Trending Articles

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12 Talent Things to Focus on in 2025

The Center for Sales Strategy

It’s already time to look ahead into 2025. What are your priorities, and how are you going to set yourself up for success? Here are 12 talent-related items to consider focusing on in the coming year. Bookmark this blog to reference it monthly, or take a few minutes right now to add these items to your calendar.

Sales 105
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Understanding What Drives Your Clients: The ClientIQ Advantage

FinListics Solutions

B2B sales reps often walk into client meetings with high hopes, only to leave without a clear path forward. Why? The answer isn’t just a lack of effort; it’s a lack of insight. Without a deep understanding of each client’s specific goals, revenue drivers, and unique industry dynamics, reps find themselves stuck in surface-level conversations.

B2B 84
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The Top 20%: Lessons on Scaling in the B2B SaaS Market

Force Management

A recent piece by McKinsey notes that 80% of startups who landed Series A funding failed within eight years (n=3164). Using interviews with B2B SaaS leaders who beat those odds by scaling from startup to over $100MM in ARR, McKinsey's recent playbook examines how these companies set up their organizations, common challenges they overcame and the actions leaders can use to emulate these pathways to success.

B2B 99
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Strategic Group Analysis (SGA)

Flevy

Competitive analysis is the backbone of strategic decision-making. By identifying an organization’s competitive landscape, leaders can get the lay of the land and see how to position their resources, enhance market presence, and minimize threats. However, a deeper look is sometimes required to understand clusters of competitors within this landscape, and that’s where the concept of Strategic Groups comes into play.

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2024, The Year of the Customer

2023's struggles fueled a shift: companies are ditching wasteful strategies in favor of data and AI-powered growth. Enter 2024, the year GTC takes center stage. Discover 5 ways a customer-centric approach unlocks new revenue and delivers lasting success.

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The Secret to Optimizing Your Generative AI Investment

Vantage Partners

Many leaders assume efficiencies achieved from generative AI investments involve the removal of the human element. And though generative AI can automate and streamline a wide range of tasks, that’s not quite right. In fact, successful efforts very much require human collaboration — stakeholders aligning to set strategic goals, define deliverables and determine performance metrics and KPIs.

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How to Build an Effective Sales Meeting Agenda

RAIN Group

Ask your sellers if they enjoy attending sales team meetings and you may hear things like, “They’re a waste of time,” “The meetings are monotonous,” “I’m sick of being talked at,” and “I don’t understand why I have to attend.” Most sales team meetings miss the mark.

Meetings 103

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How to Plan a Sales Enablement Strategy for Sustainable Revenue Growth

Brooks Group

B2B buyers are changing, and the skills your sellers need are changing too. If you don’t have a sales enablement strategy to keep your team up to date, you simply won’t be equipped to succeed with today’s buyers. According to Gartner’s Leadership Vision for 2024 report , 83% of sales leaders report their sellers struggle to adapt to changing customer needs and expectations.

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Change Is the Only Constant

Vantage Partners

British statesman and former Prime Minister Harold Wilson once famously said amidst the social and political turbulence in '60s and '70s Great Britain, “He who rejects change is the architect of decay.

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Boosting Sales with Pipeline Velocity feat. Amy Franko

Sales Gravy

On this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, JBJ sits down with Amy Franko, a sales expert specializing in the mid-market, to discuss pipeline velocity, qualifying deals, and the importance of asking the right questions in sales. Amy shares her insights on how to overcome common sales obstacles and provides practical advice for improving sales performance.

Sales 90
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Creating a Strong Employer Brand to Attract Top Sales Talent

The Center for Sales Strategy

Every company has an online brand, whether it’s crafted intentionally or shaped by external perceptions. If you're unsure of your company’s brand, do a quick Google search and look at the reviews. Websites like Glassdoor and other employment platforms can offer valuable insights into how your company is perceived. Ask yourself: Does your company appear inviting to potential candidates?

Sales 94
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How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

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Business Strategy How-to Guide: Develop, Implement, Evaluate

CMOE

In today’s perpetually shifting and disruptive business climate, having a formalized business strategy is essential for long-term success. A well-crafted strategy not only helps navigate challenges but also seizes opportunities for growth and innovation. In this comprehensive guide, CMOE delves into the multifaceted nature of business strategy, from its foundational principles to its practical implementation.

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Blueprints for Success: A Football Coach's Perspectives on Leadership

Force Management

Scot Loeffler knows a thing or two about leadership. He knows about leading a change initiative, getting the most out of high performers, and what it takes to be elite. Scot has worked with some of the most recognizable names in college and pro football as a quarterbacks coach or coordinator. In 2018, he became Head Coach at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and began the task of turning their football program around.

