Take a moment to picture in your head your visual representation of a sales professional. There are a number of different things that might pop up in your mind. But like everything else in the sales world, the portrait of the sales pro is also changing! Learn what the salespeople of tomorrow will look like, and beat others to the punch by transforming yourself early.

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Tomorrow’s sales pro are:

1. Educated: They are trained in sales techniques and supported by their process and technological tools.
2. Empaths and critical thinkers: They are able to imagine the problems of others, and think quickly on their feet in order to help resolve them.
3. Mobile Multitaskers: Sales pros of tomorrow will be comfortable wearing many same hats – all at the same time.
4. Social subject matter experts: Social selling has changed the game in recent years, and a strong knowledge of the industry will guide tomorrow’s sales pros to success.
5. Trust builders, curators, and sharers: They understand the power of sharing, even if it doesn’t always lead to a sale. They want to educate and disseminate information with prospective customers, just to build relationships.
6. Socially responsible: The stereotype of a salesperson isn’t always ethical, but the salespeople of tomorrow handle themselves with social responsibility.
7. Mentors: Those who have been in the game longer are willing and wanting to share with the new generation of salespeople.
8. Skilled writers: The salespeople of tomorrow have excellent written communication skills, and can interact effectively with a wide range of prospects.

There’s a reason it’s called a sales team. The people you hire work together as a unit, each person contributing to the ultimate goal of closing sales and generating profits for the company. However, a few bad people in a team can create a chaotic workplace environment, impede selling, waste resources and finances, and worst of all, lose the company money.

This infographic reveals key insights to find, hire, and train top talent. Bulletproof your next sales hire. Solidify your sales team as a strong, cohesive entity that crushes deals and closes sales. Take these 6 actions and you’ll secure bulletproof hires with a good chance of success and longevity.

Here are the 6 ways to bulletproof your next sales hire:

1. Nail down that sales process: Ensure you have an efficient sales process to stay ahead of the competition and create a stable foundation for improved performance results.
2. Create an ideal sales rep profile: Go beyond the standard description, and give information on the company culture. Use your lead salespeople as examples of what new hires could be.
3. Break the old rules: Delegate non-essential and non-sales activities to administration staff in order to free up sales personnel.
4. Create a career path: Help your hires advance beyond the traditional path, and reward them with job security and increased compensation.
5. Create new rules; Tools are friends, so invest wisely: Keep all of your tools organized, and keep things in one place. Use a great CRM that will do the work for you.
6. Different is better than “better”: Create a job description that creates a desirable outcome for both your company and the candidate.

To learn more about how to boost the quality of your sales hires, check out Stop the Revolving Door of Sales Hiring, Why do Smart People Keep Hiring Weak Salespeople?, and Hiring High-Performance Sales Teams.

Selling is most likely the most dynamic activity in any company. Its many moving parts often make it reactionary, frenetic and chaotic.

But in this infographic, based on the ebook of the same name, John Golden makes a powerful case that it doesn’t have to be that way.

John points out that in pretty much any endeavor, the key to success is the clear identification of a goal, the definition of the steps required achieve that goal, and then the removal of extraneous noise or distractions so that you can focus exclusively on execution and reaching the goal.

Of course, in today’s business world this is often easier said than done. Salespeople are overloaded with tools that are supposed to help them but instead distract. They are being constantly bombarded from social media, and they are never sure of the actual value. In addition, they have a savvy, informed buyer who has little patience for indulging them unless they can rapidly offer value.

Sales is often compared to warfare and we often hear about the “fog of war” where lines get blurred, truth and rumor become indistinguishable and chaos becomes the norm. The ‘fog of sales” is no different absent the lethal nature of the former.

Golden, however, shows that there are ways of clearing that fog and stepping out into the bright sunshine that clarity brings.

In an ironic twist, the number of solutions to various problems has actually become problematic. The sheer volume of potential solutions to common issues that come up in the sales world has become overwhelming, and it can be difficult to choose the right one. Companies attempt to hunt for the best possible solution, but often times the financial outlay is considerable. When a company eventually does decide to make a purchase, it becomes even more expensive because these solutions require regular, yet costly updates.

Wouldn’t it be beneficial and hassle reducing to have the solution? Like, a CRM that does everything you need? Yes! In order to understand that you’re making the most of your single solution, there are 6 deadly sins to avoid when choosing and implementing a CRM.

Nikolaus Kimla’s ebook, CRM Coming Back from the Dead: CRM in the Digital Revolution explores these deadly CRM sins.

Here are the 6 deadly sins of CRM:

1. Don’t be a “big brother”: If a CRM software is enjoyable, and the sales manager empowers their sales staff to utilize it, there is less need for monitoring.
2. Don’t make an easy system complex and difficult: A CRM should be customizable so that it is easy to use. Customization should be targeted to helping users do their jobs better by making things simpler.
3. “Always access” to CRM: A good CRM should allow for use online or offline.
4. Don’t kill your adoption rate before you’ve even started: If your CRM is complex and difficult to use, the sales team will be less inclined to utilize it. Keep it simple, and get a better adoption rate.
5. Don’t make CRM an island: CRM should be integrated into other tools, systems, and protocols that are used by the company. Integrating it ensure that it fits seamlessly into the day to day operations that are already in place.
6. Don’t choose a CRM that is slow to set up: When a CRM is difficult to use and requires an extensive training period, the motivation to use it declines.

To read more about CRM solutions, check out 4 Reasons Financial Services Needs a Leading-Edge CRM Tool. If you’re ready to integrate an efficient solution with a CRM that avoids the 6 deadly sins, visit Pipeliner CRM for your free trial.

Are you neglecting the crucial step of asking for a referral?

