Sales

• Most Topular Stories

• Productivity Tips for Sales Teams With iPads and Tablets

  Score More Sales

  Lori Richardson

  11 May 2012 | 8:30 am

  photo courtesy of Apple(R) Did your team receive iPads or other tablet PCs and you find them under-utilized? As a long time PowerPoint user myself, I have felt guilty about my iPad being my glorified Evernote platform and e-mail source on the road. Ashley Furness, CRM Market Analyst at Software Advice recently wrote about this very issue – teams of salespeople have received or will received tablets but do not have clear deployment plans. One company we know bought them to appear to be on the “cutting edge” over their competition, but they don’t do anything unique or…

• 3 Sales Tips From Two-Year Olds

  Score More Sales

  Lori Richardson

  14 May 2012 | 7:55 am

  Before I got into professional selling, I was a preschool teacher who worked with two-year olds. We were licensed for 12 two-year olds in our room within a daycare center, and I had two assistants. For anyone who knows me now, it may be hard to believe that I did that for five years, utilizing my degree in education. I actually loved it, but unfortunately, it didn’t pay the bills. I got into professional, business-to-business selling and made a wonderful career out of it – but what I learned from two-year olds stayed with me years later. It was reinforced after hanging out with…

• Setting Up a Home Office on a Tight Budget

  AllBusiness.com - Home Page Top Stories

  16 May 2012 | 1:41 am

  Personal finance expert and author Linsey Knerl tells AllBusiness.com about the best ways for home-based businesses to save money while building a fully functional home office.

• Local SEO vs National SEO How is Local SEO Different

  SEO Blog

  22 Apr 2012 | 10:03 am

  Like many companies, SEOs start out small, in their local neighborhood, and grow out from there. You are more localized until you build up your reputation, at which time you can grow beyond your smaller geocircle. So how is helping small to medium businesses rank in their trading area different than ranking nationally? Local SEO is the answer.

• Sales Lessons from the Two Best Sellers I’ve Ever Seen

  Sales and Sales Management Blog

  Paul McCord

  23 Apr 2012 | 10:10 am

  I wrote this post about four years ago and am bringing it back as a reminder that what we do really isn’t nearly as complicated as we sometimes make it out to be.  In essence all we need is a solid process and a good understanding of human nature, both of which we can learn a good deal about from Mr. B.J. and Ms. Chloe. In just under 30 years in sales I’ve had the opportunity to meet thousands upon thousands of salespeople. Some have been very good, many not so good, and a few phenomenal. But there are two that I know that are simply the best salespeople I’ve ever met. They work as a…

• 

  Heavy Hitter Sales Blog

• Game Changer Provides FREE B2B Contact Data

  Steve Martin

  9 May 2012 | 3:43 pm

  Wow! There is Revolution Happening in the World of B2B Prospecting Data Providers! I remember when I was VP of Sales and had to pay thousands and thousands of dollars for prospecting lists. At the time there were a couple of main data providers and they controlled the prospecting data marketplace so they were free to charge whatever they liked. Worse yet, negotiating with them was a frustrating ordeal and even after paying all them all this money, my inside sales teams and field reps would continually complain about the quality of the contact information.  Well, I am excited to tell you…

• Book Review: Heavy Hitter Sales Linguistics-101 Advanced Sales Call Strategies for Senior Salespeople

  Steve Martin

  16 Apr 2012 | 1:54 pm

  The editorial objective of Think Sales magazineis to empower, motivate and inspire sales leaders with strategic knowledge, tactical skills, and management insights. Below, is Think Sales Magazine Editor Andrew Honey’s review of Heavy Hitter Sales Linguistics: 101 Advanced Sales Call Strategies for Senior Salespeople.   At first glance, the book Heavy Hitter Sales Linguistics: 101 Advanced Sales Call Strategies for Senior Salespeople,by Steve W. Martin may not resonate with sales leaders. That is a critical mistake for one simple reason - competitive advantage. In 24 years of running…

• Why Did I Lose the Sale? 6 Win-Loss Analysis Questions

  Steve Martin

  22 Mar 2012 | 10:10 am

  I’ve had the privilege of conducting “Win/Loss/No Decision Sales Cycle Analysis Studies” for leading companies including IBM, EMC, ATT, Acxiom, and PayPal. To accomplish these studies I have interviewed hundreds of C-level executives and countless mid-level managers and lower-level personnel. Click here to learn more about Win-Loss Analysis.   Losing is always hard. Learning you are the loser in the eleventh hour of a deal is a frustrating, humbling, and embarrassing event. In this circumstance, perhaps it’s time to honestly ask yourself the following six questions. 1. Did I…

• A Salesperson's Most Important Competitive Weapon

  Steve Martin

  22 Feb 2012 | 10:39 am

  Today’s customers are smarter and more sophisticated, and technology has become a way of life for them. For example, our cars have global positioning and mapping systems based upon satellite communications. The appliances in our kitchens turn themselves on and off. Our entire music collections are carried on digital devices the size of a deck of cards. We take pictures, play games, and send text messages to friends with our cellular phones. Over Nintey-five percent of all homes in the United States have personal computers. Via the Internet, customers can research products, prices, and…

• Closing Techniques Using Sales Linguistics

  Steve Martin

  29 Jan 2012 | 3:50 pm

  Harvard Business Review is arguably the most prestigious publication for business leaders and management thinkers. Here’s one of my recent Harvard Business Review articles about how to use Sales Linguistics to close sales calls. It is based upon my new book Heavy Hitter Sales Linguistics: 101 Advanced Sales Call Strategies for Senior Salespeople. Remember the last time you were being pressured into doing something you didn't want to do? Whether the pressure came from a boss, colleague, spouse, or child, your natural response was to resist and push back. It's human nature to resist…

• 

  Score More Sales

• Analyzing Sales Opportunities in Your Pipeline

  Lori Richardson

  16 May 2012 | 10:05 am

  Do You Have a Sales Funnel? Are you part of a B2B sales organization proactively looking each week at what deals are in your sales funnel (or sales pipeline)?  You probably fall into one of three camps: A. You have a robust, helpful CRM tool that gives you several helpful reports which you can review each week, and lists you can easily pull up on a just-in-time basis. B. You have a poor CRM tool, perhaps not cloud-based and it is difficult to use with poor reporting capabilities. Basically you work around this system if you work in it at all. C. You have no CRM system and use some…

• 3 Sales Tips From Two-Year Olds

  Lori Richardson

  14 May 2012 | 7:55 am

  Before I got into professional selling, I was a preschool teacher who worked with two-year olds. We were licensed for 12 two-year olds in our room within a daycare center, and I had two assistants. For anyone who knows me now, it may be hard to believe that I did that for five years, utilizing my degree in education. I actually loved it, but unfortunately, it didn’t pay the bills. I got into professional, business-to-business selling and made a wonderful career out of it – but what I learned from two-year olds stayed with me years later. It was reinforced after hanging out with…

• Productivity Tips for Sales Teams With iPads and Tablets

  Lori Richardson

  11 May 2012 | 8:30 am

  photo courtesy of Apple(R) Did your team receive iPads or other tablet PCs and you find them under-utilized? As a long time PowerPoint user myself, I have felt guilty about my iPad being my glorified Evernote platform and e-mail source on the road. Ashley Furness, CRM Market Analyst at Software Advice recently wrote about this very issue – teams of salespeople have received or will received tablets but do not have clear deployment plans. One company we know bought them to appear to be on the “cutting edge” over their competition, but they don’t do anything unique or…

• 3 Sales Tips to Turn Competition Into Your Industry Counterparts

  Lori Richardson

  8 May 2012 | 9:02 am

  In business-to-business selling we do a lot of war room planning against competitors. In fact, discussing competition often sounds like being in a war. What if you disarmed the thought of competition – and instead used a term I call, Industry Counterparts?  Here are the subtle differences: Competitors are rivals, opponents, seekers, and claimants. They seek to take what we believe is ours – namely our prospective customers. They are rivals for the food on our tables and the clothes on our backs. Industry Counterparts are people and companies in your market niche. They are in your space…

• Sales Funnels and Sales Contests

  Lori Richardson

  2 May 2012 | 2:19 pm

  It is true that the shape of the journey of the buyer toward making a purchase is less about looking like a traditional funnel and more about a cloud or MindMap type of drawing. Even so, I was thrilled to receive this funnel in the mail from one of the attendees at my talk on productivity for inside sales professionals at the AA-ISP Leadership Summit a couple weeks ago. Thanks to Sean from Park Place Technologies who was nice enough to actually drop a funnel in the mail to me. Here is what Sean told me they do with these at his office: When a sales rep is working within a block of time to…

• 

  Understanding the Sales Force

• Basketball and the Difference Between Sales Studs and Sales Duds

  Dave Kurlan

  14 May 2012 | 8:51 am

  Understanding the Sales Force by Dave KurlanI heard former NBA all-star and current ESPN basketball analyst, Bruce Bowen, talking about Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics.  He characterized Garnett as one of the toughest competitors on the court, unlike some younger, very talented players who aren't as competitive and don't know how to close out games.  He said the difference is that Garnett is trying to win while the less competitive players are trying to make friends. I've been talking about Need for Approval being one difference between the elite 6% of salespeople and the bottom…

• The Other Rejection - How Salespeople Struggle to Cope

  Dave Kurlan

  9 May 2012 | 12:45 pm

  Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan My colleague, Frank Belzer, just posted a terrific, thought-provoking article on Rejection.  Please read that first for the rest of my article to have the proper context. Five years ago, Passive Rejection wouldn't have been an article topic because back then, it was rare to not get your repeated calls returned.  By contrast, today it's unusual when a prospect returns one of your first 5 voicemail messages! Let's take a deeper look into Passive Rejection.  Frank mentioned a former colleague who handled Active Rejection just fine…

• Do Chain Reactions Like This Really Occur When Selling?

  Dave Kurlan

  8 May 2012 | 11:22 am

  Understanding the Sales Force by Dave KurlanMary always succeeded in finding new opportunities, but her weaknesses, especially her Need for Approval, Discomfort Talking About Money, and Tendency to Become Emotionally Involved, would usually interfere with her ability to gain traction and close the sale.  During the past year, she has improved enough so that she is not only finding new business, but closing it too.  But she isn't out of the woods yet. One weakness where she hasn't yet made progress is her Discomfort Talking About Money.  When that weakness gets in the way,…

• The #1 Top Key to Keeping Salespeople Motivated Revealed Here

  Dave Kurlan

  6 May 2012 | 10:35 pm

  Understanding the Sales Force by Dave KurlanOver the years, you have worked with many salespeople and oftentimes their success, or lack thereof, didn't correlate as much to their skills as it did to their Desire or Motivation for sales success.  Desire is how badly one wants to succeed, and Motivation is what drives them to success.  I've written many articles about Sales Motivation, but let's take a slightly different path today. What is actually behind sales motivation? I'll skip over intrinsic motivation (pride, mastery, satisfaction, recognition, love of…

• The 5 Keys to Effective Sales Coaching and Results

  Dave Kurlan

  2 May 2012 | 8:35 am

  Understanding the Sales Force by Dave KurlanOne confusing component of effective sales management is that great sales management skills don't always translate into great sales results.  This phenomenon is most obvious when a company hires a terrific, new sales manager, who possesses all the desired skills, and the manager fails to have an immediate impact.  Worse, in many cases, is when the inherited salespeople rebel!  This scenario also occurs when sales managers go to seminars, watch video clips, read books or blogs, and attempt to extract specific skills and tips but…

• 

  Fresh Sales Strategies Blog

• Don't do what this guy did at a sales meeting

  14 May 2012 | 5:27 am

  I am mortified by what I'm overhearing at the table next to me ... I don't mean to be eavesdropping. But I couldn't help but listen in when the guy next to me in the coffee shop started selling his consulting services to another businessman. In the past 30 minutes, he's asked maybe two questions. Aargh! That in itself drives me crazy. Here's just a snippet of what I'm hearing, as well as my commentary on the mistakes he's making. Establishing Credentials: "I've been president of a company which we took nationwide. I'm also doing lots of consulting and now I'm coaching entrepreneurs just like…

• [Video] Ask prospects these questions to pique their curiosity

  10 May 2012 | 5:27 am

  Why is it important to pique your prospect's curiosity? The answer is simple. It creates an opening for you to establish a relationship at the same time it positions you as an invaluable resource. So how do you do it? Here are a couple ways: You can make a statement about the results other companies have realized from working with you. For example, I might say this to the VP of Sales: "One of my recent clients was able to set up meetings with 87% of its targeted national accounts within 2 months." I can assure you that the VP is immediately thinking, "How did she do that? I need to learn…

• [Video] Why You Must Be a Visible Irritant When Prospecting

  3 May 2012 | 5:31 am

  Whenever I do a sales workshop, I get asked, "How often should I contact my prospects?" Salespeople want to know if once a week is too much -- or if they should wait longer before reaching out again. If this is something you're struggling with, here's a fresh perspective for you. VIDEO TEXT: If you're like most sellers, you worry about being a pest. You hate bugging a prospect over-and-over again. But I'm here to tell you something very different today. It's your responsibility to keep bugging them -- especially if your prospect told you that they're interested and really do want to…

• Are You Catching These Prospect Warning Signs?

  30 Apr 2012 | 5:52 am

  "Yikes," I exclaimed as a godawful screeching noise filled the car. We were driving downhill on a narrow twisting road in Escalante National Park enjoying the surreal landscape. It was the first day of our long drive home. "It's the brakes," my husband said calmly. Instantaneously, my eyes widened and my palms started sweating. I looked at the canyonlands far below and immediately realized there were no guardrails on the side of the road. "It's just a warning sign that they need replacing," he continued. "We'll need to change them when we get back to Minnesota." I breathed a huge sigh of…

• [Video] Don't Ruin a Prospect Callback by Doing This!

  26 Apr 2012 | 6:32 am

  Getting a prospect to return your phone calls these days is a real achievement. When that happens, you need to be at the top of your game, ready to quickly engage them in a relevant conversation. But what happens when you have no idea who's calling? VIDEO TEXT: After making a bunch of prospecting calls, have you ever had someone call you back and say, "Hi. This is Mike & I'm returning your call." And you think, Mike? Mike? Mike who? Your mind goes totally blank. You fumble for words and before you know it, you start sounding like a babbling idiot. It's happened to me too. That's why I had…

• 

  AllBusiness.com - Home Page Top Stories

• Setting Up a Home Office on a Tight Budget

  16 May 2012 | 1:41 am

  Personal finance expert and author Linsey Knerl tells AllBusiness.com about the best ways for home-based businesses to save money while building a fully functional home office.

