Most Popular Posts of 2013 (through Q2)

1. Outbound Prospecting: by the numbers [New research]

If your Outbound Prospectors target 1000 accounts this quarter, how many opportunities will they put into your Sales organization's pipeline? Ask me that questions three months ago and I would have said, "It depends." Today, I'm confident with a response of 32. Last December, Pete Gracey from AG Salesworks approached me with a crazy idea. His pitch was roughly, I have 35+ BDRs prospecting for three dozen technologies and generating mountains of Salesforce.com data. Any interest in digging into it and seeing what we find? My reply: Let's do this.
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2. Inside Sales & the Exempt vs Non-exempt Mess

At least once a month, I have a conversation with a sales leader who is trying to understand the exempt v non-exempt status of their inside sales teams. I always tell them two things:

1. There is logic and then there is the law – and in this case they are mutually exclusive
2. This is a decision you have to make internally in partnership with HR and legal counsel

If you are not aware of this ridiculous and outdated standard let me share some background. The question deals with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act in conjunction (and often conflict) with state labor laws.
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3. LinkedIn Fundamentals for Sales Reps

I'm sure you've noticed that over the last 6 weeks LinkedIn has been rolling out new profiles for all users. In light of the major refresh, I thought it a great time to address the most frequently asked question I hear on Social Prospecting™: What separates the most effective Sales Reps on LinkedIn from the rest? So together with Lynn Hidy from UpYourTelesales, we set out to deliver an answer. We found that that the best social prospectors:
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4. ABCs of Hiring Recent Grads for Sales

The other day, I was talking to a friend who leads a team of sales development reps (outbound prospectors).

She was mentioning how tight the market is for reps with 1-2 years of experience. To paraphrase her predicament: I need reps who are senior enough that they can & will do the job. But who are junior enough to unlearn bad habits before they calcify. I asked, “Have you looked at hiring recent grads?” As it just so happens, we are in the thick of career fair season for many colleges & universities. She asked if I had any tips. My reply: nope. So over the last few days I’ve been giving it some thought and wanted to share what I’ve come up with.
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