It does not matter if you sell over video conference calls or face to face at a coffee shop, sales people still need to keep their skills sharp. For those who are entering the business development arena, there are many more ways available to learn than there were just a few years ago.
With over 30 Million small businesses in the USA, this is an enormous B2B market for sales people. With the last few years of companies transitioning to virtual meetings, most companies that can sell outside of their local geographical areas have embraced this change and opened up a new landscape for sales professionals.
The smaller a business, the less likely you will have exposure to the training tools needed to grow into a seasoned professional. That is where these articles come in.
Analysis after the call Sales calls with prospects or even existing clients can get complicated with enormous amounts of information being exchanged. This can be compounded when there are members of your own team who have participated. Perhaps they were there to learn or more often, they needed to gather technical information and provide responses … Read more
Forecasting opportunities This is a very common sales terminology. As a business development person, or even an entire team, begin building up a quantity of leads and prospects during the sales process, these opportunities are often referred to as a pipeline. Similar to oil production and transportation, they are in motion and on the way. … Read more
Keep your sales reps trained and up to date Everyone is busy, but in the sales world time is money. What this means is that business development people maximize the hours of the day to increase their income. Not only will they resist yielding parts of their schedule for anything not directly related to income … Read more
Ways that business development people get paid For those new to sales, you will see all sorts of different compensation plans offered by marketing companies. These are created as incentives and are intended to motivate sales reps to bring in as much revenue as possible. The structures can sometimes get complicated as there are often … Read more
The essential sales tool for any marketing agency Aside from email and your online calendar, a Customer Relations Management (CRM) software solution is probably your most important software purchase for your team. Most business development people view the use of CRM as tedious and time-consuming. However, seasoned representatives appreciate the necessity of this software and … Read more
The transition from business owner to sales manager As any small web design or marketing agency grows from being a single freelancer to small team and beyond, at some point there will come time when the owner will need to bring on a sales rep to assist them with bringing in new business and/or to … Read more
If you are going to be in sales, you need to know the jargon To fully immerse yourself in sales it is useful to have a reference for some of the more common and lesser known terms in the industry. Whether you are in a sales meeting or around the water cooler, you are likely … Read more
A sales training exercise When looking to coach your employees you will likely find the most effective exercise to be role playing. This activity can be in a one on one or in a group setting where each person takes a turn at the exercise and allows the other team members to watch and learn … Read more
Marketing Agency Sales Process The first step in learning any craft is to familiarize yourself with the basics. With this, all of your strategies and skills can be directed and utilized at the proper time. While similar to marketing, their is enough difference to the sales process that it requires it’s own steps. In learning … Read more
Categorizing accounts and prospects Marketing and sales departments have for years qualified clients and their target market through the attribution their size. The industry utilizes terms to identify them and it is very common to see them referred to in news, blog articles and marketing materials to easily convey this to the reader. There is … Read more
A versatile and lucrative specialty For most people, sales is a career like almost any other. For me, it was a very big opportunity. Years ago, outside of the trades, there were very few lucrative jobs available to someone who did not have a college degree. Everyone talks about a glass ceiling and I definitely … Read more
The phone room Years ago when businesses were trying to increase sales, they would hire appointment setters who would make cold calls over the phone for lead generation. This was considered one of the least glamorous of jobs and because of this, managers would assign the least desirable rooms in a building and preferably with … Read more
Managing the customer relationship While sales positions can take on numerous names within organizations, this particular term has usually referred to a person responsible for existing customers rather than developing new business. This title should not be confused with a role such as project manager. They generally are focused on: New business development teams are … Read more