One of the most overlooked drivers of predictable growth is alignment between sales and marketing. When these two teams operate in silos, companies waste resources, confuse customers, and frustrate reps. When aligned, revenue growth accelerates, campaigns perform better, and sales cycles shorten. This article explains why sales and marketing alignment matters, practical strategies for achieving it, key metrics to track, and the role of Revenue Operations (RevOps) in building a unified...

Sales operations, often called SalesOps, is one of the most misunderstood — and most critical — functions in modern revenue organizations. When done well, SalesOps quietly powers growth, efficiency, and predictability. When missing or weak, sales teams struggle with chaos, inaccurate forecasts, bloated admin work, and inconsistent performance. This article explains what sales operations is, what SalesOps teams actually do, the tools and analytics they own, how they optimize...

Every sales manager eventually faces the same challenge:a salesperson who isn’t hitting their numbers. Handling underperforming sales reps is one of the hardest — and most important — responsibilities in sales management. Do it poorly, and you risk losing revenue, morale, and credibility. Do it well, and you can turn struggling reps into consistent performers, strengthen team culture, and protect long-term growth. This article provides a complete, practical framework for...

A sales manager’s success is not defined by how well they can sell —it’s defined by how well they enable others to sell. The transition from top-performing salesperson to effective sales manager is one of the hardest shifts in business. It requires an entirely new skill set: leadership, coaching, analysis, communication, and strategy. Many sales managers fail not because they lack effort, but because they rely on the wrong skills. This article breaks down the core skills...

Sales compensation plans are one of the strongest behavioral levers in any sales organization. What you pay salespeople — and how you pay them — directly shapes how they sell, what they prioritize, and how long they stay. This article explains how sales compensation plans work, breaks down salary vs commission, explores bonus models and OTE, and outlines best practices for designing fair, motivating, and scalable comp plans. 1. What Is a Sales Compensation Plan? A sales...

Sales management software sits at the center of modern sales organizations. It connects people, process, and performance into one system of record. Without it, managers operate blindly, reps waste time on admin, forecasts are unreliable, and growth becomes chaotic. This article explains what sales management software is, what it should do, how leading platforms compare (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive, and others), and how to choose the best tool for your team. 1. What Is Sales...

Setting sales goals and quotas is one of the most critical responsibilities in sales management. Done well, goals motivate teams, drive focus, and create predictable growth. Done poorly, they lead to burnout, missed targets, high turnover, and distrust in leadership. This article provides a complete, practical guide to setting sales goals and quotas, including methodologies, examples, top-down vs bottom-up approaches, quota fairness, and how to adjust goals over time. 1. What Are Sales...

Sales management is one of the most demanding leadership roles in any organization. Sales managers sit at the intersection of people, process, pressure, and performance. When things go well, growth feels unstoppable. When things go wrong, issues compound quickly. This article breaks down the most common sales management challenges, explains why they happen, and provides practical, proven solutions to address them effectively. 1. Why Sales Management Is So Challenging Sales management is...

Pipeline management is the engine room of sales management. You can have great salespeople, strong leads, and a solid product — but without effective pipeline management, revenue becomes unpredictable, forecasting breaks down, and deals slip silently through the cracks. This article explains what pipeline management is, why it matters, how to manage a pipeline effectively, and best practices used by high-performing sales teams. 1. What Is Sales Pipeline Management? Pipeline...

Sales coaching is one of the highest-leverage activities in sales management. Companies that coach their salespeople consistently outperform those that rely only on hiring, incentives, or pressure. The difference between an average sales team and a high-performing one is rarely talent alone — it is coaching quality, frequency, and structure. This article provides a deep, practical guide to effective sales coaching techniques, including proven frameworks, step-by-step tutorials, example...

Training a sales team is one of the most impactful investments a company can make. Even the most talented salespeople underperform without structured training, and hiring without onboarding often leads to lost revenue, low morale, and high turnover. A strong training program ensures reps understand the product, the process, the buyer, and the skills required to succeed. This article provides a comprehensive guide to training a sales team, including onboarding strategies, frameworks, skill...

Sales territory management is one of the most overlooked yet powerful levers in sales performance. Many sales teams struggle not because their reps are weak, but because territories are poorly designed, unfairly assigned, or misaligned with market potential. When sales territories are managed well, sales teams: focus on the right opportunities reduce internal conflict improve productivity increase revenue without adding headcount When territory management is weak,...

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are the central nervous system of modern sales organizations. Without a CRM, sales management becomes reactive, fragmented, and heavily dependent on individual memory and spreadsheets. With a CRM, sales leaders gain visibility, control, and predictability. Yet many teams use CRMs poorly — or treat them as glorified contact lists. When implemented correctly, a CRM is not just a tool; it is a sales management system that improves...

Sales and marketing are often talked about as if they are the same thing — or worse, treated as opposing teams. In reality, sales and marketing are distinct but deeply interconnected functions, each with its own purpose, methods, and success metrics. When businesses misunderstand the difference between sales and marketing, they experience: poor lead quality missed revenue targets internal conflict wasted budget When they understand and align the two, growth...

Sales forecasting is the backbone of predictable growth. When forecasting is accurate, companies can hire confidently, invest wisely, manage cash flow, and set realistic goals. When forecasting is weak, leadership is forced into reactive decisions, missed targets, and unnecessary risk. Despite its importance, sales forecasting is often misunderstood, poorly implemented, or overly optimistic. Many teams rely on gut instinct or last-minute pipeline reviews instead of structured, data-driven...