• Web Advertising and CPM: A Quick Guide for Small Businesses

  16 May 2012 | 1:41 am

  Web advertising can be a confusing topic for small business owners. Here's a guide to the key concepts you need to know to make smart ad buying decisions.

• Build a Board but Don't Let Investors Boss You Around

  16 May 2012 | 1:41 am

  Investor's money often comes with strings attached. When an investor asks for a seat on your board of directors, will you be ready? Here's how to say yes -- gracefully and carefully!

• Vacation and Sick Leave Policies for Your Small Business

  16 May 2012 | 1:41 am

  The right vacation and sick leave policies can make your small business more competitive -- if they're done correctly.

• 10 Ways to Motivate Your Employees on the Cheap

  16 May 2012 | 1:41 am

  How can you keep employees working at peak efficiency when your small business doesn't have the cash to hand out raises? Try these 10 creative tactics.

• Photostream from Daylife

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

  Caskey Sales Training - Sales Strategy - Leadership - Indianapolis

• 3 Rules Of Selling By The Beastie Boys

  Jillian Vanarsdall

  14 May 2012 | 11:06 am

  Bryan Neale posted a blog last week that got tons of response. The essence of it was that we can learn a lot about selling from Beastie Boys’ song lyrics and it was all inspired by Adam Yauch aka MCA who recently passed away. OK…so it’s a stretch…but, in this podcast, Bryan and Bill address three of those lyrical riffs and explain how most sales people miss these insights–and thus lose sales. You can read the blog by clicking here.  Also, email us at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com if you have a question you’d like Bryan and Bill to answer. Also…

• Price Resistance Might Have Nothing To Do With Price

  Bill Caskey

  11 May 2012 | 8:16 am

  How you present things is how people see things. A few weeks ago, a sales person came into our office and was pitching a new water system. They talked about the features and benefits of their offer, but NEVER asked me any questions about what I wanted.  And then I told them the price was too high. If you’ve ever had a prospect say your price was too high, it could’ve been you forgot to ask the right questions.

• What Happens When Neediness Permeates Everything You Do?

  Bill Caskey

  10 May 2012 | 4:38 am

  Are you desperate for results?  Do you really need a sale to feel good about yourself? When we ask those questions in our sales programs, we get a resounding “NO!!!”  But the fact is, that when you listen to most people’s sales pitch and sales process, it is threaded with an element of neediness and desperation throughout. It’s not the sort of neediness that’s exhibited by begging.  It’s much more subtle than that. It’s that time during a presentation when you say, “So what do you think?”  Or that time at the very beginning of the process when you fail to plant your feet…

• Sales Lessons Inspired By The Beastie Boys

  Bryan Neale

  9 May 2012 | 11:22 am

  GENERATION GAP ALERT! ( If you’re over 45, you may need a younger person to translate) This week we lost a music legend. Adam Yauch aka MCA, who was the heart and soul of The Beastie Boys, passed away. While you baby boomers may take offense to putting a rapper in the “legend” category, for us Gen Xrs the Beastie Boys define our generation. So to honor MCA, I will attempt to find sales lesson inspired by Beastie Boys’ song titles. (Yes I’m listening as I write) I encourage you to do the same.   ROOT DOWN: I had a great training session with a client where…

• ‪How To Write An Email When A Deal Is Struck Or Stalled – Email Tips For Sales Professionals

  Jillian Vanarsdall

  7 May 2012 | 7:54 am

  In this video, Bill Caskey, Author of Email It — A Seller’s Guide to Emails That Work with 20 Pre-Written, Ready-to-Use Emails, discusses the most common questions on emailing he gets from his clients. This is one of the most common issues we’ve noticed: How does the seller deal with the sales process when it gets stalled? This email tutorial gives the EXACT framework you should use when you must write this email. *You can learn more tips on how to write emails to a prospect or your client at: ‪http://emailitsellersguide.com/‬   *VIDEO TRANSCRIPT* Hi. Bill Caskey…

• 

  Sales Training Motivational Speaker | Gavin Ingham

• The Sales Apprentice: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, 2012, Week 8

  info@gaviningham.net (Gavin Ingham)

  9 May 2012 | 6:14 pm

  So we’ve reached week 8 of the Sales Apprentice and we’re getting to the point where there are few people for our Apprentii to hide behind. With the teams now reduced to 4 against 5 and with 3 required to enter the boardroom from the losing team, everyone has to make sure that they perform well. Tonight’s task was to select two urban artists per team and then sell their paintings to both the public and to a corporate client selected by Lord Alan. With both teams “competing” to persuade the artists to pick them this is a double sale… first to the artists and then to the…

• The Sales Apprentice: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 7

  info@gaviningham.net (Gavin Ingham)

  2 May 2012 | 5:41 pm

  This week on the Apprentice we were back to the age old task of buying and selling. You know the one, Lord Alan give them a small amount of money, asks them to buy products and sell them on the street. The teams need to “smell what is selling” and restock  to make more sales and more profits. At the end of the task, the team with the most assets (cash + stock) would be the winner. With the tip that he wanted people to step up who had not been project leaders yet, we got Jade and Nick to lead the two teams. It quickly became apparent that Nick had a strategy and Jade did not. I am not…

• The Power Of Taking Responsibility…

  info@gaviningham.net (Gavin Ingham)

  2 May 2012 | 5:27 pm

  How important is taking responsibility? I mean responsibility for your own success. Responsibility for your own failure. Responsibility for the impact that you and your actions have on others. Responsibility for not being a jerk. Responsibility for not taking all of the accolades when they are there and dumping the doodoos on others when they are not. It is an important question and one that I believe could change your life and the lives of those in your teams should they choose to take this path. In my sales motivation talks and seminars I speak a lot about taking responsibility because I…

• Have You Lost Touch With Core Selling Hours? The Sales Apprentice 2012, Week 6.

  info@gaviningham.net (Gavin Ingham)

  25 Apr 2012 | 6:27 pm

  Do you make the most of your time? Do your salespeople make the most of their time? Does your business work in the most efficient manner? Important questions and ones that could make the difference between success and failure for you, for your teams and for your ultimate success. In my travels as a motivational speaker and author I meet a lot of salespeople, business leaders and entrepreneurs who are incredibly busy. People who are rushing from task to task and managing crisis after crisis. People who have back to back meetings, juggle staff, projects and to-do lists and who seem permanently…

• 7 Tips For Making A Great Presentation From The Sales Apprentice, Week 5

  info@gaviningham.net (Gavin Ingham)

  18 Apr 2012 | 5:50 pm

  Week 5 of The Sales Apprentice and this week’s task was to come up with a new fitness programme, create a demonstration video and pitch the concept to three fitness chains to try and license it to them. The team making the most sales would be the winner and one of the losing team would be fired. An interesting concept for a programme, slightly different from the norm but yet again another stretch for people with perhaps no experience in this area. The project managers for the week were quickly elected as Ricky, a recruitment manager, and Stephen who manages health club chains. Despite his…

• 

  turrisiassociates.com

• The 3 Secrets of a High Performing Sales Hunter

  Al Turrisi

  7 May 2012 | 1:41 pm

  The ability to prospect is first and foremost the most important sales skill for gaining market share and sales volume. Without the hunting skill nothing else will happen.   1-The Strong Hunter will prospect and prospect consistently making the same number of attempts to get in front of the decision maker per day, per week and per month. When the hunter makes the same number of attempts per day, over time they can then calculate how many attempts they need to get to the decision maker, to get the sale, measure the amount of sales volume gained, and then be able to adjust their attempts.

• Increase Sales and Profits - Decipher the Prospect Code and Pattern

  Al Turrisi

  20 Apr 2012 | 10:13 am

  Enabling you to increase your sales and market share, to become an added value provider, and outpace your competition you must understand and decipherer the prospect code, and break their patterns. If you are intrigued that’s good. If you are ready to stop reading you will miss the opportunity. You will be out paced by your competition, and they will gain the market share you were hoping to capture. First here are 6 factors to always remember when dealing with your prospect. They have very specific business objective they want you achieve. They are focused on increasing their market…

• 12 Steps to Your Business Development Sales Success

  Al Turrisi

  17 Apr 2012 | 10:58 am

  There is something very unique about you that can make you stand out from your competition. It is something that will draw opportunity to you. It will help you increase your sales volume, profits, market share, and it will help you overcome all sales obstacles. You will be able to hit your quotas consistently, get business that is not only based on price and be able to accomplish your dreams. Have high dollar tolerance goals for yourself and your company. Raise the bar for yourself and hold yourself accountable to a higher standard. Hold everyone in your company accountable to a higher…

• 11 Ways to Increase Market Share, Sales Volume and Profits

  Al Turrisi

  12 Apr 2012 | 3:42 pm

  Just like any other department in a company there must be specific processes and systems in place to have a strong and effective sales department. When you think about it the sales team are the warriors that go out to battle each day to win the business. It is not only a job but a duty to do the very best at capturing profitable sales every day. Sales people are the protectors of every person’s job and the families of every employee. 11 Ways to Increase Market Share, Sales Volume and Profits Manage the sales pipeline Manage and track the activities of the sales team Provide effective…

• The Secret -How to Sell Value, Increase Sales, Margins & Profits

  Al Turrisi

  10 Apr 2012 | 2:56 pm

  When the prospect invites you in to make a presentation you can count on a finite number of potential possibilities. The prospect has a compelling need and wants to correct an issue that is having a negative impact on their company. The prospect has one of your competitors servicing them and your prospect is either checking out the providers pricing or is dissatisfied with the incumbent and wants to switch to someone else. The prospect is taking a new direction and is looking to your industry as a provider. In any of these cases the prospect is doing what they do for their own reasons. One of…

• 

  The Sales Wars

• Great Sales Sins – Spaghetti Selling

  kdsasser

  4 May 2012 | 8:21 am

  Spaghetti Selling is one of the reasons that former programmers make lousy software sales guys or why former bank examiners, or worse, consultants, usually stink at the revenue generation profession. Why? Well first let’s clarify what we mean by spaghetti selling. You know when you cook spaghetti the easiest way to tell if the noodles are done is to throw on against a wall and see if it sticks, if it does its done. In spaghetti selling, you throw everything you know at your prospect and hope to hell something “sticks”. You pray for the “oh that’s interesting, I…

• The Wisdom of the Gatekeeper

  kdsasser

  4 May 2012 | 7:34 am

  One of the daily challenges for any sales warrior is trying to manage the position of the gatekeeper. These trained professionals a.k.a. “The Sales Prevention Team” are highly skilled at keeping us from sharing our incredible value with some of the most important business leaders in our territories. After much begging, pleading, cajoling, and water boarding (just kidding), one of our favorite gatekeepers agreed to share a small amount of her infinite wisdom on how we should treat those who stand between us and our decision makers. -From Michele Doucette – Gatekeeper Supreme…

• So we are re-launching

  kdsasser

  31 Dec 2011 | 3:56 pm

  While the popularity of the first generation of the Sales Wars exceeded our expectations in popularity, fun, and the ability to connect with new people; we decided it was time to relaunch the site, and update it with more best practices and productive discussions laced with relevant, yet slightly-disturbing humor. So we are starting with a clean slate, a new case of beer, and some friends of ours who made parole. We will be launching soon.   Thanks for your interest.   The Sales Wars Team Filed under: Business Humor

• The Back Button

  kdsasser

  23 Sep 2011 | 4:27 pm

  Years ago, one of my Sales Engineers was involved in a bake off at financial services firm in Manhattan. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a “bake off”, in the world of enterprise software is used to describe when a company, evaluating solutions, brings in a multiple vendors and submits their systems to a series of scripted tasks. The company’s evaluation team monitors the performance and attempts to get a handle on what they can reasonably expect from the system, and look for those hidden gotchas that may come back to bite them in the butt. Out of ten initial vendors, we…

• Top Ten Signs One of Your Reps is about to Leave the Company

  kdsasser

  21 Sep 2011 | 4:37 pm

  So you are a sales director or a regional manager and you have suspicions that some members of your team may be looking for a career switch. Here’s a quick reference to help you decide who is staying, and who is not. Signs Your Rep is About to Leave During sales demo, explains that, while not proven, he suspects that your new software has contributed to global warming Shows up to work, exceedingly happy, like a lifer whose just been given parole During cold calls, refers to your cutting edge solution as “that crap we sell” On casual Fridays, shows up wearing “Atlanta…

• 

  Sales and Sales Management Blog

• Book Review: The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out

  Paul McCord

  30 Apr 2012 | 2:31 pm

  What are some of the most difficult challenges in social media in recent years that you can think of?  Would being put in charge of social media for a company in the middle of a death spiral like GM be one of them?  I’d sure think so—trying to help turn around the image of a company that everyone knew was headed for bankruptcy and that many, many people felt should be allowed to die and who received massive, unpopular government dollar, creating the new cynical name of Government Motors. That sounds like a pretty tough gig to me.  And if one could even partially pull it off they’d be…

• Sales Lessons from the Two Best Sellers I’ve Ever Seen

  Paul McCord

  23 Apr 2012 | 10:10 am

  I wrote this post about four years ago and am bringing it back as a reminder that what we do really isn’t nearly as complicated as we sometimes make it out to be.  In essence all we need is a solid process and a good understanding of human nature, both of which we can learn a good deal about from Mr. B.J. and Ms. Chloe. In just under 30 years in sales I’ve had the opportunity to meet thousands upon thousands of salespeople. Some have been very good, many not so good, and a few phenomenal. But there are two that I know that are simply the best salespeople I’ve ever met. They work as a…

• Lessons for Sellers from the Unsocial Media

  Paul McCord

  11 Apr 2012 | 4:14 pm

  Is it just me or are others finding that they’re getting more and more brazen sales solicitations of various kinds from their new “friends,” “followers,” and “connections” than in the past? It seems that when I friend or follow or connect with someone I’m far more likely now than in the past to get a direct message or inmail or email thanking me for following and “as a special gift” they offer me a super duper deal on their services or books or whatever.  Often I’ll get an inmail thanking me for the connection and since they know that I’d love to follow their company…

