Trending Articles

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5 Reasons Why Sales Teams Miss Revenue Targets [+ How to Meet Them]

Hubspot Sales

Why are revenue targets so hard to hit? According to a 2023 survey of over 450 sales leaders, 91% of their teams missed quota that year. And even with revenue up in 2024 , reps are still struggling to meet their sales goals. To shed some light on the matter, Ill offer my personal insights on why teams are missing their targets. In addition, I reached out to other sales experts to hear what they had to say about setting and meeting revenue goals so you can take home some best practices from their

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How Sales Structure Impacts Performance: Key Benefits and Strategies

The Center for Sales Strategy

The structure of your sales team can make or break your success. Are you trying to organize your sales team? Are you trying to figure out what the best sales organizational structure is or trying to identify the problem within your current structure? Determining the best way to organize your sales team is important, and t ransitioning from a one approach to another model could significantly impact your sales performance.

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Your Sales Depend on Your Messaging

Sales Gravy

How many times have you gotten to the meeting but your pitch fell flat? You went in guns blazing, thinking the hard part was over and youd land the dealbut instead you face-planted. Its not your product or your pricing. Its your messaging thats failing youand blocking you from a sale. A Framework to Tap Into Your Prospects Pain So whats missing? A framework that actually speaks to your prospects pain, builds urgency, and moves them toward a yes.

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Commercial Efficiency is the CEO's Greatest Growth Lever

SBI Growth

As CEOs move through 2025, understanding how to drive sustainable revenue growth while navigating declining go-to-market (GTM) efficiency remains a critical challenge. CEOs are tasked with delivering consistent revenue growth while facing unpredictable demand cycle and increasing costs of operation. Many CEOs are grappling with sales cycles increasing, mounting inefficiencies, and unoptimized commercial teams.

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5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.

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The Mutual Value Engine: Fueling Sustainable Organic Growth.

Luminas Strategy

The vocabulary around customer centricity is well worn. Now that weve admitted it, we can dispense with the pleasantries, examine the reality and ask the tough questions. Is your company structured to treat your customers’ bottom line as a direct extension of your own? Or in more simple terms, Is your customers business at the center of yours?

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SNAP Selling: Simplifying Your Sales

Hubspot Sales

Being a salesperson today feels like trying to get someones attention in Times Square; buyers are swamped with choices, blinking lights, and loud pitches from every direction. One word: Overload. The internet makes research a breeze until youre drowning in options and cant tell whats worth your time. As a copywriter, Ive been there, wading through endless tabs, trying to separate the gold from the noise.

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How to Handle the “How Much Does It Cost?” Objection (Ask Jeb)

Sales Gravy

Cindy is struggling to set appointments and handle the "How Much Does it Cost?" objection. She recently switched from media sales to the home services industry. Suddenly, she finds herself making all her own cold calls no marketing team, no pre-existing territory full of warm leads. And unlike her old deskbound clients, these new prospects are likely to be on a roof or at a job site when she calls.

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Delivering Value to Executives: Avoiding Pitfalls and Driving Business Outcomes

SBI Growth

Transitioning from traditional sales to enterprise sales can be a major shift, as SBI Executive Consultant, Sarah Bedwell, knows all too well. On our latest episode of The Sales Readiness Podcast , hosted by Ray Makela, SBIs Managing Director, Sarah shared her firsthand experiences and insights on selling to the C-suite, a process that requires a different mindset, a tailored approach, and an unwavering focus on delivering value.

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What Are the Positive Effects of Strategic Thinking?

CMOE

Positive Effects of Strategic Thinking: Operational Benefits for Your Business Effective leaders use strategic thinking to approach team building and operational action. This gives them an advantage over the competition and positions them to achieve their goals. While strategic thinking does not guarantee business success, it does put organizations in an advantageous position to gather information, solve problems, and make informed decisions.

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What’s a Business Credit Score Anyway? Here’s What You Need to Know

Hubspot Sales

I walked into the bank feeling confident about getting a loan to expand my business. I had my plan, financials, and a solid pitch ready. But the loan officer shook her head denied. The problem? My business credit score. I didnt even know I had one. A business credit score shows lenders, vendors, and insurers how dependable your business is. Factors like late vendor payments and limited credit activity were pulling my score down.

