SBI Blog Revenue Growth Insights

It's been quite a year for sales leaders across the country. Before we gaze ahead to 2022, we want to take a quick look ...

How often do your well-intentioned sales training efforts result in direct pushback or a bit of passive resistance? You ...

Pipeline management is an ongoing challenge for sales managers. While it may seem that a pipeline with more opportunitie...

Previously, we discussed why “linearity” doesn’t work when managing enterprise sales opportunities. Selling to the enter...

For some people, the word “sales” comes along with its own set of baggage and negative connotations. Your point of refer...

Many senior sales leaders are enamored with “linearity”- the concept that the sales process can be broken into monthly, ...

Willie Sutton, an infamous bank robber, was asked why he robbed banks, and he responded, "Because that's where the money...

If you sell technology solutions, you know that meeting with Technology Officers early in the sales process can dramatic...

In our research report 5 Hallmarks of High-Impact Sales Organizations, we identified sales coaching as the top sales man...

When navigating a large, complex sales opportunity, one of the most important relationships a sales rep can cultivate is...

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions to understand your needs better?” This is the go-to line most salespeople use ...

Many companies are wrestling with the question about what their future work environment looks like as they emerge from C...

Many sales organizations have become overly reliant on their top sales performers to achieve their goals. While it is co...

Inevitably at some point during a sales call, the customer will ask, “Who else have you done this for?” What they’re rea...

Blended learning approaches are certainly not new, but given the challenges over the past 18 months, we are seeing many ...

The success of a sales training initiative is based on multiple considerations as noted in my prior blog posts: How to C...

In previous blogs, we discussed how to prepare for a meeting with a key executive (see here and here). But the 800-pound...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella often speaks of how his career – and his company – have been shaped by empathy. He views it ...

How do you prepare for a meeting with a CXO or other important executive? A friend of mine who is a senior investment ba...

Most companies don’t go through the process of hiring a sales training partner very often. When they do, they’re often l...

When companies experience sales challenges, they often view sales training as the solution. While training can impact sa...

With in-person, instructor-led training off the table for over a year, companies had to innovate and leverage technology...

Here’s a post one of my colleagues recently made on LinkedIn after a long day of prospecting: “Today, I made 114 calls. ...

The expansion of online, collaborative learning is one of the most exciting evolutions to come out of the challenges of ...

Sales training programs frequently fail to produce lasting change, and the reason is rarely the content itself. Accordin...

One of the biggest challenges for a sales organization is moving upmarket. For example, if you target the small- and med...

Sales leaders often achieved their position based on their individual success and personal attributes. But when their ro...

Last week, I surveyed 53 sales managers, asking them, among other things, what essential skills their top-performing sal...

“I think that’s what it’s all about: embracing change and being brave.” While this line is very applicable to the events...

Managing your team’s sales pipeline is both an art and a science – and that’s why it’s one of the most challenging aspec...

Early in the sales process, typically during discovery, it’s critical to learn as much about your customer’s issues, con...

Hiring isn’t an exact science. Sometimes you think you have identified the perfect sales candidate, and it doesn’t pan o...

Sales leaders often express that their sales teams need to close more business. While these leaders may be frustrated wi...

The typical in-person Sales Kickoff (SKO) looked very different this year – and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In f...

One universal challenge of managing a remote sales team can be summed up with the simple question, “What do my sales rep...

It’s harder than ever to reach senior executives. The usual protections provided by gatekeepers are still there—but now ...

Stop me if this sounds familiar: Your salesperson tells you that the first meeting with the major account was a success....

COVID-19 has accelerated the move from traditional classroom-based sales training to virtual training. Participants' exp...

While COVID-19 has forced sales organizations to make a dramatic shift towards selling virtually, it hasn’t changed huma...

For decades, the annual Sales Kickoff (SKO) has served as the premier event for companies to bring their sales teams tog...

Is your team ready to sell virtually? Training for virtual selling is about a lot more than just slapping the name “Virt...

Whether your selling virtually or in-person, the first minutes of an initial sales call with a new prospect are critical...

We receive a lot of inquiries about how to help sales reps improve their ability to engage with clients effectively—espe...

How sales managers communicate and interact with their teams is crucial to building a winning culture, and keeping the s...

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the ultimate validation of the importance of leadership abilities for sales managers. In ...

Sales managers play a critical role in the psyche and success of their sales teams and that's especially true during the...

The COVID- 19 pandemic is creating profound changes in how sales professionals engage with clients. While some sales pro...

Like many, I‘ve spent plenty of time watching Netflix during the COVID-19 lockdown. I recently came across Salesman, a f...

We recently hosted a webinar with Sam Herring from Intrepid by Vitalsource to discuss how to make the pivot to Virtual a...

I recently presented to the Women Business Owners (WBO) association on this topic. It was interesting to share thoughts ...