How To Define Your Sales Cycle

You know your company has a sales cycle. A lead comes in, sales activity happens and you work towards closure of some kind at the end. Hopefully the kind that makes you money. But, do you have clear definitions for each part of your cycle to make sure you sell more? Can you take one look at your leads, immediately identify which stage they’re at and what needs to be done to move them through your sales funnel?A good salesperson…

0 Comments

Why You Should Outsource Sales Management?

I once met a printer who had a small print shop.  He built his business over twenty years with one employee working the shop and his wife doing graphic design and working with clients. He managed the business and was the only salesperson. He told me over the years he had attempted (on several occasions) to hire a salesperson to grow his business with very limited success.  Some took him for a ride receiving a salary and not producing. Others built…

0 Comments

4 Ways Employees Cheat The Time Clock (And How to Prevent It)

You’re a victim of fraud. … if you’re running a retail store. Time clock fraud happens to everyone in retail. If you don’t think it’s happening to you, here’s what you need to know: it’s happening to you. People cheat the system and cost you money you shouldn’t be paying. Here’s how they do it: 1. Blaming the System Time clock fraud takes several different shapes. Maybe someone’s late for work, so they clock in late. Then they tell their manager…

0 Comments

Top 3 Sales Tracking Tips for HVAC Companies

Running a business can feel like a juggling routine. Your HVAC company is getting contracts with apartment complexes and commercial businesses all over town. But as your business grows, how do you balance sales, service, and support to keep it thriving? Troubleshooting HVAC companies have to be multi-faceted. Your sales team grows your client base, service technicians install and maintain the units, and your support team deals with customer satisfaction. When there are this many moving parts, something is bound…

0 Comments

Looking For A Sales Lead Tracking App? Use This Checklist

A sales lead is like a banana: Once it’s peeled, it goes bad quickly. Unlike the banana, leads can be costly and you don’t want to let any of them slip through the cracks. That’s what lead tracking apps are for. A lead tracking app gives you the ability to see each lead and who’s called them. When you’re considering which lead-tracking app to download, you want to be sure your selection offers several essential features. After all, new leads…

0 Comments

4 Tasks Your Salespeople Hate (And How to Automate Them)

Let’s be honest: If you’re a high performance sales person, you’re probably not going to do sales activity reports. You want to spend your time selling, not reporting about it. And if you haven't been productive, you’ll probably just make up the info so you don’t look bad. Managers, you expect your sales team to be out making sales, yet you can't inspect that with a weekly sales report. And you know there’s not much you can do to help…

0 Comments

Recording Sales Calls: Should You Fear “Big Brother”?

Mention that you want to record calls at the office and the dirty looks (along with an accusation of “Big Brother”) will quickly follow. But despite the bad rap that accompanies listening in, there’s nothing to fear and everything to gain. Professional athletes replay game tape over and over to scrutinize their every move and see how to improve. As a salesperson, you should do the same. It’s normal to feel apprehensive, but analyzing your calls isn’t a means of…

0 Comments

Tracking Outside vs. Inside Sales: How to Monitor Progress

At first glance, outside and inside sales seem drastically different. An inside salesperson sits in an office, making calls and selling the product over the phone or internet. They work in response to the easy and less profitable sales. Alternatively, an outside salespeople is in the field initiating face-to-face conversations with prospects. They work towards more personal relationships with the customers and are responsible for high-valued targets. Although they play different roles, inside and outside salespeople are really on the…

0 Comments

3 Tips For Tracking Door To Door Sales

Is door to door selling dead? Not by a long shot. In fact, this sales tactic is growing. From 2013 to 2014, U.S. retail sales in the direct selling channel increased 5.5%, bringing in an estimated $34.47 billion, an industry record high. You may try to dismiss this tactic as dated and ineffective, but the fact remains: this is a $34 billion industry still on the rise. Which Industries Should Use This Approach? For some, door to door is clearly…

1 Comment

Sales Call Tracking Software – The Instant Replay of Sales

It would be very difficult for an NFL coach to improve his team’s performance without taping the game and using instant replay. The same is true for sales managers. It’s impossible to track high-quality, high-yield sales activities without the right applications.Here are 5 ways sales call tracking software can help managers and sales teams increase sales.1. Improve Call QualityI’ve seen many salespeople with a high volume of activity and a decent amount of sales, who also lack quality in their cold calling.…

0 Comments