RAIN Group Sales Blog

The Virtual Selling Checklist below will help you make the transition to virtual selling as you wrap your head around three key components to success:

Selling: While many of the principles remain the same (i.e., building rapport, uncovering needs, inspiring with new ideas, building an impact case, etc.), how you go about doing these in a virtual environment is drastically different.
Meeting technology and experience: From audio and video to lighting and background, you need to manage the experience to make it as seamless and pain-free as possible for your customers.
Productivity: Working from home opens the door to distractions and disruptions, so it's important to proactively manage your time, environment, and goals.

Complimentary Guide: 9 Principles of Virtual Learning Success

Erica Stritch
April 29, 2020

Since the global pandemic of 2020 began, virtual training has become an imperative. But designing and delivering effective virtual training is more the exception than the norm.

Virtual training failure is all too common.

That’s because virtual training that works is still in its infancy, and most organizations struggle to convert what works for in-person training to a virtual environment.

On-Demand Webinar: 9 Key Principles of Virtual Learning Success

Erica Stritch
March 18, 2020

COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated changes in how business is done around the world. With employees working from home, travel bans, and new developments daily, virtual training has become an imperative.

But many organizations have never done virtual training, and many L&D and sales enablement professionals are looking for new ideas and approaches. It’s easy for virtual training to fail, so how do you make it truly successful with so much riding on it?

[New Research] Top Performance in Sales Negotiation

Erica Stritch
February 12, 2020

What are the best strategies for success in sales negotiations? What do buyers really want? Which tactics work best for buyers? For sellers? How is negotiating with procurement different?

The RAIN Group Center for Sales Research recently studied 713 buyers and sellers in a major global study to answer these questions and more. We analyzed data from 449 buyers representing $2.59 billion in annual purchases and 264 sellers in over 26 industries across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

[On-Demand Webinar] The State of Sales Negotiation

Erica Stritch
February 5, 2020

Whether you work on a sale for 9 days, 9 weeks, or 9 months, you can lose it in an instant during the negotiation.

Even if you win, you may watch your margin slip away, the buyer piecemeal the product or solution set, or find yourself fighting against any number of hardball tactics.

Plus, many sellers make serious negotiation mistakes that drive down profits and damage customer relationships.

5 Data-Backed Ways to Crush Your Sales Goals in 2020

Erica Stritch
January 8, 2020

It's 2020 and now is the time to begin executing on your plan to blow the doors off your sales goals.

But where should you begin? What’s going to make the biggest difference? What are others doing that's working today?

To answer these questions, we looked across our sales research studies and pulled out 5 key ways Top Performers stand out compared to The Rest.

Happy Holidays from RAIN Group

Erica Stritch
December 23, 2019

Wishing our clients, friends, readers, and followers a very happy holiday season and joyful New Year.

It’s truly an honor to be a part of your journey as you and your team unleash your sales potential and achieve your goals. Your success is our success, and we look forward to working together in 2020 and beyond.

From all of us at RAIN Group: Happy Holidays!

RAIN Group's Best of 2019

Erica Stritch
December 18, 2019

Throughout the year, our goal is to provide you with research, ideas, and insight to help you unleash sales potential and crush your sales goals.

From blog posts to new white papers, ebooks, infographics, webinars, and research, we've published an abundance of content in 2019 to help sellers, sales managers, and sales leaders reach top performance.

Below we've rounded up our most popular content from the year that will guide you on your path towards sales success.

On-Demand Webinar: 20 Sales Tips in 20 Minutes for 2020

Erica Stritch
December 11, 2019

With 2020 less than a month away, it’s time to think about what sales success looks like for you in the new decade.

Are changes in buyer behavior affecting your sales success? Are your accounts buying as much or as often as they could be? Are you losing big in negotiations?

[New White Paper] The 5 Most Effective Negotiation Tactics Buyers Use on Sellers

Erica Stritch
December 4, 2019

Picture this: You're meeting with your prospect after months of discussions. You have a great relationship. You did facilitated sessions, interviews, and organized a global team for the roll out. If you win, this will be your biggest close of the quarter.

All signs look a-go, but you still have one remaining meeting to work out, according to your prospect, "the key terms and conditions."

You walk into the room and hear…

"I've brought along my colleague, Darth CFO…"
"I can get that signed today if you give us this one last thing…"

On-Demand Webinar: How to Inspire Buyers with Ideas, Differentiate, and Win Sales

Erica Stritch
October 16, 2019

Sellers who win more often bring new ideas and perspectives to their buyers. In fact, 71% of buyers report that they want to talk to sellers early in the sales process when they are looking for new ideas.

But what ideas inspire buyers? How can you shape buyer agendas for action? How can you differentiate in sales?

[New Guide] The Complete Guide to Sales Training Success

Erica Stritch
September 11, 2019

Sales training is often approached with a car wash mentality: You're in, you're out, and you're ready to sell.

But this isn't how real learning happens. This isn't how you help sellers raise the bar and change how they sell.

