Sales pipeline management is a broad and sometimes daunting subject. But there are some basic guidelines which, if followed, can set your feet firmly on the road to effective management of your own or (if you are in sales management) others’ pipelines. Read Post

For any business engaged in sales (and that would be pretty much all of them) sales forecasts are crucially important. Companies normally go to great lengths to create accurate sales forecasts, for entire chains of events are tied to them. These include the procurement of raw materials, creation of products to meet demand, hiring and ... Read Post

“Why would a CRM solution have a philosophy?” you might ask. “Philosophy is for heavy thinkers in ivory towers. We’re a company with salespeople. We just want to close deals and move on to the next one so we can make our targets.” But stick with us—you might learn something that could greatly help your ... Read Post

Some of the top vendors of CRM solutions today promote that their CRM exists only in the cloud, so that it can be accessed through the web anytime, anyplace, anywhere. But if CRM systems truly empower sales reps to sell—which should be the mission of all CRM systems—should they exist only in the cloud? Read Post

Old sales techniques no longer work. This means that the businesses that fail to adapt to the new sales era are going to find it increasingly difficult to survive and thrive. Unsurprisingly, the internet has been the game-changer here. That’s because content has allowed consumers to self-educate about what they want. In turn, the role ... Read Post

CRM solutions—and software solutions in general, really—have always evolved toward visualization. Since the beginning of computing—specifically personal computing—users have been demanding the ability to see what they are doing. It is interesting that despite the long-ago innovations of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) displays and graphical user interfaces, true visualization for CRM ... Read Post

Who within a business should own the process of sales enablement? Sales and marketing departments probably spring to mind, and when you look at what sales enablement actually is, you can understand why. In this blog, we’ll explore three important ways marketing departments can go beyond lead generation, to proactively support sales to close more ... Read Post

For a couple of decades now, business technology pundits have told us we needed a CRM application. IT staff have convinced executives that their companies couldn’t live without one. CRM developers have asserted theirs is the best, with a broad variety of supporting arguments. Yet at the same time, sales forces have continued to complain ... Read Post