Welcome to the April 2019 edition of the monthly roundup of our top picks of CRM and B2B Sales and Marketing articles from around the web.
Give Sales Managers Their Due – By CustomerThink
Sales-management activities and behaviors that create consistent achievement of sales goals are often not given their due. Not having them as part of the sales managers’ KPIs could be a key reason behind those dwindling numbers.
With a whole new approach to sales that is more data and insights driven, helping the team don successful advisory roles has become simpler than ever. Championing the use of various technologies at hand, along with some sales enablement sessions, can go a long way in the collective success of your team.
What’s In a ‘Definition’ – By CRMBuyer
Apparently a lot. When the definition is about Selling Vs. Non-Selling activities. And that is what this article explores. Reps often do not have enough time to do the spade-work necessary to drive a meeting and push a sale along. They are faced with the pressure of spending more time in front of customers and managing multiple accounts, all at once.
The ‘Preparation’ versus ‘Face-time’ conundrum needs a revisit to see things in fairness.
The fact that customers encounter salespeople for the first time further down the funnel means there’s more at stake in that meeting than back when a salesperson could fire off generalities. Having more at stake requires better preparation. If we want our salespeople to be consultative and not glad-handers, they have to come locked and loaded.
Lower. Their. Resistance. There Lies The Magic – By omghub.com
Hard selling is passe’ by a long shot. Time for some ground check on how guilty we are of it. Not just that. Time for also upping our game so as to never find ourselves in the situation.
Sales technology has come such a long way that you never have to hard-sell. Instead, you can find all the right prospects and the most meaningful ways to engage with them, to chase those numbers.
No more covering it up with those soft-skills veneer.
Forecasting is More Than Just Numbers – By HBR
The article explores the various behavioral aspects that contribute to forecast blindsiding. And most, if not all, are quite relatable. The battle is not ours to own singularly. What makes the article a worthier read is that it does a pretty neat job of making us seek some right answers here.
For example, one of the key points discussed is about how to address ambiguity while fine-tuning forecast numbers. The answer lies in redesigning systems to account for human behaviors that distort these numbers, to begin with.
