Sales

  Jason M. Lemkin, Venture Capitalist, and SaaS enthusiast started SaaStr as a simple WordPress blog featuring his answers to questions he got on Quora. Today, it's one of the world's biggest SaaS developers and entrepreneurs. Readers should expect large-scale posts on the development of SaaS companies and tactical guidance for the SaaS sales leaders on how to get more from your team.

  Gong.io's Gong Labs Blog gives you information, perspectives, and data from analyzing the world's largest database of AI sales conversations. Gong blog releases data by analyzing hundreds and thousands of recorded and transcribed AI sales conversations so you can know from hard data what defines successful salespeople.  They usually publish about one post a week, concentrating on quality over quantity. Each is filled with sales strategies to help you reach your target.

  LinkedIn is another resource a sales guy can't disregard. The sales blog will make sure you utilize Linkedin as a sales platform to its full potential.  Social  Sales through networks like Linkedin should be a priority for sales teams. Subscribe to LinkedIn 's sales blog to get the latest social marketing news and tactics and get an update on universal best sales practices. With a heavy emphasis on social sales, LinkedIn Sales Solutions helps sales reps remain up-to-date on the latest developments and strategies in the ever-evolving social selling environment.

HubSpot is one of the world's most significant marketing and sales tools, with over 15,000 customers in 90 countries. Hubspot sales blog offers readers advice and sales preparation. From drafting the perfect email subject line that leads to closures to negotiating an agreement, here you'll get all the advice, you need to reach or exceed your sales target. Authors include many of the sales world's best-known names, including Donald E. Kelly, Jeff Hoffman, Anthony Iannarino, Trish Bertuzzi, and more.

  Author of The Sales Blog, Anthony Iannarino, is a reputable speaker, author, and sales leader. His sales tips are straightforward and refreshing, making his style of writing easily digestible and practical. Read this post:  The three most important metrics in sales Excerpt:  “Everything is important, but not everything can most important. When it comes to  metrics , more is not always better. There are, however, some metrics that tell you much about your sales results—and your challenges. These three metrics in sales can tell you a lot about what you need to know to improve.” Read more > Follow each of these  sales blogs  and positively impact the way  you  approach selling. What are your favorite sales blogs?  Let me know on LinkedIn ! We'll keep updating this post based on your comments.

  Ready to make it happen? John Barrows, a sales trainer to the world’s fastest-growing companies, is a valuable sales resource for leaders looking to accelerate their revenue teams. His sales-related blog posts are engaging and unforgettable. Learn through his personal experiences in sales—including topics like how John knew he was going to lose a $200k deal and 11 sales tips he learned after getting drunk in Vegas and buying a timeshare (sounds fun!). Read this post:  5 voicemail tactics to get more callbacks Excerpt:  “Voicemails should be part of any overall contact strategy that includes a mix of calls, e-mails, social selling and other ways of getting your message in front of the right target prospect. If your contact strategy includes quality and relevant messaging each time it increases the chances of someone responding. They may not call you back from your voicemail but if they see (e-mail), hear (call/voicemail), see, hear different values of your solution they may eventually

  Sales thought leader Jill Konrath is always searching for the freshest sales strategies. Then, she shares her findings with the world. Discover how to speed up your sales and win more business, as Jill combines first-hand experiences and sales tips like a pro. Her most recent topics are focused on value propositions, conversational sales, and keeping competitors out of reach. Read this post:  Is your value proposition strong enough? Excerpt:  “Clearly articulated value propositions can be used to develop highly effective phone or email messages that highlight your buyers’ primary issues/challenges and the key business results your product, service or solution addresses. They can also be used to create buyer-centric presentations, customized proposals and spot-on marketing initiatives. Let me be clear though. There is not one single value proposition that rules them all.” Read more >

The InsideSales.com blog is a great resource for a variety of sales roles. Updated often, they share how-to’s, essays, and articles on all things sales and marketing. Read this post:  [Infographic] 8 skills every top performer should have Excerpt:  “What makes a Zig Ziglar, Grant Cardone, David Ogilvy, or Dale Carnegie? What separates the good from the truly great? And what sales techniques will help reps get more business, handle objections, and have better overall sales conversations? We made a list of the sales skills of the best sales reps, and you know what? Talking people into buying things wasn’t high on the list.” Read more >

