Sales Management Matters

As sales managers, it’s our job to drive sales performance. The question is: what actions, specifically, should we take to do that? Recently, the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research undertook a major study to determine what those actions should be. The results were fascinating, especially as they relate to...Read more

Fairness matters to salespeople. Research conducted by University of Houston professor Mike Ahearne proved that eliminating overachievement rates and capping payout in the sales comp plan will result in reduced revenue. Even some studies and research in the animal kingdom can be used to better understand salesperson behavior. One study...Read more

The term “sales operations” describes a set of activities that support sales force efficiency and effectiveness. The Sales Management Association’s recently completed research into sales operations’ practices, challenges, priorities, and emerging trends reveals new insight into this emerging corporate function.   This research found that sales operations departments are most...Read more

How happy are you with the accuracy of your company’s sales forecasts? If you are like most sales leaders, you may feel that there is a little room for improvement. Or, if we are being completely honest, maybe a lot of room for improvement. In a survey of 52 companies,...Read more

In part 1 we shared how greater access to information has fundamentally changed the way B2B customers buy products and services. As buyers take more control of their purchasing journey, they seem to enter and exit the sales pipeline at various points in the buying process. This essentially renders the...Read more

We’ve been hearing for years now about how sales motions are becoming more complex, personalized and completely dictated by the customer. A new study by CSO Insights highlights this further by sharing that rising customer expectations combined with a complex and constantly changing selling world are driving the need for...Read more

Your sales team has an end goal in sight quotabut do they know how to get there? It is a long way from prospecting a new account to making a final sale. There are lots of twists, turns and decisions sellers have to make along the way to closing a...Read more

Top-performing sales professionals understand that securing a sale isn’t the end goal. These professionals have a longer view of the customer experience and know that a sale is but a step in a much longer journey. For newer sales reps, or those in high-churn industries, it is easy to think...Read more