a better time to be an improviser - they think on their feet, embrace change and stay positive - all characteristics shared with high performing teams as well.  

As workplaces become more distributed, managers often find themselves managing remote or virtual team members. This geographic distance sets virtual leaders up to make five critical management mistakes that can reduce productivity, derail teamwork, undermine organizational loyalty, and increase turnover. Without team agreements about expectations and processes, working on a virtual team can feel like floating on a rudderless boat in the ocean.

Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, many (if not all) companies are hyperfocused on boosting sales. A Google search for "sales enablement" yields millions of results—and a variety of conflicting definitions. Clearly, sales enablement can mean different things to different people. To some, it’s tools, tactics, and training. To others, it’s all about strategy, data, and analytics.  To us, it includes all those things—but it always starts with the story. Like any good book, your sales story should be a page-turner—keeping prospects hooked by engaging, inspiring, and making powerful emotional connections with them. But too often, the stories sales teams tell are fragmented, overly focused on product specs and features, or misaligned with marketing. The right story can make all the difference. And because research suggests that 50% of leads are qualified but not ready to buy, telling that story in the right ways at the right stages of the sales funnel is essential for converting new prospects into loyal customers. But an effective sales story involves more than delivering certain keywords to drive awareness, consideration, and decision as prospects move through the funnel. It should be a holistic, consistent thread that runs through all your communications to prospects—and one that’s laser-focused on the value you offer and the problems you can solve for them. Here are three critical steps to ensure that your sales team is telling a clear and compelling story about what you offer and why people will want to engage with your brand.

Until last year, in-person, face-to-face training was by far the primary learning modality used to improve leadership and sales performance. The reason for that is not hard to understand—it has simply been the tried and tested way to deliver learning that leads to behavior change and performance improvement. When the ability to deliver face-to-face training was instantly cut off, the need for performance improvement to execute business strategy continued and, in some ways, became even more acute. 

Spend a week with high-performing sales professionals and you’ll find a common theme. They plan and intentionally invest in the right prospects, clients, and sales activities. They’re both strategic and tactical, and they over-achieve in their sales results.

Can Channel Partnerships Rescue You From a Recession? B2B sales and marketing teams continue to play things close to the vest as uncertainty about the strength of the economy persists. Whether or not a serious economic downturn is inevitible, there are numerous reasons why now is a good time to form new channel partnerships. A win-win strategy that can put more qualified leads in your pipeline and help you expand to new markets, channel partnerships are an increasingly key component of many companies’ go-to-market strategy. Our new Focus Report, "The Channel Partnership Playbook," takes a closer look at how companies are boosting their bottom line by forming strong relationships with other companies. Learn about the different types of strategic partnerships, tips for developing channel partnerships and how to keep channel partners engaged and motivated to reach well-defined goals.

Every salesperson knows that important buying decisions and complex sales are rarely made by an individual—multiple decision-makers are the rule rather than the exception. Yet few salespeople know how to effectively untangle the complexities associated with influencing multiple people with various priorities in making a single buying decision.   

Dr. Mercer will show you how to consistently + scientifically hire "Superstar" sales reps - who are both (1) Highly Productive + (2) Low-Turnover.   

What good does it do participants when the trainer shows he/she can do it? The real measure of impact is whether the lesson is caught and applied by the audience. Breakout rooms are a tool to help you facilitate peer learning and make your job as a trainer easier. Becky’s rule of thumb is never do for participants what they can do for themselves—even in a virtual classroom. The more active they are in their learning, the more they remember and ultimately apply.

Becoming a micro-influencer takes a combination of compelling content and engagement from your targeted audience to build a reputation of a thought leader and subject matter expert.  

Achieving your 2024 revenue goals won’t be easy. Business owners grew reluctant to spend money in late 2023. That hesitancy will carry over into 2024, especially if any economic indicators worsen.  

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.