Six Simple Steps to Pipeline Predictability

Six Simple Steps to Pipeline Predictability

It’s very common for companies we work with to have a pipeline management and review process in place. It’s also very common for us to find that the process is broken. It’s important that management keeps salespeople focused on the right activities to move deals through the pipeline. Here are some good ideas to help.

Some Facts:

I reviewed data on 417,000 salespeople from the OMG (Objective Management Group) database, and discovered that 41% of these salespeople are not following a predictive sales process! And only 54% are adequately CRM savvy!

Just following a process and using CRM isn’t enough, of course. […]

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The REAL Future of Sales

The REAL Future of Sales

Recently, I posted about what sales would be like in 2020, looking at how technologies like artificial intelligence will impact selling in the future. But what will sales be like in 2020 from a human perspective? How will the years ahead impact you and your salespeople?

I am taking this journey at the request of the Vistage research team. They recently wrote an excellent eBook, that I contributed to, entitled Customer Growth: Decisions for the SMB CEO. It looks at the future state of the SMB market.

Humans in Future Sales

So, let’s delve into the human side of the future of sales. […]

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Our Sales Future – Are You Ready?

Our Sales Future – Are You Ready?

What will it be like to sell in 2020? Perhaps you are thinking that far ahead, but more likely you’re worried about getting results now. Recently, I did have the chance to ponder this exact question.

Going deep on details

I was approached by Vistage Research to consider what selling would be like over the next three years and provide my insights for an eBook they are soon publishing on the future of sales called, Customer Growth: Decisions for the SMB CEO.

There’s a great deal I can say on the topic, but for the eBook I was limited to 200 words. Since […]

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A New Insight into Motivation and How to Inspire Your Salespeople

A New Insight into Motivation and How to Inspire Your Salespeople

I’ve been talking about it for years: The ways we measure salespeople’s motivation levels and why. By understanding what motivates salespeople, sales managers can tap into an individual’s type to help him or her succeed.

Historically, when we’ve analyzed the motivation type of salespeople and candidates alike, we’ve found two main categories: Extrinsic and Intrinsic.

Latest development

Well, thanks to Objective Management Group’s never-ending quest for improvement and precision predicting success in a changing world, a new insight has been discovered. There’s now a third category: Altruistic motivation and we’ve been evaluating the impact of this new type.

The three motivation types:

Extrinsic – Salespeople […]

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The Mind of a Champion

The Mind of a Champion

I was watching the final round of the 2017 British Open this weekend with my college-age son. We both were truly impressed by, the winner, Jordan Spieth’s incredible come back from, as my son put it, “a not great start.”

An unbelievable save

If you missed it, Spieth hit his final round tee shot 100 yards right of the fairway on 13. The ball landed in a terrible spot, and Spieth had to take relief for the unplayable lie. Amazingly, he only bogeyed the hole, but it took him out of the tournament lead by a stroke. I apologize if you’re not […]

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Finding “Elite” Entry-level Salespeople

Finding “Elite” Entry-level Salespeople

Hiring entry-level sales people is something we’ve been working hard on lately for many of our clients. Our goal is to teach them a process to improve their sales talent acquisition effectiveness through use of the #1 rated Objective Management Group Sales Assessments.

While doing this, we’ve noticed that far more candidates are not recommended for entry level positions than the number not recommended for more experienced sales positions. So, I decided to do some analysis and see if I could find any insights into why this was occurring.

Drilling down the data

The OMG Assessments uses a variety of components to provide […]

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First Comes Vacation – Then Comes Sales Slump. NOT!!!

First Comes Vacation – Then Comes Sales Slump. NOT!!!

Memorial Day is right around the corner. While the seriousness of this holiday recognizing the men and women who serve in the United States armed forces, especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, should not be taken lightly, the weekend has also come to unofficially mark the start of summer.

Readying for retreat

Depending on what part of the country you live in, Memorial Day also signals that the school year is either over or will wrap up in a few weeks and vacation season will get into full swing. For those of us in sales, vacations lead to prospects vanishing […]

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Sales and The Need to Purge

Sales and The Need to Purge

When was the last time you did some purging in your professional life, or personal life for that matter? There’s a reason I wonder. Recently, I helped both my mother and mother-in-law move. Each had accumulated over the years both great personal treasures and a lot of junk. Faced with helping them get rid of what they no longer needed (or perhaps ever needed), I reflected deeply both about the value of things, and eliminating things. And while I carried boxes, packed treasures and discarded junk, I realized that the process was completely applicable to the world of sales and […]

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Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

It has been said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. As this axiom relates to salespeople, it is sometimes true and sometimes untrue. The outcome can be determined by which category the salesperson falls into. In other words, in which kind of dog we are dealing with.

Dog Training and People Training

Here at Braveheart, we are in the human performance business as it specifically relates to sales effectiveness. And the businesses of people training and dog training are really quite similar.

Okay, before I go on, let me apologize if by comparing salespeople to dogs I offend anyone, but […]

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Fix the 5 Reasons Sales Hiring is So Hard to Get Right

Fix the 5 Reasons Sales Hiring is So Hard to Get Right

We work with many companies, both small and large, who suffer from the same issues when it comes to hiring. They all have difficulty attracting, selecting and onboarding the right salespeople.

Repeatedly, we hear the frustration of executives who have wasted countless hours and thousands of dollars hiring salespeople who don’t work out. Compounding the problem is that when the market is tight for good sales talent, hiring managers feel pushed to just fill positions, not understanding that hiring poorly likely will cost the company three to five times the hire’s annual compensation.

Sales hiring is the most difficult to […]

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