December, 2013

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Hire Better Sales People, Part 3

Anthony Cole Training

'There is a process for hiring better sales people. If you are not getting the people that you want, then you should be looking at your process. Think of working with the process like you would work on a jigsaw puzzle. Break it apart, put all the pieces in a bag, shake the bag, pour the pieces out onto the table and start over again! This is Part III of the process - Screening.

Sales 182
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The 11 Things Great Sales People DON’T DO!

A Sales Guy

'There always seems to be lots of ideas and discussion around what great sales people do. I think it’s just human nature to evaluate success and emulate it. We take inventory of what the successful are doing and we copy it. I’m just as guilty, as I’ve written a number of posts highlighting the things the best sales people do. Don’t get me wrong, knowing what the best of the best do is noteworthy.

Sales 147
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8 Effective Ways of Measuring UX

ConversionXL

'Ever wonder why your site has a lot of visitors, but not enough transactions, purchases or inquiries? In this post we will look at both marketing and UX metrics at a slightly different angle. The post will be particularly interesting for those of you who want to grow your online revenue and not concentrate on just generating a lot of traffic! Conversion is the key.

UX 134
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What is the Most Difficult Part of the Sales Process

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday I was leading a training program for a group of veteran Objective Management Group (OMG) Partners and experienced sales trainers. One attendee asked the hypothetical question, "What is the most difficult part of the sales process?" That sparked some very interesting discussion because at the outset, there was disagreement, even among the experts, as to what was really the hardest.

Process 121
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Smart Tools & Strong Teams: A People-First Approach to AI in Sales

Speaker: Matt Sunshine, CEO at The Center for Sales Strategy

AI isn’t replacing salespeople—it’s empowering them. The most forward-thinking sales organizations are using AI to enhance human performance rather than eliminate it. From coaching and messaging to prospecting and pipeline accountability, artificial intelligence is giving managers and SDRs the new tools they need to work smarter, sell better, and close more.

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Win/Loss Reviews

Partners in Excellence

'Win/Loss reviews are critical to continuous improvement. Do you conduct them? Amazingly, for as much effort as we put into winning or losing a deal, I see too many organizations being very casual about analyzing actual performance and outcomes. I seldom see win reviews conducted. Sometimes I see loss reviews conducted–but most often, it’s not a loss review, it’s a reason code in a CRM system–and most of the time it is price or a product reason.

CRM 107
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Social Media Podcast: This is Your Permission to Share and Create

Closing Bigger

'Todays social media podcast is focused on sharing and creating. Too often we hold back, hide our voice or just never start the process of being creative. We all have something to share. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, an artist or in charge of a social content strategy it all starts with getting in-the-flow of creating and sharing as a discipline and habit.

Clients 106

More Trending

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Success Saturday: The 13 Things the Mentally Strong DON’T DO!

A Sales Guy

'I found this list the other day on Forbes. It was written by Amy Morin Licensed Clinical Social Worker. It is a powerful eye opener. I like to consider myself a mentally strong person, but it really had me questioning my own mental toughness. Creating success and getting things done takes more than knowing what to do. It takes a fortitude and grit to actually get things done.

Gaming 124
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10 Optimization Experts Share Their Favorite Google Analytics Reports (Copy Them!)

ConversionXL

'One of the key things Google Analytics helps us do when optimizing a website is identify conversion uplift opportunities. Traffic is precious, and we don’t want to waste any of it on tests that don’t result in learning or uplifts. That’s why we want to have good data for: A) which pages have uplift opportunities and. B) specific page issues.

UX 132
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10 Tips for Great Keynotes and Better Sales Presentations

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Recently I was searching Google for a Keynote Speaker for Objective Management Group''s (OMG) upcoming International Conference in April. In addition to the many speaker bureaus listed, I also read through a number of articles where the authors shared their secrets to great talks. While a few were pretty good, most weren''t, and the secrets were certainly not very well kept.

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Stop Selling If They Aren’t Your Customer!

Partners in Excellence

'Wally Bock and I were talking the other day, he posed the question, “What if your products and services are the wrong choice for the customer?” My knee jerk reaction was, “They aren’t your customer!” Too often, we find ourselves in a situation where our solutions aren’t right for the customer. Perhaps they aren’t right, period, or they aren’t right, right now.

Customers 105
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How to Coach Reps on Overcoming Sales Objections with Confidence

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Global Sales and David Phelan, Account Executive

In a world where buyers are more informed and objections are more nuanced, confidence isn't optional—it’s a competitive advantage. In high-stakes conversations, knowing how to handle pushback can make or break the deal. Join industry experts Brendan Sweeney and David Phelan for a behind-the-scenes look at how teams are transforming sales coaching with real-time feedback, objection-handling role plays, and pre-call preparation that actually sticks.