  Aaron Ross, award-winning and bestselling author, has spent years teaching companies how to double or triple (or more) their sales. On the Predictable Revenue blog, he and his team share the latest B2B sales trends. Recent topics on this sales blog include cultivating confidence, growth secrets, and the power of long-term goal setting. Read this post:  The key to getting your first 10 customers isn’t sales — it’s product Excerpt:  “In addition to speaking with as many potential users as possible, there are other methods of ascertaining the effectiveness and necessity of your product. For example, I suggest employing the always illuminating toothbrush test, which, simply put, means understanding how many times your users log into your product each day. Is it twice per day (the same amount of times they’d use a toothbrush)? If so, you’ve likely hit on a pretty powerful need.” Read more >

OpenView Venture Partners   is an expansion-stage venture firm with experience in investing and building sales teams for early-stage software companies. On their blog, they share insights and actionable advice for  sales managers—including using metrics to ramp up your sales team, selling to enterprise customers, product-led growth, and more. Read this post:  Rethinking the product demo for product led growth Excerpt:  “Remember, customers are trying to make an informed buying decision in the shortest time possible. Is your process optimized to help buyers quickly experience your product’s “aha” moment? Or are you expecting in-trial customers to complete what amounts to an implementation process before they can begin to see the value of the product?” Read more >

  CloserIQ ’s network of more than 30,000 sales leaders share their sales strategies straight from the trenches. As a sales recruitment firm, their blog is perfect for sales managers and recruiters with content focused on hiring top sales talent and sales operations. Read this post:  7 interview questions to find rockstar sales reps Excerpt:  “When hiring for a rockstar sales fleet, the  interview questions can make or break you . Add these magic bullet questions to your next round of sales interviews and you’ll find the reps that will thrive. You’ll also know which candidates should be shown the door.” Read more >

  If you’re looking to improve your sales email skills, the SalesFolk blog has you covered. They provide cold email examples (and not just the good, but also the ugly), suggestions, and new ideas. They even have a category called “Hall of Shame” where they share the worst prospecting emails (ouch!). Just ensure you don’t make the same cold email mistakes. Read this post:  3 cold email mistakes that ruin sales conversations Excerpt:  “If you’re selling to a broad range of titles and industries, it can be tempting to aim for the most generic message possible that could appeal to anyone on your list. Instead of narrowing down your audience and your value propositions, you pick the broadest reasons why someone would choose to buy your product or work with your company. And it doesn’t work.  It never does.” Read more >

Jeb Blount, sales acceleration specialist and bestselling author of  Fanatical Prospecting , shares thousands of free articles, videos, podcasts, tips, training, and advice from the top sales experts on his blog. Read this post:  Leadership is human Excerpt:  “Organizations of all kinds regularly send their people to leadership-development training. spending literally billions on training current and future leaders. Yet studies, data, and our research through interviews indicate that  the state of leadership in the workplace  is atrocious. Why? Leaders at all levels fail at the interpersonal side of leadership—they forget or ignore the fact that leadership is personal.” Read more >

We're slightly biased on this one, but we're committed to sharing fresh sales advice at least once a week here on the Close blog. Our CEO Steli Efti shares his sales and startup knowledge to help you master the art of sales. From improving your sales techniques to managing the most complex sales objections, he covers it all. In addition to valuable sales content, we’ve got downloadable sales books, templates, checklists, scripts, and more. He holds nothing back. Get a head start today by  downloading all of Steli’s books and resources  for sales reps, managers, and founders for free. Read this post:  Master the sales follow-up with this proven formula (Tells you exactly when and how to follow-up for maximum results)

How to know whether you need Salesforce or note:  Many organizations focus too heavily on upfront price when selecting a CRM only to end up spending more money customizing a system that doesn’t meet their needs. But with a little planning, you can make the right choice. Here are the top three steps for finding the right CRM for your organization.  1. Get clear on your operational requirements Let’s start at the top.  First, figure out what operational requirements your business needs. Number of sales processes If your organization has two or more distinct sales processes, this could be a flag for needing a robust CRM like Salesforce. Say you sell software to enterprise and mid-market companies across both retail and B2B. Their sales stages might look different. Chances are, each path will need to capture its own special data, forcing reps to follow different rules. For example, enterprise opportunities might be able to skip Stage 1, while mid-market can skip Stage 3. Choosing the right