Trending Articles

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7 Steps to Close the Year like a High Performer

SBI Growth

Take a quick look at the forecasted end-of-year close dates in your CRM system. What dates do most of your sales team’s opportunities show? Do you see a lot of December 31 st close dates? Chances are your sellers don’t understand how high performers close business and enjoy a more stress-free holiday. Whether it’s a more basic deal qualification tool like BANT , or a bit more sophisticated as with MEDDPICC, sellers are mistakenly taught to chase deal-close clarity in a sequence.

CRM 62
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A Comprehensive Guide to Customer Profiles With 4 Free Templates

Nutshell

It’s your virgin venture into the world of customer profile creation, and you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by all the data collecting and analyzing that lies ahead. Anyone who has been in this position before would easily forgive you for feeling that way, especially if you don’t have a trusty customer profile template on hand to guide you through the process.

CRM 62
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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 107
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6 Strategies for Re-Engaging Unresponsive Prospects, According to Experts

Hubspot Sales

Getting ghosted is an unfortunate fact of sales life nowadays. Every once in a while, the conversation with a prospect is going to die down and never pick back up — but you don't have to take those fizzle-outs lying down. There are some strategies you can leverage to give yourself a fighting chance at re-engaging a prospect who seems like a lost cause.

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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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Beyond the Funnel: How to Engage Executive Buyers Earlier in Complex Journeys

FinListics Solutions

They’re Already Halfway Gone Executive B2B buyers are bypassing the traditional sales process. They’re moving independently, often 70% through their purchase decision before a sales rep enters the picture.

B2B 95
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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 100

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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 103
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The State of Sales Training and Continuous Learning: Key Findings From New Research

RAIN Group

Effective sales training is widely acknowledged as a critical success factor for sales organizations. But how many companies are truly excelling in this area? And what distinguishes those with highly effective sales training and development from the rest? The answers may surprise you.

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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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Why New Hires Fail: Improve Your Sales Talent Management

Force Management

Sales talent is a cornerstone to a best-in-class sales organization. As a sales leader you need the right people on board if you want to hit your revenue goals every quarter. Without a process to attract, hire and retain top sales talent you will waste money on mis-hires, lose talent to the competition and have no way to build a bench strength for growth.

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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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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.

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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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Sales on the Rocks feat. Patrick “Pops” Garrett

Sales Gravy

In this lively episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount welcomes Patrick "Pops" Garrett, Founder & Chief Drinking Officer of DrinkCurious, to explore the unique intersection between bourbon tasting and sales engagement. Key Takeaways: – Virtual Tastings as Sales Hooks: Virtual bourbon tastings became an effective "hook" to attract attendees to sales demos, webinars, and client meetings, increasing engagement and helping to break through typical sales communication noise. – Engagement and W

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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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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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B2B Sales Slowdown: Why Your Teams Are Struggling to Close Complex Deals

FinListics Solutions

B2B sales complexity is increasing, and close rates are lagging as deals become harder to win. Today, complex B2B deals take 20% longer to close than they did five years ago (Forrester), largely because reps need to prepare to manage multi-stakeholder sales. The stakes are high, with productivity losses for a typical 100-person sales team totaling over $2 million annually (DePaul University).

B2B 79
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Effective Counter Negotiation Tactics to Use when Buyers Lead with the First Offer

SBI Growth

One frequently discussed issue by negotiation experts is when you should make the first offer in a negotiation. Conventional wisdom is to never make the first offer in a negotiation. After all, by making the first offer, you risk "showing your cards" too early and leaving money on the table. On the other hand, there are many cases where it is to your advantage to make the first offer.

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From Hustle to Leadership: The Journey in Sales and Staffing feat. Andy Matheou

Sales Gravy

In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount sits down with Andy Matheou from RHM Staffing to dive deep into the challenges and triumphs of selling in the staffing industry. Andy shares his journey from individual contributor to a leadership role, offering invaluable insights on hustle, resilience, and the unique demands of staffing sales.