• The Bittersweet Necessity of Tension and Conflict in Your Organization

  Paul McCord

  2 Apr 2012 | 2:10 pm

  “Donna, I’ve sat through three of your team’s executive meetings, one board meeting, and a couple of regional meetings.  One of your company’s biggest problems is there’s no conflict.  No one is challenging anything in the company.  Everyone gets along just fine, but it seems that everyone has taken getting along to the point that your team and your company are stagnant.  If you really want to see your team and your company grow, get some tension and conflict going.” I believe that at first Donna, the CEO of a mid-sized financial services company was so surprised and disturbed…

• Book Review: Power Questions by Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas

  Paul McCord

  1 Apr 2012 | 5:05 pm

  Despite what many think, selling isn’t about being the guy who “never met a stranger,” or the person who’s the life of the party, or even the person that makes friends easily.  Selling is about connecting with people, listening carefully to uncover needs and wants, and then solving those needs and wants. In short, selling is about communication. It’s really that simple. It’s also that difficult. What’s so hard about selling?  Most of us have been taught, whether overtly or not, that selling is about talking, about telling, about overpowering the prospect with verbiage. In…

• 

  Inside Sales Experts Blog

• Moving the Sales Needle

  Matt Bertuzzi

  16 May 2012 | 8:58 am

  Photo credit: zooboing  It is a sales truism that we've been given two ears and one mouth and they should be used in roughly that proportion. This is the classical sales ratio - 2:1. In recent years, there has been tremendous discussion and discovery around Sales as science, not art. I believe this to be true - at least in part. Sales is no longer a black box; a magical alchemy known only to the Sales illuminati. (Take a look at HubSpot VP of Sales, Mark Roberge’s Scalable Predictable Sales & Marketing presentation for great perspective on metrics-based management) The new…

• 8 Key Ingredients in Hire-to-Revenue Onboarding

  Trish Bertuzzi

  8 May 2012 | 8:02 am

   Hiring great Inside Sales reps has never been harder. Increased competition for top talent and supply lagging behind demand means that when we land that great rep we have to make their experience with us outstanding! It is as much about retention as recruitment, right? Our recent hiring infographic noted that 41% of reqs take 45+ days to fill. This is creating quite a revenue gap. I recently shared my thoughts about how you have to be interesting and different to draw talent to you. But let’s say you are successful, what then? How do you close the revenue gap…

• What you missed at the Inside Sales Leadership Summit

  Trish Bertuzzi

  20 Apr 2012 | 12:50 pm

  This week I had the pleasure of attending the AA-ISP Leadership Summit. Roughly 400 inside sales execs from a diverse group of industries were in attendance. What an awesome learning experience. I thought I'd share some of the quotes, data points & perspectives that really stuck out for me. When prospects blink On average it takes a prospect 2.7 seconds to decide whether to read your email or delete it. If you think the subject line isn’t important, think again! Via Jill Konrath (@jillkonrath) BTW, Jill did an outstanding (and entertaining) job as keynote. If you looking for a…

• 2012 Inside Sales Metrics Research

  Matt Bertuzzi

  4 Apr 2012 | 7:52 am

  I'm very excited to announce the launch of our 2012 Inside Sales Metrics Research. This will be our third research project in the metrics & compensation series - where we collect, analyze & share the numbers that drive B2B Inside Sales for tech companies.  If you are one of the 8,960+ Sales & Marketing Leaders who've download or participated in these reports over the last few years, thank you! What's the ask We are looking for Execs running inside sales at B2B technology companies to participate in our 6-minute web survey. Who can participate We are asking…

• You're Hired to Lead a Startup, What's First?

  Trish Bertuzzi

  27 Mar 2012 | 8:01 am

  A few weeks back, I came across this scenario on LinkedIn (slightly anonymized to protect identities). The CEO of a growth-focused company has hired you to oversee Sales & Marketing. Her company is doing north of $10M in revenue and just took a Series A round of funding to “aggressively grow its sales and marketing activity.” She has been focused like a laser beam on product and delivery. Marketing efforts consist mostly of tradeshows and webinars, generating leads for their Field team of 6. There isn’t great consistency in terms of how Sales is talking about the product…

• 

  Selling Financial Products by Michael Roby

• Monday Morning Jump Start #10: Summer Business Development

  Michael Roby

  14 May 2012 | 7:57 am

  Business development provides a challenge in the financial services industry. After a three month sprint leading up to tax filings, you often spend a month catching your breath, cleaning up, and maybe taking a little time off. Coupled with summer activities, vacations, and migrations this provides a perfect storm for a lack of summer productivity. What follows are summer business development activities which produce business and set up a fantastic fall finish, and hopefully your best year EVER, while allowing yourself personal time off for family and rejuvenation! Three distinct opportunities…

• Monday Morning Jumpstart #9; Bo Knows

  Michael Roby

  7 May 2012 | 5:40 am

  The man rides.  Over four days, he plans to ride his bike across the State of Alabama. In the heat and humidity of spring in the Old South, he rides on. At almost fifty years of age, he’s no longer a boy or even a young man. Fifty years ago, the thought of a black man riding a bike across rural Alabama would have been considered curious to downright dangerous. However, the man doesn’t ride alone. Over the four days and 300 miles the man will be joined by tens of others who choose to ride with him at a cost ranging from $200 – $10,000 dollars. Thousands will line roads to see him…

• Monday Morning Jumpstart #8; Building A Business In A Recession

  Michael Roby

  30 Apr 2012 | 8:22 am

  The economic numbers reported recently provide a dim picture of where we truly are in the economic cycle. Some of the news last week included: Jobless Claims Remain Elevated Fed Sees Economy Improving Companies See Slower Growth Ahead Middle Class Jobs Coming Back US Companies Betting Big In China Gas Prices To Keep Falling The Poor Stay Poor Don’t Blame The 1% For America’s Pay Gap To make this worse, these headlines all came from the same source (CNNMoney 4/26/12)!  NO WONDER ADVISORS ARE CONFUSED, TO SAY NOTHING OF THEIR CLIENTS! So what do YOU do? Who do YOU believe? And WHAT…

• Monday Morning Jump Start #7: Yes, I KNOW it’s Tuesday…

  Michael Roby

  24 Apr 2012 | 10:38 am

  Sometimes Monday starts out with the best of intentions… Yesterday was a tremendously productive day! Some of the accomplishments included: Helped annuity wholesalers craft exciting new sales ideas Discussed the basics of how to fire a sales assistant professionally and compassionately with a financial advisor, as well as providing a list of questions for the next interview Built a list of “What’s Next?” Closing Ideas for a client Delivered a script for an invitation video for a wholesaling company Guided a client to a better “Defining Statement” Refined…

• Monday Morning Jump Start #6: Seven Steps To Succeed In Business

  Michael Roby

  15 Apr 2012 | 4:13 pm

  Entrepreneurs dream of business success gone viral; serving a marketplace so well that customers and clients are compelled to buy! Success which results in wealth as a result of extreme, unique value creation. Success that continues and leaves a legacy due to innovation. To be successful one should consider studying the success of others. Many look to titans of business for inspiration. This strategy works, but maybe, just maybe we can draw massive inspiration from a young entrepreneur; maybe one as young as nine years old! But first, certainly much can be learned and inspiration can come…

• 

  The Sales Leader Blog by Colleen Francis of Engage Selling

• Podcast Series: Building Relationships Across The Entire Organization

  Colleen Francis

  16 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  Today I stress the best practices for maintaining customer loyalty. Asking for referrals,  involving yourself in customer’s personal interests, and business life, and building corporate rapport are all keys to understand.

• Sales Quiz – How Effective is Your Sales Compensation Plan Rollout?

  Colleen Francis

  15 May 2012 | 8:29 am

  Effective compensation plans can make or break your results. But no matter how good your plan is, if it’s not rolled out effectively it will sabotage your sales. Take the quiz and test your sales skills!   Dedicated to increasing your sales,      

• Got Grumpy?

  Colleen Francis

  14 May 2012 | 8:25 am

  Sometimes there is simply no way of making them happy… My niece Georgia was not a happy camper last week when the weather got warm but she still wanted to wear tights. She was hot but didn’t want to get changed… Turns out, a perfect recipe for a very grumpy girl. Unfortunately, identifying the landmines in advance with a six year old can be a bit tricky. And once they go off – there is often little that can be done. Now, I don’t want to explicitly draw parallels between a grumpy child and an unhappy sales person, but there are a couple of similarities. First and…

• Podcast Series: Delivering In The Post Sales Stage

  Colleen Francis

  11 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  Trust is built over time. In this podcast I explain how to build trust, including the important point of  NOT over promising and under delivering.  

• Sales Quiz – Group or Individual Coaching?

  Colleen Francis

  10 May 2012 | 8:48 am

  Few can argue that coaching improves sales results. But is it better to do group coaching or focus more on individual, one-on-one sessions? Take the sales quiz and test your sales skills! Dedicated to increasing your sales,

• 

  Marketo B2B Marketing and Sales Blogs

• 5 Content Marketing Lessons from Gene Simmons of KISS

  Jason Miller

  16 May 2012 | 10:42 am

  by Jason Miller With over 100 million albums sold worldwide, KISS is arguably one of the biggest and most successful bands on the planet. Led by the marketing genius that is Gene Simmons, they continue to reach new audiences while engaging lifelong fans. Gene Simmons may be best known as the fire-breathing, bass playing demon in one of the most influential rock bands in history, but he can also teach us a thing or two about content marketing. KISS is a rock n’ roll band, but it is also a business and Gene Simmons is the CEO. Gene has showcased his entrepreneurial  expertise through…

• Using Big Data as Revenue Driver: Interview with Data.com’s Andy MacMillan

  Jason Miller

  15 May 2012 | 4:37 pm

  by Jason Miller We are less than one week away from the 2012 Marketo User Summit and the lineup we have in place for keynotes includes the top thought leaders in sales and marketing. One of which is Andy MacMillan, Salesforce Data.com’s Senior Vice President of Products and Marketing. We are excited to welcome him to our blog to give us more details about Data.com and how businesses can use big data to drive revenue. Please provide a brief overview of your business. What do you do? When was it formed? How many employees do you have now? How is your company aligned to deliver/support…

• Loosening your Prospect’s Status Quo is Demand Generation Job #1: Three Ideas for How to Do It

  Jason Miller

  14 May 2012 | 2:19 pm

  by Jason Miller I’m pleased to welcome Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Corporate Visions, as a guest blogger. Corporate Visions helps global business-to-business customers create more sales opportunities, overcome the status quo, and win more deals by improving the conversations sales representatives have with customers. Tim has more than 20 years of experience in Marketing and Sales, and is the co-author of Customer Message Management: Increasing Marketing’s Impact on Selling. We are thrilled to welcome him. We’ve been Marketo customers almost since the…

• LeadMD’s Justin Gray Reveals 3 Components to Maximizing Marketing ROI, Industry Trends of the Future and More

  Jason Miller

  11 May 2012 | 1:56 pm

  by Jason Miller Here at Marketo we are very excited about our upcoming 2012 Global User Summit. We have a stellar lineup of keynotes including LeadMD CEO & Chief Marketing Evangelist, Justin Gray. We are pleased to welcome him to the blog to share strategies and best practices for attracting today’s elusive buyer and rising above the choppy economy to achieve unprecedented revenue growth. Please tell us a little bit about LeadMD and how your company aligns to deliver/support cloud services to your customers? Gray: I founded LeadMD in 2009 to help businesses generate and manage leads…

• Dave Kerpen Discusses How to Make Your Business “Likeable” With Social Media

  Jason Miller

  11 May 2012 | 11:57 am

  by Jason Miller Dave Kerpen is the co-founder and CEO of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing firm. He is the author of the New York Times best seller Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook, and speaks at dozens of marketing conferences and webinars each year. Marketo recently caught up with Kerpen to get his thoughts on a few hot topics regarding social media marketing. In the following three minute video Kerpen briefly discusses: How Likeable Media provides strategies to…

• 

  S. Anthony Iannarino

• Learn the Five Rules for Social Selling

  S. Anthony Iannarino

  15 May 2012 | 4:44 pm

  Learn the Five Rules for Social Selling is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino A few months ago, I was in Las Vegas for a conference. Chris Brogan was the keynote speaker. We had met each other on a few occasions at other conferences, so I invited him for coffee. During our long coffee, I said to Chris: “I really think salespeople could benefit from your approach to social media. They could learn a lot about how to use the tools to create opportunities.” Chris replied: “I think social media types could learn a lot about sales from your approach.” At some point, it…

• How Has This Blog Helped You?

  S. Anthony Iannarino

  14 May 2012 | 6:53 pm

  How Has This Blog Helped You? is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino I missed my anniversary. Yesterday marked my 1,000th post. The first post here is dated January 24, 2009, but I started writing in earnest on December 28th of that same year. Since then, I have written a post every day, with the exception of 13 days I spent in Tibet (I thought it poor form to miss Tibet and Mt. Everest. I was correct). I write because I am a writer. I can’t not write. I wake up in the morning excited to write, and I can’t wait to pour a massive cup of coffee and head to the keyboard. I…

• I’m Negative Because My Team Is Failing! Now What?

  S. Anthony Iannarino

  13 May 2012 | 9:09 pm

  I’m Negative Because My Team Is Failing! Now What? is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino Two days ago I wrote that negativity about your company is really an excuse, a diversion from the negative person’s own poor sales results. That’s my experience. It’s also my friend Mike Weinberg’s experience. Yesterday I wrote about how you can help make improvements within your own company without being negative and without being a complainer. And some time before that I wrote a post about some things you should consider before you quit your job. That post was also about making…

• How to Fix Your Company Without Being a Negative Complainer

  S. Anthony Iannarino

  12 May 2012 | 8:34 pm

  How to Fix Your Company Without Being a Negative Complainer is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino Negativity is dangerous. It can ruin your sales results, and it can infect the people around you. Misery may love company, but you shouldn’t be the President of the Misery club or provide that forum for others. But your company–like all others–has its fair share of problems and challenges. These problems and challenges can prevent you from producing the results that you need to, and they should be addressed. There is a way to get these outcomes without becoming…

• The Real Reason You Are Negative

  S. Anthony Iannarino

  11 May 2012 | 8:12 pm

  The Real Reason You Are Negative is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino At a certain point in life you begin to uncover some truths about human behavior. You start to understand why people behave the way they do, and you see clearly the beliefs that underlie those behaviors. Most people don’t make a conscious choice to be negative. They don’t wake up one day and decide that they are going to be a force for negativity and darkness or that they are going to ruin the people around them. I assume that everyone is acting with what they believe are the best intentions, but the…

• 

  RainMakers on Sales & Marketing Integration / 21st Century Sales

• Who wants to be a Millionaire?

