Sales Operations
CRM and Sales Force Automation have been with us for several decades now, and most companies have gone through many iterations of the constantly improving technology. From basic contact management to advanced data analytics, Rolodexes and spreadsheets have been replaced by sophisticated technology platforms that are increasingly easy to deploy...Read more
Why do Slumps happen, and how to can we coach reps through them Salespeople have at least one thing in common with pro baseball players: Slumps. All major leaguers ? even all-stars ? go through extended periods where they can’t get a hit. Pressure builds. Confidence erodes. After a while...Read more
By 2025, 3 out of every 4 workers worldwide will be Millennials (Time). Is that shocking to anyone else? One of the most impassioned discussions I heard at Columbia University’s recent Sales Thought Leadership Conference surrounded the younger generation and how they communicate in the workplace. Many were irked by...Read more
You probably know what it is, but do you know why the Cloud matters to your sales organization? The Cloud has changed how buyers buy, how employees work, and how sellers go to market. Everything is faster. There is an expectation of instant gratification. With this shift, the way we...Read more
Sales management considers performance reporting essential, and sales managers are often the loudest constituents served by sales operations departments. But our recent research suggests that salespeople, not their managers, may be a more important “customer” for performance reporting. Our study’s 85 participating business-to-business firms rated the amount of time their...Read more
Once upon a time there was a little red hen who lived in a big sales organization. She had three fluffy yellow chicks. One morning as they were busily scratching about the yard, looking for something to eat, the little red hen found a prospect. “Look!” she said. “See what...Read more
Last year TinderBox, Miller Heiman, and the Sales Management Association conducted research on sales proposal effectiveness. Drawing on input from 76 participating business-to-business sales organizations, findings show that proposal effectiveness correlates closely with sales growth, but that several facets of proposal management remain under-optimized. These include making proposal easier for...Read more
Close your eyes and think about one of the following songs: Michael Jackson’s ABC, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, or Neal Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. Can you hear the beat in your head? Do you remember the chorus? How about the lyrics? Does it evoke a certain emotion? Music is amazing in the...Read more
