Category: Blog
Home / Blog /
Jun
01
Leading vs. Managing a Sales Team

In every sales organization there are leaders and there are managers, however, the key differences between the two and when to apply leadership or management skills (or both) is often misunderstood. In the current environment, it is more important than ever to find the right balance between leading and managing your sales team. Many organizations are struggling to find this balance which is why we decided to revisit a panel discussion we had at an Atlanta Sales Leadership Community. During the meeting we got valuable insight from sales executives from BetterCloud, Ricoh Americas, and TransUnion on the topic of ‘Leading vs. Managing’ and what every sales leader should know.

 

Read More

May
28
The ‘Who’s Who’ You’re Underestimating in the Buying Cycle

When dealing with a complex account, every good seller will ask themselves this critical question… Who are the key players in the purchasing decision? The answer, unfortunately, is rarely as simple as it may seem. In today’s selling environment, there are a multitude of influences that affect purchase decisions within an organization. With widespread shifts in titles and organizational structures, it can be challenging to figure out how they all fit together and who the key players might be.  

Increasingly, sellers are feeling the pressure to identify and understand the roles of anyone and everyone that could impact the purchase decision. At a Chicago Sales Leadership Community event, we sat down with sales executives from Prolifiq, Softchoice, and IRI to hear their thoughts on the issue. Here are the tips we gathered to help you win your next deal.

 

Read More

May
18
Customer Success + Sales Alignment = The Key to Accelerated Growth

The following piece is a collaboration between John Thackston of SOAR Performance Group and Tony Smart, Head of Services and Strategic Advisory at Gainsight.

While spending time with c-level executives across a broad range of companies over the past two months, three truths have become abundantly clear:

  1. Everyone has re-written their forecasted plan for the year.
  2. A huge majority are reducing their planned net new business sales, in some cases by as much as 80-90%.
  3. The majority of planned growth is now expected to come from the existing customer base.

With these three truths in mind, executives are also coming to a stark realization.

Read More

Apr
02
4 Things on the Sales Leader’s Mind

With the Coronavirus having brought business as usual to a halt, we have had a number of conversations with revenue leaders across the Sales Leadership Communities that we support.  Four topics that have been recurring themes are:

Read More

Mar
02
The Sales Leader’s Inventory

As the quarter comes to a close, it creates a time when many sales leaders are taking inventory. Taking inventory of where they have been and where they are going.  For sales leaders, this inventory often takes the form of a 2 question survey:

  1. Did I make my number last year?
  2. Am I going to make my number this year?

One of the best aspects of a revenue generating role is that feedback is very clear. Either the company is making plan or not. Your team is making plan or not. You are making plan or not. The disadvantage of this clear and direct feedback loop is that it creates so much focus on results that the inputs that create those results gets lost.

Read More

Processing...
Thank you! Your subscription has been confirmed. You'll hear from us soon.
Join the SOAR mailing list to be notified of events, news, blog posts and podcasts!
ErrorHere