Less tricks, more treats

October 29, 2021

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

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Less tricks, more treats

One of the most frightening things a CSO has to deal with is losing valuable reps. It’s impossible to scare up a successful quarter when your sales team is down to a skeleton crew. Unlike the boogie man, the Great Resignation is real, and sales leaders should be doing what they can to stave off any bloodletting within their teams. Fortunately, Gartner analyst Dave Egloff has some hallowed advice for improving seller motivation and retention during these hair-raising times. None is a silver bullet on its own, but together they can help keep your sales team as happy as a vampire at a blood bank. Oh, and…Happy Halloween!

RE RO&I

If you’re not trying to figure out the ROI of RO&I solutions, there’s a good chance you’re wondering what RO&I is in the first place. However you might feel about the seemingly out-of-control number of acronyms in Sales, RO&I is one that’s worth getting to know. According to Forrester, Revenue Operations & Intelligence is an evolving new category that enables GTM teams to “continuously improve execution performance and optimize the revenue engine across multiple areas.” If you’re still confused, don’t fret. Forrester Principal Analyst Anthony McPartlin takes a close look at the RO&I category and why it’s now core to a GTM tech stack . Head on over to the Forrester blog to get the 411 on RO&I ASAP.

Do it for the culture

At the onset of the pandemic, no one knew if the quick shift to remote work would be a temporary or permanent affair. Fast forward a year and a half, and it’s clear that most businesses have embraced the model with virtual arms. As organizations adjust their operating plans to support remote and hybrid working models, there is one thing they are paying very close attention to: company culture. Zoom and Slack are good first steps, but technology solutions alone are not enough. Insider takes a look at how organizations can foster vibrant cultures virtually, where employees feel motivated, appreciated, and connected .

IN THE GROOVE

A look back at RevenueNext

It seems like just yesterday that Groove held its virtual (for now) quarterly customer conference RevenueNext, but if calendars are to be believed, it was actually two weeks ago. There’s so much to remember from that day - getting inspired by the Groove State of the Union address,? learning how to build a high-performance, predictable revenue engine with Elastic, and hearing best practices for enhanced ROI reporting from Aptitude 8. Good times. If you were able to attend and want to relive the magic, or you simply want an idea of what the event is all about, check out the Groove blog for some video clips from three popular RevenueNext Fall 2021 sessions .??

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

The future of sales, statistically speaking

If you’ve had the chance to meet Zoltar, the famed fortune teller, at an amusement park or pizza parlor, you know that he is always eager to tell you your fortune from his plywood and plexiglass palace. However, if you want to know the future of sales, it would be far more effective to identify the trends by interviewing thousands of buyers and sellers across the globe. We’re fortunate that LinkedIn gave Zoltar the brush-off and took a more scientific approach for its Global State of Sales 2021 report. In looking at the data, LinkedIn found five statistics that are shaping the future of sales . They may not be as entertaining as a Zoltar fortune, but they are far more useful.

Gaps in your Sales DNA

When driving down the freeway, what’s hiding in your blindspot can make changing lanes an extremely dodgy affair - especially if you’re driving a fancy low-slung sports car or suspicious-looking panel van (no judgment on either). In the world of sales, not knowing what’s in your blind spot can also cause a deal to swerve into the center-divider, bounce back across four lanes of traffic, and land upside-down in the emergency lane. If you want to accelerate your deal in the fast lane, Joe DiDonato, chief of staff at sales training firm Baker Communications, identifies six sales competencies that are most likely to harbor dangerous blindspots .

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