10 questions to tell if your sales structure is holding your company back

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March 13, 2012 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise The Leaderboard    Strong leaders have strong personal brands Leaders have personal brands that affect their success, Duane Dike writes. "If culture is understood and personified by leaders, organizational members will more likely work in ways supportive of organizational productivity and quality," he writes. Management-Issues (U.K.) (3/12)      3 secrets of a successful transition to sales management Salespeople who have been promoted to sales-management positions typically don't get much guidance on how to excel in their new roles, writes Janet Spirer. During this transition, it's important for new sales managers to redefine their relationships with their sales teams and to build relationships with others in management positions, she writes. They should also become accustomed to the expectations of the company leaders whom they report to. SalesTrainingConnection.com (3/12)      Learn How to Cut HR Costs Without Cutting Production Entrepreneurial execs know that they need to follow the rules, but they may not realize which decisions will lead to the two vital components that help keep HR costs low. The following paper focuses on minimizing human capital expenses in four key areas. Download the white paper, An Executive’s Guide to Cutting HR Costs to learn more. Sales Strategies    Feeding marketing intelligence to sales closes the loop Persona-based mapping of content to lead-generation campaigns is among seven suggestions for aligning sales and marketing. Enabling sales with marketing intelligence on buyer engagement, behavior and activity can close a loop and create sales efficiency. MarketingProfs (3/12)      10 questions to tell if your sales structure is holding your company back This article provides a 10-question quiz that you can use to determine whether it is time to alter the structure of your sales organization. If you discover that your organization isn't working properly, you can address it internally or by hiring a consultant, writes Scott Gruher. Sales Benchmark Index/Sales Force Effectiveness blog (3/11)      How can you help your company get well sooner? Visa Healthcare cards reduce paperwork, reimbursement checks and mailing costs, making your job go faster and more streamlined. They also provide employees convenient access to health-benefit funds, which means happier employees and increased enrollment. Visit visa.com/healthcare to learn more. Daily Data Points    State governments continue budget cuts States are facing a collective $47 billion budget gap for the fiscal year that starts in July, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. While tax revenues are improving along with the economy, states are struggling with the costs of health care and pensions, and cash boosts provided in recent years by the federal stimulus are running out. Some economists cite continued state budget cuts as a force holding back economic growth. The Wall Street Journal (3/12)      Leveraging Cloud Security to Weather Threatening Storms Web attacks and retribution campaigns are on the rise, and they have become more frequent, more random and more extreme. This paper assesses the current cyber threat environment and discusses the use of distributed cloud services as an effective means to protect against evolving, modern-day IT threats. On the Road    Airlines tinker with seats, seating patterns to attract travelers The airlines are spending lots of thought and money on lie-flat seats and the perfect cabin configuration -- one that provides total passenger comfort but won't result in lost seats. The aim is to attract the profitable business-class traveler who flies long distances. Side- and rear-facing seats are becoming common, this feature notes. The Wall Street Journal (3/8)      Other News Rising cost of fuel will affect business travel, FAA says Los Angeles Times (3/8)      Advertising alone is not a complete mobile strategy. Learn how to use every mobile opportunity to your advantage. Download our report “Beyond Mobile Ads: 3 Tips for Your Mobile Marketing Strategy” and learn how marketers are building closer ties with on-the-go consumers as they surf, search, share, and consume entertainment on their mobile devices. App Update  Infor introduces software that integrates with Salesforce.com Infor has introduced Inforce Everywhere, which is designed to integrate the company's enterprise resource planning capabilities with Salesforce.com. The product can import data from Infor's ERP systems into Salesforce.com's CRM service. Infor's new product costs $30 per user per month. PC World Business Center/IDG News Service (3/12)      Other News App lets you stream March Madness games on your phone Forbes (3/12)      Featured Content    Why John Burges Left Wall Street to Head Up a Gold Mining Outfit Melanie Hicken 4 Ways to Better Manage Gen-Y Dan Schawbel Female Entrepreneurs Seek Capital and Connections at SXSW Jane Applegate 5 Lessons From NBC's 'The Voice' on How to Differentiate Your Brand Denise Lee Yohn Ethics and Social Media: Where Should You Draw The Line? Sharlyn Lauby Making Small Talk  BBH Labs courts controversy with "homeless hot spots" An advertising stunt and not a hot new interactive service is the talk of the South by Southwest Interactive festival. BBH Labs deployed a team of homeless people in Austin, Texas (in partnership with a local shelter), to tote around 4G Mi-Fi, creating temporary hot spots for festival attendees. Many bloggers wrote that they thought the effort was crass and exploitative. Mitchell Gibbs, director of the local shelter, disagreed, saying, "It's an employment opportunity, regardless of who is offering it." The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (3/12), Wired.com/Epicenter blog (3/12), TheAtlantic.com (3/12)      Position Title Company Name Location Sales Engineer WSI Hamamatsu Corporation San Diego or San Jose, CA Full-Time/Part-Time Assignments Available Brand Solutions central Nationwide, United States Senior Sales Manager Mariott International Washington, DC Click here to view more job listings. SmartQuote  Being a good leader is so simple; it's surprising there are so many bad leaders." --Duane Dike, manager of entertainment operations at Disneyland, writing at Management-Issues      SmartBrief on Sales Partners SmartBrief delivers need-to-know news in over 100 targeted email newsletters to over 3 million readers. All our industry briefings are FREE and open to everyone—sign up today! 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