CSOs open their wallets

January 28, 2022

Welcome to?The Closer, Groove’s weekly round-up of notable news from the frontlines of the sales industry.

INDUSTRY NEWS

CSOs open their wallets

If you got a 17% raise, what would you do? Buy a new car? Remodel the kitchen? Drop some cash on eBay to complete your Beanie Baby collection? Many CSOs are finding themselves in this position, according to new research from Gartner. In 2022, 73% of CSO are expecting their budgets to increase, and they are looking to invest in three key non-stuffed-animal areas: sales operations, sales technology, and digital commerce. Before you spend the extra money, Gartner has?three tips sales leaders should consider when making new investments.

Compensation Rumination

Speaking of money, no topic is dearer to a salesperson’s heart than how much of it they’re going to get. If you want to motivate your sales team to hit lofty goals, you need a compensation plan to back it up. However, creating an effective compensation plan is only half the battle. To win the sales team buy-in war, you also need to roll it out effectively. Sure, money talks, but you want to control the message. If you want to cash in on some sound advice, check out what?Forrester analyst Phil Harrell has to say about rolling out sales compensation plans . It’s money.

IN THE GROOVE

Operationally speaking

Here at The Closer, we share a lot of articles about revenue operations. And, no, it’s not because we’re getting paid by a secret underground organization that controls all things RevOps. (They’re notoriously tight with their money.) Instead, we cover it because it’s quickly become a vital and indispensable function of any successful B2B organization. That’s why we’re happy to report that?Groove has upped our RevOps game by hiring Craig Thomas as SVP of Operations . Craig isn’t just a 30 year-industry veteran with a proven track-record helping high-growth companies like Oracle, Apple, and Jasper scale their operations. A big reason he’s here is because of the success he had rolling out Groove at ThousandEyes.

Diversity matters

The Closer also likes to have fun with the sales news of the day, but there’s one topic we take very seriously: diversity. Groove firmly believes that organizations are strongest when they bring people together with a diverse set of perspectives, backgrounds, and ideas. That’s why we’re proud to be part of a new video from Salesforce celebrating diverse-owned businesses in the AppExchange. Find out how Capital One works with diverse-owned partners to change banking for good with a culture of belonging . Plus, hear Groove’s co-founder, Austin Wang, share his thoughts about the influence that his immigrant parents had on his drive to make Groove successful.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Optimize Prime, Sales Transformer

Athletes optimize their performance with protein shakes and creatine. The Real Housewives optimize with injectables. But how should salespeople optimize their performance? Just tracking sales volume puts you at a disadvantage against your competition. That’s because there are so many other important sales metrics to pay attention to. From call and conversion tracking to lead qualification rates and call effectiveness, sales engagement platforms can help you optimize your sales team. Start paying attention to a broader range of sales metrics and watch your sales performance soar. Not sure where to start? We made it easy for you by writing a blog all about the?sales metrics every sales leader should know .

A match well played

A sales deal is like a game of chess: you have to be strategic when challenging your opponent. But isn’t the buyer always right? Why would you challenge the buyer? Because a small challenge can lead to a big reward on a sales call. However, if you do not know the buyers’ industry, business, situation, or pain points, you aren’t going to close that deal, and you can even ruin your company’s reputation with a wrong move. Before you blunder, read?three tips on how to effectively challenge your buyer ?on the LinkedIn Sales Blog.

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