  16 May 2012 | 6:37 am

  I have been lucky. Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work with people that came from ordinary backgrounds and did well. Along the way, I've had some very good conversations with some very smart people. I'd like to share two conversations and then summarize my point. The first is a conversation that happened between a group of nurses about the movie, Social Network. Short version is that the nurses did not like the movie. Back-stabbing, deceit, business before friendship. All in the name of business success. Now, if you think about it, this makes sense. Nurses are generally caring,…

• Sales E-Books and Sales Survey

  15 May 2012 | 8:11 am

  Many of you are new, but if you're paying attention, you should know that I'm all about real life. I share stuff that I do, no t that I theorize should work. If you've never worked with me and you want to see something work, contact me and we'll make it happen. So, in the spirit of real life, we're half way through 2Q12. How are you doing? On target? Slightly behind? Need to reboot? Have you read the e-book that I released at the end last year? "3 Things You Can Do Now 2 Get Sales in Two Weeks" Do you use or have you tried to use social media? If so, please take 5 minutes to take our…

• The #1 Reason to Hire a Sales Consultant

  14 May 2012 | 8:33 am

  I read and I have a short attention span. As a result of that combination, I'm attracted to one-line posts, titles with no bodies, and bullet points.Today, I read a title with no body posted by Owen Van Syckle (don't know him) on the Sales Gravy LinkedIn group. Here it is."Sales Tip: Sales success is out of your comfort zone."It reminded me of something that Steve Crowe said to me a few years ago. He was looking for me to help him grow his business, but he's kind of an introvert. After we spoke, he made this comment."I guess there's enough room in your shadowthat's outside my comfort zoneso I…

• $100,000 in 12 Weeks

  11 May 2012 | 9:14 pm

  It's now the middle of May. New Year's resolutions are long gone. 1Q12 is either in the bank or in the tank. 2Q12 is a question mark and some are starting to look forward to 3Q12, or even Labor Day because the nice weather really puts a damper on sales in May - August. I truly hope that this doesn't sound familiar, but trust me. Someone out there is saying, "That's me!" and hoping that I'm about to share the golden nugget that will end the downward spiral once and for all, turn sales around so that 2012 winds up being their best year ever. This post is for that person. I can tell you that…

• Social Un-Selling

  11 May 2012 | 1:31 pm

  Hot from my inbox: Yippee! I just got followed.So, as I usually do, I looked at their profile. Do you see what I see?2,000 followers. ZERO following? Obviously, whoever this is believes that they are the only ones worth listening to and are preparing to become experts at Twitter Spam. So they follow then un-follow immediately.I wonder how many of their followers auto-follow everyone that follows them, but never read a tweet? Let's stop this social unselling and forward, RT and repost this post to the rest of the world. We'll clean up the sales world one dope at a time!

• 

  Sales Sales Management Brew

• Simulate Sales Success When Hiring

  Tony Cole

  16 May 2012 | 11:11 am

  I just finished reading an article in Psychology Today that discussed the 'new' interviewing process of simulating the work situations that your prospective new hire will be faced with IF you hire them.  When determining if a sales person is going to be a successful as you anticipate this would be a great idea for you to implement NOW. For years as part of our recruiting program - STAR (Sales Talent Acquisition Routine) we have strongly suggested that you create an environment that you sales person will most likely encounter and potentially have trouble with.  There are a couple of…

• Sales Management Success Metrics

  Tony Cole

  9 May 2012 | 4:34 pm

  I started playing tennis seriously, or maybe semi-seriously, about 18 months ago.  When I started, I took some lessons, played some mixed doubles and practiced against a ball machine.  When I would hit against the ball machine back then, about 40 or 50 of the 200+ balls would end up on my side of the net.  When I practiced my serve, about 33% of the balls I served ended up on my side of the net.  Today, I hit against the machine and, of the 200+ balls, only about 20 were on my side of the net, and for every 10 I served, only one would be on my side of the net. I'm getting…

• Sales Progress Requires Change

  Tony Cole

  9 Apr 2012 | 8:02 pm

  When I was 42, my eyesight began to change.  I was coming back from Manchester, New Hampshire where I had just spent 2.5 days working with a sales team to help them improve their cross selling process.  It had been a long trip as I actually started in New York City on Monday and today was Friday.  So, when the words in my document appeared to be blury, I just thought it was due to fatique. The next morning, while reading the cereal box, I discovered that the problem wasn't fatique; it was my eyesight.  Astigmatism had hit me in my early 40s and so for the last - several -…

• Market Research - Time Spent and Sales Success

  Tony Cole

  9 Apr 2012 | 4:20 pm

  Thank you in advance. Over the last several years, our team at Anthony Cole Training Group has worked closely with David Kurlan in our attempt to help sales companies build and execute more successful sales team.  We work with Dave because his company, Objective Management Group, provides the best analytics to determine the root cause of performance for sales teams.  The data and insight gained from the assessment will tell you why the sales team is succeeding in growth or why there is a lack of growth.  The analysis of systems, priorities, processes, strengths,…

• Start with "No" Then Get On with "Yes" to Sales Success

  Tony Cole

  2 Apr 2012 | 12:36 pm

  I am terrible with keeping up with other blogs.  There are 3, that when I read them, I really enjoy and benefit from. They are: Dave Kurlan - The Sales Assessment Expert Seth Godin - The Purple Cow Author Bill Ecstrom - The Data and Sales Management Piller Guru Here is Seth's recent post: The coalition of "NO" There are a million reasons to say no, but few reasons to stand up and say yes. "No" requires just one objection, one defensible reason to avoid change. "No" has many allies--anyone who fears the future or stands to benefit from the status quo. And "no" is easy to say, because you…

• 

  Fill the Funnel

• SlideShark Launches Significant New iPad Features

  Miles Austin

  16 May 2012 | 5:05 am

  It is always encouraging when a company listens to its customers and today Brainshark did just that with the release of a significant upgrade to their market-leading iPad presentation tool – SlideShark. By resolving the frustration of converting your PowerPoint masterpiece in all it’s glory to your iPad, SlideShark was already a big hit. Yet we still wanted more as we integrate iPad into every aspect of our sales activity. With today’s announcement, the following enhancements are available: iPad 2 and new iPad users, when connected to an external projector or TV, can simultaneously:…

• LinkedIn Acquires SlideShare

  Miles Austin

  3 May 2012 | 5:54 pm

  LinkedIn announced the acquisition of the popular slide-sharing and hosting service SlideShare. With the substantial cash and stock power behind LinkedIn’s IPO, they have added to their momentum of expanding into additional productivity web tools. SlideShare currently hosts 9 million presentations, with 29 million monthly unique visitors to its own site as well as traffic to embedded versions on more than 1.4 million domains. It has been available either as a stand-alone solution and also available as an integrated Application within LinkedIn itself. Many users, including me have used…

• How Ideas Spread

  Miles Austin

  27 Apr 2012 | 12:16 pm

  StoryJuice-How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow “You know it when you hear it. That great story or idea. That one that’s got “juice” – energy, excitement, possibility. That is what this ebook is about.” I want to try something new with you today. A friend recently shared a link to an eBook that I found to be very helpful on the topic of How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow. The book is called StoryJuice.  You can either make it full page and read it here (93 pages) or open it, click on full screen option and then click  on “Download Original” in the…

• Small Business Sales Game Changer

  Miles Austin

  24 Apr 2012 | 7:17 am

  Radius launches first SMB sales intelligence tool! If you are selling to the small business marketplace, you know how you struggle to obtain current information and data for companies with fewer than 100 employees. Dun & Bradstreet, Jigsaw/Data.com and other well-known names do a commendable job of providing this information for larger companies but fail miserably for small businesses. With this launch, Radius provides the first sales intelligence web tool exclusively focused on the SMB market, “a huge market – 65% of the U.S. economy – that is currently underserved.” Radius…

• Your Preferences on Webinars-Share Your Views

  Miles Austin

  6 Apr 2012 | 4:43 pm

  Webinars have become one of the most popular learning platforms available for both presenters and for participants. The question of attending webinars that you have to pay for has been coming up frequently and I thought I would ask Fill the Funnel readers to share your thoughts on the following questions: Experts on this topic have been touting the following recommendations: Best day(s) for a webinar: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday Best time for a webinar: between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm Eastern Best Length: 60 minutes So once again, I thought I would ask you to tell us if those assumptions…

• 

  Latest Sales Machine Headlines - CBS News

• Key account selling: The unwritten rules

  16 May 2012 | 6:05 am

  Like baseball, selling to large organizations is governed by an unofficial code of conduct

• Persuasion that prospects love

  15 May 2012 | 10:57 am

  Help your prospects make decisions faster by giving them a persuasive mental shortcut

• Among the faithful: Learning from Warren Buffett

  11 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  Despite being diagnosed with cancer, the renowned investor was in fine form at Berkshire Hathaway's annual investor meeting

• 4 blunders when communicating change

  9 May 2012 | 5:45 am

  Companies often make serious mistakes when announcing major organizational changes -- here's what to avoid

• Promote your company with a book

  8 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  Publishing a book on your market or industry can make you an expert and get your company attention fast

• 

  Get Clients: How to Attract and Win More Professional Service Clients

• 7 Practical Strategies For Winning Clients You Can Implement Today (Free Webinar)

  Ian

  10 May 2012 | 4:05 pm

  A few weeks ago, one of my clients asked me: “if you were starting again from scratch and needed to get clients fast – what would you do?” It’s a great question. And I know many people are in a position where they just can’t wait for long term strategies to pay off. They need clients quickly. So I’m going to run a webinar revealing the top 7 strategies you can implement to start geting clients fast. Strategies that will have an immediate impact on your business. The webinar details are below – I hope you can join me. 7 Practical Strategies For Winning…

• Google’s “Zero Moment Of Truth”: Why They’re Right And Why They’re Wrong

  Ian

  9 May 2012 | 6:27 pm

  A few weeks ago Google launched their first business book, ZMOT: Zero Moment Of Truth. You can download a pdf for free at the ZMOT site. The concept of the book is simple. Google have taken the model of shopping popularised by P&G and added a step to reflect the way we actually buy today. The traditional model starts with a stimulus – an advert on TV for an iPad perhaps. Then we have our First Moment Of Truth – our first experience of the product on the store shelf. Then our Second Moment Of Truth is our actual experience of the product when we’ve bought it. In essence,…

• Thank You!

  Ian

  6 May 2012 | 6:17 pm

  Last week I heard I’d been named as one of Top Sales World Magazine’s Top 50 Gobal Sales and Marketing Influencers for 2012. Earlier in the week I also appeared as #2 on Evan Carmichael’s list of the Top Sales Experts to follow on Twitter. A little while ago I made it onto Salesforce.com’s Social Business Dream Team for Europe, and OpenView Labs’ Top 25 Global Sales Influencers for 2012. In truth, I’m normally embarrassed by awards and stuff. I just do my best and hope that people will enjoy it and find it useful. But, of course, I’m also flattered.

• The “Potting On” Strategy For Winning Clients

  Ian

  29 Apr 2012 | 4:46 pm

  I spent a few hours in our main greenhouse today “potting on” some tomato, cucumber, and pepper seedlings. For non-gardeners, potting on is a critical activity where you transplant a young seedling from a seed tray or small pot to a larger pot. It gives the roots of the plant more room to grow and more compost to grow in. If you don’t pot your seedlings on they can become weak and “leggy” with not enough space to expand and not able to pull enough nutrients from the compost. Business relationships often need “potting on” too. Whether you’re…

• Marketing Presentation Tips: Holding Your Audience’s Attention Right To The End

  Ian

  24 Apr 2012 | 6:30 pm

  Ever had that awful feeling that you’re losing your audience? They start looking distracted. Perhaps even fiddling with their blackberries. There seems to be nothing you can do do get their attention back. And yet you know that if you’re doing a marketing presentation, you need them to be concentrating at the end when you make your call to action. If no one’s listening what hope do you have of getting them to follow up with you afterwards? I’m going to share with you a little tip that will help you keep your audience alert and paying attention. But first let’s…

• 

  Edgy Conversations with Dan Waldschmidt!

• Why Almost Isn’t Good Enough.

  Dan Waldschmidt

  16 May 2012 | 8:22 am

  Almost isn’t good enough. If you almost got the job that really means you didn’t make the final cut. If you almost won first place that really means you ended up losing. If you almost finished the job that means you really left your mission incomplete. If you almost care that really means you don’t care at all. If you’ve almost did the right thing that really means you ended up doing the wrong thing. If you have almost made it in time that really means you ended up being late. If you almost figure it out that really means you still have questions and unsolved problems.

• Why People Change Their Mind And Why You Should Too.

  Dan Waldschmidt

  15 May 2012 | 8:57 am

  People change their mind.  People you don’t want to change, change their mind. You’ve been there before.   You are negotiating a complex business deal and moving point-by-point to get the person on the other side of the table to sign off on the components of the deal. “Does that work for you?” you find yourself asking. And with a nod and a handshake you find yourself standing up from the table with a successful deal negotiated. Only later you learn that the deal you thought you had wrapped up isn’t really closed after all. “We’ve changed our…

• The Secret to Getting Busy Executives To Take Your Phone Call.

  Dan Waldschmidt

  14 May 2012 | 8:47 am

  You’ve been there before. The phone rings — breaking you out of your concentration. You’ve been focused on a complex task. Trying to solve a problem that has stumped you for hours. As the phone rings a second time, your hand moves from your mouse to the edge of the phone, ready to pick up the handset. Your eyes glance at the name showing on the screen. You pause for a second. As the phone rings a third time, you realize that you have just a second to make a decision. Do you take the call or do you get back to solving the hard problem that you have been working on all…

• Emotional Courage.

  Dan Waldschmidt

  11 May 2012 | 8:58 am

  It takes emotional courage to say “no” when “maybe” or “we’ll see” leaves you the wiggle room to avoid immediate confrontation. It takes emotional courage to be kind when pointing out the flaws of your opponent will make you gratified right now. It takes emotional courage to be professional and candid when passion aggression and situational dishonesty allow to you solve symptoms instead of addressing the uncomfortable underlying issues. It takes emotional courage to smile and and ask someone else “how you can help” when you feel like you…

• Raging Failure.

