All good

INDUSTRY NEWS

All good

You might expect to hear the expression “That’s not half bad” from someone who just played PickleBall or tried non-alcoholic beer for the first time, but what about when their sales team hits 50% of the quota? On that latter point, one might argue that a sales team with 50% quota attainment isn’t half bad, it’s all good. The “one” we’re referring to is Seth Marrs, a Principal Analyst at Forrester. You can find out why Seth thinks 50% quota attainment is actually a good thing in his latest blog post. If you don’t understand why quota attainment is a flawed metric, you may wind up making business decisions that are half bad, or maybe even three-quarters.

Sales slothing

We’d make a high wager that you’ve never had the opportunity (nor patience) to watch a sloth get to wherever sloths go. That’s why it’s crucial for B2B sales teams to stop clinging onto antiquated systems of business. If you’re struggling to get executive buy-in for digital transformation, The Harvard Business Review makes a strong case for why sales cultures need to change and embrace digital selling tools. Familiar processes may evoke warm and fuzzy feelings, but adopting modern tools and processes too slowly in this quickly changing world can leave your team grasping helplessly for solutions, like a sloth trying to pick up playing cards.

IN THE GROOVE

Revenue time

We know many of you may still be a bit sleepy this week (thanks, Daylight Savings Time), but nothing wakes up a salesperson faster than the smell of money. Once you detect the alluring aroma of fresh, crackling revenue, you’ll do everything in your power to get it on your plate as fast as possible. However, for many sales leaders, improving time to revenue is a big challenge. Fortunately, our partner Clari just cooked up something to help with that. This week, Clari launched an integration hub to speed up time to revenue by connecting revenue-critical teams, systems, and signals. Groove was selected as a key launch partner for our ability to turn Clari’s revenue insights into meaningful sales engagements that bring home the bacon.

Two Silver Stevie’s on the house!

Fans of Schitt’s Creek know that Stevie is never going to win any awards for her customer service skills. For that, she’d actually have to try to care about the guests of the Rosebud Motel. On the other hand, The Stevie® Awards, have nothing to do with that lovably sarcastic character, and everything to do with recognizing companies for delivering outstanding service to their customers. They recently announced the winners of the 2023 Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Services, and we’re proud to report that Groove won two Stevie Awards for the third year in a row: Customer Service Department of the Year and Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year. We do have one thing in common with the fictional Stevie: we’re both incapable of faking sincerity.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Messy tech

Working in tech feels like a hot mess right now – layoffs are still happening, Silicon Valley Bank just collapsed, and wallets are tight. It’s safe to say that the sales landscape is changing, and you should want to get ahead before you become part of the mess. So what can sales leaders do in these tough times? Take a lesson from the D2C space and follow the touted advice, “The customer is always right.” That’s what Erica Schultz, Chief Marketing Officer at RAIN Group, says should be your number one priority. She also has four other tips for sales leaders in the changing B2B sales landscape. Life might be messy, but proper preparation is guaranteed to fast-track the cleanup.

The competitive advantage

In sports, the team that has better coaching and more practice time has an advantage over a  competitor with a lax schedule and a laissez-faire trainer. In sales, you and your competition have different strengths and weaknesses too. As the B2B sales landscape changes, it would behoove you to work on your competitive analysis. What makes your company better than the rest? Where do you fall short? How can you outcompete? Answers to all these questions and more are answered in The Sales Blog’s article “The Role of Competitive Analysis in Gaining a Competitive Edge.” Be on the winning team, figure out your competitive advantage.

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