Gartner: "Boost your sales win rates by 50% via win-loss analysis"

Most sales organisations claim to conduct some form of win-loss analysis. But according to a recent Gartner investigation, no more than a third conduct them with the proper degree of rigour.

How to shorten the sales cycle?

I recently wrote about the five most important KPIs when tracking a sales pipeline. One question that keeps coming up in discussions with sales managers is how to shorten the sales cycle. 

Coaching the sales process - deal reviews

I have an obsession with strong Selling Processes. It’s an important, but misunderstood aspect of sales effectiveness. One of the things I’ve discovered as a result of my diatribes, is many sales managers really don’t know how to reinforce the sales process in their coaching and development of their sales teams. I’ve gotten a lot of questions on this topic from sales managers, and I suspect there are a lot more that are embarrassed to ask about this.

Sales metrics - 5 KPIs you must track

To improve your sales team’s efforts, you need to keep an eye on your key performance indicators (KPIs). At a first glance, measuring sales appears very simple – just look at the results, right? While it’s true that the achieved business result is easy to measure, the difficulty lies in knowing how we got there and how to improve moving forward.

How much could we sell for if we organized sales efforts better? Are we leaving money on the table? Which levers can we pull?

FOCUS – The competitive advantage for sales organizations

Sales managers work hard to transfer the success skills that made them a top producer. They deliver training and coaching on key account management, running consultative sales meetings and overcoming objections. All of the above require another selling skill that is becoming obsolete in our multi-tasking society: focus.

Qualify leads: 8 reasons to walk away

Every sales person knows how difficult it can be to walk away from a deal. That’s why 25% of all deals end up in “no decision”. So, how do you know when to walk away?