  Dan Waldschmidt

  10 May 2012 | 8:52 am

  We all get frustrated. We all have things that “push our buttons”. That send us into a rage. And reality is that it’s not one set of “things” that does it.  It’s a bunch of them in a lot of different little places. Some of those frustrations are caused by stress in the office. Others are caused by poor personal relationships, bad financial decisions, and unrealized life goals. Together, this “life baggage” creates feelings of helplessness that can seem to overwhelm anything positive around you in your life.  It is almost as if there is an evil…

• 

  Dealmaker365 Blog

• Social Trust – the Core of the Social Universe

  Donal Daly

  16 May 2012 | 6:56 am

  [This is the fourth in a series on 6 Factors that are transforming B2B Sales in 2012. This factor deals with Social - and I have broken that down into four separate posts. This is the second of the posts on Social.] Social Trust We are seeing a fundamental shift in the interactions between buyers and sellers, and indeed between all commercial entities and their customers. Attitude and preference, as they relate to how a customer thinks about a business, are more likely to be informed by peer groups than by expensive commercials or company statements. For any network to work effectively, it…

• If mobile is the needle – social is the thread

  Donal Daly

  14 May 2012 | 10:21 am

  [This is the third in a series on 6 Factors that are transforming B2B Sales in 2012. This factor deals with Social - and I have broken that down into four separate posts that will be published over the coming week.] If Mobile is the needle, then Social is the thread. Mobile makes information accessible anytime, anywhere, and can make information location sensitive.  But Social weaves all of the information together, and we each get to create our own tapestry – being curators of information from multiple and varied sources, engaging and allowing us to shape, create, and co-create…

• Carpe Tabulam – Seize the Tablet: The mobile sales force

  Donal Daly

  24 Apr 2012 | 2:58 am

  [This is the second in a series on 6 Factors that are transforming B2B Sales in 2012.] The inexorable rise of mobile device ownership is one of the most significant changes in the business landscape that any of us has witnessed in our lifetimes.  In most developed economies in the world, practically everyone has a cell phone, an increasing number of which are smartphones, and the rapid growth of tablet ownership, pioneered by Apple’s iPad, is the fastest market penetration of any device we have ever seen. The Mobile Landscape Unless mobile is a core element of the strategic plan of any…

• Video Blog: So you think you have a $500,000 sales forecast?

  Donal Daly

  21 Apr 2012 | 1:05 pm

  I spoke at InsideView’s Insider Summit meeting in March 2012. The topic was about sales metrics that you might measure to calculate your sales velocity – the revenue you can achieve every day – and some ideas about what you might do to improve your sales velocity, and also achieve accurate sales forecasts. The video has been edited to remove the Q&A and to make some of the slides easier to see. Click play to view the video. It runs about 25 minutes.   This is my first video blog, and I’d welcome any comments on the format, or comments or questions on the…

• Exactly How Mobile Is Your Sales Force?

  Paul Dilger

  18 Apr 2012 | 4:39 am

  Time is precious, and the sales person’s time is incredibly precious, both to them and to the sales organization looking to maximize the performance of their key quota-bearers.  Since so much of a sales person’s time is spent moving between A and B and back again, does it make sense to equip them with the tools to connect to their stakeholders to the greatest extent possible? As with many important strategic decisions, though, it becomes a question of degree.  To what degree should we enable our sales people to be on the grid when they’re mobile?  Where on the spectrum of mobile…

• 

  SymVolli Blog RSS Feed

• 'Shoot The Salesman' - Sales Comic - No.19

  15 May 2012 | 5:54 am

• Selling Is A Noble Profession

  9 May 2012 | 6:03 am

  We are all selling most of the time. We are trying to convince people of our point of view, we are trying to gain respect, and we are trying to get people to like us. Apparently, this does not count as selling because a lot of people associate selling with sharp practices. I read two articles in the Financial Times ‘Selling deserves a corner office’ and ‘Portrait of a perfect salesman’, by Philip Delves Broughton, that highlighted two key areas that contribute to the image that sales has. NB. To read the two articles listed you will be required to register for an account with FT.com…

• 'Shoot The Salesman' - Sales Comic - No.18

  8 May 2012 | 4:30 am

• 4 Steps To Improving Your Sales Performance

  2 May 2012 | 5:26 am

  Over the last five weeks we have published a series of e-books on the theme of ‘Tips on how to develop predictability within your sales forecasting’. The only way to establish predictability within your sales forecast is in the main to convert what you are predicting. It’s all about sales success. Step 1 is about defining the sales process so that you can understand your customers buying habits and so plan your activities to enable them to make the decision to purchase from you as quickly and as painless as possible. A classic example where the selling and buying cycles are not in sync…

• 'Shoot The Salesman' - Sales Comic - No.17

  1 May 2012 | 5:02 am

• 

  Jonathan Farrington's Blog

• Four Secret Negotiating Behaviours You Need To Understand

  Jonathan Farrington

  15 May 2012 | 7:04 pm

    As I have said often enough here on this blog, I enjoy negotiating very much: I have worked hard to learn and perfect my skills over many years, and practiced in a variety of circumstances – so allow me share just four secrets with you today … A skilled negotiator will create high levels of rapport and be sensitive and empathetic to the people they are negotiating with, yet can still be hard on the issues. The ability to separate the people from the issues, and recognize that negotiations are often fraught with emotional intensity, can help sharpen the focus on the interests of…

• Lessons for us all from a 19th Century Opera Composer

  Jonathan Farrington

  14 May 2012 | 6:44 pm

    Most people are familiar with the old saying, “Easy come. Easy go” In the sales world we often observe that sales people who experience success quickly falsely assume that the sales profession is going to be easy. After a month or two however, those fortunate few often reach a different conclusion. Without much sweat equity invested, they head off and look for the next rainbow. If only we could teach a new saying, “Easy come. Forget That” We may not be familiar with that saying, but we can look at a 19th Century opera composer who expressed it and set the example we may well…

• Sales Team Development – The “Total” Approach

  Jonathan Farrington

  13 May 2012 | 6:13 pm

    It is a harsh fact but the reality is that not enough companies have learned how to employ sales training as a strategic tool: Those that have are leaders in their industries, offering their shareholders maximum return on investment, are able to quickly adapt to changing market conditions, are respected by their customers, and provide consistent sales performance. The sales people that work for those companies are motivated and stay in their jobs longer. Quite often sales managers and executives don’t have the time and experience to do this correctly. Companies with internal training…

• Destination:London Date: June 7th ….You Really Should be There!

  Jonathan Farrington

  13 May 2012 | 3:51 am

    It was only a matter of time before the highly successful Sales 2.0 Conferences made it across the “Pond” and June 7th is the date,London is the venue. Why London, and why this year? Larissa Gschwandtner provides the answers … “During the last 2 years we have seen an increasing interest and demand from business executives in Europe to understand and leverage technology within their sales organizations to improve overall sales effectiveness. From our 2012 survey done in conjunction with Frost & Sullivan of global sales leaders, we discovered their top 5 challenges are:…

• Saturday Guest Post: 4 Sales Tips for Reaching Prospects by Phone

  Jonathan Farrington

  11 May 2012 | 6:13 pm

    In an inbound marketing world, is there still need to call people? This is the current question on many sellers minds and one that deserves some ongoing discussion. Of all the ways we have seen people actually talking to prospects, it most often is in a combination of the following: 1) Simple web research 2) LinkedIn or other warm connection 3 )Have data and knowledge of your prospect’s world 4) Use of  the telephone Let’s dive into each of these and see what the trends are. Simple, quick, web-based research is extremely important when you are calling prospects. The worst calls…

• 

  TeleSmart Communications

• Blah, Blah Blah . . . Shut Up and Write!

  Josiane Feigon

  3 May 2012 | 2:55 pm

  I’ve got some really good news: My second book, Smart Sales Manager! has been accepted by AMACOM for Spring 2013 release. I have agreed to write 60-65,000 words by October 31, 2012. Today is my first day of writing, but . . . Where do I begin? My office buddy, Ted Weinstein, is a literary agent. He ordered me to ”write 5,000 words” by today. That was a  few hours ago. Since then, I’ve done a lot of work. I made social plans to go to the Symphony in June, I downloaded my pictures from our March Spring party, I cleaned out my purse and found the hand lotion I…

• What Inside Sales Millennials Need and Want

  Josiane Feigon

  26 Apr 2012 | 11:22 am

  One of my favorite sessions last week at the AA-ISP’s leadership summit was Curt Vondrasek’s talk on Leading a Gen Y Team and Driving Results. Curt’s success in building his “special” team of Millennial Inside Sales Warriors comes from deep insight and creative tactics. As a result, his highly motivated team has had very little turnover — and they love their jobs. He has established a culture by design, not default. His people work hard and play hard, they have  high expectations of themselves, require constant confirmation of their abilities, and and…

• AA-ISP Summit – My Family

  Josiane Feigon

  19 Apr 2012 | 7:16 pm

  I walked into the main ballroom at this year’s AA-ISP Leadership summit and was completely blown away. I stood in the back of the room just staring at a sea of people. Whoa! What’s happening here? Just 3 years ago, there were about 60 people attending this conference; and now we’ve hit over 400 people. I give full credit to our founders, Larry Reeves and Bob Perkins. These two guys have been plugging along the past few years, growing this professional association way beyond just membership –  into a movement and an industry. And because Larry and Bob have such solid…

• Inside Sales Vote4Video

  Josiane Feigon

  5 Apr 2012 | 7:14 pm

  One of my favorite sessions at this week’s Sales 2.0 Conference was Todd McCormick’s standing room only session on The Art and Science of the Online Sales Call. Todd is the VP of PGI, the global leader in virtual meetings and, specifically, the iMeet and GlobalMeet video/web conferencing tools. In my 2012 Trend Report, I’ve alerted  inside salespeople to put their best face forward because video is quickly becoming the new high-impact sales medium. By 2020, 85% of buyer-seller interactions will happen online through social media and video. This is why I’ve chosen…

• Tracking the Sales 2.0 Conference Evolution

  Josiane Feigon

  4 Apr 2012 | 10:49 am

  The Sales 2.0 conference has come a very long way — and, as many people report, it is finally growing up. The Sales 2.0 Conference adoption curve has traveled a long road, here’s the journey: 2007: The first Sales 2.0 Conference hosted by the Genius team. Everyone in the sales community showed up expecting a great party. They had no idea what Sales 2.0 meant other than, um, maybe it was  a new pseudonym for a cool, sexy cocktail? 2009: Selling Power team took over managing the Sales 2.0 Conference, which made it more official — plus we get to see lots more of Gerhard. This…

• 

  SEO Blog

• Local SEO vs National SEO How is Local SEO Different

  22 Apr 2012 | 10:03 am

  Like many companies, SEOs start out small, in their local neighborhood, and grow out from there. You are more localized until you build up your reputation, at which time you can grow beyond your smaller geocircle. So how is helping small to medium businesses rank in their trading area different than ranking nationally? Local SEO is the answer.

• Ethical Search Engine Optimization

  12 Feb 2011 | 2:03 pm

  Ok, your website looks great but does not rank well on Google. You need help and you have done some research and Search Engine Optimization is what you need. However, you keep hearing about white hat and black hat seo and you start to wonder, how do you choose an ethical search engine optimization company?

• SEO Link Building and Anchor Text Basics to Rank Higher

  26 Jan 2011 | 1:48 pm

  In this post we are going to discuss off-site SEO with the focus on link building and anchor text. Unlike on-page SEO efforts, link building can be quite difficult as you do not have full control over who links to you and how they link to you.

• What is Search Engine Optimization and Why do I need SEO

  2 Dec 2010 | 6:33 am

  Two great questions that get asked often together, and I will answer both of them for you today. SEO can be defined most simply as this.

• Jumping on the Keyword Bandwagon

  10 Oct 2010 | 7:49 am

  We try to be creative within our content to get people to link over to us. This can be tedious as you still have to get the content out in the wild to get noticed in the first place. But here is an idea.

• 

  Sales Dodo

• What Did You Call Me? The Power and Peril of Salesperson Titles

  lsalz

  16 May 2012 | 12:26 pm

  There are many different titles used for sales people, but there are consequences when you use the wrong one. Learn how to select the right title for your sales roles in this episode of the Sales Management Minute.View episode convert this post to pdf.Social Bookmarking:

• Your Price is Too High! A New, Unique Look At An Age-Old Sales Challenge

  lsalz

  16 May 2012 | 12:26 pm

  Business executives are frustrated by salespeople constantly asking for lower prices. In this episode of the Sales Management Minute, find out why those frustrated by the issue may also be to blame.View episode convert this post to pdf.Social Bookmarking:

• How Do YOU Create Value for Your Prospects and Clients?

  lsalz

  16 May 2012 | 12:26 pm

  Salespeople are searching for ways to create value with their clientele. In this episode of the Sales Management Minute, learn an easy, free way to create value with your prospects and clients.View episode convert this post to pdf.Social Bookmarking:

• Top Sales Leaders Get Their Salespeople to Eat Broccoli

  lsalz

  16 May 2012 | 12:26 pm

  In this episode of the Sales Management Minute, learn how sales leaders bring out the best in their salespeople.View episode convert this post to pdf.Social Bookmarking:

• Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Sales Superstar?

  lsalz

  16 May 2012 | 12:26 pm

  Want to be a superstar salesperson? Learn how in this episode of the Sales Management Minute.View episode convert this post to pdf.Social Bookmarking:

• 

  EyesOnSales.com

• Better Ways to Land Bigger Accounts

  editor@eyesonsales.com

  16 May 2012 | 9:16 am

    Fortune 1000 companies as clients are what I like to call "premium accounts" because they're typically larger and allow you the opportunity to sell more of what you sell as well as increase revenue more efficiently than with smaller accounts. But, getting a Fortune 1000 company as a client is no easy feat. The decision makers we would typically deal with inside these premium companies are bombarded by salespeople on a regular basis and, as a result, practice tight screening tactics to prevent you from getting through. While cold-calling techniques can be very effective in some cases,…

• How to Handle the Now Is Not a Good Time Response

  editor@eyesonsales.com

  15 May 2012 | 8:21 am

  Sales Question: "How should I handle the "Now is not a good time" response? One of my colleagues suggested I reply with "What will be different in a week/month from now?" But is that the best rebuttal to use?" Sales Question: "How should I handle the "Now is not a good time" response? One of my colleagues suggested I reply with "What will be different in a week/month from now?" But is that the best rebuttal to use?" Answer: The number one reason a prospect will say "Now is not a good time" is because the salesperson's opener (what they said after "Hello, my name is...") invoked this type of…

• Grow a Responsive Email Marketing Database

  editor@eyesonsales.com

  11 May 2012 | 11:28 am

  It’s obvious that all marketing managers would like to grow their marketing database. The challenge with this is that the database is continuously losing names, due to spam complaints, unsubscribes, and hard and soft bounces. BUT there are some straightforward tactics you can do to conquer these obstacles. It’s obvious that all marketing managers would like to grow their marketing database. The challenge with this is that the database is continuously losing names, due to spam complaints, unsubscribes, and hard and soft bounces. BUT there are some straightforward tactics you can do…

• Who or what is the cause of aggravation? Not you, of course!

  editor@eyesonsales.com

  11 May 2012 | 8:27 am

  It’s Saturday night around 6pm. Early dinner for Jessica, Gabrielle, and me. It’s Saturday night around 6pm. Early dinner for Jessica, Gabrielle, and me. We’re sitting in Carrabba’sItalian Grill in Charlotte. We’ve been customers at this location for as long as it has been there. Seen several managers come and go, seen hundreds of servers come and go. This particular visit was pivotal because it may have been our last. Their 10-year consistency has been compromised at least three ways:1. New bread – lower quality.2. New croutons – lower quality. 3.

