Talent has changed. One of the most frequently asked questions today is how to find top inside sales talent.  What should you be looking for? Hunters? Snipers? Hybrids? And how should you be developing this talent?  What type of expectations should you have? How about stack ranking your talent?  This is an exercise managers should do on a regular basis to keep you focused and sharp on your talent. 1. Start by developing a stack-ranking criteria. Try this one: Activity call volume, # of meetings, # of new deals in pipeline, General Productivity and Efficiency, Product Knowledge, Partner Relationships, Systems and Tools Knowledge, Sales

It’s almost the end of summer: barbecues, watermelon, sandy feet, #45 suntan lotion, beach towels, and bumble bees. Or at least getting bit by something. Ouch! Recent studies on consumer behavior have compared it to the flight of the bumble bee. As Erich Joachimsthaler wrote in his Flight of the Bumble Bee article: “Consumers behave more spontaneously with short attention spans and short bursts of actions. They make decisions instinctively focusing on solving a specific need at particular time and place. They shop in spare moments, they search while on the go, they buy on a break by picking up