The fact is, better customer experiences are better for business. Great CX means your customers are happier, feel taken care of, and are more loyal, all of which leads to more profits. It takes the right tools and data to fuel those experiences, and a lot of it is already at your fingertips. Your customer service team knows a lot about your customers - how they actually use your products, what’s working and what’s not, and what they want to do.

Whether it’s Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, most businesses use spreadsheet tools. In fact, if you're a small to medium sized business (SME), it’s likely that spreadsheets are your main way of tracking sales performance. However, there is one huge downside to both Excel and Google Sheets – data visualization. When it comes to visualizing your KPIs, spreadsheets are not a great tool for helping people quickly and easily understand what’s going on.

If you’re reading this, you probably have a solid idea of what’s required for a strong sales team: The question is: which members of your team are handling all of this? If you expect your sales representatives to handle this avalanche of logistics while also closing deals, you’re setting yourself up for some seriously burned-out teams and major issues with efficiency. The secret to a successful modern sales team isn’t the closers—it’s the people behind the scenes.

When someone mentions direct sales, your first thought might be of a well-intentioned friend hawking health powders and supplements for some multi-level marketing company. While technically direct selling, that image doesn’t come close to describing the impact of the direct sales model. If you’ve waited in line for the new iPhone in front of the Apple Store, you’ve participated in direct sales.

You’re looking for a sales position and scouring the job postings. But it seems like every role requires at least one year of experience, which you might not have. Before disqualifying yourself from a sales career, you should know that your experience doesn’t have to come from an actual sales job—you just need to understand how to transfer your current skill set to the position you’re applying for.

It may seem like technology is dominating the world of sales today. But no matter how many ways we find to digitize workflows, save time, and cut costs, nothing has been invented yet that can replace genuine human-to-human interaction. The buyer-seller relationship can be the cornerstone of customer loyalty. Plus, it’s a gold mine of opportunities for cross-selling, SPIN selling, and upselling.

We’ve all heard the saying “a good product sells itself.” If only that were universally true. People might line up for the release of the newest iPhone, but it’s not only because of the product itself. It’s also because Apple has spent decades building impeccable brand credibility, a unique customer experience, and fantastic customer support. The phone is a perk of a fantastic sales experience.

Imagine you recently moved to a new city and want to find a yoga studio. You see a flyer on your office’s bulletin board promoting a studio that just opened a few blocks away. You show up for a session, only to learn that taking a single class requires a hefty membership fee. Feeling deflated, you walk out the door. Just because a consumer enters your store or website doesn’t mean you’ve secured their business.

Consumers aren’t always willing to make a purchase on a whim. It can take days, weeks, or even months of careful thought before they commit to buying. And if you wait to interact with them until the end of their decision-making process, you’re missing out on profitable sales opportunities. That’s where the buyer’s journey comes in.

When you really think about it, launching a new product is terrifying. You’re taking what you believe is a unique selling proposition and telling the entire world about it in hopes that people will give you money for your idea. It’s bold entrepreneurship whether you’re a huge company or a tiny startup—and it’s scary. With fear, anticipation, and deadlines running you ragged, product launches can spiral downhill faster than you can say your elevator pitch.