• 4 Sales Tips for Reaching Prospects by Phone

  editor@eyesonsales.com

  10 May 2012 | 11:23 am

  In an inbound marketing world, is there still need to call people? This is the current question on many sellers minds and one that deserves some ongoing discussion. n an inbound marketing world, is there still need to call people? This is the current question on many sellers minds and one that deserves some ongoing discussion. Of all the ways we have seen people actually talking to prospects, it most often is in a combination of the following: 1) Simple web research 2) LinkedIn or other warm connection 3 )Have data and knowledge of your prospect’s world 4) Use of  the telephone…

• 

  The Accidental Negotiator

• Why Taking Hostages During A Negotiation Is Never A Good Idea

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  11 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Image Credit When the other side takes hostages, it's time for you to take action We’ve all see what the image looks like on TV: the bad guys break-in somewhere, things go wrong, and all of a sudden they take hostages. This is never a good thing and it can very quickly go very wrong. The same thing can happen during your next business negotiation – the other side of the table may decide to take hostages — assets not people hopefully. If they do this, then how should you respond? Why Do People Take Hostages During A Business Negotiation? People take hostages during a…

• What Role Status Symbols Play In Negotiations

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  4 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Image CreditNegotiator's status plays a role in every negotiation When it comes to sitting around the negotiating table, we’re all equal, right? In a perfect world, the answer would be yes. We don’t live in a perfect world and so the answer is a very solid “no”. So what does this mean for us – do some negotiators deserve to get more? Where Negotiating Status Comes From Where does this status thing come from? It seems to play a role in our negotiation styles and negotiating techniques. I’m pretty sure that we’re all very aware of the role that social…

• Counterstrike: 5 Ways Negotiators Can Deal With Threats During A Negotiation

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  27 Apr 2012 | 4:00 am

  Image Credit When you are threatened during a negotiation, you need to fight back There you are in your next sales negotiation and everything is flying along nicely. All of a sudden, wham! The other side goes and suddenly threatens you with something if you don’t do or agree to one of their demands. Oh, oh – that “Dummy’s Guide To Negotiating” book that you read last month didn’t cover this situation. What’s a negotiator to do now? The Danger Of Using Threats During A Negotiation I’m pretty sure that we’ve talked about it before, but it…

• Video: How Do You Deal With The Rest Of The Iceberg During A Negotiation

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  23 Apr 2012 | 4:00 am

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxE_BS0BAU4 The next time that you are negotiating with someone, you had better make sure that you know what all of the issues are — even the secret ones! Dr. Anderson explains that all too often there are a second set of issues that are very important to the other side of the table during a negotiation. If you don’t realize this and deal with them, then you’re not going to be able to successfully reach a deal! Dr. Anderson explains how to uncover the real issues in your next negotiation… If you want to get more negotiating secrets,…

• 6 Things A Sales Negotiator Needs To Know About Using Threats During A Negotiation

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  20 Apr 2012 | 4:00 am

  Image Credit Sometimes during a negotiation, your bark has to be as bad as your bite Who doesn’t like to use a threat during sales negotiations every so often? Threats are yet another one of the negotiation styles and negotiating techniques that we can use. It’s like a big stick that you can haul out and set on the table. There it sits, out where everyone can see it and the other side of the table knows what you could do with it if you wanted to. It turns out that that big stick has some consequences that you need to be aware of. Threats Are Not Without Consequences Every…

• 

  Inside Sales Telesales Tips Blog

• Help! HR wants me to rat-out my manager!

  Geoff Alexander

  7 May 2012 | 10:02 am

  From this week’s mailbag comes a real dilemma, one that’s becoming increasingly common: Hi Geoff, Recently, our office laid-off a disgruntled and underperforming sales rep. Unbeknownst to me, she (the disgruntled sales rep) mentioned my name and a few other colleagues to the Human Resource Director about my Sales Manager’s management style. Since our names were referenced, we were all independently called into the H.R. Director's office for comment. I was quite guarded with my answers to the H.R. Director because I don't want my comments to put a nail in anyone's coffin…

• Tell a college grad about Inside Sales!

  Geoff Alexander

  30 Apr 2012 | 10:02 am

  Did you read the news? Hope Yen of the Associated Press reported this week that 1 out of every 2 college grads are either unemployed or underemployed, working at servers, baristas, bartenders, or other jobs that don’t adequately utilize their skills. Those of you who are regular readers of my blog know that I recommend that inside sales people tell their friends about b2b inside sales careers. We always need talented people in this industry, and I’ve trained loads of young adults in their first inside sales jobs in my inside sales training courses. They’re smart,…

• How do I keep motivated when my friends are being fired?

  Geoff Alexander

  23 Apr 2012 | 10:02 am

  From last week’s mailbag, a toughie… Hi Geoff, recently, a few sales reps were let go due to the company changing its business model. The team that is having difficulty being motivated and is somewhat skeptical of whether their jobs will be cut or not. We were assured that nothing more in the department would change, but it is really tough to lose some key personalities that brightened up the day. Any thoughts on how to keep my team in good spirits? - Sarah Well, Sarah, as the French say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. The more things change, the more they…

• How to quickly lose a sale because you didn’t research your audience, and 4 tips to fix it

  Geoff Alexander

  16 Apr 2012 | 10:02 am

  Today’s topic is about making assumptions as to the age makeup of your audience. It can cost you a sale. As inside salespeople, you rarely get to see the people to whom you’re selling. Check out this query I got from last week’s mailbag… Hi Geoff, I'm in inside sales. The other day, my team attended an online demo by a software company. As sales people, asked astute questions and paid close attention to the live demo taking place. The product sold itself and the sales rep presenting the demo was passionate about the product. However, a few sales faux pas erupted.

• 7 steps to making your sales contest more profitable, productive, and fun

  Geoff Alexander

  9 Apr 2012 | 10:02 am

  Today’s topic is sales contests. Are they effective at motivating salespeople and creating more business, or not? Here’s a query from last week’s mailbag… Hi Geoff, Do you have any suggestions on creating contests that generate motivation for a sales team? Do you think contests are worthwhile? Is a contest age specific; different motivators for different age groups? I've been in situations where contests are laughed at behind the manager's back because they're not rats looking for cheese. Other situations a contest added motivation because the prize was an iPad for…

• 

  The LEADSExplorer Blog: Lead generation - Website visitors - CRM - B2B

• The Boom and the Bust Salesmen

  The Leads Explorer

  14 May 2012 | 1:13 pm

  When there is more demand than available then the seller can set the pricing. When there is more on offer than demand then the customer can set the pricing if he really needs it. The Boom Salesmen Some salesmen start out in the business when there is more demand than available which gives them a bad attitude for their further business life as they are not used to negotiate on the service and pricing. This is typical for boom years where people get big commissions hardly without any effort or reason. They will become big spenders as the money is too easily earned. Due to the fact it is that…

• Just like a pop star salesmen need to reinvent themselves

  The Leads Explorer

  10 May 2012 | 1:47 pm

  Popstars Madonna has sustained her music stardom and success for over 25 years by reinventing herself. Most pop stars are one day hit wonders or have maximal 2 or 3 hits. Then their success, fame and income fade away. Taste, culture and demand have changed and so does the success of most pop stars. Taste, culture and demand are changing continuously. Changes in society and business As a successful salesman you believe your sales skills will last for ever as you can turn anything into gold while being successful. However times, culture, attitudes and demand are changing too in business.

• Why Trade Show Freebies and Giveaways are a Waste

  The Leads Explorer

  6 May 2012 | 12:48 pm

  Types of Freebies and Giveaways Whenever visiting a business trade show, you easily can have enough pencils for the next 6 months which you collect from the desks of the booths. At the same time you end up with several freebies which are given after a conversation with a sales rep on the booth. These are in most cases toys and in a few exceptional cases really useful products. There are four types of freebies: - Office supplies: pens, calendars, clocks, mouse pads, mugs, etc. - Apparel: T-shirts, baseball caps, golf shirts, socks, etc. - Fun stuff: toys, games, gag gifts, electronics, etc. -…

• Stop Selling or Pitching – Start Serving

  The Leads Explorer

  3 May 2012 | 12:48 pm

  Sales techniques During the last century many selling techniques and methods have been developed like Feature-Advantage-Benefit Selling, Spin-Selling, Hard-Selling, Soft-Selling, Up-Selling, Consultative Selling, … Nowadays people have had it with all these sales methods as they don’t want to be sold or pitched. Instead they need a solution for their problem which is the main thing they are interested in and will remember afterwards. Listen instead of selling Instead of selling or pitching you should be adding value for the customer. In the end the customer needs to sell…

• Business during Third World War of Debt

  The Leads Explorer

  1 May 2012 | 2:36 pm

  The War on Debt Throughout history wars have been about power and resources. In all previous wars physical or even chemical weapons have been used. Currently the weapon used for the current Third World War is debt. Countries (bonds, funds and loans), companies (loans and bonds) and people (mortgages and credit) rely upon loans and most are heavily indebted. This debt has strangled growth and prosperity for both people and companies as austerity seems to become the new rule. The good thing about this Third World War is that no blood is being shed and no people are being killed physically.

• 

  retaildoc.com

• Selling Tip: How To Sell To Difficult Customers

  Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

  15 May 2012 | 8:37 am

  If you’ve been in retail sales at all, you’ve had an experience selling to a difficult customer. It’s like this… You’re going along in a sale and somehow, somewhere a light bulb goes off and you realize you just aren’t clicking with your customer. They’re difficult. Maybe while selling a luxury watch you are emphasizing a feature and your customer finds a flaw in your thinking and challenges your conclusion. Or…maybe while you’re trying to “close” the sale on a purple plaid outfit, your customer turns away and starts looking around the store, picking up…

• Retail Training To Sell The More Expensive Item

  Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

  8 May 2012 | 7:36 am

  The retail world is upside down. And I don’t mean because of Amazon… Once upon a time merchants purchased the cheapest items to draw people in and then because they held high regard for their retail sales training, upsold what was the best answer for their customers. In today’s topsy-turvy world, retailers are now showing the cheapest thing as the ANSWER. How this happened When sales are down, businesses cut employees. Next is training. What this has done The lack of retail sales training leads employees to sell cheap as the answer… and that’s expensive for your business.

• Small Business Marketing: Webinar May 10 8PM

  Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

  30 Apr 2012 | 9:54 am

  On Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 8pm EST, join Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor and bestselling author of The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business for a live webinar, “What’s So Great About You”? Phibbs reveals 18 ways to ramp up your small business marketing to getting more customers in your door via your website, email list and social media including Facebook advertising strategies. He’ll also share two of his favorite ways to cut down your time and save your sanity. The quality of the online experiences you deliver to your prospects and customers (from…

• 25 Ways Independent Retailers Hobble Their Own Success

  Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

  26 Apr 2012 | 7:52 am

  Independent retailers are the heart and soul of retail in America. The National Retail Federation says retail is responsible for one out of nearly every four jobs in the US. From the local florist to the hardware store to the funky boutique started by a Project Runway wannabe, retail remains the heart of the American economy. Anyone is welcome to open a shop if they have the money. But what keeps so many independent retail business owners unable to pay themselves a decent wage can be traced back to one or more of these crucial issues. See how many you recognize… 25 Ways Independent…

• Marketing: Creating Buzz for your Small Business [Case Study]

  Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

  23 Apr 2012 | 7:35 am

  A lot has been written about all the ways you can get buzz for your business – from putting discounts on your Facebook fan page, to reaching out to mommy bloggers, to offering Groupons. You don’t get buzz by being Santa Claus with your marketing dollars. The way you get buzz, buzz that is sustainable and leads to higher profits, is to be a business worthy of buzz. That means you have to earn it. When I am asked by consultants what it takes to create a successful practice, I always tell them they need to “hit it out of the park” because that is what happened to me when I worked with…

• 

  Stevens Consulting Group

• Dr. Drew’s Monday Motivation – Determination

  Drew

  14 May 2012 | 8:50 am

  Monday Momentum Monday Focus – I was watching the news recently and there was a story of a group of friends that were heading to an event and their plane soon crashed after takeoff. There were two survivors one male, the other female. They walked over an hour for medical assistance where she is now on a respirator and he died since he had third degree burns over 90% of his body. The male was determined to save his friend.   This story had me thinking about business as well as the need for determination. How many times have things gotten so bad that you decide to give it up – throw in…

• Seven Sins Inhibiting Practice Management Success

  Drew

  3 May 2012 | 4:12 pm

    It is so important that practice managers pay particular attention to the business. What typically is forgotten is that nothing happen unless a patient pays. Doctors and staff must create business efficiency and organization if the practice is to survive.   I am certain spiritual or not you have heard of the 7 Deadly Sins. Well for many practices there are numerous sins committed in business each day. The reason for these sin is simple: a)lack of knowledge, b) lack of time and c) lack of awareness of the issue. Here are the 7 sins of practice management that negatively impact the…

• Medical Practice Success Factors – Part Four – Money

  Drew

  1 May 2012 | 7:07 am

  One of the trickiest issues for any chiropractor or medical professional operating a practice is not only taking in money but also ensuring it is kept. We can discuss marketing and positioning all day long but if money is not contained the practice is not profitable.   In this third installment of Medical Practice Success Factors, we look at some of the ways in which you are taking in money and more importantly keeping it. Services – What I typically find in a doctors office is a lack of understanding what services they provide, the value to the patient and what fees are assessed.

