There's more to sales than revenue

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July 30, 2012 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise The Leaderboard  Why you need to stay on top of industry trends The most effective sales leaders set up their companies for future success by monitor key trends, Par Edin, Oskar Lingqvist and Åsa Tamsons write. In addition to identifying the correct trends, leaders need to avoid overwhelming themselves with too much information. "You need information to help make decisions -- investments, resource allocations, hiring -- not awe-inducing spreadsheet models to impress particle physicists," they write. Harvard Business Review online/HBR Blog Network (7/26)       Sales Strategies  There's more to sales than revenue Revenue is important, but it's not the only factor you should focus on when you're managing a sales operation, Jim Keenan writes. You should also use data such as average deal size and the length of the sales cycle to manage your salespeople. "When you look beyond revenue, you create more levers to pull," he writes. "The more levers you can pull, the healthier your sales organization." A Sales Guy blog (7/26)       How to prepare to negotiate Salespeople might be able to protect their profit margins by refining their negotiation skills, John Kenney writes. It's important to understand what the customer is looking for and what you are willing to give up, he writes. "Planning for negotiations does not have to be time-consuming or complicated. But it must be organized," he writes. Sales Benchmark Index/Sales Force Effectiveness Blog (7/25)       Other News How to make sales more productive The VAR Guy (7/26)       Daily Data Points  Prospect of strong recovery fades as U.S. growth falters The U.S. unemployment rate is expected to hold at 8% as economic growth loses momentum worldwide. Preliminary data indicate that gross domestic product growth in the U.S. slowed to 1.5% in the second quarter, compared with 2% in the first quarter and 4.1% in the fourth quarter. MarketWatch (7/29), CNNMoney (7/27)       Other News Slowing economy bodes poorly for ad-spending growth MediaPost Communications/MediaDailyNews (7/27)       Report: 44% of companies to boost online-marketing budgets in 2013 Brafton.com (7/27)       Strategies from Sales & Marketing Management  Cracking the mystery of customer satisfaction You don't have to use "Mission: Impossible"-style spy gadgets to obtain the type of qualitative data on prospects that truly gives you a competitive advantage. Instead, approach like a forensics investigation and you will be amazed at the clarity of insight you can gain. Sales & Marketing Management (7/30)       On the Road  Many credit cards offer car-rental insurance Many credit cards -- including those offered by Visa, American Express and other companies -- provide car-rental insurance, writes Dave Johnson. To use this insurance, you have to charge the whole bill to the card and refuse the insurance policy provided by the rental place. It's a good idea to consult with your credit card company to learn more, he writes. CBS MoneyWatch (7/24)       App Update  The best apps to satisfy your Olympic obsession Several applications -- including Buddy TV Guide, NBC Olympics and Reuters Olympics London 2012 -- can help you to follow all of the action at the Olympics. For example, the Reuters app shows some of the most compelling photographs from the competition. Mashable (7/27)       Most Read  Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Sales readers in the past week. 4 types of terrible sales managers (TopLine Leadership Blog) How sales managers should spend their time (OMGHub.com) Why some companies pay new hires to quit (AzBiz.com (Tucson, Ariz.)) How to handle buyers who nearly know it all (Sales Benchmark Index) A handy guide to Excel Tables (PCWorld Business Center) Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Featured Content    Report: Customers Still Prefer Company Websites to Facebook Courtney Rubin Don't Overlook the Obvious when it Comes to Business Trends Rieva Lesonsky How to Strategize at Your Next Conference Carla Turchetti Hiring Young Adults: Good or Bad for Business? Angela Stringfellow Marketing to Women? Keep These 3 Facts in Mind Stephanie Buck Most Popular Headlines from Last Week Age Discrimination: A Cautionary Tale Courtney Rubin Should You Jump on the BYOD Bandwagon? Courtney Rubin 5 Ways Our Colonial Forebears Kept Stress at Bay Mike Michalowicz Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Making Small Talk  The weird stuff Olympic athletes eat Olympic athletes don't always eat the kind of healthy foods you would expect. For example, beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh enjoys frozen waffles in the morning, and sprinter Usain Bolt ate yams and chicken nuggets during the Beijing Games. FoxNews.com (7/26)       Editor's Note  SmartBrief exclusive from Guy Kawasaki SmartBrief on Small Business is proud to share an exclusive chapter from best-selling author Guy Kawasaki's new book, "What the Plus! Google+ for the rest of us." In return for updating your SmartBrief profile, we will give you Chapter 6 of Kawasaki's book on Google+ -- "How To Share Posts" -- absolutely free. Learn more here.       Position Title Company Name Location mHealth Sales Executive Voxiva Inc. Washington, DC Account Manager - Online Ad Sales Publishers Clearing House Port Washington, NY Click here to view more job listings. SmartQuote  Yes, it may be the sales team's fault that you aren't closing enough sales. But is it because they can't sell, or is it that they need more information to apply the skills they already have?" --Kendra Lee, president of KLA Group, writing at The VAR Guy       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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