Sales reps need to be able to engage their customers in conversation if they want to make a sale. One of the best ways to do that is by using open-ended questions.

Open-ended questions allow the customer to talk, and by doing so, the prospect will feel more engaged and connected to the sales rep. In addition, open-ended questions can help uncover hidden needs and wants that the customer may not have been aware of.

When it comes to planning and organizing a successful business event, there are a few best practices to follow. I'm not talking about the logistical and planning elements, but rather the actual show itself and what needs to be done onsite to generate a positive return on investment (ROI).

 

After two years of virtual events, we are gradually returning to face-to-face or hybrid trade shows and conferences.

 

But in the meantime, several factors and behaviors have evolved and you have to adapt to them in order to be successful at a commercial event.

In this article, I'll share some of the best ways to get a high return on investment at your next commercial event.

Every year during summer, many clients share with me the same comment: "July and August are not looking good, the pipeline is almost empty and there's no activity. It's a terrible quarter and it's going to take a long time to get going again in September".

This is often based on an assumption that sales managers and reps share: not much happens in the summer.

This is indeed the case if this period has not been well prepared in the spring.

What needs to be done to prepare for the summer season and maintain sales generating activities during July and August?

As a sales manager, you are responsible for developing and leading your team to success. One of the critical factors in sales performance is selling value. Being able to sell value means that sales teams can steer the conversation away from price.

But what specific competencies are required to help your reps sell value effectively?

This article will outline the skills sales managers need to do just that. We will also cover how salespeople can do their part to maintain margins and even increase the profitability of their accounts.

The post-pandemic rise in inflation is something that businesses haven’t seen in almost forty years. Many are ill-equipped to handle this change. Even as sales are increasing, margins are shrinking, which puts companies in a difficult position.

COVID has created a lot of inflation because of problems and delays in the supply chain. This makes it difficult for companies to meet client expectations.

If our daily shopping habits are any indication, and also based on what is so frequently written by digital marketers and many software companies in the martech environment, then purchase habits have changed dramatically.

In 2011, CEB (now Gartner) published a statistic that is still widely known today: the average B2B decision maker has already done 57% of the buying process before contacting a supplier. At the time, this statistic created a bit of a concussion and the end of sales teams was already announced.

By 2022, we see that not only are B2B sales teams still alive, but sales representatives are also the 3rd most sought-after professionals in Canada (source: Randstad Canada).

Great stories deserve to be told and shared!

Behind each of them, there are always people who wanted to make a difference or change a situation for the better and who met with people to help them achieve their goal..

Today, I am sharing with you the success story of Laurentide Controls and Prima Resource.

It's no secret that a well-executed sales strategy is critical to a company's success. However, crafting a winning sales strategy can be difficult - especially if you don't have a clear plan in place. That's where strategic planning comes in.

Strategic planning is a systematic way of looking at an organization's future and developing the best course of action to attain that future. If you want your business to grow and be successful, then you need to have a strategic plan in place.

But what does that mean for sales?

Companies invest massively in technology and systems in order to improve sales and overall company results. If you’re looking to better organize your sales teams, customer lists and sales funnels, you’ve probably been told you should invest in a CRM.

With hundreds of options available, how do you pick the right one for your team and your organization?

By asking yourself the right questions. Here are the 7 questions you need to answer before you invest into a CRM.

Companies and sales leaders need to invest in sales technology to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. The number of sales channels and sales opportunities grows every year, and that is unlikely to stop soon. These channels generate an amount of data that is almost impossible to comprehend for a human being. Yet, this data is a company’s most valuable asset.

Sales technology is an excellent way to use your data and make informed business decisions. It allows you to work smarter and process more data, creating real value for your business. 

The right sales technologies can help you scale your sales processes, increase the effectiveness of the sales team, and close more deals by providing better insight on multiple levels.