It's time for an entirely new approach to sales education; an approach that overhauls the way sales training is conceived, designed, and executed over the long-term.

An approach that drives real behavior change and results.

[Infographic] 10 Ways to Achieve Your Top Sales Priorities

Erica Stritch
August 20, 2019

We recently surveyed 423 sales and enablement leaders and discovered their top 10 sales priorities for the year ahead:

[On-Demand Webinar] 3 Strategies to Overcome Sales Leadership Challenges and Achieve Priorities

Erica Stritch
June 19, 2019

Delivering value, making the ROI case, retaining customers, growing accounts, recruiting top talent, forecasting, implementing a sales process, utilizing sales technologies, winning against the competition, developing sales managers, coaching sales teams, generating leads, onboarding, productivity, compensation...

There's no shortage of challenges sales leaders face.

Recently, we surveyed 423 sales, enablement, and company leaders to uncover their top challenges and priorities, and how they approach them.

Top Sales Leadership Challenges and Priorities [New Complimentary Report]

Erica Stritch
June 12, 2019

What are the top challenges sales enablement and sales leaders face today? What are their top priorities?

Which are most difficult to tackle? How should they be tackled?

To find out, we asked 423 sales, enablement, and company leaders these questions.

This report contains our findings, including 3 initiatives that will help sales and enablement leaders address their challenges and achieve their priorities.

54 Sales Quotes to Motivate and Inspire [SlideShare]

Erica Stritch
May 29, 2019

Want to succeed in sales?

Need a little extra motivation?

Looking for inspiration and best practices?

You're in luck.

We've compiled 54 of our favorite sales quotes from RAIN Group's best-selling books, research reports, white papers, and award-winning blog that will inspire you and your sales team to reach top performance.

Defend Yourself Against Productivity Dragons [Infographic]

Erica Stritch
April 18, 2019

Something new vies for your attention every few minutes: emails, text messages, collaboration tools, phone calls, co-workers, meetings, customers, and the list goes on. The result? Productivity suffers.

But with discipline and preparation, you can defeat these productivity dragons.

We know it's possible because we recently surveyed 2,377 professionals to find out which habits and hacks, when applied in different combinations, drive not only productivity, but also top performance versus peers, job satisfaction, and happiness. With only 14% of people rating themselves Extremely Productive (The XP), there's a huge opportunity for 86% of people to take control of their time, achieve top performance, and slay their productivity-killing dragons.

This infographic teaches you how to take advantage of that opportunity.

Maximizing Sales Motivation: 3 Habits and 9 Hacks to Get More Motivated [On-Demand Webinar]

Erica Stritch
March 20, 2019

There's no denying that having a highly motivated sales team ready to give their full energy and effort day in and day out has a huge impact on your organization's success.

But how exactly can you increase your motivation and that of your team?

In this on-demand webinar, RAIN Group President John Doerr will share 3 Habits and 9 hacks proven to boost
sales motivation.

RAIN Group's Best of 2018

Erica Stritch
December 12, 2018

Each year, our goal for the RAIN Group Sales Blog is to provide you with research, ideas, and insight to help you unleash sales potential.

From blog posts to new white papers, ebooks, infographics, webinars, and research, we've published a treasure trove of content in 2018 to help sellers, sales managers, and sales leaders reach top performance.

Below we've rounded up our most popular content from the year that will guide you on your path towards sales success.

The Top 5 Opportunities for Sales Growth in 2019 [On-Demand Webinar]

Erica Stritch
December 5, 2018

The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.
-Peter Drucker

With the New Year less than a month away, it's time to think about what will be different in the year ahead.

Where will you direct your focus to reach your goals and grow your sales? What are the opportunities for your organization? What do you need to do to seize them?

In this webinar, RAIN Group President Mike Schultz shares data from the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research on sellers, sales leaders, and buyers, uncovering the biggest opportunities for sales growth in the year ahead.

[Infographic] The Sales Leaders' Guide to B2B Sales Growth in 2019

Erica Stritch
November 27, 2018

Seventy-five percent of purchases are strategic, meaning the buyer is making an investment and not required to buy.

Yet only 14% of buyers discover these strategic opportunities from sellers.

If you want to grow your sales in 2019, the opportunities are out there and very few sellers are taking advantage.

How can you build a team that closes this gap?

In this infographic, we share the biggest opportunities—according to our research from both buyers and sellers—for B2B sales growth in the year ahead.

50 Powerful Sales Questions [Complimentary Guide]

Erica Stritch
September 12, 2018

Asking incisive questions is an essential part of any sales conversation.

Great sales questions help you find out what's going on in your buyer's world. They help you connect with buyers, understand buyer needs and what's important to them, and help you drive the sale forward.

In this guide, we share 50 of the most powerful sales questions you can use in your conversations.

[Infographic] Fact vs. Fiction: The Sales Prospecting Edition

Erica Stritch
May 30, 2018

Sales prospecting has changed more than any other facet of sales in the last 10 years. There are a lot of clickbait articles with radical advice popping up and leading sellers astray.