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AI Strategies for Sales Managers: How to Cut Down on Tedious Admin Work

What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.

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Nutshell partners with IT services provider Proactive Technology Management

Nutshell

At Nutshell, we want to make it as easy as possible for businesses to access and use the tools they need to grow. Thats why we built an easy-to-use CRM with powerful sales, marketing, and engagement features, and its why we partner with businesses that share our mission. Were excited to announce a new partnership with Proactive Technology Management , an IT services and support company based in metro Detroit.

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How Leader Standard Work at Every Level Builds an Improvement Culture

Kainexus

In some organizations, the leaders who are good at putting out fires are considered the best managers. But what if, instead of putting out fires, leaders had the luxury to spend time on fire prevention? What if, when the rare flame was spotted, every leader was skilled in identifying and correcting the root cause? These conditions are possible with an approach called Leader Standard Work.

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Unlocking Enablement Success in 2025

SBI Growth

Sales enablement leaders are facing an increasingly complex and evolving landscape. The modern buyers journey has evolved, proficiency gaps persist, and AIs role in sales continues to expand. In a recent webinar hosted by SBI in collaboration with Allego, Ray Makela, Managing Director of Talent Development at SBI, and Deniz Olcay, VP of Marketing at Allego, shared data-driven insights from SBIs 2024 Revenue Enablement Effectives Survey and Allegos State of Sales Enablement Report 2025.

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9 Pillars of Strategic Thinking You Can Learn and Teach

CMOE

Organizations that leverage a strategic thinking framework position themselves to establish competitive differentiation and relevance in the marketplace. In recent survey, the vast majority of senior leaders97%pegged strategic thinking for leadership as the most important factor in success. This level of consensus is far from typical; anyone can clearly draw the conclusion that strategic thinking isnt just valuable, but essential.

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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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I Tried Three Generative AI CRMs: Here Are My Thoughts

Hubspot Sales

AI is becoming a core part of CRM systems. Considering the time-saving benefits, its unsurprising that generative AI CRMs can be incredibly valuable in helping businesses grow. Ive already written an article on CRMs with AI , but I wanted to take my curiosity about AI and CRM one step further. So, in this article, Im focusing specifically on three generative AI CRMs, how generative AI can improve the sales process, and much more.

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Contracted pricing CPQ: what it is and how it works

PandaDoc

In business, consistent relationships between suppliers and buyers can make operations easier for both parties. Vendors gain a consistent customer and buyers have a trusted source for a specific selection of products or services. As these relationships deepen, partnering companies will often agree on contracted pricing, a pre-negotiated price structure that applies over a defined period.

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AI Is Only as Good as the Data It Works With

Arpedio

The Power and Pitfalls of AI in Sales AI has the capability to analyze vast amounts of customer data, uncover patterns, and recommend the next best action. It can enhance account-based selling by identifying trends, surfacing insights, and optimizing engagement strategies. However, AI can only provide value if the underlying data is reliable. If data is outdated, incomplete, or stored in multiple disconnected systems , AIs recommendations will be flawed.

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Celebrating Together: Planview Honors International Women’s Day

Planview

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global celebration of women’s achievements and calls for gender equality. This year’s theme, Accelerate Action, highlights the urgent need for progress. Data from the World Economic Forums most recent assessment on womens representation the Global Gender Gap Report 2024 shows that the world will not reach full gender parity for another 133 years, equivalent to five generations.

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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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How Do You Know If Someone Is a Strategic Thinker? How to Identify One

CMOE

Strategic thinkers can elevate a team, a department, and a company to another level. They personify valuable skills that make a difference in any industry or organization. Few would argue with this premise, but how do you know if someone is a strategic thinker? Identifying these unique assets is necessary to unlock their potential while determining who can benefit from having an improved strategic mindset instilled in them.

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Lead Scoring Tactics That Actually Work: 4 Lessons from HubSpot’s +$30 Billion Growth Strategy

Hubspot Sales

Every sales leader has been there: Your inbox is seemingly flooded with leads, but your pipeline feels emptier than ever. Marketing keeps sending you qualified prospects, yet your sales reps are stuck wasting valuable time sifting through them, trying to figure out whos actually ready to make a move. The issue isnt the number of leads; its knowing which ones are worth your reps time.

