Management Tips

Sales Managers: How to Gain Your Team’s Respect

You know what I wish I'd known when I first became a sales manager? That earning respect from your sales team takes time, especially when you're promoted from within the group.Ever felt this way? You're all excited about being a sales manager, expecting everyone to cheer you on. But reality hits: the team still sees you as a colleague, not the boss. They’re not ready to hand over respect just like that.If you try to demand respect rather than earn it,…

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September 2, 2014
Management Tips

How Much Freedom Should You Give Your Sales Team?

Imagine training for the Olympics like those gymnasts who start practicing at a young age. Just like them, learning how to balance sales freedom is like mastering that tricky balancing beam.Give your sales team too much freedom, and you might lose out on sales. Take away too much, and they might rebel. It's a tough line to walk!As a sales manager, you don't have the luxury of spending ages learning how to find that balance. Today, let's talk about how…

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August 26, 2014
Management Tips

Avoiding Burnout: How To Keep Your Best Salespeople Happy & Motivated

One of the perennial problems sales managers deal with is burnout.Wouldn’t it be nice to have a clear strategy for preventing burnout—instead of reacting to the problem after the fact?Employees everywhere are susceptible to burnout. A recent survey of IT professionals revealed that 72 percent of respondents admitted they were stressed. 67 percent were open to switching careers. 42 percent were so stressed about work that they lost sleep.According to the World Health Organization, American workers suffering from stress cost businesses upwards…

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August 12, 2014
Management Tips / Sales Tips

Do You Have What It Takes to be a Sales Manager?

Not every sales person makes a great sales manager. In fact, some salespeople have no desire to become a manager. The skills that make someone a terrific sales person are not the same ones needed to successfully manage people. If you’ve got your sights set on becoming a sales manager, now’s the time to start developing the skills that will get you noticed. Job Skills 101 Take a look at the different skillsets that both positions require: Salespeople Love to…

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August 5, 2014
Management Tips

How to Improve Your Sales Forecasts

It’s genuinely difficult to overstate the importance of forecasting your sales. But what if you forecast your sales inaccurately? Every salesperson wants to give good news to their managers about how many deals are closing. And sales managers want to give that good news to the business owners with unparalleled confidence.Getting the projections correct is about much more than just giving the CEO peace of mind that they’ll be profitable at the end of the month. In many cases, it’s…

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December 3, 2013
Management Tips

3 Reasons Your Sales Are Stagnant

Stagnating sales. Even seeing those two words written next to each other is painful. But when you’re a manager having to tell them to a salesperson or you’re a sales person having to hear your manager voice them out loud, it’s even worse. There are key misconceptions over the reasons why sales can stagnate and in this article, we’re about to cover some of the most critical and commonly overlooked reasons to find yourself in a state of sales stagnation.…

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October 1, 2013
Management Tips

Why Sales Management is a Lot Like War Strategy

The legendary Chinese military general, Sun Tzu stated that “opportunities multiply as they are seized”. Any good salesperson will know that feeling at the beginning of a steamrolling month that leads onto many more sales and referrals later down the line. How many more parallels could be found between sales and war?Most of us would be willing to fight for something we believe in. Such belief can spur motivation into dedicated action and, assuming they’re in the right industry, a…

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September 24, 2013