• Dr. Drew’s Monday Motivation – Desire To Succeed

  Drew

  30 Apr 2012 | 5:05 am

  Monday Momentum Monday Focus – I had a track coach when I attended college that was in the 1968 Olympic Games and won the Gold Medal in the 4 x 400. I remember one practice before the famous Penn Relays that was very fatiguing. We were all dead tired. We complained… that is until coach told us a story. When he was training with his teammates and anyone was tired someone on the team would push them to do more. So when they were completely tanked and “did not think” they could go further they did. They pushed past the barrier.   There are many times in business and in life where we…

• Medical Practice Success Factors – Time

  Drew

  26 Apr 2012 | 9:09 am

  Tom came to me the other day complaining about not having enough patients and complaining about revenue. Naturally, we discussed key performance indicators and where his time is most spent. After a few moments of conversation, it appeared that Tom lacked focus and direction. As business owners, we are caught up with a myriad of issues from being a doctor to deciding how much hand soap needs to be ordered. It is not to say the latter is unimportant; the doctor needs to remember from a strategic perspective where his or her focus is best used. As business owners, we need to quickly decide what…

• 

  Paul Castain's Sales Playbook

• Why & How You MUST Chase Your Dreams!

  Paul Castain

  15 May 2012 | 8:26 pm

  Like so many of the posts I write here  . . . this one is really personal to me! For the longest time I was absolutely miserable! On the outside I appeared happy and content but on the inside I had what I called “an urgency”. In other words, a feeling that I was supposed to be [...]

• How Would You Handle A Sales Manager Like This?

  Paul Castain

  14 May 2012 | 7:26 pm

  I’ve seen it way too many times when I’ve been brought in to help sales teams. I’ve been asked how to handle it from distraught sales professionals and I even had someone mention it on a discussion in our Sales Playbook book group on Linkedin. I’m talking about the Sales Manager who wants to ride along with [...]

• Respecting The Other “Important”

  Paul Castain

  12 May 2012 | 10:20 am

  Too many times we allow meetings, tasks, etc to make our calendar. Why? Because they’re  important and we need to make sure that we get to them. Today, I decided to make sure that I respect the other important . . . things that are important not to my business or my clients, things that are important to [...]

• Why Smart Companies Won’t Eliminate Sales Positions

  Paul Castain

  11 May 2012 | 9:51 am

  There’s lots of talk lately about a projected reduction in sales professionals over the next decade. The thought (or one of them anyway) is that the online experience will render many sales positions obsolete. Here’s one silly reason why I think smart companies are crying bullsh*t on that one. Sales People have a vested interest in the sale [...]

• “Unworthiness” Sucks!

  Paul Castain

  10 May 2012 | 10:50 am

  There was a time when I wanted to punch Tony Robbins right in his face . . . how’s that for an opener? I decided not to because I couldn’t afford the 7 foot ladder I would need to do so and also remembered there are laws against that sort of thing but that’s not the [...]

• 

  Sales Training - SalesPractice.com

• Are Personal Profile Tests Worthless?

  John Voris

  15 May 2012 | 12:55 pm

  Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Blackwell (Post 51875) In some circles, perhaps the uninitiated and/or "Personal Profiles for Money" arena, this may be true. Yes, each of us "makes sense" of our subjective reality in our own way. It cannot. Personality profile tests seem to be assessing a process and not an entity. Does a personality make decisions? Does a personality feel the pressure to secure a profit? Does

• What should a rookie salesman concentrate on?

  Ian T

  8 May 2012 | 9:21 am

  Hi Gary, Thank you for taking the time once again. I have indeed probed very deep, probably not too many threads I have not read lol. I have tried to focus on contributors such as yourself, Jeff, Skip and others that have obvious years of success. Although your methods may vary, the underlying principles are the same. Also I have followed some of the links mentioned and found further information.

• You are your own worst enemy.

  Jeff Blackwell

  30 Apr 2012 | 11:02 am

  Quote: Originally Posted by Gary A Boye Perhaps the "inability" is most influenced by the lack of awareness that they CAN influence and direct their thoughts. I agree and believe that in all aspects of life perspective is key.

• Sales Predictions - The Sky is Falling

  Jeff Blackwell

  26 Apr 2012 | 8:00 pm

  Most if not all of the predictions I have encountered regarding the future of professional selling have either lacked credible evidence (My friend is an expert and s/he says so does not make the cut) or fly in the face of credible evidence to the contrary. As a result I perceive such predictions as ignorance or hype. _______________ "[i]There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what

• What is inside sales?

  Community Mailbox

  26 Apr 2012 | 9:00 am

  Is Inside Sales another name for Telesales, Teleprospecting, or Telemarketing and what differentiates Inside Sales from Outside Sales (Field Sales)? Is the difference a matter of Location meaning selling at the customer's location (home or business) vs selling from the employer's location? Is the difference Internet (Chat, Email, Web) and phone-based (Telephone, Fax) selling versus face-to-face

• 

  The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

• The Art of Closing – Part One

  the_alen

  25 Apr 2012 | 10:05 am

  SECURING THE DECISION AND OBTAINING AN ORDER Closing is so often regarded as the most difficult part of the selling process.  But this should never be the case! Getting the order from a prospect whose interest and desire have been secured and whose objections have been effectively eliminated should simply be the next logical step in the process. By the closing stage, the prospect has already been convinced that she NEEDS the products; she has the means to pay for them; she WANTS them and she feels assured that they will satisfy her needs. Thereafter, it would seem that getting the order is…

• Are You an Order Taker or an Order Maker?

  the_alen

  12 Apr 2012 | 11:00 am

  Consider the following email by an active head of one of the largest software company in America: “Results are the only things that count. We are perfectly willing to pay a salesperson $100,000 a year if they deliver the goods; we are willing to pay $250,000 a year if that person delivers, and a person’s earnings from $10,000 a month up to almost anything is in their own hands.” The heads of ninety-nine out of every hundred companies employing salespeople reflects that sentiment. Often the main limit to the salesperson’s earning power is a self-imposed one. I am sure you know the…

• What Can You Learn From Sherlock Holmes?

  the_alen

  2 Apr 2012 | 9:41 am

  If you read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories, it will interest you in the quality of observation which the salesperson must cultivate. Sherlock Holmes had a remarkable ability for finding out what sort of people he was dealing with, through powers of close observation. The author, Conan Doyle, takes pains to explain in every story that Sherlock Holmes did nothing by chance, and did not rely upon any invisible, peculiar, or mystic power to aid him in making his forensic science deductions. He had simply cultivated a remarkable shrewdness of observation. This is a quality that the salesperson…

• Evolution of a Salesperson [INFOGRAPHIC]

  the_alen

  29 Mar 2012 | 9:23 am

  How did we get here? The infographic below gives you some insight into how we see the world of professional selling today and helps you rethink your role as a salesperson. To learn more about the History of American Sales Culture, read my post about it. Evolution of a Salesperson [INFOGRAPHIC] is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

• What are Trigger Events and how to use them

  the_alen

  27 Mar 2012 | 12:15 pm

  Your mission as a sales person should be to find companies that have immediate wants and needs. This means that something happened or is happening to them – a move, a merger, new investors, etc. You have to look for any event that might create the opportunity for you, or better said you are looking for event that can trigger the sales for you. It could be something internal or inside the company, like a new direction from management, a merger or an acquisition, rapid growth, or maybe a new product introduction. And it could mean the company is turning “Green” and needs new and…

• 

  Your Sales Management Guru

• Are You Facing Sales Fatigue?

  kenthoreson

  14 May 2012 | 8:51 am

  Are You Facing Sales Fatigue? The past three years have been a challenge for most partner organizations. The economy has caused sales teams to face declining prospect budgets, more competitive bidding, fewer opportunities, lower incomes and general personal stress.   As someone that works with partner organizations on a daily basis we have seen all of these situations cause an increase in mental and physical fatigue.  As partner executives, we have witnessed increased levels of stress because of managing cash flow, personnel decisions, increased costs, decreased margins and personal stress…

• Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2012

  kenthoreson

  7 May 2012 | 9:23 am

  Top Sales Magazine Names Consultant to Cisco and Microsoft Partner Programs a Top 50 Sales/Marketing Influencer  **revised Posting KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 7, 2012—Ken Thoreson, author of the award-winning Your Sales Management Guru blog, articles and book series for sales leaders, renowned consultant, columnist and speaker, and Acumen Management Group Principal, was named to Top Sales’ “Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2012“ list. The magazine describes this elite group as “resources that can assist companies in becoming the best that they can possibly be.” Full…

• Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2012

  kenthoreson

  6 May 2012 | 9:12 pm

  Top Sales Magazine Names Consultant to Cisco and Microsoft Partner Programs a Top 50 Sales/Marketing Influencer  (this is a press release we just sent out) KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 7, 2012—Ken Thoreson, author of the award-winning Your Sales Management Guru blog, articles and book series for sales leaders, renowned consultant, columnist and speaker, and Acumen Management Group Principal, was named to Top Sales’ “Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2012“ list. The magazine describes this elite group as “resources that can assist companies in becoming the best that they…

• Are you a Sales Manager or a Sales Leader?

  kenthoreson

  30 Apr 2012 | 6:55 am

  Are You a Sales Manager or a Sales Leader? By Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Today, I have a guest blogger, Mark Hunter. His new book is on my recommended list for all of you., Ken Thoreson, www.AcumenManagement.com Take a moment and answer this question: “If you are a sales manager – or when you think about the person who manages you – which description rings accurate: Sales Manager or Sales Leader?” Far too many sales managers are doing just that – managing rather than leading.  If you’re wondering what the difference is, let me sum it up very simply. Sales managers are…

• Sales Leadership: “Looking Forward”

  kenthoreson

  23 Apr 2012 | 9:51 am

  Sales Leadership:  “Looking Forward” Many individuals have commented on my Outlook signature block, before I have my personal signature and where many people say “sincerely”, I have the words “Looking Forward”. Why do I use those words?  They mean several different issues to me. First, I am a positive person. Looking forward is always better than that living in the past, while it is good to learn from the past, it is important to remain focused on your future opportunities. In my keynote program Gourmet Living, I sometimes make the point that “you can’t change the way you…

• 

  Free Sales & Marketing Magazines and Downloads from alltop.tradepub.com

• The Essentials of Sales Kit - Includes a Free ABC of Sales eBook

  15 May 2012 | 4:20 pm

  The Essentials of Sales Kit - 2012 Edition, brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your Sales related decisions.The following kit contents will help you get the most out of your Sales research:Increase Sales Reps Effectiveness:CSO Insights Research on a Sales Rep's Digital Admin5 Ways to Increase CRM Adoption Within Your Sales StaffThe ABC of Sales: Lessons from a SuperstarChance Favors the Prepared Mind: Understanding the Science of Sales IntelligenceRequest Free!

• Mailing 101: Insider Tips on How to Reduce Business Mail Costs

  15 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Watch this on-demand webinar to learn how your business can take advantage of postal discounts and ways to leverage existing rates to minimize your expenses. Get practical insider tips on utilizing new mailing tools and services to not only increase revenue, but also reduce mailing costs.Topics & Objectives:Classes of Mail: what are they and how can you get the best pricing?Understanding postal discounts that could apply to your businessHow to increase sales with new mailing tools and servicesHear successful business mailing storiesRequest Free!

• Seven Reasons You Need Predictive Analytics Today

  15 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Read this white paper to uncover why predictive analytics is becoming a necessity for companies to gain and maintain advantage: Why predictive analytics has emerged as a proven way to gain competitive advantage; how you can use your company's accumulated information to predict effective ways to increase sales, enhance customer relationships, address consumer needs, and more; and how predictive analytics enables people all across your business to gain more insight, make better decisions and take more decisive actions when they matter most.Request Free!

• Five Predictive Imperatives for Maximizing Customer Value

  15 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  With predictive analytics, you can meet your customers' evolving needs with forward-looking insights that anticipate changes in customer attitudes, preferences, and actions. This white paper from IBM describes how a set of five predictive imperatives can help ensure that your company maximizes the value of its customer relationships and sustains higher levels of revenues and profits.Request Free!

• Customer Analytics Pay Off: Driving Top-line Growth by Bringing Science to the Art of Marketing

  15 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Read this Executive Report to learn how an effective customer analytics strategy can help drive top-line growth, avoid unnecessary costs and increase customer satisfaction. Understand where your organization is in its pursuit to gain deeper customer insights with four stages of organizational capabilities and associated customer analytics strategies: gain insight from the information explosion; share information internally and across value chain; move from reaction to prediction; and adapt business models that enable faster creation of value.Request Free!

• 

  Art Sobczak's Telesales Blog

• What Do You Think About This Voice Message?

  Art Sobczak

  9 May 2012 | 8:44 am

  Reality is usually better than anything I could make up. Here is a voice message received by one of my readers. (I bleeped out the sales rep’s phone number). Perhaps this guy was tired, maybe having a bad day, and hopefully he doesn’t leave this type of message regularly. Or maybe he does. Take a listen. Horrible Voice Message What do you think? Better yet, what is your process and best practices with leaving messages?