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How to Reach Out to Someone on LinkedIn: The Complete Guide [2025]

LinkedFusion

Are you looking to expand your professional network, find new job opportunities, or connect with potential clients? Learning how to reach out to someone on LinkedIn effectively is a critical skill for modern professionals. This comprehensive guide will show you exactly how to craft engaging, personalized messages that get responsesnot silence. Understanding LinkedIn Outreach LinkedIn is more than just a digital resumeit’s the world’s largest professional networking platform with over

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AI-Powered Account-Based Selling: What’s Changing in 2025?

Arpedio

The New Era of Account-Based Selling Account-based selling (ABS) has always been about precision focusing time and effort on the accounts that matter most. But in todays fast-paced B2B landscape, traditional approaches are no longer enough. With rising customer expectations, an overflow of data, and increased competition, sales teams need a smarter way to engage and convert high-value accounts.

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10 Ways to Leverage Buyer Signals and Drive Revenue

In today’s ultra-competitive markets, it’s no longer enough to wait for buyers to show obvious signs of interest. Instead, sales teams must be proactive, identifying and acting on nuanced buyer behaviors — often before prospects are fully ready to make a purchase. In this eBook from ZoomInfo & Sell Better, learn 10 actionable ways to use these buyer signals to transform your sales strategy and close deals faster.

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A Conversation with Dana Caspersen on Conflict Management In The Workplace

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

Conflict As An Opportunity: A Conversation with Dana Caspersen on Conflict Management In The Workplace

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What Are the 3 A’s of Strategic Thinking?

CMOE

Understanding the 3 As of Strategic Thinking Every leader and team member desires the ability to think strategically; however, the process of building your own strategic thinking skills can be difficult, as can encouraging strategic thinking in your team members. Rich Horwath developed The three As of strategic thinking framework with a mission to improve the process of developing and utilizing strategic thinking.

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The Top 9 LLC Filing Companies Entrepreneurs Need to Know

Hubspot Sales

As someone whos tested entrepreneurial waters, I know it can be daunting, especially when its your first time. Theres the adrenaline rush, yet a feeling of being lost, given so many unknowns. Something fundamental, like deciding between a sole proprietorship that requires minimal paperwork or going for a more structured LLC, can feel overwhelming. If you register an LLC, choosing between different LLC filing companies becomes the next big decision.

Banking 52
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Rate Your AI

Help Scout

Even when the newest LLM shines in the benchmarks, it doesn't mean it will be the right choice for every use case or that users will be happy with its output. Learn how Help Scout approaches rating our AI to create better customer experiences.

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How to Prove Marketing Value: Demonstrate Content ROI and Contribution to Sales

Every marketer knows how important it is to prove their efforts drive sales opportunities, but that’s easier said than done. When problems like sales and marketing misalignment, lack of data, and wasted efforts persist, marketers can’t measure, prove, or increase their impact on revenue at a time when demonstrating marketing value is critical. Using analyst and expert data, this guide to marketing impact and content attribution explains: How B2B buyers use content The most common types of conten

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Six corporate finance principles for business success

Cranfield Executive Development

Most business finance is not particularly complicated, it's just a matter of knowing the language, and understanding some key basics.

Finance 52
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OKRS and Performance Culture: A Conversation with Ben Lamorte of OKRs.com

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

OKRS and Performance Culture: A Conversation with Ben Lamorte of OKRs.

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What Are Mintzberg’s 5 Ps of Strategy?

CMOE

Mintzberg’s 5 Ps of Strategy: A Lens to Understand Strategic Thinking Strategic thinking helps businesses analyze situations, make decisions, and solve problems. For those new to strategic thinking, this process can be difficult to master. Industry experts and academics like Henry Mintzberg have developed definitions and additional frameworks to make the topic more approachable.

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The Emblazers Podcast Episode 4: CRO Sona Jepsen on AI, Pipeline, and Human Connection

Corporate Visions

Tim Riesterer and Amanda DeVlugt chatted with Sona Jepsen, Chief Revenue Officer at Curinos, to discuss what it really means to sit in the CRO hot seat.

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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.