Our 10 Most Popular Sales Insights of 2012
December 12, 2012
With 2012 coming to a close, we’re taking a look back on the posts you read, shared, and loved on some of the hottest sales topics of the year.
From launching new teams to improving your pipeline, here are our ten posts for sales managers you loved most from the past year:
Are You Ready to Launch a Lead Generation Team? [Infographic]
If launching a lead gen team is at the top of your to-do list for next year, you absolutely have to review this infographic first. Outbound lead generation is a key component of any B2B company’s sales and marketing strategy, but putting together a successful team is anything but a piece of cake. You need to make sure you’re fully prepared, and this post will help you do just that. It’s small wonder then that you made OpenView’s very first infographic one of our most popular sales post of the year.
The Single Worst Thing a Salesperson Can Do
You’ll be wrong, you’ll lose respect, and you’ll send your customers running to your competitors. If you really want to botch a sale what should you do? Bash your competition. It’s a terrible idea, and many of you agreed it’s one of the worst things a salesperson can possibly do. In this short video sales expert Dave Brock offers three reasons why this is one tactic you should steer well clear of in 2013.
Why Salespeople Fail: 5 Factors that Prevent Sales Teams from Closing New Business
No one ever said sales was easy. Every salesperson fails at one point or another — the difference is whether you can pinpoint what went wrong and learn from your mistakes. Luckily, you don’t always have to experience first hand in order to learn those lessons — you can also learn from the mistakes of others and determine what to preemptively avoid. In this post, sales coach and bestselling author Mike Weinberg flags five of the most common sales blunders to bypass, and you responded by making it one of our most popular posts of the year.
Lee Salz on Common Mistakes Made When Onboarding Sales People [Labcast]
Continuing on with the theme of what not to do in 2013, in this popular podcast leading sales management strategist and talent management expert Lee Salz explains why many managers go about onboarding sales people all wrong. Tune in to discover great tips for getting your new reps for 2013 up and running as quickly as possible and making sure they’re set up for long-term success.
Managing and Mentoring Your Sales Team [Labcast]
Another popular episode in our Labcast series this year featured top sales trainer Colleen Francis, who sat down with OpenView to share her keys to developing and improving three incredibly important sales leadership skills: managing, mentoring, and coaching.
Measure of Success: Calculating SaaS Sales and Marketing ROI
Every sales manager knows how important it is to make sure their team is not only executing, but executing on the right things. Heading into a new year, it’s especially critical to ensure you’re looking at the right metrics and allocating your resources effectively. This post from OpenView’s Tien Anh Nguyen sheds light on calculating ROI and will help you avoid operating in the dark.
Advanced Sales Forecasting Methods: Getting More from Your Sales Forecasts and Improving the Quality of Your Pipeline
Another post you loved that’s especially topical heading into the new year. After all, if you’re not leveraging your sales forecasting process to make real, impactful improvements to your business, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Swayne Hill, co-founder and SVP of Global Field Operations at Cloud9 Analytics provides three steps you can take to get more out of forecasting and improve your overall sales pipeline health.
Developing a Sales Business Plan & the Best Compensation Structure for Your Company [Labcast]
Lee Salz makes his second appearance on our list with this popular podcast on one of the most important factors that plays into recruiting and developing a top sales team: compensation. Listen in to learn the importance of developing a solid sales business plan, and why you should consider adopting an “investment philosophy” when it comes to managing your reps.
5 Tips to Help Make Sales Force Automation Work for You
There’s a reason why this post from OpenView’s Ori Yankelev was so popular this year. Sales force automation continues to have a major, evolving impact on the world of sales management, and he offers five simple, fundamental steps you should take to make sure you’re not wasting your time and resources and instead implementing SFA effectively.
Ask the Experts: What Key Things Do You Need in Place Before Launching a Lead Qualification Team?
Rounding out our list of our ten most popular posts for sales managers is the first post in our lead qualification roundtable series. We were lucky enough to have four industry experts, including HubSpot’s Mike Volpe, B2B marketing consultant Matt Bertuzzi, Kensei Partners Managing Partner John Barrows, and Aaron Ross, creator of salesforce.com’s outbound prospecting team, gather together to share and discuss their best practices for launching and managing a lead qual team.
Thank you for making these our top 10 most popular sales posts of 2012!
We’re looking forward to delivering even more tips, tactics, and insights you’ll love in 2013.