As you know, ClearEdge publishes a monthly e-newsletter, ClearEdge Connects, to offer valuable tools and insights to our clients. This month we’re sending out this special edition to address a critical business issue that keeps most business executives up at night: SALES!

Are You Losing Sleep Over Sales?

While sales numbers keep senior executives sleepless the country over, it’s not from all the capital they’re pouring into it. Surprisingly, sales is something many companies do not invest in. For those of us who live and breathe sales and marketing, it’s remarkable to see how determined businesses are to regain market share, yet often overlook investing in sales. But that’s only one of the confusing sales practices amid this recession that is doing little to pull companies quickly toward greater opportunities and recovery. Here are five more:

	Retaining under-performing sales people too long
	Failing to measure performance and hold sales or sales management accountable
	Skipping on-boarding processes for new members of the sales team, which means a longer ramp-up time to meet sales goals
	Not documenting sales processes, best practices and training (or even just sharing tools and strategies among peers!)
	Conducting haphazard RFP responses between sales support and administrative staff rather than establishing thoughtful, efficient RFP responses

In the following series of articles and blogs, ClearEdge shares the many sales lessons and best practices we’ve learned and experienced in our many years of supporting sales processes, teams and programs. Although your company may be investing in sales, I’m certain you will find items in this toolkit rich in ideas for strategically and robustly tackling your sales challenges. Next time you can’t sleep because you're worried about sales, I challenge you to ask yourself what you're doing to invest in it. We encourage you to share these insights with members of your team to help your organization race out of the recession and into recovery.

Sales Blogs & Business Article Resources from ClearEdge

Blogs...

	Why Sales Process Optimization is Mandatory for Long-Term Success
	It’s All About the List: List Development Strategies that Enhance Your Marketing Campaign (3 part series)
	On Your Mark…Get Set…Lay the Groundwork for Future Sales
	A Different Kind of Evangelism
	Scored that Sales Meeting? Prepare to Give the Perfect Pitch
	Selling: It’s Not All About You

Articles...

	Getting in the Door & Beyond The Disciplined, Profitable Persistence of Target Account Programs
	Get in Their Heads—And Stay There: How to Stay Top of Mind with Key Decision Makers
	Case Study from one IT professional services firm who optimized their sales process and strengthened their go-to-market strategy

So here’s my immediate sales advice: Solidify your sales strategy, strengthen your sales team and stay in front of clients and prospects in value-added ways. These practices—which you can read about in detail in the resources above—will lead to increased sales productivity and success in winning a greater piece of that hard-to-get business pie.

I look forward to speaking with you soon and, as always, am here to discuss ideas anytime you'd like.

Best regards,

Leslie Vickrey
Founder & President
ClearEdge Marketing

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Managing Partner
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