Happy New Year, planning
Clari Groove
Now part of the Clari Revenue Platform. Follow @Clari to get the latest news and updates.
October 22, 2021
Welcome to?The Closer, Groove’s weekly round-up of notable news from the frontlines of the sales industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDUSTRY NEWS
Happy New Year, planning
Autumn leaves and pumpkin-spice lattes can mean only one thing: it’s time for annual sales planning! Okay, maybe they can mean more than one thing, but the point is that sales leaders should be squarely focused on setting their teams up for success in 2022. Some might say there is no right or wrong way to tackle annual sales planning, but they’d be wrong. That’s certainly the opinion of Forrester analyst Robert Munoz, who has dutifully outlined?two major pillars of your sales annual planning portico . From revenue engine alignment to leveraging data-driven insights, Robert outlines what you need to know to ensure executional success.
Quitting time
“Quitters never prosper.” “Winners never quit.” Platitudes about the perils of quitting have been around forever, but they appear to be carrying little weight for a good portion of the US workforce. The term “The Great Resignation” was coined six months ago, but what many felt would be a short-lived statistical blip is actually accelerating. However, when you look at the data, most of that activity is happening at low-paying jobs in sectors like travel and hospitality. If you’re paying and treating your employees well, you’re in a good position to weather the storm. Check out this Insider article to learn about the potential impact of The Great Resignation on workers, employers and the economy . There’s actually some good news on that last point.
IN THE GROOVE
Stay Groovy, San Diego
In addition to beautiful weather and endless beaches, San Diego is quickly gaining another reputation: tech hub. Today, San Diego is home to more Groovers than any other location, and we’re rapidly expanding our team in America’s Finest City?. We could go on about how our $45 million Series B funding will help us?double Groove’s San Diego workforce , but The San Diego Union-Tribune tells the story best. If you’re interested in making San Diego even more Groovy,?check out our job openings . Unlike Ron Burgundy, you won’t immediately regret that decision.
Three times as Fast in San Francisco
We would be remiss not to mention that we’re also growing and thriving at our corporate headquarters in San Francisco. Groove was just named to the?San Francisco Business Times’ Fast 100 ?list of the fastest-growing private companies in the Bay Area, and we are proud to announce that we came in at #16. Whether you consider yourself more NorCal, SoCal, Pacific Northwest, or even none of the above,?Groove is hiring across all locations and departments .
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
Sales team six
An elite sales team may never be able to deftly rescue hostages from a well-guarded terrorist compound, but they can apply their own unique set of skills to save your company’s quarter or even its year. Just like in the military, creating an elite “Sales Team Six” in your organization will require process, commitment, and discipline – and that starts at the top. According to Lance Tyson, the CEO of the eponymously named sales training company The Tyson Group, there are?six drivers that sales leaders should focus on to create an elite sales team ?within their organization. It’s time to see what’s possible with your own “bring-in-the-green berets.” (Editor’s note: Management distances itself from the preceding pun in the strongest way possible.)
From one seller to another
There’s a lot of sales planning and rejiggering this time of year, and there’s one thing you don’t want to get lost in the shuffle: your customers. As you look to change up sales territories and customer account tiers, you will likely need to assign existing customers to new reps. Transferring accounts to other sellers comes part and parcel with managing a sales team, but it does introduce some risk. Fortunately, there’s not one thing you can do about it. There are four. Gartner analyst Dave Egloff lays out more than three?ways that CSO can mitigate the risk of customer account transfers .
--
Congratulations. You’ve reached the end.
We love that you found The Closer on Linkedin, but there’s an easier way to stay informed. If you fill in this?high-tech newsletter subscription form ,?we’ll send the next issue straight to your inbox.