What is a sales playbook and why is it important? Sales playbooks are the synthesis of sales process, best practices, the sales tools used and the tactical steps that should be adhered to as part of an effective sales engagement. Think of it as a blueprint for sales success, which allows for creative tailoring based…
In fact, it’s only 22%. How did I arrive at this conclusion? Well, there are 18 total letters combined between the two words. And ironically enough, each word has 9 letters as in perfect symmetry. If you subtract the common letters between the two words, you are left with a difference of 4. And 4…
Another great blog post from the TAS Group, the difference in quality vs. quantity really plays out in the winning sales conversion ratios: http://sales20network.com/blog/?p=10
Great blog post from the TAS Group on the vital factors associated with increasing your sales velocity (i.e., sales ramp): http://sales20network.com/blog/?p=962
One of my favorite movies is “Being There” starring Peter Sellers. If you haven’t seen it, I highly suggest that you rent it, as the movie and cast won numerous awards for their performance and wonderful story. I’ll paraphrase the story by saying that a simple-minded gardener (Chance Gardner) is thrust in to the outside…
Metrics are good. They can be valuable and you can glean insight from them. But my admonition to all is that you proceed with caution when it comes to using metrics and data to make business decisions. All too frequently, I see business leaders completely absorbed in spreadsheets and reports. Percentages, conversion ratios and growth…
It seems that sales and marketing alignment, unlike a doctors exam, is something everybody wants to do. It feels like we get an email a day from Marketo or Eloqua on alignment issues, ranking as a topic only slightly behind insights on how to integrate social media into the mix. The esteemed CSO Insights and…
Whether you are a startup going to market for the first time, or a F1000 company introducing a new product or service, figuring out the right go to market strategy is hard. That challenge is only exacerbated when you conduct all of your analysis and planning purely from the marketing perspective and omit the sales…
Couldn’t resist that headline? How about the puppy? Aaawwwww. Someone marketing-wise once told me to always have flags, puppies or kids in any marketing materials. I hate to admit that it works, even if it is a little hard sometimes to fit a puppy into a data center disaster backup scenario. With a little creativity…
So, we’ve all been there if you have worked in a Fortune 500 company. The sales regional managers are in town. Everyone knows it. They make sure everyone does. Heads will roll. Deals will be made. Side meetings are happening all over the cafeteria and regional chiefs walk by with ear on phone nodding at…