Sales Management Matters

Which competencies are the most important for sales operations? Our recent research posed this question to our members, more than 100 of whom offered insights into 14 core sales ops competencies as they’re valued and practiced in their respective organizations. Sales ops’ role in the firm is sometimes the analytical...Read more

In the first part of this two part series, we focused on preparation — the critical first step in making great hiring decisions. Here we will focus on the second critical step, the interview. When you consider the ideal outcome for your interview — that you identify the best candidate...Read more

Coaching is pivotal to sales success. This is not a radical statement. If you’ve been in a sales management position for any length of time, it’s not even news. It’s now well-established that a strong coaching culture is something high-performing companies have in common. In study after study, coaching is...Read more

Technology can automate routine tasks or data analysis well. But technology alone isn’t so great at acting on those findings. Harvard Business Review recently discussed skills that aren’t automatable anytime soon. One thing I noticed when looking over this list is that all seven of these skills are characteristic of...Read more

Today’s buyers have information readily available making them independent, informed, and demanding. They now look to salespeople as sources of insight, rather than information. Highspot’s director of marketing, Shawnna Sumaoang, provides a first look at what you will learn at our webcast 26 July, Winning Over the Modern Buyer. How...Read more

The disparity between the amount of time the average sales manager will dedicate to preparing for a customer meeting and the effort spent preparing for candidate interviews is amazing. Let’s assume a big sale is worth $250,000 to your company, and that on average a sales rep at quota is...Read more

Do you remember the last time you had to change a flat tire? (Okay, maybe you just called AAA, but let’s just imagine you’re going to address this roadside crisis on your own). Chances are, it’s been many years since you had to do this. As a result, the next...Read more

Whether it’s your online shopping cart or your refrigerator, everything you interact with these days is capturing as much data as it can. Sales operations should be no different; after all, there’s plenty of internal and external data out there to gather, and practically no end to its usefulness. But...Read more