Donal Daly
May 12th, 2013
in
Forecasting, Innovation, Leadership, sales process, social media, Technology, Velocity
The implementation of a sales playbook can be one of the most impactful initiatives for any sales organization. There are two reasons for this tremendous ROI. First, by following some simple guidelines, it can be a remarkably easy initiative to implement, and second, research shows that this results in 33% additional revenue.
We have done hundreds of Sales Playbook deployments with Dealmaker Smart Sales Playbook. Here are the 12 Elements of a great sales playbook that you should use to guide your implementation.
1. Repeatable Winning Sales Processes
The key word here is ‘repeatable’. When everyone adopts the same sales process, there is a…
Donal Daly
April 29th, 2013
in
Forecasting, sales process, Technology, Velocity
I was speaking recently at a conference on Sales 2.0 tools. During the coffee break after my session I ended up in a conversation about sales enablement and sales playbooks. The conversation got derailed for a while as one particularly active participant wanted to debate the role of mobile and cloud technologies in the future of sales professionals. Seriously? I am not sure I understand how anyone would feel the need to ask that question. In my opinion mobile and cloud are as certain a part of our future as death and taxes – but maybe that’s just me. Anyway,…
Donal Daly
April 28th, 2013
in
sales process, social media, Technology, Training, Uncategorized, Velocity
Gartner just released their 2013 Cool Vendors in CRM Sales report and are selling it on their site for $495. You can get it here for free.
According to Gartner, the 2013 Cool Vendors in CRM Sales offer new technologies that improve sales performance and effectiveness. They use mobile, social, big data analytics and the cloud to help salespeople improve their selling skills and find new prospects. We are delighted to be included in the list of just three companies that made it through Gartners diligence.
Key Findings
- Cloud applications combined with mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) are enabling salespeople to be more engaged in…
Donal Daly
April 5th, 2013
in
Background, Forecasting, Innovation, Leadership, Learning, Questioning, sales process, Technology
At The TAS Group, we just recently completed a global study of sales performance. The full report will probably be available by late April. If you want a copy email me ddaly (at) the tasgroup (dot) com.
The statistics are pretty revealing – so I thought I would share them with you now.
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33% of sales people made quota in the last reporting period
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Only 52% of sales people say they can access the key players for a sale
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39% of sales professionals say they are not able to effectively uncover customer problems, and
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35% struggle with designing customer focused solutions
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59% of sales close as originally forecasted
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Sales forecast accuracy jumps…
Donal Daly
March 31st, 2013
in
Background, Leadership, Technology, Training, Velocity
There is good news and there is bad news. The good news is that a sales methodology can dramatically increase the sales effectiveness of your entire sales organization, significantly increasing your sales revenue. The bad news is that not all sales methodology solutions are implemented well. There are few distinct topics in the world of the Sales VP that raise such polarized views as the effectiveness of sales methodologies. Sometimes the very phrase ‘Sales Methodology’ is enough to make Sales VPs reach for the Pepto-Bismol. On other occasions, sales leaders can point to successful implementations that delivered consistent revenue increases,…
Donal Daly
March 27th, 2013
in
Account Management, Innovation, Leadership, Technology
Regular readers will know that I am passionate about combining sales methodology with technology to make life easier for sales people. One of the areas where I have seen lots of wasted time has been in Account Planning and Management. So, I decided to do something about it and I’m excited to let you know that my new book Account Planning in Salesforce is now available at your favorite online store. You can get an extract here, and buy the book here. It should be less than $10 (I’m trying to make it very affordable) and proceeds go to Peter Gabriel’s…
Donal Daly
March 12th, 2013
in
Background, Leadership, Training
I have observed something very interesting lately, that you may find enlightening. I think I always knew it – but only recently did I start to formalize it. It is a critical area of focus for successful sales people, and it might not be the one you expect.
Over the past year, I have been privileged to spend a lot of time speaking at sales meetings and other customer events. During these sessions I always try to spend as much time as I can chatting with the sales people in the room. These people are the reason why I am there…
Donal Daly
March 5th, 2013
in
Account Management
My new book, Account Planning in Salesforce, is due to be published at the end of March 2013. I am excited about it. As you would expect from anyone book on account planning it dives into the benefits of generating more sales from existing customers. Selling to an existing customer is easier than acquiring a new customer, and there is much research to support that. But as I researched the cross-selling and up-selling activities of the ‘average’ B2B salesperson, I noticed some behavior that I think merits comment.
We are all familiar with the Amazon style “Customers who liked this also…
Donal Daly
March 3rd, 2013
in
Account Management
This is third post in a series on The Trust Default, serialized from my upcoming book on Account Planning. You can click on the links to the previous two. (If you are interested in being notified when the book is available – sometime in March – please let me know ddaly (at) thetasgroup (dot) com.)
The Trust Default (Part I)
The Trust Default (Part II) – The Changing Shape of the Trust Circle
Part III – Building Trust
To develop a deep customer relationship you have to overcome the Trust Default. With the change in the shape of the Trust Circle you must accept…
Donal Daly
February 26th, 2013
in
Account Management
This is second post in a series on The Trust Default serialized from my upcoming book on Account Planning. (If you are interested in being notified when the book is available – sometime in March – please let me know ddaly (at) thetasgroup (dot) com.)
You can click on the link for first post, The Trust Default (Part I), here.
There was a time when people would look to figures of authority for advice and guidance. Government leaders and senior company executives were at the center of the Trust Circle and were considered a talisman for trust. It has been a while since…
