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SALES PERFORMANCE AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT INSIGHTS FROM AMY FRANKO
Sales Training: 3 Sales Proposal Do’s and Don’ts
Is your sales proposal truly standing out? If your logo was removed, would it still reflect your brand's unique value? In sales, it's essential to "uneven" the playing field by focusing on client outcomes, simplifying complexity, and strategically using the Rule of 3. ******** Here’s a question to consider: If you took the logo off of your sales proposal, how would it look to your client? Would it stand out? Or would it look like your competitor’s? In competition, we often hear the importance of a “level playing field.” But one place that term doesn’t apply is in sales. Your sales training should emphasize a process and sales proposal strategy to “uneven” the playing field. But too often, we don’t stand out, we look just like our competitors in the eyes of the client. Being a Modern Seller requires us to think beyond the basic features, benefits, and pricing data that is in most proposals. Sales...
6 Key Sales Training Impacts and How to Measure Success
What is your sales training impact? Ensure you're achieving the right results by focusing on strategic outcomes, cultivating a positive sales culture, fostering the right mindset, tracking progress in opportunities and territories, aligning with sales structures, and contributing to organizational goals. Measure both objective and subjective results for success. ******** Whether you’re a sales leader, sales professional, or in a sales enablement role, if you’re investing in skill development through sales training programs you want to accomplish the right results. What are the results to be looking for, and how do you measure your progress? Not all results are created the same. The role of sales training teams includes partnering with the sales organization to recommend and prioritize the relevant results. Examples include: Objective results (backed by empirical data) and subjective results (backed by...
Guest Post: Board Service as a Business Growth Strategy
Non-profit board service is a powerful yet underutilized strategy for business growth. It enhances leadership skills, broadens networks, and strengthens your organization's reputation. By incorporating board service into development plans, you can unlock new opportunities and build a natural leadership pipeline. In this article for Smart Business Magazine, I explore how to turn this noble endeavor into a strategic asset. Visit Smart Business Online to read the full article and discover how to integrate this into your growth strategy. Read the article. Build a Winning Sales Strategy Don’t let your competition get an advantage. I can help you develop a successful sales strategy. Contact me to schedule a conversation.
Video: How to Overcome 3 Barriers Sabotaging Your Sales Strategy
Is your sales strategy falling short of expectations? These three common obstacles might be holding you back: 1. Lack of a Specific Sales Strategy Surprisingly, the first obstacle might be that you don't actually have a dedicated sales strategy. You may have a broad vision or growth plan for your organization, but without a specific plan that outlines sales goals, activities, and accountabilities, you’re missing a critical component. A clear, focused sales strategy is essential to turn your broader vision into reality. 2. Lack of Structure, Ownership, and Visibility Another major hurdle is the lack of structure, ownership, and visibility within your organization. Without clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and without making your sales plan highly visible and prioritized, it's easy for it to fall by the wayside. This neglect can prevent you from achieving your sales goals. Ensuring that your plan...
Uncover 5 Hidden Costs in Your Sales Strategy
When sales leaders examine growth opportunities, the conversations typically revolve around sales strategy, customer retention and growth, and sales training for their teams. The other side of the growth coin is subtraction. While counterintuitive, it’s critical to identify the hidden costs sapping sales success and consistently work to remove them from your sales organization and business. These costs don’t have a line item in the balance sheet or a field in the CRM, but they are in fact more expensive than even the largest expense line in your P&L this year. 1. Opportunity Cost. These are the opportunities that simply slip away because of issues like poor sales onboarding, unproductive sales conversations, or lack of sales prospecting. What makes opportunity cost so insidious? It’s not easy to see or measure. This one data point alone will drive home the impact of this cost: Sirius Decisions (now...
For a Healthy Sales Pipeline, Start with Strategic Prospecting
Think about the top sales performers you know. If you spend a day in their life, it’s likely you’ll recognize a common theme: They are constantly tending to the quality and quantity of opportunities in their sales pipeline. When it comes to pipeline management, two habits are central to success: balanced prospecting and daily pipeline management. Let’s first define pipeline management. It is the uncovering of opportunities in either net-new accounts, or existing accounts where you want to continue to create barriers for your competition. Gone are the days of dedicated hunters or farmers; every sales professional must be strong at prospecting across the full field of opportunities. That leaves a lot of ground to cover. How can you strategically narrow your targets? I’m a believer in prospecting on quality first and then quantity. Research shows about half your prospects aren't a good fit for what you sell....
Leveraging Sales Training for Successful Referral Strategies
Are you focusing on referral strategies in your sales plan and sales training? According to Think Impact, 78% of B2B sales referrals lead to viable customer leads, and 65% result in new business opportunities. Learn how to nurture loyal clients, handle referral mishaps, and build a strong network ecosystem in this post. ******** When sales referrals go wrong One of my best sources of new business is introductions to decision makers and influential people through my network. That same network is also the source of introductions for a service or product I might need. I'm not alone. According to a report by Think Impact, 78% of B2B sales referrals create viable customer leads for the business, and referrals end up creating 65% of new business opportunities. This is why I teach my clients about nurturing loyal clients and creating a strong network ecosystem But sometimes introductions don’t work out as...
5 Steps to Build High-Impact Relationships as Part of Your Sales Strategy
Building impactful client relationships is a crucial component of sales strategy. Beyond mere connections, it's about understanding and nurturing key alliances across departments and leadership levels. This latest article dives into practical steps to map out, assess gaps, and deepen relationships for sustained growth. Let's rethink how we build connections to unlock new opportunities and enrich client engagements. ***** As a strategic seller, your ability to build relationships is foundational to your success with client growth. According to recent data, the probability of selling to an existing customer is 70 percent and only 20 percent to a new prospect. Another study estimates that companies in the US lose $83 billion because of bad customer retention strategies.(Source: Close) We’re in a world extremely connected through technology. We can find virtually anyone and begin to build a picture of the...
Podcast: Betting on Yourself is a Winning Sales Strategy
Betting on yourself is a winning sales strategy. In this episode of the Rethinking Revenue Podcast with host Ed Porter and James Rores, I shared my transformative career path, from my early days in technology sales with giants like IBM and Lenovo to founding my own business in the learning and development space. With a focus on rethinking revenue and career pivots, I offer insights on how taking bold risks, investing in personal growth, and embracing change can lead to both personal fulfillment and professional success. Tune in to learn how you can leverage self-confidence and strategic thinking to achieve your sales and business goals. Some highlights: Start your career in a role that offers diverse experiences and responsibilities, as this will help build a solid foundation and versatile skill set. (05:25) Don't be afraid to make a bold career change; it can lead to unexpected opportunities and growth,...
Podcast: Intentional Cold Calling as an Effective Sales Closing Technique
One of the best sales closing techniques is an intentional cold calling strategy. In this episode of the Reinvented Sales Podcast with Paul Watts, Amy Franko delves into the art and science of cold-calling, discussing its relevance and her preparation strategies. She shares effective opening lines and how to keep sales conversations engaging. Essential tools and technology for cold-calling are highlighted, alongside Amy's dos and don’ts for sales success. Amy also addresses handling rejection by resonating with prospects through value-driven education. Her approach focuses on building connections, uncovering opportunities, and nurturing potential future relationships. Some highlights: Is cold-calling still relevant? (0:52) Is cold calling an art and a science? (1:50) How Amy prepares for cold-calling (2:56) Amy’s effective opening lines (4:35) How to keep a cold call engaging Indispensable tools &...
Our Strategic Selling signature sales training program is now available online. This online sales learning program is ideal for professional services and B2B sales. Get started with 2 free lessons.