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9 Steps to Boost Sales in 2014 Part 1 Visibility

Score More Sales

'Because buyers buy differently than they used to, smart sellers are now thinking about how they are viewed online and in various virtual ways. Various studies of buyer behavior show now that buyers are much further along their buying process when they engage with potential vendors. This brings up the first issue you need to think about in 2014 – are you and your company in all the right places online so that potential buyers will find you?

Niche 102
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Happy New Year! 3 Goals You Must Make

The Sales Hunter

'First goal is to not set goals you don’t have a plan to make. Setting goals without a plan is really a dream. Quit kidding yourself. Unless there is a plan, the ability to achieve a goal is going to be left to chance. Why leave something to chance? If you want chance, buy a lottery ticket or go to Vegas. Personally, I would rather put things in my control by making a plan.

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Why Patience is Required in Sales and Sales Leaders Need to Stop Pushing

A Sales Guy

'I get it. You need the sale. But pushing it, not having patience, in the long run, isn’t the way to sell. I’m a big bump/mogul skier. I love it. There is no better feeling than ripping a zipperline down a mogul field. It’s awesome AND hard. I’ve been skiing moguls for years, and getting good has been a life long journey. It takes practice, practice and more practice.

Sales 122
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Long Form or Short Form? Why Not Both?

ConversionXL

'Guest post by Pratik Dholakiya. . If you practice CRO, you already know that the debate over small versus long landing pages misses the point. Different products need different landing pages. A beautiful picture and a short description might work for a wrist watch…not so much for a $2,000 software product. Long and short landing pages both have their time and place, but what if it came down to more than the product?

Referrals 120
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Welcome to the Future of Hospitality: Smart Rooms Start Here

Speaker: Jady West, VP of Hospitality & Chris Bennett, Head of Sales & Engineering

The modern hotel room is no longer just a place to stay—it’s an experience to remember. Today’s guests expect seamless 5G connectivity, personalized comfort, and high-tech convenience. From AI-powered smart room controls to in-room entertainment and app-based services, technology is redefining hospitality from the inside out. In this new session featuring industry pros Jady West and Chris Bennett, we’ll explore how high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity powers the innovations that are enabling

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Why Did The Move from Outside to Inside Sales Take So Long?

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Eventually, most antiquated models are replaced by more up-to-date, efficient, and sometimes exciting models. Outside sales is being replaced by inside sales but not in the way that most people think. The people in outside sales aren''t being replaced by the people in inside sales. That''s not what this is all about.

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The Courage To Commit And Execute

Partners in Excellence

'There is never an end to the creativity of marketing and sales professionals in coming up with new ideas or programs. Developing new strategies and new programs is exciting. We get to think about the future, we engage in exciting discussions about new ideas, we are involved in creating and innovating. It’s fun and invigorating. Developing new strategies and programs is seldom a problem.

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9 Steps to Boost Sales in 2014 Part 3 Execution

Score More Sales

'In the first two posts in this series we talked about gaining visibility to grow sales as well as putting a plan in place. Now how are you going to make this happen? Through taking action. You will take big action, but it usually happens through many small steps. What is the Best Way to Eat an Elephant? US Army general Creighton Abrams famously said, When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.

Territory 102
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PowerViews with Chad Burmeister: Sales is More Scientific Nowadays

Pointclear

'Field sales is flat while inside sales is up 20 percent in the last few years. That’s part of the new landscape, and so is the ubiquitous use of technology. Knowing the new science of sales is what will help a salesperson to consistently meet expectations, says my latest guest on PowerViews, Chad Burmeister, vice president of corporate sales at ConnectandSell.

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Breaking The Commerce Bottleneck: Your SAP Exit Plan Starts Now

Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar

Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.

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The One Thing Few Sales People Have That Everyone Needs

A Sales Guy

'Yesterday, while helping a newly hired sales manager build his leadership philosophy, which he didn’t have when we started, got me thinking about a post I wrote in June of 2009. It was the first few months of starting this blog. I was only averaging 45 views a day back then, so it didn’t get very much play. However, it’s one of the most important posts I’ve written, so I am posting again.

Sales 118
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Top 10 Most-Read Articles on ConversionXL in 2013

ConversionXL

'It’s that time of year again. These 10 posts got the most reads this year, make sure you didn’t miss any of them. Let’s start from 10th most popular and move up to the most read article. #10: How to Build a Strong A/B Testing Plan That Gets Results. The most complete article on A/B testing ever written. I can say that since it wasn’t written by me, but my team mate Jaan.

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The Future of Selling

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan My vision, of how the future of selling is shaping up, appears in today''s (the December 18, 2013) issue of Top Sales Magazine. After you have read the article, please contribute your comments, suggestions, visions, rebuttals and opinions which are all welcome right here. This issue also features the 2013 Award Winners of the Top Sales & Marketing Awards in 18 Categories.

