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2020

Business consultant conversation

Post-Pandemic Sales Consulting Opportunities are Here and Now (and Here to Stay)

Post-Pandemic Sales Consulting Opportunities are Here and Now (and Here to Stay)

You’ve probably heard the motivational saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Often attributed to football coaches in the early 1950s, it has entered the American lexicon not only as a pep talk in sports but in business, too. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the going is most certainly tough. Beyond the critical health crisis, economic hardship is also widespread.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned at Sales Xceleration, it’s this: Opportunity is always present – if you know where to look and take the steps necessary to pursue it. That’s what we are seeing as the pandemic plays out; and it’s a situation we believe will continue to exist in the “new normal” of the post-pandemic sales environment.
So, just what is this opportunity? And what is it about tough economic conditions that makes it so appealing?

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Sales team brainstorming around a table about what their value proposition is.

Selling Value: If You Don’t Have a Value Proposition Your Sales Can Suffer

Selling Value: If You Don’t Have a Value Proposition, Your Sales Can Suffer

Does your sales team know what they are selling? Are all your sales reps articulating your product or service’s value in a similar manner? Is the value shared important to your customer base? And perhaps most importantly, do your prospects understand what solutions your company offers (and why those solutions should matter to them)? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you probably need to fine-tune your Value Proposition. Here’s what a Value Proposition is, why such a crystal-clear statement of value matters, and how to build a value-based positioning statement that can help boost sales and customer engagement:

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Developing a Comp Plan

How to Develop a Sales Compensation Plan

How to Develop a Sales Compensation Plan

Description: Not sure how to create a proper sales compensation plan for your small business? Here are some suggestions to get you started.
One of the keys to running a successful small business is developing a sales compensation plan — specifically one that’s good and fair. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t know how to develop a sales compensation plan.

In this post, we’ll set out to solve that problem. We’ll also delve into critical sales compensation plan details, such as setting goals, measuring performance, finding a balance between pay and incentives, and updating the plan to align with current market conditions.

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Sales professional in a meeting with investors showing documents and sharing information about the company.

Score – 5 Ways to Make Your Sales Infrastructure More Attractive to Investors

Most business investors share a simple goal: They want to find the quickest, easiest return on investment. They aren’t looking for a fixer-upper. They want to purchase a well-oiled machine that requires little to no hands-on involvement.
Savvy investors leave no stone unturned when assessing businesses. They look at your people and your processes — and they especially want to see a strong, well-nurtured sales pipeline. 

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Lemons

The Resilient Entrepreneur: When Life Hands You Lemons, Open a Lemonade Stand

The Resilient Entrepreneur: When Life Hands You Lemons, Open a Lemonade Stand

In tough economic times, when life hands you lemons, the pessimist makes a sour face. The optimist makes lemonade. The entrepreneur goes a step farther and opens a lemonade stand. And the entrepreneur who is also a sales leadership consultant uses that stand to help others make more sales. Simplistic? Perhaps, but I think it draws an important distinction between personality types – and highlights the opportunity that awaits those who are entrepreneurs at heart, even in tough economic times. Here’s what I mean:

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Sales Job Candidates

Hiring a Salesperson? Start with a Better Sales Job Description

Hiring a Salesperson? Start with a Better Sales Job Description

Great sales results start with great salespeople; so, when your organization needs to recruit and hire a top-quality salesperson, it pays to start with a hiring process that includes a strategically targeted salesperson job description.

Dangers of Making a Bad Hiring Decision

How important is the hiring process? Leadership and Success guru Peter Drucker once noted that “One third [of hiring decisions] are outright failures.” And yet, too many organizations take shortcuts and hope for the best while ignoring the risks of a bad hire:

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Computer showing graph for assessment

ValueWalk – 5 Ways to Assess Sales Performance Amid a Global Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every single part of the economy, including — or especially — sales. Businesses have seen existing customers delay reordering and new customers wait to make their first purchases, and some companies are holding onto cash rather than investing in their business. But their singular focus on the here and now has likely blinded them to how different their businesses and sales processes will look in the future.

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Millennial Coffee Meeting

Appreciating and Retaining Millennial Employees

Appreciating and Retaining Millennial Employees

Millennials (those people born between 1980 and 1996) are as important as they are different. They are important to American businesses because this group is the largest and fastest growing generation within the workforce. Moreover, as Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) retire and exit the workforce, an employee shortage will be created in the United States that will continue to grow for at least the next 15 years.

So what can a company do to retain this important group of workers in their organization? 

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Business Startup Planning

Startup Success: The Importance of Sales Strategy and Structure

Startup Success: The Importance of Sales Strategy and Structure

It isn’t news that in the startup world, it is often a badge of honor to fly the airplane while fixing it. Startups need to have people involved who have an “all hands on deck” mentality and are comfortable wearing multiple hats. In order to succeed, flexibility must be embraced. 

Startups are made of unique individuals that have specific skills. It’s impossible to be great in all the areas that must be considered when building a business from the ground up. Often, the areas that are not the founder’s strengths are the ones that can fall behind. Some of the top areas that come to mind are: vision, investors, funding, finance, operations, development, technology, and sales. 

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Sales Xceleration Framework