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The Art of the (Internal) Deal: Building Cross-Functional Alignment

Vantage Partners

A great way to start soft skills programs is with a simple question: What is more challenging? Is it building alignment with external stakeholders (such as customers, suppliers, healthcare professionals) or building alignment with internal stakeholders (like leadership, learners, team members)? About 70% of participants share that it is more difficult to gain agreement from their internal stakeholders.

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10 Common Cold Calling Blunders You Need to Avoid at All Costs, According to Experts

Hubspot Sales

Cold calls are awful. They're inherently intrusive, naturally uncomfortable, and — according to a study from Cognism — unsuccessful roughly 95.2% of the time. With that said, that same study found that 49% of buyers actually prefer to be contacted through a cold call. That‘s why they’re still central to many orgs' sales processes. If they‘re already a staple of your day-to-day, you can’t bank on them becoming obsolete anytime soon.

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1st, 2nd, and 3rd Party Intent Data: Which Is Right for You?

How do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party intent data compare? 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party data each have specific advantages and disadvantages. It comes down to four factors: accuracy, cost, control and quantity. This infographic explains the pros and cons of each and helps you understand which one is best for meeting your business objectives. Intent data can be a great way to fill your pipeline and close more deals.

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Hire for Talent, Train for Skill Development: Stop Trying to Teach a Fish to Climb Trees

The Center for Sales Strategy

Let’s cut straight to it: Talent is something you’re born with. You can’t create, mold, or magically inject it into someone. You either have it or you don’t. As much as we love a good rags-to-riches story, the truth is, talent can’t be trained into someone—it’s hardwired. And if you’re trying to force a square peg into a round hole by “developing talent” in someone who simply doesn’t have it, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Sales 86
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Increase Lead Engagement With Nutshell SMS

Nutshell

Leveraging text messaging is a great way to stay better connected with leads throughout the sales process. And with native texting in your CRM, you get the full picture of how text conversations are driving revenue and strengthening relationships. Now introducing Nutshell SMS—no integration needed! With SMS, your team can have text conversations with your Nutshell contacts, track text history in your timelines, and use texts in your sales automation process to engage your leads.

CRM 77
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The 7-Step Framework That Turns Value Propositions Into Deal-Closers for B2B Sales Leaders

FinListics Solutions

Here’s a hard truth all B2B sales leaders need to hear: 86% of sales messages fail to resonate. They don’t inspire action, don’t move deals forward, and ultimately waste time and resources. If you’ve ever watched a promising deal stall or go cold after delivering what you thought was a great pitch, you’re not alone. The culprit? Your value proposition isn’t landing where it matters most.

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Three Ways to Deal with Pressure During High-Stakes Negotiations

Vantage Partners

Here are three of the most helpful ways to deal with pressure during high-stakes negotiations — not just to endure, but to get the outcome you desire.

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How to Leverage Intent Data for Better Outcomes

Speaker: Susan Spencer, Principal of Spencer Communications

Intent signal data can go a long way toward shortening sales cycles and closing more deals. The challenge is deciding which is the best type of intent data to help your company meet its sales and marketing goals. In this webinar, Susan Spencer, fractional CMO and principal of Spencer Communications, will unpack the differences between contact-level and company-level intent signals.

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Outsource Cold Calling: The Ultimate Guide [+ Cold Calling Tips for Sales Pros]

Hubspot Sales

Cold calling. Doesn’t the mere mention of it send shivers down your spine? Even if that’s not the case for you specifically, I can assure you that it is for many sales professionals (even the ones that swear they’ve become immune to its fearsome effects). You see, cold calling – no matter which way you feel about it – is simply a part of the sales biz.

Sales 83
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Boost Sales Performance with AI Coaching

The Center for Sales Strategy

Leveraging technology to gain a competitive edge is not just advantageous; it's essential. AI-powered communication coaching is at the forefront of this transformation, offering sales teams a revolutionary way to enhance their performance. By integrating artificial intelligence into sales training, organizations can provide their teams with personalized, data-driven insights that traditional methods simply can't match.

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Track Marketing Performance With the Nutshell Marketing Dashboard

Nutshell

Understanding how your company’s marketing efforts translate into sales is critical for fostering business growth. Introducing Nutshell’s new marketing dashboard , your hub for viewing the performance of all your Nutshell marketing efforts. Whether you’re monitoring email campaigns, tracking website analytics, or viewing form submissions, the marketing dashboard reveals what’s working so you can refine and optimize your strategies.

