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According to recent research from the McKinsey Global Institute and McKinsey’s Business Technology Office, collecting and analyzing large data sets – so-called big data – represents the next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity. With data growing exponentially across many industries, it is critical for organizations and managers to create sales value from this mass …

“Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime-a-dozen. The coaches who win are the ones who can motivate their players.” – Vince Lombardi  Coaching – as opposed to the directing favored in traditional sales management - works by bringing out the best in sales reps and motivating them to realize their full potential. Sales …

There are many challenges to forecasting accurately, but you can be more effective at accurate sales forecasting methods if you manage your “sales forecast killers” carefully. Consider these 10 key forecast killers and if they creep up into your opportunities then flag those opportunities as “at risk”. Timing Time kills all deals. Look at the …

As a sales manager, a big component of your job is making sure that your team of sales reps are consistently putting forth their best effort and hitting their sales goals. Coaching and having regular one-on-one meetings with individual reps can go a long way toward helping reps meet these goals. However, many sales teams …

Agile sales. This sounds like one of those marketing/business/sales buzzwords that high-level executives throw around when trying to overhaul the culture, leadership or processes of their sales teams. What does it actually mean when it comes to sales management? Sales Benchmark Index recently argued that slow sales leaders won’t survive. They are unable to change …

We came across an article by Bob Apollo citing Miller Heiman research suggesting that only 34% of all sales organizations believed their management team was “highly effective in helping the sales team advance sales opportunities.” This low figure struck us as extremely alarming – what were the other two-thirds of organizations doing?!? Not applying analytical …

A recent survey by the Aberdeen Group noted that sales and marketing teams with self-described good alignment saw 20% annual revenue growth at their companies, while teams that were poorly aligned saw their company revenues decline by 4%. Another recent study by the Harvard Business Review noted that 87% of survey respondents admitted to having …