Sales

Your sales process is one of the most essential operations across your entire business. 

Generally, sales processes include a range of different steps, each one with its own degree of importance and complexity, and each one seamlessly leading to the next. 

The end goal is to close a deal and make it official.

The last part of a typical sales process is the sales proposal. But guess what? Many companies often take this bit for granted. 

They think: “Well, we got this far, so surely you aren’t going to pull out of the deal NOW?” 

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but not only is this not the case, but it can also lead your salespeople to neglect sales proposals entirely (or kind of). 

Keep reading our handy guide to find out how to write winning sales proposals that lead to successful deals each time.

Here’s the current situation.

It looks like we’re headed toward a recession, or perhaps we’re already in one.

We’re seeing signs of it all over the place, and the tech industry seems to be impacted the most with a shocking 150,000+ layoffs in 2022.

In these uncertain times, morale is understandably low.

But this is when your leadership skills are put to the test. This is when your team needs you the most, and it’s time to rise to the occasion.

How will you motivate your sales team and keep up morale? How can you ease their fears? How will you help them reach their goals?

2022 was a rollercoaster for most businesses. 

From the tech industry losing $7.4 trillion in just 12 months to those ever-rising inflation numbers, it looks like the universe still isn’t done throwing us curveballs.    

That doesn’t mean we’re all doomed, though. 

A number of positive developments are happening in the background, such as the happy outlook for e-commerce and IT. If anything, these obstacles simply prove it’s more important than ever to stand out in the market. 

Thankfully, it looks like 2023 could provide a few opportunities to do just that.

Read on to explore some of the sales predictions that will shape how we sell in 2023 and give your team some ideas about what's coming next in your industry.

If you’re a sales leader working at a startup, your main goal is to drive revenue ASAP.

Because the longer it takes to generate revenue, the harder it is to hit targets (but you know that).

Reaching faster time to revenue for startups is an uphill battle. And here’s why.

• There’s a lot of pressure since you rely heavily on funding.
• You don’t have previous data to analyze.
• You don’t have many case studies or testimonials you can share.
• You don’t have many customers who can recommend/refer you.
• Your product is still going through major changes.
• You don’t have a ton of leads.
• And the list goes on…

Don’t be discouraged. 

You’re a sales leader, which means you have the means to make a huge difference (especially in a startup). 

There are steps you can take to help accelerate the process and start generating revenue quickly.

*Spoiler alert* One of them involves working closely with marketing. Stop it you two; it’s time to bury the hatchet.

Salesforce automation is non-negotiable for any revenue team (that uses Salesforce, of course).

If your team isn’t using Salesforce integrations and automation to cut down on annoying repetitive tasks, they’re not making the best use of their time.

You know it. And they definitely know it.

Salesforce has its own automated workflows (and they’re great), but there are other services and sales automation tools that integrate with the CRM and that offer far greater functionality and freedom for the user.

If you want your sales, customer success, and RevOps teams to focus on what you hired them for instead of tasks they have recurring nightmares about, you’ve come to the right place.

As a B2B sales leader, your main objective is to ensure that your entire revenue team succeeds.

Aside from coaching, motivating, and honing your team’s sales skills, there’s another factor that plays a major role in determining success.

Your B2B sales tech stack.  

According to InsideSales.com, small companies spend, on average, ~$4,600 per rep annually on sales technology, followed by ~$5,200 per rep for medium-sized companies and ~$3,100 per rep for large organizations.

If your entire revenue team consists of 30 employees (including SDRs, AEs, CSRs, and RevOps), you’re looking at roughly $140,000 in sales tech stack spend annually.

That’s not nothing. That’s huge.

So how do you choose sales technology tools that are aligned with your company’s sales and growth strategy?

And how on earth do you ensure a high adoption rate of said tools?

Ah, salespeople.

The often-stereotyped driving force behind most businesses. 

The ones who are out on the front lines, trying to close deals and bring in revenue. The ones who mostly get ignored (and sometimes yelled at) for just trying to do their jobs. 

But they’re also the ones who take on the huge task of trying to maintain a high level of efficiency. And they’re good at it, too. 

Sales teams are often the most efficient departments in a company, thanks to their experience with managing leads, developing relationships, and, of course, closing deals. 

Yet, for all their efforts and all the (often expensive) tools they have access to, they’re still spending time on repetitive or lower-value work that hasn’t been automated.

The result? 

They constantly feel like they’re swimming upstream. It’s a real challenge to stay afloat and keep up the motivation when you feel like you’re constantly fighting against the current.

Time. To. Fight. Back.

Great sales leaders are constantly evolving their processes to help their team be more efficient and effective.

However, according to a study, sales reps still spend 65% of their time on tasks that don’t involve selling.

Like the dreaded CRM updates after each communication. Or manually setting up reminders to follow up. Or going back and forth to schedule meetings. Or… 

You get it. 

If this is the case for your team, it might be time to look into sales automation tools that integrate with your CRM and that encourage prospects to respond.

“Sell me this pen.”

If you’re familiar with the film The Wolf of Wall Street, you know this classic sales line. It’s where Leonardo DiCaprio, as Jordan Belfort, is trying to teach his sales team how to sell anything to anyone. 

And the answer is always the same: find out what they need and give it to them.

Now, while Jordan Belfort and his team were peddling penny stocks and taking a crazy amount of narcotics, they were on to something. 

In order to sell anything, you need to know what your prospect wants. You need to understand their needs, their desires, their intent.

Knowing what your prospect wants is essential to sales, but figuring it out is like attempting to figure out the ending to Lost. 

Were they dead the whole time? Is the island purgatory? What even is the smoke monster?!

Just like we were never going to figure out Lost without watching hundreds of YouTube explainers, without some help, we’re never going to be able to read our prospect’s minds. 

But that’s where intent data comes in.

Intent data is a crystal ball for salespeople.

It’s the difference between cold calling and warm outreach. It’s what tells you that a prospect is interested in your product before they even know they’re interested.

If you’re looking to boost your sales pipeline and close more deals, this post is for you.