It isn’t all trial and error, though. While a salesperson is making their way through that (sometimes painful) learning curve, there is oftentimes mentoring involved. This invaluable mentoring can come from an experienced sales rep within the same organization, or from attending seminars or training given by proven sales leaders. It can even come from books or videos of sales techniques. In all cases, intelligent sales reps will take what they can apply from the instruction and run with it, leaving behind anything they feel won’t work for them.

What happens, though, when a sales rep has embraced sales as a career? In almost all cases, what usually occurs is that education – at least in sales technique itself – ceases entirely. The person “already knows it.” It’s usually not just the salesperson who feels this way, either; it’s their sales manager and coworkers, too. The people around a salesperson expect the rep to know all there is to know about sales technique.

Download this free ebook and learn how to give your salespeople a continuing education so that they’re constantly improving.

It is absolutely true that sales strategies (and, therefore, salespeople) require the aid of technology. But even the best of intuitive, usable technology can only take a sales rep so far. Given a state-of-the art technical solution, what other sales tools contribute directly to a sales rep’s survival and further success?

From the top of a company’s executive structure, the view is all about the future. It of course takes every department in a company pulling its weight in order for that company to succeed. But after PR has spread the news and marketing has generated leads, and the remainder of the company has put in a satisfactory performance, it is always down to the sales force to make or break that company’s bottom line.

Throughout history, the importance of an education has always been stressed. The general agreement is the better one’s education, the better one’s prospects. There are probably as many arguments in support of or against the standard college education as there are fields to which it could be applied. But one profession that should be of particular educational interest is that of the sales force – and, like salespeople themselves, this does not take a conventional approach.

A continuing education to improve sales force skills can mean the difference between relatively unchanging closing ratios and those that are consistently improving. But looking deeper than a general concept of “sales skills,” here are four key areas that if competently addressed with proper skill enhancement will achieve ongoing sales force improvement.

Learning everything possible about a prospect company and their issues beforehand means that when that contact is made, a level of trust will be established; the prospect can at least appreciate that the sales rep did his or her homework. That trust will be strengthened as the rep learns more by interaction with the prospect, and by following social media and news items about the target company.

When you contact a company to inquire about their product or service, who do you expect to get on the other end of a phone, chat or email line? It’s a simple answer: an expert whom you can trust.

Download Sales Force Education now.

Part of a customizable CRM, an Intelligent Field is a field which displays data in a read-only fashion, data which has been automatically calculated using other data obtained elsewhere.

Coevera has been, from the beginning, designed from the standpoint that no 2 companies are alike. Coevera is totally customizable from many standpoints, including a company’s sales processes. Tasks and activities are also customizable; the many and varied tasks, and their order, will be different for each company. Overall, Coevera is a rapidly adaptable framework for your organization.

One of Coevera’s customizable elements are its forms–available with the leads, opportunities, accounts and contacts functions. Forms can be designed for a wide variety of operations, completely dependent on the company, its products and its processes. One key component of these forms is Coevera’s Intelligent Fields.

We currently have 4 different types of Intelligent Fields, and new ones are added on an average of every other release. In this white paper we will cover those that are currently available in Coevera, and how you can use them.

1. Calculated Fields

A Calculated Field is a field that calculates and displays data, based on other data automatically acquired from another field or fields.

2. Custom Validation Rules

When a user enters data into a CRM form, it can often happen that the data needs to meet a certain standard before it is accepted. That is what a validation rule is–it is a fixed rule that confirms that entered data meets a specified standard before that data can be saved. Hence, the data cannot be saved unless correct data is entered.

3. Web Resource Fields

A web resource field is one which imports specific data from the web, into a customized field.

4. Dynamic Dropdowns

A feature recently added to Coevera, Dynamic Dropdowns are dropdown menus that relate to one another, and make their choices dependent on one another.

With the right tools, your sales forecast can be effective and accurate. The right CRM solution helps you get your bearings within the tangled web of sales metrics, and see the clear picture of the story your numbers are telling.

Download this free ebook and learn how to properly analyze your sales pipeline, and create an accurate and cost-effective sales forecast.

Sales forecasts are often done with considerable guesswork, sent along to company management, and everyone crosses their fingers and silently prays that these forecasts are somewhere near correct. If two key issues were solved – accuracy being one of them – everyone from sales reps on up to the chairman of the board could sleep a lot better at night, having far more confidence in those sales forecasts.

Traditionally, sales forecasting has been done by the sales manager after lengthy consultation with sales reps. While it may be “how it’s always been done,” this methodology is risky at best. There is actually a way to make this a much more winning game – from the salespeople on up.

By actual statistic, sales forecasts – along with closing rates – are generally off by a considerable margin. Here are 6 key factors that, if implemented, will go a long way to greatly improving the accuracy of your sales analytics and forecasting.

There is of course the basic benefit of accurate sales analytics: accurate sales forecasts. But there are numerous other benefits which should also be taken into account, and act as further motivations for companies to move beyond the considerable degree of speculation that commonly dominates today’s sales forecasting.

The most consistent and positive way to work out a sales forecast is with a CRM solution that includes accurate sales analytics that will show you the facts of the matter, every time.

Here we will take a closer look at how precise and usable sales analytics change the role of the person normally held accountable for overall sales and the forecasting of those sales: the sales manager.

Download Sales Forecasting, Analytics and CRM now.

You know that your pipeline is the foundation of a successful sales process and the root of all revenue.

When you understand the power of its metrics, you have all the information you need to create more opportunities, generate more leads (from the right kind of customer), and encourage existing customers to buy more. Within this book you’ll find the answers:

• How to properly measure your sales pipeline
• The KPIs that you need to track
• How to predict your sales with accurate and insightful pipeline measurement

Quantify the performance of your pipeline and you’ll be able to identify gaps, proactively tackle the challenges that kill your conversion rates, and close more sales.

Download this free ebook and learn more.

If you understand the metrics within your pipeline, you will have access to the information you need to create more opportunities, generate more leads (from the right kind of customer) and encourage existing customers to buy more.

One fact about Germany’s performance in the World Cup is that they played as a team.

Salespeople need to learn this same lesson. They are, by nature, loners; setting their own goals, being responsible for their own incomes, and following their own instincts. In one respect that’s a great thing—it’s what makes them great salespeople. But today the sales landscape has become far too competitive and, more importantly, too complex for a salesperson to go it alone.

How can you win your ultimate sales challenge with as much elegance and ferocity as German team did at the 2014 World Cup? Download our free ebook to make an unforgettable kick-off for your business.

While we’re learning, there are other factors that have entered into the sales landscape in the last few years that substantially aid the needed changes both for sales and sales management—and interestingly can be likened to the German victory in the World Cup.