Starting out as a sales rep Most people believe that to be good at sales, the only requirement is to possess those particular skills. While these are a key element, they are by no means the only necessary experience required. For those starting out in the business world, it is a good idea to try … 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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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 the process and on the … 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 do they resist yielding parts of their schedule for anything not directly related to income … Read more