In our new benchmark report, Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, we undertook a study of 488 B2B buyers and 489 sellers to find out what's working and what's not in sales prospecting.

In this infographic, we contrast 5 popular assumptions about prospecting with facts from the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research.

Infographic: 30 Must-Know Sales Prospecting Stats and What They Mean for Sellers

Erica Stritch
April 24, 2018

How many attempts does it take to break through to busy buyers?

What offers are most accepted?

Do cold meetings convert to new business?

In our new benchmark report, Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research uncovered the answers to these critical prospecting questions. With data from 488 B2B buyers and 489 sellers, we've cracked the code on what works in prospecting today.

This infographic highlights 30 must-know stats from our research and analysis and what they mean for sellers in today's world.

Lead Nurturing: 3 Things You Need to Know

Erica Stritch
April 18, 2018

In sales, you have a finite number of hours in a day. Most of those hours are spent on the immediate sales opportunities in your pipeline—those buyers who have a need they are looking address and a timeline to act. These buyers receive the majority of your time and attention, and rightfully so.

But what about the buyer you met at a conference or have had an initial sales call with that was "interesting" and "valuable" but goes nowhere? Or the buyer who downloads something from your website but is just "seeing what's out there?" What do you do with buyers who are a perfect fit for your company, but don't have an immediate need?

This is where lead nurturing comes into play.

On-Demand Webinar: How to Break Through and Secure Meetings with Busy Buyers

Erica Stritch
March 14, 2018

Buyers are awash with information, bombarded with sales and marketing messages, crazy busy, and tasked to do more with less.

Yet they still want to hear from sellers and they still accept meetings with sellers who reach out to them proactively.

82% of buyers will accept meetings with sellers who reach out.

The sellers who secure these meetings achieve significantly greater success with a much different approach.

RAIN Group's Best of 2017

Erica Stritch
January 3, 2018

Each year, our goal for the RAIN Group Sales Blog is to provide you with research, ideas, and insight to help you unleash your sales potential.

From regular blog posts to new white papers, ebooks, webinars, and research, we have, and will continue to release valuable insight on what you as a seller can do to set yourself apart from the rest.

In case you missed some of our new sales content this year, we've compiled a list of our top 10 most popular content pieces from 2017 that will guide you on your path towards sales success.

Infographic: 9 Ways to Crush Your Sales Goals

Erica Stritch
November 14, 2017

Most sales are won and lost based on one key factor: You.

You hold the keys to your sales success. Competitors don’t win because their offerings are more impressive. They win because they deliver a superior sales experience.

You can too.

[On-Demand Webinar] Win Labs: A Comprehensive, Repeatable Process for Winning More Sales

Erica Stritch
May 10, 2017

When you look at your pipeline, do you see opportunities that just won't move?

Do days, weeks, and even months go by with the same opportunities staring back at you?

Worse yet, are you losing more of your opportunities than you'd like?

No doubt, these are the same opportunities that would make the biggest difference to your quarterly results if only you could crack the code.

Infographic: 5 Sales Skills to Differentiate Your Team

Erica Stritch
April 25, 2017

In our recent Top-Performing Sales Organization study, we were particularly interested in the sales skills that stood out when sellers not only met their goals, but also believed their goals were challenging.

Are Your Sales Goals Achievable? It May Be Impacting Your Motivation

Erica Stritch
December 14, 2016

Everyone needs motivation to tackle different types of tasks/challenges. Whether it's hitting your personal sales goals or achieving your weight loss goals, people can't do it without some type of driving motivation.

4 Ways to Respond When a Buyer Says, 'We Already Work With Your Competitor'

Erica Stritch
November 30, 2016

Here's the situation: You get an introductory conversation with a great buyer—someone who fits your target profile to a T.

Not long into the conversation, however, the buyer says, "We already work with one of your competitors to do this."

What do you do next?

[New White Paper] Competencies of Strategic Account Managers

Erica Stritch
October 12, 2016

As part of our research this year, we have learned:

The number one priority of sales leaders for the upcoming year is to increase business with existing accounts.
Since 2012, there has been a marked increase in growth potential within existing accounts.

[New White Paper] The Future of Consultative Selling

Erica Stritch
April 18, 2016

Since the term was coined in 1970, consultative selling has been the most widely accepted—and pursued—sales approach. For the following forty years, advice for how to sell had mostly been a variation on the consultative selling theme.

[New White Paper] 8 Drivers of Sales Performance

Erica Stritch
January 25, 2016

In the mid-1990s, a fairly common sales strategy was to give a seller a desk, a phone, a business directory, and say, "Go."

Fast forward to today, and selling has become significantly more complex. Companies report ever-increasing challenges regarding product and service commoditization, proliferation of competition, and more informed and sophisticated buyers.

Infographic: 8 Tips for Beating Your Sales Goals

Erica Stritch
December 8, 2015

Even small improvements in win rate can have a huge impact on revenue.

Based on findings from The Top-Performing Sales Organization Benchmark Report, the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research has identified 8 key areas that contribute to higher win rates that will help you beat your sales goals and reach Top Performer status this year: