Turning the Corner?
Depending on who you're listening to or reading, you may be getting the message that economically the marketplace is "turning the corner." Maybe, maybe not. As for your own personal selling efforts or that of your sales team or organization, it may still be tough sledding as your buyers continue to hold tight purse strings or delay in their decision-making.

Boom or bust?
We see signs of boom and bust. Can't beat the combination of selling excellence with a product or service that has retained high market value and necessity. Deals are getting done but they're taking longer, requiring more calls and tougher negotiations for lower average sized deals. Many however are dealing in "nice to have" products and finding pipelines stagnating and reps struggling.

As one deftly put it - how do you overcome a problem of asymmetrical need - where the vendor's need to sell is much higher than the customers' need to buy?

What to do?
Time to raise the game at all levels to find the deals that are out there. It's not about "closing" - it's about up-leveling Strategic Sales Execution which involves the complete selling effort in finding, addressing, and consummating all opportunities: salesperson mentality, process refinement, account/territory prioritization, maximizing selling activities, crisp sales messaging, enhanced probing and questioning, decision-cycle management, and disciplined pipeline/forecast management.

It's not rocket science; it is about intelligent, optimized performance of a well-turned sales machine.


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