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How to Sell When No One is Buying: Strategies for B2B Sales Leaders

FinListics Solutions

When it feels like no one’s buying, it can be downright frustrating. All B2B sales leaders have faced this uphill battle: budgets are slashed, decisions are delayed, and deals seem impossible to close.

B2B 85
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The 2023 Supply Chain Crystal Ball: Challenges and Solutions

Speaker: Olivia Montgomery, Associate Principal Supply Chain Analyst

Curious to know how your peers are navigating ongoing disruption? The supply chain management techniques that dominated the last 30 years are no longer supporting consumer behavior or logistics and manufacturing capabilities. So what’s working now? What should your plans for 2023 include? By researching the supply chain challenges and solutions that businesses – especially small and midsize businesses – are currently experiencing, we’ve learned what’s working and what’s not.

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Digital Sales Mastery: Building Trust in the Modern Era feat. Neil Cameron

Sales Gravy

On this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, host Jeb Blount Jr. and guest Neil Cameron discuss the evolving landscape of B2B sales, focusing on how to adapt to millennial buyers, the importance of authenticity in digital sales, and strategies for building trust in the modern sales environment. Neil emphasizes the significance of understanding buyer psychology in today's digital age.

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How Startups Are Raising Money Today [Data + Expert Insights]

Hubspot Sales

Startup founders, especially early-stage ones, have been feeling quite the pinch in recent years when it comes to fundraising: Nearly a quarter of fundraising rounds are down rounds in Q1 2024 Time in between rounds is getting longer Overall deal count is low It makes us wonder: How are the founders holding up? How should they adapt? Source: Carta My colleagues from HubSpot for Startups set out to find the answer.

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7 Different Roles of a Successful Sales Manager

SBI Growth

Managing a high-performance sales team can be challenging. One of the main challenges is that the job requires sales manager to take on multiple different roles. For example, one day you could be on ride-alongs coaching your reps , the next day, working on new territory plans for your team. So if you don't want to struggle, here are seven management roles you must adopt to be successful.

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[TEST ONLY] Branded CTA in BLOG

Nutshell

Understanding how your company’s marketing efforts translate into sales is critical for fostering business growth. Introducing Nutshell’s new marketing dashboard , your hub for viewing the performance of all your Nutshell marketing efforts. Whether you’re monitoring email campaigns, tracking website analytics, or viewing form submissions, the marketing dashboard reveals what’s working so you can refine and optimize your strategies.

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Negotiate Larger Deals More Quickly

What if there was a better method of changing the conversation with your customer from delivering pricing to delivering value solutions? A method that would help keep you in control, manage the uncertainty, and close larger deals more quickly for you and your company? There is.

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The Hidden Gold in Your B2B Client's Business Segments: A Sales Leader’s Guide to Precision Selling

FinListics Solutions

B2B Sales teams win or lose based on how well they understand their client’s business—not just at the top level but within individual segments. Yet too many sales leaders focus on the big picture while overlooking the finer details of each business division.

B2B 71
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Outbound Strategies for Authentic Sales Success feat. Mark Hunter

Sales Gravy

Join host Jeb Blount Jr. as he welcomes legendary sales expert, Mark Hunter, to The Sales Gravy Podcast! In this episode they dive into actionable Outbound strategies, discuss the latest AI trends, and reveal why authentic relationships are the cornerstone of every successful sale. Key Takeaways – Success in outbound selling relies on maintaining strict discipline, consistent activity, and following a structured process to keep momentum and drive results. – Results in prospecting don’t happen ov

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Is Cold Calling Legal? Important Cold Call Laws, Regulations, and Etiquette [+ Best Practices for Telemarketing]

Hubspot Sales

You know it. You may hate it. It’s a classic sales tactic. It’s often classified as a little annoying. That’s right, people. Let’s talk about cold calling. You might've heard a few horror stories about aggressive cold callers who disrupt people’s dinners or spam their phones. Maybe you’ve done this yourself (there’s no shame in the sales rep game, though).

B2C 76
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Coaching Salespeople: Shift the Focus – From 'Here's What to Fix' to 'Here's What You Do Best'

The Center for Sales Strategy

When was the last time that someone sat you down, focused all their attention on you, and talked to you about the things that you do really well? Still thinking? It’s usually hard to pinpoint the last time that happened because, for most of us, it doesn’t happen very often. Unless you are an NFL football player, then the last time would have been Monday morning, and it would have gone something like this (imagine dreamlike music).

Sales 79
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ABM Evolution: How Top Marketers Are Using Account-Based Strategies

In times of economic uncertainty, account-based strategies are essential. According to several business analysts and practitioners, ABM is a necessity for creating more predictable revenue. Research shows that nearly three-quarters of marketers (74%) already have the resources needed to build successful ABM programs.