Top Sales Library - a resource of all things sales

Frank Cespedes

3 Secrets to Scaling Your Business

by

It’s tough to start a business that gets traction with paying customers. Data indicate that less than half of US start-ups survive beyond three years. But it’s much harder to grow. Even for businesses that attract venture funding, fewer than 6% achieve more than $10 million in revenues and fewer than 2% more than $50 million. The increase… Read More

Assembling the Sales Team

by

Assembling the right sales team has always been crucial. As the old saying goes, “You hire your problems.” But recruitment and selection are now even more important. Data and analytical tasks have lengthened productivity ramp-up times in many sales contexts. Each hire then represents a bigger sunk cost for a longer time. As baby boomers… Read More

Being a Manager

by

In a previous article in Top Sales Magazine (February 2019), I discussed why you cannot just excel at sales to be a good sales manager. The message was that moving from doer to manager is a crucial transition, and developing the required capabilities is a joint responsibility of the individual and the organization. Market changes… Read More

Getting Your Money’s Worth: Improving Sales Compensation

by

In a previous article (“Rethinking Sales Compensation,” February 2017), I examined three common but false assumptions about money, motivation, and management in sales compensation practices. The message was that the purpose of any sales comp plan is to motivate the sales force to achieve the firm’s goals. There’s no such thing as effective selling if… Read More

Reframing Value in a Crisis

by

Reframing is the process of moving buyers from their current perspective(s) to one that motivates a different response. The current crisis makes this capability more important than ever. Cascading bankruptcies, higher debt loads, and uncertainty about future waves of infection mean a tightening of budgets, resistance to change, and more situations where prospects prolong purchasing… Read More

Sales Managers Must Manage

by

Probably the most common complaint I’ve heard throughout my career from C-level executives about their sales colleagues concerns the latter’s ability to manage, not sell. As one senior executive puts it, “I want sales executives: people with one eye on a sales number [and] another eye on serving a market, making customers successful, and representing… Read More

Sales Methodologies and Selling

by

Sales methodologies play an important role. A common approach in a sales force allows for consistency, dissemination of best practices, acceleration of learning, and it helps the firm to scale because management then has common metrics to monitor and evaluate. Hence, the allure to sales leaders of methodologies that purport to provide “the playbook …. Read More

The Dialogue That Rarely Happens

by

In any organization, influence is bestowed as well as earned. It requires relevant expertise and results, but also being recognized by others as adding value.  Sales managers are no exception to the rule. In many firms, Sales is still treated as a mysterious black box—essential for meeting quarterly revenue targets, but hermetically sealed off from… Read More

The Myths Behind Pushy Salespeople

by

Sales talent has less to do with personality and relationship building than most realize. What does it take to be a good salesperson? There’s a wide range of responses. Most reflect what you’d expect to find in the Boy Scout Handbook, with commonly cited traits like modesty, listening, curiosity, achievement orientation, and lack of discouragement. In pop… Read More