A sales rep business plan is kind of an odd concept. It’s not quite a sales plan, which allows a sales team to detail and guide its broader sales strategies. It’s also not a conventional business plan, which guides a business on an organizational level. What I‘ll be describing here is more focused and individualized…
In June, I attended the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin with hundreds of diplomats, investors, private donors, and more. I made friends with a handful of key people and even a minister — but I lost eight business cards either in my car, at home, or in a bag. If only I had had a…
Leaning on forecasting models is a necessary – sometimes tricky – part of preparing for the upcoming fiscal year, especially for my sales folks. You see, if you work in sales, you already know that you can’t use a crystal ball to predict the future (even if you’re expected to), so you’re left analyzing quantitative…
Cold calls are awful. They’re inherently intrusive, naturally uncomfortable, and — according to a study from Cognism — unsuccessful roughly 95.2% of the time. With that said, that same study found that 49% of buyers actually prefer to be contacted through a cold call. That‘s why they’re still central to many orgs’ sales processes. If…
One of the biggest challenges to scaling revenue? Your salespeople only have so much time. Even if you hire the most focused people, invest in tools that boost their efficiency, and remove all distractions, there’s a limited number of selling hours in the day. Some companies choose to hire more reps, and while that might…
The term “regression analysis” may seem rigid, but it’s not as scary as you’d think. It‘s basically a fancy way of saying that we’re trying to figure out how two things are related. It‘s like playing detective, but instead of solving mysteries, we’re solving puzzles about data. However, if you’re anything like me and not…
Sales training is a time-consuming process. Ann Clifford, founder and president at Safari Solutions, says that it can take sales hires between three and nine months to ramp up to reach quota. With all this time invested in sales training and onboarding, you want to a) be realistic with expectations and b) maximize returns as…
Startup founders, especially early-stage ones, have been feeling quite the pinch in recent years when it comes to fundraising: Nearly a quarter of fundraising rounds are down rounds in Q1 2024 Time in between rounds is getting longer Overall deal count is low It makes us wonder: How are the founders holding up? How should…
Sales presentations: They either blow you away or induce a daydream. Why? Not everyone’s a gifted speaker — but everyone can put together an effective sales pitch deck with the right guidance. While many salespeople focus on making their sales decks flashy, fun, and exciting, I find they overlook the need for their presentations to…
Welcome to Trends, a weekly newsletter with the zestiest business trends and actionable insights for entrepreneurs. We recently wrote about «MeMooners» — a new way to describe solo travelers, coined by Hilton’s 2025 travel trend predictions — and the opportunities associated with that. It was not the only curious term in that report. We’ve also got «hurkle-durkling,»…