Sell 96
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What Value Have You Created This Year?

Partners in Excellence

'It’s December, we’re all caught up in a frenzy of activity—closing those final deals we need to achieve our goals, preparing for a fast start for next year, then preparing for the Holidays… Now here I am, adding one more activity to your already over loaded “To Do List.” But I think it’s an important one. Take some time to analyze: “What value have you created this year?

Start-ups 103
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Automation, Evolved: Your New Playbook for Smarter Knowledge Work

Speaker: Frank Taliano

Documents are the backbone of enterprise operations, but they are also a common source of inefficiency. From buried insights to manual handoffs, document-based workflows can quietly stall decision-making and drain resources. For large, complex organizations, legacy systems and siloed processes create friction that AI is uniquely positioned to resolve.

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5 Year-End Sales Leadership Tips

The Sales Hunter

'Only a couple of days left in the year. This means everyone is spending at least a few minutes reflecting back on the year and, at the same time, looking forward. Here is my list of 5 quick sales leadership tips that make a difference: First, personally thank each person you lead for their contributions. It’s easy to thank those who have done a great job, but that’s not enough.

Sales 95
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9 Steps to Boost Sales in 2014 Part 2 Planning

Score More Sales

'Now that you are working to grow visibility as a seller and think like a publisher, work to craft a plan to make sales increases happen. Over many years and hundreds of sales teams, I’ve seen the most successful sellers work a plan and plan their work. As I think back to the years I sold technology and financial services and professional services – my best successes were those where I felt I knew where I was headed.

CRM 95
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Sales, Why is Everyone Playing from the Same Playbook?

A Sales Guy

' . I think too many sales organizations, their sales people and their sales leaders are playing from the same playbook. Why? I don’t see enough innovation. I spend an incredible amount of time with sales people and sales leaders and the most common thing I see is how similar they all are. Most everyone hires based on the same hiring principles.

Cold Call 117
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B2B Prospecting Data Just Keeps Getting Better

Pointclear

'The most reliable and scalable approach to finding new B2B customers is outbound communications, whether by mail, phone or email, to potential prospects, using rented or purchased lists. B2B marketers typically select targets from prospecting lists based on such traditional variables as industry, company size and job role, or title. But new research indicates that B2B prospecting data is much more detailed these days, and includes a plethora of variables to choose from, for refining your target

B2B 92
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Get Higher-Quality B2B Leads That Convert!

B2B marketers face a number of challenges, including: continuously generating great leads converting leads to active sales prospects finding vendors that deliver real results Aggregage has proven content syndication, webinar, online advertising and intent signal marketing programs that deliver higher-quality leads. More than 700 companies have already benefited from our programs.

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What Is the Make up and Function of the Ideal Sales Force?

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan The million dollar question. So many studies are conducted - but only on large companies. So many findings are published - but they don''t apply to your company. So many findings are discussed - but they don''t address what to change. I''ve written four White Papers over the last several years, all backed by science and data from the more than 700,000 salespeople and sales managers that Objective Management Group has evaluated and assessed.

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Effectiveness Must Precede Efficiency

Partners in Excellence

'In our every day rush of trying to get things done (play on words is not intentional), we seek to constantly improve our efficiency. We look for all sorts of time saving devices. Whether it’s the latest gadget, new time management approaches, the latest in tools to automate much of what we do, we seem focused on efficiently done. In the rush to efficiency, we sometimes forget effectiveness.

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Great Salespeople Own the Process (Part 9 of a series!)

The Sales Hunter

'We continue through our list of 14 things great salespeople do that average salespeople only think about. Here’s #9: 9. Great salespeople own the process. They don’t pass blame and they don’t allow excuses to come up as to why they weren’t able to accomplish something. The last thing a great salesperson will do is throw somebody under the bus to make themselves look good.

Process 93
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Grow Sales – Weekly Sales Dashboard

Score More Sales

'Heading into a new year, most every seller wants to be more organized than they were previously – it is one of the top issues that always comes up when we poll sellers about what one issue in selling they’d like to improve upon. What if you had a sales dashboard? Some of you do – if you work for a company that has created a custom dashboard in your CRM system or other app.

Sales 92
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New Research-Backed Strategies to Empower Managers as Culture & Engagement Leaders

Speaker: Beth Sunshine, SVP, Up Your Culture

When culture isn’t consistently lived out across the organization, engagement suffers—and it often starts with a disconnect at the top. In this session, Beth Sunshine, SVP of Up Your Culture at The Center for Sales Strategy, will reveal how HR and executive leaders can close the gap between vision and execution by equipping frontline and mid-level managers to become culture carriers.