It is an exciting time to be a CEO, or a sales leader.  But, it is also a confusing time. The approaches to “making the number” seem to change monthly.

As an experienced sales leader, new hires are essential to Making the Number. Their success is your success. The goal is to minimize the time it takes them to reach full quota attainment. Sales and HR leaders often misdiagnose the root cause of long ramp times. When new hire sales reps are not productive, take a look at onboarding. The lack of customer focus can be a deadly impediment. This post explores the impact of customer focus in onboarding. And it includes a Customer-Focused Onboarding Scorecard to assess your own program.

Have you ever heard, “send us better leads” from the sales force? Or have you wondered why the sales force ignores your leads? If you ever find yourself in this situation, it’s time for a quick diagnosis.

Have you wondered "if I needed to secure a new job, how would I?"

Does your Chief Sales Officer rely heavily on you for his success?  As the sales operations leader, you focus on helping your sales leaders shine.  Making the revenue number consistently is what your boss wants.  But what else does your CSO care about?   What’s underneath making the number?  What else causes him sleepless nights?

You are an experienced sales leader. It is Monday morning and you are on a forecast call. You know a few big deals determine if you make the number. You ask for the update on the Acme deal.  Neither the Sales Manager nor rep speaks. The line goes quiet. You repeat your request. And then you hear:

You’re investing all that money in getting someone to your site then they leave. They often continue to a competitor site and buy later on. How can you bring them back for a second chance at converting? Retargeting gives you a second or third chance. Retargeting tracks people who visit your site. It then displays your ads in front of them as they visit other sites.

This post will explore why all turnover is not created equal.  Measuring sales turnover as a percentage can be misleading.  A lower percentage isn’t always better.  Yet turnover is probably the most measured sales metric.  HR, sales leaders, and Sales ops all measure it. 

You know the saying “plays well with others”?  Well, a study by the Corporate Executive Board found that Sales and Marketing don’t.  In fact, they say 87% of the terms Marketing and Sales use when describing each other are negative.  You read that right.  Almost 9 out of 10 times, we talk bad about the other guys.  Pretty amazing when you consider we both play for the same team.

The following is about a CEO who fired his new sales leader after 60 days. He still made the number.