You’ve probably used a CRM application for years. Or maybe you haven’t. Surely you know someone who does or have heard the term. Either way, have you ever stopped to think about what they were actually made for? Let’s break down the definition of a CRM and what they are used for.

CRM applications are definitely NOT made to make a salesperson’s life harder. We all know salespeople have enough complexity to deal with. CRM applications should instead EMPOWER them to do their job to the fullest potential. When a salesperson is truly empowered, the possibilities for success are endless.

Sometimes your biggest competitive advantage can be your own attitude and that is something you have 100% control over. There are so many variables in sales that are often outside of your control but attitude is not one of them. This slideshow outlines how you can use your mindset to create the optimum circumstances for success.

You will quickly discover that the “Glass half full” outlook can have real economic impact when the going gets tough. Plus obstacles can be hidden opportunities if you look at them in the right way.

Sales management is not the easiest job in the world. It requires a lot of expertise and skill. One of the challenges of sales management is knowing how to handle the risks that come with the job. Using this slideshow, you can learn about the most common types of risks that sales managers face, and some key tips on how to handle them should you encounter one of these situations.

The four greatest risks for sales management are:

1) Salespeople reporting false or misleading information to sales management: Salespeople are optimistic by nature. They have to be in a world where they are faced with constant rejection. As a result, they can sometimes be overly optimistic about the cycle and the eventual result. Coach your salespeople to predict accordingly so that you don’t face an unwanted landmine at the end of the sales cycle.

2) Salespeople not reporting crucial information: In this situation, the salesperson isn’t lying, they are just not entering pertinent data into the CRM. This needs to be fixed quickly so that everything can be accounted for.

3) Sales reps short on sales skills: As a sales manager, it is crucial that you monitor the weaknesses and strengths of your sales reps, and coach them on their weaker points while praising their strong points.

4) No reliable automatic way to track sales: Every sales manager has their own preferred method for tracking sales. But, if you aren’t tracking effectively, you will be in the dark when it comes to understanding your data. Try using a leading edge CRM solution, like Pipeliner CRM.

A sales target is a goal set for a salesperson or sales department, and is measured in units sold for a specific time. Setting up sales targets help keeps you and your sales team focused on achieving your goals.

Check out this powerful slideshare and find out how it’s done!

Metrics are key when you’re forecasting sales and the performance of your sales pipeline. They provide the analytical information you need to ensure your sales team (and sales funnel) are doing all the right things.

But what sales KPIs should you measure?

Check out our slideshare and see!

Everybody knows the 80-20 Pareto Principle. 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers—and vice-versa. But it may not be wise to quit the lower 80 percent market that gives you just 20 percent of your revenue and focus only on high-value customers. You have to groom your customers. Growth is the only thing that will help you attain success in business. To achieve growth, you need to have growing customers with whom you can grow.

Here are 5 attributes and best practices of key account management.

Mike Bosworth recently had an “a-ha” moment when discussing the subject of integrating sales and tactical marketing (tactical marketing: creating demand for today’s products and services TODAY.)

Virtually every customer Mike has had over the years seems to struggle with getting these two silos to sing from the same hymnal. Then it hit him: the word “integrate” is much of the problem.

What if we change the word “integrate” to “agreement”?

What is Key Account Management? Key account management (KAM) defines the full relationship between your business and the customers you are selling to. It describes the individual approach of salespeople to their customers in order to create a long everlasting business relationship.

Key account management (KAM) means far more than just selling products to big customers.  It revolves around handling the customers who play a strategic role in the growth of a supplier.

Learn more about Key Account Management here. 

Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.

Achieving status from salesperson to being a salespreneur—the champion salesperson of today—demands a lot of time and dedication. From the very beginning of your professional growth you are confronted with hordes of tasks to be done and lessons to be learned and may easily get the feeling of being totally lost. Luckily, by applying 6 basic steps to your transformation, you will eventually get to the final point without getting lost on the way.

How does a salesperson survive and succeed in the 21st century? In in this slideshare based on his Whitepaper , Nikolaus Kimla answers that question fully.

We could name this persona the New Era Salesperson. We could refer to them (and have) as the Entrepreneur Within The Enterprise.

But because neither of these terms were precise enough expressions of what we mean, Nikolaus coined a whole new word: salespreneur.

What is the difference between the traditional salesperson and the salespreneur? It is quite apparent, once you see it. In order to become a salespreneur, there are many qualities a salesperson must take on. In this slideshare, Nikolaus clearly defines the salespreneur and fully describes these qualities.

A few examples: there is quite a bit of difference between the salespreneur and the average company worker. To start with, a salespreneur has a noticeably higher level of dedication. A salespreneur will readily adopt and make the most out of technology.

Throughout his works, Nikolaus frequently points out the difference between an art and a craft. An art is something that comes from innate ability, and is more than technology or technique. Whereas a craft is something that can be readily learned from clearly laid out steps. These steps, when followed, produce a predictable result. An example of art would be a sculpture–while it consists of definite techniques, the final result is obtained from something beyond technique. An example of a craft would be medicine; it was once an art, but the vast array of knowledge in medicine today can be taught to anyone intelligent enough to grasp and use it.

The great news is that the techniques of being a salespreneur amount to a craft. They can be learned. In this slideshare Nikolaus fully lays out the fundamentals that will lead one to be a full-fledged salespreneur.

Discover what it takes for you and your sales team to become real salesprenuers.

At the end of every episode of our bi-weekly SalesChat series, we like to ask our experts for their power tip to start the day and set themselves up for success. This slideshare is a collection of those great tips. Enjoy!

And make sure to check out SalesChats, a fast-paced (no more than 30 minutes) multi-media series that provides leading strategies, tactics and thinking for sales professionals worldwide. It can be found on Twitter (#SalesChats), as a live Google+ Hangout, and as a podcast available on iTunes, SoundCloud and right here on SalesPOP!