Tried and true sales and marketing strategies went out the door in 2020 when teams all over the world were forced to quickly adapt to remote environments, new technologies, and savvy customers. Now that the dust has somewhat settled, executives are focused on creating sophisticated sales and marketing systems that will best prepare their teams for what lies ahead.  I talked with Dale Miller, Global Sales Director at OK International, about building a next-generation sales and marketing...

Companies everywhere found themselves ill-equipped to handle 2020’s barrage of pivots, curveballs, and pitfalls. Sales enablement, the discipline of providing real-time lead intelligence, more efficient processes, and shareable content to your sales team, became a major differentiator in many industries. Arming your sales team with the proper tools and processes to face the uncertain future is what sales enablement is all about, but this strategy can be particularly difficult for startups....

Managing a team of diverse individuals with unique strengths and varying amounts of sales experience can be overwhelming to even the most seasoned sales leaders. Especially this year, as sales teams adapted to remote selling techniques, embraced new technologies, and 40% of businesses missed their revenue targets, the role of a sales manager seems more difficult than ever before.  Luckily, the future looks bright for adaptable and methodical sales managers in 2021 and beyond. We talk with...

Harnessing the power of social media has been a cornerstone of successful sales strategies within the past few years. Especially in 2020, when millions of road warriors were grounded overnight and forced to work remotely, knowing how to access and sell to prospects virtually is a necessity for modern sales teams.  With nearly 700 million active users and lead conversion rates 3X higher than other major ad platforms (including Google Ads), LinkedIn offers tremendous opportunities for your...

Hitting a sales slump is a right of passage for every salesperson and team, and this year has been especially tough across various industries due to the uncertainty of Covid-19. It’s no surprise that 57% of sales reps are expected to miss their quota this year (Salesforce).  Knowing how to increase sales revenue when it’s not where your company needs it to be is a tricky situation for executives and sales teams alike. Finding the exact areas to improve in your sales process can feel like...

According to LinkedIn’s State of Sales Report 2020, 97% of salespeople said that technology is either “important” or “very important” to their sales process. Meanwhile, the number of salespeople relying on sales intelligence tools has increased 54% in the past two years.  These stats highlight the importance of your company’s sales tech stack, but with thousands of different options and integrations available at your fingertips, how do you choose the best CRM and sales technology for your...

Sales enablement is a term that has recently gained a lot of traction in the business world. While sales enablement has always existed, it is only in the past five years that a universally accepted term has been put forth to describe the processes, people, and technology that reduces friction in the sales process. It seems everyone is in agreement that successful businesses should focus on sales enablement in order to close more deals and grow revenue, but when it comes to executing sales...

Companies of all types have been placing a heavy emphasis on inbound lead strategies for the past few years. While some may argue inbound is the key to sustainable sales success, others point to the lack of control of your pipeline. Many sales leaders wonder if the inbound mentality is creating a culture of less-effective salespeople who can only close leads that are served to them on a silver platter. For the long-term success of your company and its salespeople, is outbound sales the real...

Sales enablement is a term that is gaining traction in the corporate world and its definition varies greatly depending on who you ask.  To some, sales enablement means content management. To others, it means sales rep training or coaching. Some would venture even deeper into the concept of sales enablement and say it’s not a business strategy, but instead, a company vision. What’s for sure is, regardless of how you may define sales enablement, employing this strategy in your business...

Most CEOs have a vision or value proposition that is the backbone of their company and corporate strategies. Quite frequently, however, that value proposition isn’t communicated to or followed by the sales team (and other important departments). Value proposition misalignment and confusion can wreak havoc on your growth plan as departments market to the wrong customers, work towards different goals, and use the wrong tools and messaging to sell products and services that they don’t fully...

Being a successful salesperson doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll make a great sales manager. After all, the customer-centric skill set that helps you close deals is much different than the team-focused skills needed to coach, motivate, and inspire a diverse group of salespeople.  We talk about effective sales management tactics and sales rep coaching techniques with Chris Jordan, Vice President of Sales at CampusLogic, on a new episode of the Modern Sales Management Podcast.  Chris has led...

