In this week’s sales roundup, relationship management experts at Avidian have collected high quality resources for you to keep current in the realms of sales, management, and leadership.These articles can be used purely for information; they can also help you get out of a sales slump, or help you figure out how to take your management efforts to the next level. Whatever the end goal may be, the tactics and trips included within can help you develop an edge of your competitors.
Sales Articles
- Using LinkedIn to Generate Leads and Grow Your Business (Avidian) – Avidian remains committed to providing the best sales tips each week, starting with this article on using LinkedIn to connect with potential customers and present a strong, credible online presence. The article covers both free and paid features of LinkedIn, and these tips should allow businesses of any size to use the service to its maximum potential.
- We Need a Sales Process! (Sales Management) – This article from Sales Management looks at what a sales process is, why people believe it will improve the quality of a sales team’s work, and how to create a good process for a given sales team. The tips Sales Management offers focus on the work of artificial intelligence expert and futurist Ray Kurzweil, illustrating the importance of pattern recognition and adaptability.
- The First Five Minutes (SellingPower) – If you’ve been having trouble starting sales meetings, especially with new clients, give this article a look. It is often said that there are no second chances for first impressions, so use the tips SellingPower offers to start off each relationship right. The article focuses on controlling the pace and structure of the meeting, enabling salespeople to focus the meat of their efforts on sales.
Management and Leadership Articles
- Communication: Where to Find the Meaning (All Things Workplace) – This short piece illustrates a point that both managers and salespeople need to understand to do business effectively. It outlines some tools for active listening and building consensus, including starting with areas of similarity and building outward. The tools this article provides are invaluable for unpacking biases and finding a starting point for further dialogue.
- LEGO’s Girl Problem Starts With Management (Harvard Business Review) – An illustration of how a corporation’s culture can affect its product line, this Harvard Business Review article examines the gender imbalance in LEGO products. LEGO has many more male voices within the company, and the article contends that this may be a reason for the neglect of products for girls. Managers and decision-makers should look at this article and consider whether they’ve neglected any demographics due to a lack of representation within the company.
- Separate Feedback from Performance Reviews (Coaching Tip) – With a clear call to action right in its subject line, this blog post calls on managers to provide feedback outside of yearly performance reviews. Lack of feedback leads to poor performance, and in turn, poor performance reviews, the author contends. Managers and team leaders, thus, should make sure the performance issues their employees experience aren’t worsened by weak, unresponsive management.
Productivity Articles
- Drag and Drop Email in the Calendar to Create Appointments (Outlook Tips) – Outlook 2013 has made some significant changes to how the program’s calendar works, and many users have had difficulty creating new calendar entries based on emails as a result. This article demonstrates some ways around the change, including the use of Quick Steps and multiple windows. If you enjoy working in Outlook, or use a CRM that integrates with it like Prophet does, be sure to give the helpful tricks Outlook Tips offers a chance.
- The Difference Between Successful and Very Successful People (Greg McKeown) – This LinkedIn blog post highlights the myths about excellence and success that prevent many people from doing as well as they could. Common pitfalls such as missed sleep and avoidance of play get unpacked in this powerful article. Doing more, McKeown contends, leads to missed opportunities to do fewer things with greater effectiveness. After reading this article, consider whether your productivity actually produces quality results, or merely leaves you overextended.
- The Procrastination Loop and How to Break It (The Atlantic) – Conversely, if the core of your problem is putting off tasks rather than taking on too many tasks at once, this article from The Atlantic might be a great read. This article unpacks why people procrastinate and how procrastination can actually cause other productivity-diminishing conditions like anxiety and frustration.
- Canva (Canva) – Rather than an article like many of the other links on this page, Canva is a design tool that lets you create presentations for free online. Images only cost money once a presentation is published, and the service itself is available at no cost. With its simple interface and wide variety of templates, it can help you set up exactly the right presentation for your project and audience. Using the service requires registration or connection through Facebook.
What do you think?
Are you enjoying our weekly roundups? Check out our articles on sales productivity and email marketing, as well. And if you’ve got any great reads that you think we should know about, let us know in the comments. We want to learn from you as much as we’d like to help spread knowledge.