Even though the new year is still just warming up, it’s never too early to get a brand new sales attitude into high gear. Whether you’re working out how to make your yearly goals or considering how to best incentivize your sales force, we’ve found some great articles that will get your 2015 off to a roaring start.
Add These Five Word ‘Magnets’ to Your Marketing and Sales Vocabulary (MarketingProfs)
Author Bob Circosta shares some of his valuable language-logistics straight from the bookshelf. This article, taken from the book Life’s a Pitch: Understanding the Secrets to Selling from Television’s Billion Dollar Man, shows any sales person or manager the value of making pitches personally relevant through the use of terms like “easy,” “new,” and “free.”
5 Differences Between Managers and Leaders (Women Working)
In this empowering article, the team at Women Working define exactly how managers and leaders treat employees differently. From breaking rules to having a vision, leaders tend to bring out the best in their colleagues through trust, support, and risk-taking. This is a great, quick read for anyone who manages people.
Get Things Done: 10 Inspiring Videos to Boost Your Productivity (MakeUseOf)
If productivity is on your goal list for 2015, this is a great first stop to get you psyched up for the new year. Writer Mihir Patkar assembles some of the best productivity videos on the Internet – from David Allen’s How to Hack Your To-Do List to The Pomodoro Technique. This is truly a great resource for anyone wanting to make the most of their time or to feel inspired about getting things accomplished.
2015 Sales Jumpstart Series: Building a Bridge Towards Revenue Growth (Bernadette McClelland)
Sales maven Bernadette McClelland gives some short and strong advice about how to make 2015 the year you become the sales person you’ve always to be. She suggests that having a strong sense of personal leadership, responding positively and openly to feedback, and cultivating a sense of curiosity are the key elements to meeting all your goals this year.
How Mature is Your Sales Team? (Membrain)
Founder and CEO of Membrain, George Brontén, shares his 20 years of entrepreneurial success in this in-depth post about the different types of sales organizations. He highlights different levels of sales teams from the most immature (Ad-hoc) to the highest-tier (Excelling). Brontén also discusses the importance of sales process mapping as the key to maturing over time.
15 Procrastination-Beating Techniques to Boost Productivity (Infographic) (Inc.)
This colorful infographic from Larry Kim has many easy and applicable ideas for keeping on task and avoiding productivity-draining distractions. Some of the best ideas include increasing your positive self-talk, taking small chunks out of big tasks, and rewarding progress as you move away from procrastination tendencies.
The Top 10 Sales Blog Posts from 2014 (Ambition)
Ambition’s Marketing Director, Jeremy Boudinet, shares his personal picks for the best sales blog posts for 2014. These were some of the powerhouse thought pieces from the last year, including articles from Mark Cranney, Tamara Schenk, and Lauren Licata. Topics range from straight sales secrets to management mindfulness. A must-read for both sales people and managers alike!
How Your 2015 Sales Compensation Plan is Pitting Salespeople Against Your Buyer and Your Business (Hubspot)
Author and HubSpot CRO Mark Roberge warns businesses not make compensation contingent on huge up-front sales, as they can lead to poor customer experiences and an inability to upsell later on. Instead, Roberge suggests that compensation plans should emphasize “follow-on” revenue, which can get sales reps on the customers’ sides and lead to better long-term relationships.
Muhammed Ali’s Best Productivity Tricks (LifeHacker)
This article manages to be both information and touching, highlighting some of the definitive qualities that made Muhammed Ali both professionally superior and morally outstanding. From his perspective on training to his ideas about managing time, this heartfelt retrospective is perfect for the manager who wants some illumination along with his or her daily dose of productivity.
7 Reasons Social Selling May Have Stalled Out (Barb Giamanco)
Although the words on everyone’s lips in 2014 were “social selling,” the revenue just didn’t seem to match the hype. In this article, Giamanco explains seven reasons why social media fell flat, including lack of strategic planning, inconsistent content, and underestimating the power of referrals. This is a great article for sales, marketing, and management who’d like to recommit to a better marketing plan in 2015.
What Do You Think?
What were your favorite posts of 2014? What topics are burning a hole in your skull now that the new year has begun? Share your favorite articles and blog posts with us in the comments below. We love to know what is inspiring you to sell harder, connect better, and work smarter!