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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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Latest Podcasts: 2025 Sales Best Practices

Force Management

In the past month, the Revenue Builders Podcast has hosted some insightful conversations with experienced sales leaders. They discussed their sales journeys, critical career moves, management advice and emerging technologies. We also heard some great perspectives from our hosts, John Kaplan and John McMahon. Tune in below to hear 2025 sales best practices from a variety of established minds in the sales world.

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The Knowledge Crisis: How Retiring Talent Puts Your Sales Team at RiskThe Silent Departure of Critical Sales Knowledge

FinListics Solutions

Approximately 10,000 baby boomers reach retirement age daily, creating a hidden knowledge crisis for sales teams across industries. With up to 70% of vital know-how stored only in employees' minds ( APQC ), the risk of losing essential insights is very real. As seasoned professionals retire, they take years of client relationship history, negotiation strategies, and nuanced industry expertise with them.

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How to Create an Effective Sales Report Template [With Downloadable Examples]

Nutshell

Your role as a sales manager or director comes with multiple responsibilities, from developing and overseeing sales strategies to coaching and managing sales reps. Generating insightful sales reports is a critical component of your role and can involve some heavy lifting. That’s where sales report templates come in handy. Creating and presenting detailed sales reports that colleagues and management can easily understand can prove time-consuming.

Sales 62
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The Future of Revenue Enablement: An Inside Look at Top Performing Organizations

SBI Growth

As businesses prepare for the challenges and opportunities of 2025, the role of enablement teams is coming under increased scrutiny. In a research collaboration between SBI Growth and The Revenue Enablement Society, it was revealed that enablement functions are essential for organizations aiming to optimize their sales and revenue operations. This study highlights the revenue enablement methods of top performing organizations and offers a roadmap for organizations to elevate their enablement str

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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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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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6 Key Mistakes You Can Make Mistakes When Trying to Build Rapport

Hubspot Sales

Sales engagements are pretty strange interactions when you really think about them. They involve an element of friendliness, but the endgame isn‘t making friends. Shocking as this sounds, you’re actually trying to sell something when selling. That means you have to strike a balance between approachability and authority — but that's easier said than done, making rapport building equal parts essential and screw-up-able for sales professionals.

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Breaking Through with Executives: How ClientIQ Builds Credibility

FinListics Solutions

B2B sales reps only get one chance to make an impression with executive buyers, and that moment is make-or-break. Walk in with a surface-level understanding, and the opportunity evaporates. Execs don’t have time for vague promises—they need credible insights backed by hard data. Sales teams that fail to connect with the issues that truly matter to top decision-makers lose trust, relevance, and, often, the deal itself.

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Introducing Round-Robin Assignment in Scheduler 

Nutshell

When it comes to booking appointments with your company’s leads and customers, it’s critical that meetings are booked with the right people—whether you’re scheduling sales, support, or customer success calls. Scheduler, Nutshell’s built-in meeting scheduling tool, now supports the ability to schedule round-robin meetings, in addition to solo and co-hosted meetings.

CRM 62
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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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Planning for an Uncertain Future

The Great Game of Business

Most companies react to recessions. at SRC, we prepare! With insights from ITR Economics, our employees don't just weather economic downturns—we leverage them.

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Avoid these 3 Missteps to Improve Sales Pipeline Forecasts

SBI Growth

Accurate sales forecasting is essential for business success. But it can be difficult to get it right due to certain missteps. Here are three of the most common errors that lead to incorrect forecasting and how to avoid them.

Sales 62
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How To Choose the Right SaaS Helpdesk Software

Groove HQ

You’ve built an amazing SaaS product, but now you’re drowning in a sea of customer queries. Your support team is getting sidetracked by repetitive tickets, the churn rate is creeping up, and you’re losing sleep over missed follow-ups. Sound familiar? In the fast-paced world of SaaS, stellar customer support isn’t just nice to have—it’s critical […] The post How To Choose the Right SaaS Helpdesk Software appeared first on Groove Blog.

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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 72
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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.