As a sales manager, you know it's easy to get overwhelmed - even when your team is performing well.  However, the weight of all of the data and all of those starting points grows exponentially when you have to evaluate and resolve a dip in sales.  What if there was one place to look that would tell you almost everything you need to know about why your sales activities are not resonating with your buyers? If this tool would make your life easier, you’re not going to want to miss what I am...

Startup SaaS companies face abundant opportunities and tremendous risks when it comes to scaling revenue. Without high fixed overhead and fulfillment costs, SaaS leaders can direct more capital toward marketing and sales. However, if their sales and marketing processes aren’t streamlined and optimized, all that money will quickly go to waste and their investors will walk.  We talked about the complexities of driving SaaS sales revenue with Kevin Mead, Owner of Salestream, on this week's...

The most successful sales teams are made up unique individuals with different backgrounds, personalities, and levels of work experience. As a sales manager, you understand that working with and coaching a diverse group of talent can be as challenging as it is rewarding.  The good news is that with the right approach, analysis, and execution, sales executives can optimize the performance of individual sales reps. Even better, by helping salespeople on an individual level, sales leaders will...

Technology is continuously improving the sales landscape, but the overload of options and information can seem daunting to even the most versatile sales leaders. While they understand that AI-driven insights and relevant data based on machine learning can be valuable tools, top revenue executives also know that sales and CRM processes must be as simple as possible so that reps can sell quickly and easily.  Fortunately, there are ways to harness the power of enhanced data without bogging...

Sales skills are one thing, but building a world class business development organization is a whole different ball game. From motivating your team to follow a unified process to aligning your sales and marketing teams, creating a business development engine is just as much art as it is science.  So, how can you set up your business development team to maximize their success?  This is the question I asked our very own Angela Hamilton, HubSpot Growth Specialist at Pipeline Ops.  Angela...

While many companies have been selling their products online with a remote sales team for years, sales managers that are new to this “COVID-19” sales model face tremendous challenges. Tasks such as keeping your sales team engaged, finding new ways to demo/sell products online, and promoting collaboration within a remote team can seem daunting to even the best sales executives.  In the most recent episode of the Modern Sales Management Podcast, I spoke with Dayne Topkin, Content Marketing...

While product, markets, and messaging may vary, a successful sales organization always starts with plugging the right team into the right culture. The best people in an unhealthy culture will result in unproductive habits and slower than expected growth. And eventually, you’ll lose top talent. If you have the wrong people with a strong sales culture, you are not much better off. The good news is that whether you are building a team from scratch or optimizing a team you’ve inherited, there...

Creating a successful, repeatable sales process in your organization is the holy grail for sales managers. However, seasoned executives know that what works for one salesperson may not work for another.  So, how do you create an effective, systematic playbook for a sales team with varying strengths, backgrounds, and capabilities? More importantly, how do you do this without overcomplicating everything?  To answer this loaded question, I spoke with Mike Simmons of Catalyst Sale.  Mike...

As a seasoned executive, you know how to ask prospects effective questions and say the right things every point in the sales process. Sales conversations flow freely. You are confident in articulating your value proposition. Building trust and authority is second nature.  But, how do you get your entire sales team to use the best messaging through the sales process? That is exactly what I asked Walter Pollard of Brand Fuzion. I recently spoke with Walter about sales enablement and...

Enterprise sales is vastly different from selling to mid-sized or small companies. The metrics are different. The teams and processes are structured differently. And in a lot of cases, it is exponentially more complex than SMB sales. However, most of the sales leadership advice is geared toward selling to consumers or smaller companies. So, how can you set your enterprise sales team up for success in today’s environment - from better sales and marketing alignment to becoming an expert on...

HubSpot was founded in 2005 with zero customers. Today, over 78,000 businesses in 120 countries use HubSpot to grow. With the company pulling in $675 million in revenue last year, HubSpot is one of the most impressive growth stories of the past 15 years - from the raw numbers and thought leadership to their culture and transparency. What would you ask someone who was in the room where it happened that first year and has been instrumental at the company every step of the way since? Dan...