Software Sales Enablement

In Appreciation of Praise: Increasing Positivity to Improve Results

Most of us believe that it is well worth our valuable time to shore up weak skills- even at the expense of strengthening areas that are energizing and allow us make unique, valuable contributions. A big reason this mindset is so prevalent is that we desperately want to avoid criticism from colleagues, clients, and (especially) managers. Not many people meet even constructive critiques with smiles, but is working to avoid criticism a better motivator than striving to earn praise? Which is more powerful in engaging employees to do their best?

Sales Enablement Groups - A Snapshot

Have you ever thought about how different organizations within a company work together to help the salesperson improve performance? Do you know where separate groups fit and how best to use them in your sales pursuits? In this article, we'll overview the organizations that impact sales and offer a framework for relating them.

The Compensation Solution by John E. Tropman

When it comes to compensation, most organizations wonder what percentage of revenue (or profit) they must pay their salespeople to stay competitive with the marketplace. Since most compensation plans consist of no more than a base salary and bonus scale, you can't blame them for trying to establish a monetary baseline as their first (and sometimes only) step in developing a compensation structure.

In his book The Compensation Solution: How to Develop an Employee-Driven Rewards System, John E. Tropman makes the case that limiting the compensation conversation to monetary rewards doesn't form a true partnership between the employee and the company where the success of each is inextricably tied to the other.

Growing a Software Consulting Practice

Software is an intangible product whose primary benefits are productivity gains for the users, groups, and companies that implement it. This great strength of technology is also a weakness, as it's tricky to define just where and when gains will occur. For salespeople, it's challenging to build the business case for a software purchase that will impact several areas throughout the client's company, has many stakeholders with disparate agendas, and aims to facilitate a complex mix of visionary goals and operational returns.

FIGURE 1: There are distinct stages an organization must move through on its way to becoming a profitable, sales-enabling consulting practice.

To tackle this problem, many software companies develop strategic consulting practices that work with salespeople and clients to analyze strategy, assess operations, align technology, and measure the value of deploying software. This is a difficult endeavor that most companies never fully accomplish. For those that do, however, rewards include revenue growth, expanded total contract values, increased repeat sales, and expedited sales cycles.

Building a Strengths-Based Team

 Do you believe that good team members jump-in to help with whatever the team needs at the time? Do you think that people must relentlessly attack their weaknesses in order to excel? Do you feel that there is one perfect way to execute every role? If you hold these truths to be self-evident, you're missing out on the opportunity to build an energized, high-performance team based on individual strengths.