There are a lot of crucial things to do in sales. But, are you missing out on one of the most crucial steps? Asking for referrals is key to getting more business, increasing your revenue, and growing your business.

There are numerous benefits to asking for referrals, aside from getting the increased business. First, you get insight into if your current clients think you’re worthy of being referred or not. A client that refers to their friend or colleague means that they appreciated the work you did for them, and feel like you will bring value to others in their life. Additionally, if you get a referral, you are able to have that client voice your credibility and vouch for you that you will be the best salesperson for the job.

1. Build: Have a great website, internal processes, and products! You can’t start something without a foundation.
2. Reach out: Include trusted others in your outreach! The more people who can vouch for you, the better. Plus, you let others do the work for you by asking colleagues, friends, and family to pass your name around.
3. Create the infrastructure: Add all of your contacts into your CRM. Make sure the software you choose is the best possible. Check out Pipeliner CRM, and get a free trial to see if it’s the solution for you.
4. Connect: As you build your business and create new connections, network with those connections! Use who you already know to generate more contacts.
5. Learn: In the referral selling process, you grow to understand your brand and who you are as a salesperson.

Want to learn more about sales referrals? SalesPOP! has tons of articles to help you get more informed. Check out Your Best Prospecting Tool is Literally Staring You in the Face, and How Can You Get More Qualified Sales Referrals?.

The sales process is so important. It is a vital series of steps followed by salespeople to track an opportunity all the way from lead to a close. You wouldn’t start playing a sport without knowing the rules or the different steps it takes to win. On the same token, it’s not wise to try and sell without executing each step of the sales process. Following these vital steps will help you get your close, turn customers into returning customers, get key referrals, and make more money!

In this infographic, it can be seen that using the Pipeliner Selling System as a guide, any sales process runs through 5 basic common steps.

1. Focus: At the beginning of the sales process, play the role of focused investigator. You want to understand the prospect and what their needs are so you can understand how to properly sell to them later in the sales process.
2. Engage: Engage your prospect! After you’ve done investigating the person or company you are trying to sell to, you can actually reach out and engage the potential customer for a sale.
3. Convince: At this point in the sales cycle, it is the salesperson’s job to convince the customer that they are the right company to buy from. This is the stage that the sale is ultimately made it.
4. Close: This is where a new sub-process begins. For the salespeople, this is when they often tend to disengage. However, now that the client is officially a customer, it’s more important than ever to deliver your promises. At this stage, if executed properly, it can be a catalyst for a new sales process with the same clients, just for different products or services.
5. Cooperate: After the close, hopefully, your customer will move into being an advocate! If your customer liked the services or item you provided, as well as your service as a salesperson, you are more likely to have them be a referral source so that the sales process and continue with referred clients.

To learn more about the sales process, check out the article Transparency in Your Sales Process, and the expert sales interview Accelerators in the Sales Process.

Social selling has revolutionized the sales world, which has created the necessity of managing a social selling team. In recent years, using social media and other similar platforms to sell has taken off, and it has been difficult to keep up with the trends, especially for sales managers who are already juggling a lot of other responsibilities. Most social selling information is dedicated to helping the salesperson. While this information is necessary and very needed, it can be neglecting of the sales managers.

That’s why John Golden of SalesPOP! and Matt McDarby of USR teamed up to bring you 9 powerful tips and practical advice to ensure that social selling is adopted and managed in the right ways.

1. The sales manager is the greatest revenue multiplier in a sales organization: If the sales manager doesn’t understand social selling, the sales team will struggle to understand it as well.
2. The sales manager as an agent of social change: The sales manager can introduce the topic and have a hands-on approach to create social change
3. Use social profiles as a branding opportunity: Customers will be looking at your social media to understand your company and your brand.
4. Writing too much is the new talking too much: Communicate in brief, yet meaningful statements.
5. Likes and shares don’t pay the bills: Likes and shares don’t pay the bills, but sales do!
6. Measuring success: Measure your success, but not at the cost of strategic growth goals.
7. Patience: Research, listen, and help your prospects with patience and care
8. Always focus on the buyer: As a sales manager, it’s important to focus on the buyer first
9. Create a “social sales management action plan”: Don’t go into something new without a game plan!

SalesPOP! has tons of information created specifically for sales managers. We also have an entire audiobook dedicated to the topic of social selling for sales managers.

Everyone wants to excel at their jobs, and being a salesperson is no different. A ‘salespreneur’ is the champion salesperson of today, and something that every salesperson should strive to be.

Information for this infographic was sourced from Nikolaus Kimla’s breakthrough ebook, Cutting Through the Water: Becoming a Champion Salesperson. The book highlights 6 key steps to becoming a salespreneur, that have been condensed into this helpful graphic!

1. Always be learning: The sales field is constantly changing, and it’s important to continue education so that you can take advantage of new advances. Top salespeople make this a priority, and so should you.
2. Become a total expert on your product: This may seem obvious, but it’s important to know your stuff! Learn every detail, and know how each aspect of the product can solve a problem for your customers.
3. Become a total expert on your competition: Part of becoming a champion salesperson means understanding how competitors operate. Study them, learn from them, and become a better salesperson because of them.
4. Become a total expert on your customers: Understanding your industry, as well as your customers, is one of the most important parts of being a salespreneur.
5. Apply all of your expertise, continuously: Success isn’t one single thing, but rather a lot of different things done consistently!
6. Raise your awareness of opportunities: Many of us are already scanning for opportunities, but honing in on this awareness and taking advantage of opportunities that come your way will help you take your sales skills to the next level.

For more infographics from Nikolaus Kimla, take a peek at The 6 Deadly Sins of CRM. Be sure to check out the slideshow version of Cutting Through the Water: Becoming a Champion Salesperson. Sales Champion: Confidence Plus Competence! also highlights ways to become a sales champion.