• Show Them the Money to Make More Of Your Own

  Art Sobczak

  25 Apr 2012 | 4:01 pm

  Today I’m talking about money. Both in my post below and right here. The post below is also one of my contributions to a great sales book, “Top Dog Recession-Busting Sales Secrets.” It also contains the sales wisdom of 50 other leading experts. You get real-world street smart advice that is unconditionally guaranteed to help you sell more…even in a down economy. Spend 30 minutes with this book and you’ll understand why Fortune 500 companies have paid these experts millions. When you get your copy you’ll also get Jeffrey Gitomer’s “Little eBook…

• Five Cool Ideas For Better Listening by Michael Angelo Caruso

  Art Sobczak

  10 Apr 2012 | 8:30 am

  Last week I took a few days for personal self-development, which I do several times per year. Although I make it a point every day to set aside time for learning, I find it essential to physically attend events for the total immersion and networking experience. I attended the Infusionsoft user’s conference, Infusioncon 2012, a fine event with lots of great marketing ideas. While there I bumped into a friend I’ve never met in person, Michael Angelo Caruso.  I subscribe to lots of email publications and feeds…too many to read them all. One that I do read all of the time,…

• Don’t Sell Needs, Give Them What They WANT

  Art Sobczak

  20 Mar 2012 | 11:11 am

  Do you, * drive a 1995 Taurus, * live in a pop-up trailer at a campground, * wear clothes purchased exclusively from thrift stores, and, * eat only Ramen noodles? Didn’t think so. When you have a few extra fun bucks (or room on your credit card) do you run down to Wal-Mart and stock up on hand soap, toothbrushes, or laundry detergent maybe?Of course not. And you’re like everyone else, including your prospects and customers. Which means that you just don’t buy what you need to survive. You buy what you want. (I don’t think most of the 3 million people who bought the new…

• Be Like Warren Buffet: Turn Failures Into Opportunities and Eliminate Rejection

  Art Sobczak

  22 Feb 2012 | 4:15 pm

  At age 19, his application to Harvard Business School was rejected. He was devastated at the time. However, exploring other options, he quickly regrouped and sent in a late application to Columbia, where two investment experts that he admired were teaching. He was accepted. There he learned the values and principles that guided his investing. Today he is the second wealthiest man in America and the most famous stock investor in the world. Of course I’m talking about fellow Omaha native, Warren Buffet. (No, I do not know him, and he does not call me for advice.) Buffet is a big believer…

• 

  SalesJournal.com

• What do customers want now?

  Kathleen

  16 May 2012 | 6:05 am

  By Michael D. Maginn As the Great Recession continues to abate, there are signals companies finally are shrugging off the siege mentality of 2009 and cautiously looking ahead for opportunities to cultivate markets with new products and services. According to a McKinsey global survey (Economic Conditions Snapshot, December 2009: McKinsey Global Survey results, McKinseyQuarterly.com), executives are looking for external funding and actively returning to planning medium- and long-term initiatives. This is in stark contrast to the “cut-and-cover” tactics of the last two years. What do…

• The Politics of Sales Success

  Kathleen

  15 May 2012 | 9:35 am

  By Tony Cole Normally, one would not connect politics with sales success, but if we allow ourselves to think about it, politicians are always selling.  They are either trying to sell us or sell each other on their ideas, programs or interests.  Please ignore the politics of the individual I am about to discuss because his specific politics are not important to the discussion.  I would like to focus on a comment in his book.   I am in the middle of reading Decision Points - The Presidential Memoir of George W. Bush. In the chapter Leading, he discusses his decisions that led to the…

• Never say “Thank you for your business”

  Kathleen

  14 May 2012 | 8:53 pm

  By S. Trunkett, Salesracehorses.com Every sales rep appreciates winning a big order from a key customer; but it’s rarely appropriate for him or her to say so to the customer.  Saying ‘Thank you for your business’ is bush league, and can significantly weaken your position. Top performing sales executives recognize that customers buy their solutions because to do so makes good business sense for the customer’s organization. That isn’t to say that personal relationships don’t play an important role in the process.  Strong relationships throughout the complex network of buying…

• You Lost Me After Hello

  Kathleen

  11 May 2012 | 10:19 am

  By Kelley Robertson: The Robertson Training Group The other day I received a prospecting email that caught my attention. That’s rare because most emails lose my attention in a few short moments (15 seconds or less). The sales person’s first two paragraphs were, “We have yet to connect and the reason I am reaching out to you is that my company specializes in finding top performing sales people for sales leaders who are faced with the daunting task of building or rebuilding the sales function within an organization – no small challenge. “We recognize that you are in the business of…

• Managing Remote Employees

  Kathleen

  10 May 2012 | 7:14 am

  By James A. Baker, Founder and Chairman Baker Communications   The modern workplace has become far more complicated and far more diffuse in the past few decades.  Telecommuting, international commerce, far-flung business branches, virtual offices and frequent travel have introduced work environments where managers frequently have to manage individuals, and even entire teams, that they don’t see every day, or possibly ever.   If your employees are in a different location, another time zone, or another country, face-to-face weekly meetings or office walk-bys are obviously not…

• 

  Peak Sales Recruiting

• Components Of an Effective Sales Compensation Plan

  PEAKSALES

  15 May 2012 | 3:40 am

  We often help companies formulate sales compensation plans that produce results. One of the biggest questions from managers is where to start in creating effective compensation plans for salespeople.   Pay them too little and they will leave. Pay them too much and they’ll get lazy.  Straight commission is good, no wait, straight commission is bad.   You know there is a for need some kind of incentive plan to motivate your team.  The problem is that you don’t know what it looks like. Your sales compensation plan has a huge effect on the bottom line.  Set up correctly it can yield…

• How Sales 2.0 is Affecting Sales Hiring

  PEAKSALES

  11 May 2012 | 3:29 am

  The buzz around Sales 2.0 existed for a couple of years now and perhaps your company has embraced the new way of selling to capture the tremendous opportunity it offers. Now your reps rely on marketing intelligence, social media, web networking, blogs, white papers, referral marketing, and CRM tools to amplify sales velocity and volume.  Overall you have increased lead generation and decreased cold calls. It’s time to add to the team so you create a detailed job description, and the word out.   The only problem is that you’re inundated with resumes from less than stellar applicants,…

• The Markets are Dropping.  Is Sales Compensation Dropping as Well?

  PEAKSALES

  9 May 2012 | 10:17 am

  We get a lot of questions about whether sales compensation is sagging in light of the economy. The simple answer is no, sales compensation is not dropping…for the reliable performers. The detail behind the answer involves looking at supply and demand. The model of supply and demand is the backbone of price determination in a free market. Demand refers to the amount of product or service that is desired from buyers. Supply represents the amount of products or services provided.  The ensuing philosophy dictates that price is a reflection of supply and demand.   With high unemployment…

• Falling for the Halo Effect in Sales Hiring (Requires 25 seconds to read)

  PEAKSALES

  9 May 2012 | 3:53 am

  It’s easy to like someone based on good looks and personality.  A professional with impressive credentials may seem like a great hire.  But, do either of these single qualities translate into an exceptional sales person? What really is in play is the “halo effect”; the belief that one good trait means that all traits are equally as good. Research shows that a high percentage of hires are made based on looks.  Fortunately the halo effect becomes less problematic with awareness.   Even an experienced interviewer might see beyond looks, but fall for someone previously employed by a…

• 5 Critical Things You Can Do to Increase Your Odds of Hiring a Top Performing Rep!

  PEAKSALES

  2 May 2012 | 10:37 am

  Want to hire the rainmaker that will change the course of your business? Increase your bottom line by hiring the right sales rep, the first time, by following these five steps. Know what you are looking for Drill down and define the skill set you need on your team. Hire based on the selling role and work environment. Look in the right places Top performing sales reps are usually employed. Don’t hire the friend of your neighbor because she’s a real “people person.” Target specific companies and networks. Have an Objective Way to Measure Candidates Determine the hard and soft skills…

• 

  Sharon Drew Morgen

• Winning the RFP business: a case study

  Sharon Drew Morgen

  13 May 2012 | 11:57 am

  Years ago I did a Buying Facilitation Method® program for a now-defunct group at KPMG. Before working with this team, they were using 2-4 people, spending between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and spending weeks creating large, glorious presentations to woo and wow the prospects as part of their proposal responses. They won 20% of the business. That means, they wasted 80% of their time (and either had to hire more people to make up the slack, or not have enough consultants to deliver and close real business). How could they know, before spending time and effort, which of the proposals…

• Buying Decisions: The Implicit Vs. The Explicit

  Sharon Drew Morgen

  30 Apr 2012 | 7:00 am

  When I began talking about ‘helping buyers buy’, or ‘decision facilitation’ in 1988, people thought I was a bit eccentric, to say the least. “I help buyers buy too,” I used to hear. “I find out what they need, position my solution in a way they understand that it will resolve their pain, and give them a good price.” And this has basically been the accepted norm throughout the history of sales. Except, of course, sales fails 90% of the time. So something is broken that we don’t really talk about. What has finally become obvious (and…

• Sales and Marketing CAN support each other

  Sharon Drew Morgen

  23 Apr 2012 | 7:57 am

  The sales and marketing communities have a historic enmity: marketing people think sellers don’t effectively use the data they gather, and sales folks think marketers give them bad leads. Marketing people are annoyed that sellers get paid so much when such a high percentage of sales don’t close and sales people think marketers are sending the wrong message to the wrong demographic. But, while seemingly doing different jobs, they are really doing the same thing: finding and creating the environment for the right people to purchase the company solution. But as we know, there is…

• Sharon Drew’s ‘retirement’ & the Future of Buying Facilitation®

  Sharon Drew Morgen

  20 Apr 2012 | 10:25 am

  In 1988, I trained Helping Buyers Buy to a sales team at KLM. In 1997 my 2nd book Selling with Integrity was on the NYTimes Business Bestseller’s list. In 1998 I was on CNN Airport News, in 6 minute segments, 8 times a day for a week, worldwide. I have been on over 1000 radio shows, trained over 20,000 people on 5 continents in many of the Fortune 100 companies, and written over 550 blogs, 1000 articles, and  7 books that sold to over 500,000 people, in 3 languages. I currently have licensees in 6 countries training my programs. My sales blog has consistently been on the top 10 of…

• Where does selling begin? Activate the buying journey immediately

  Sharon Drew Morgen

  16 Apr 2012 | 5:15 am

  Where does selling begin? Why do we begin a buyer conversation by focusing on finding needs? What are we gaining/losing by starting there? Buying Facilitation® will help you begin facilitating  the buyer’s decision path - defined as those back-end human issues (relationship, political, and financial) that must be managed prior to any agreement to  purchase – from first moment of the call.  By starting connections with a different focus, you can activate the purchasing decision process   immediately. THE PROBLEM WITH STARTING WITH A ‘NEEDS’ FOCUS…

• 

  A Sales Guy | Sales Advice | Sales CoachingA Sales Guy | Sales Advice | Sales Coaching

• Knowing What Matters

  Keenan

  15 May 2012 | 8:32 am

  Seth Godin has a great post up today: Hard Work on the Right Things. Seth couldn’t be any more accurate. I’ve seen it over and over. The best sales people know EXACTLY what matters and the spend their time working on those things. They ignore the rest The best sales leaders help sales people focus on what matters. They take the rest off their plate. Selling is complex. A lot of things compete for our time. Knowing what matters is the difference between the good and the great. Know what things matter and work really hard on them, ignore the rest. That’s all!

• The Gap In Sales Training

  Keenan

  14 May 2012 | 5:46 pm

  Sales training, we’ve all been through it. In almost every case it’s about teaching us something new. I’m a fan of sales training because I’m a fan of learning. Anytime I or my teams can learn something new, I’m good with it. Despite my fondness of “good” sales training, sales training operates from an interesting premise. The premise; sales people need to learn something NEW and that good sales training teaches us something we didn’t know.  I call teaching us something new, sales education, not sales training. Training is the strengthening of…

• Help Making Your Number

  Keenan

  13 May 2012 | 2:22 pm

  I’ve created a single place where you can now download my ebooks.  It’s part of A Sales Guy U!  Check it out. My newest one, Twitter For Sales is up now too. My goal with the ebooks and the other content in A Sales Guy U is to give you an edge in making quota. Think of it as free training and or sales education. The books are easy to read, targeted AND will help you make your number, isn’t that why were here. Check it out. I’ll be adding more regularly. Enjoy!

• How?

  Keenan

  11 May 2012 | 1:54 pm

  “How?” is an often forgotten word. We ask “what?” all the time. What do you do? What are going to do? What ideas do you have?  ”What?” is pretty common. “Why?” and “Who?” have books named after them. They are getting some pretty good airtime. “Where?” certainly gets it’s time in the spot light. Everyone loves “where?”. Where do you want to meet? Where is the party? Where are we going to do this? “Where?” is loved. “How?” on the other hand is treated like the red-headed step…

• Be Emotional

  Keenan

  10 May 2012 | 11:42 am

  It’s business, there is no place for emotion, right?  That’s what were told. But in sales, that advice is only HALF true. To be good at sales, we have to be emotional. We have to feel our customers pain. We have to feel their anxiety. We have to feel their fear. We have to feel their confusion. We have to feel their anger. We have to feel their frustration. We have to feel their excitement. We have to feel their confidence. We have to feel their relief. We have to feel their comfort. We have to feel their joy. In sales we have to feel what our customers feel. I’m talking…

• 

  Sales Motivation and Sales Training

• The Critical Mistake You’ve Made On-Line

  TheSalesHunter

  16 May 2012 | 1:42 am

  Well, maybe all of you haven’t made this mistake. I know plenty of salespeople who have made it, though. What is it? The mistake of not being thorough in your on-line presence. I realize some people are nervous about intentionally putting information on the internet about themselves.  The reality is, though, that many potential buyers will use the internet to do research. Wouldn’t you prefer that the information they find about you is accurate and positive? What is key step you can take in that direction? As a businessperson, you definitely can fill out your complete profile on…

• Are People Buying Your Credibility?

  TheSalesHunter

  15 May 2012 | 9:47 am

  Every few months, it seems there is news of another failure of credibility by somebody in business. Most recently it has been the resignation of the Yahoo CEO, Scott Thompson. What’s amazing is how and why it occurred.  Call it hubris, or just plain stupidity — either way, it was a failure of individual responsibility. It’s easy to point fingers and talk about somebody who is at the top of the business food-chain taking a nosedive due to their own stupidity.  It’s much harder, however, to look at ourselves and ask the critical question about how we handle situations.

• Sales Prospecting: Are You Even Focused?

  TheSalesHunter

  14 May 2012 | 9:34 am

  Prospecting for sales is hard enough, but it’s made even harder when the strategy being used is either based on hope — or worse yet something like spraying and praying. I talk a lot about the need to have a very clear sales prospecting process. Just as important the need to be focused in following it. Too many salespeople at the first sign of something not going right get scared and change direction.  No wonder so many salespeople cave to the demands of the customer when it comes to price. (We’ll save that issue for another day.) The problem is you have to realize there…

• Prospecting Emails that Suck

  TheSalesHunter

  12 May 2012 | 1:14 pm

  It happened earlier again today. Among the hundreds of emails I receive each day — both solicited and unsolicited — came what I’ll call the “stupid email of the day.” If you’re going to prospect via email, don’t go putting out an email that says “just checking in.”  Come on, get real and quit being stupid, thinking something like this is going to catch anyone’s attention. “Just checking in” is not the way you address any email to someone you don’t know, let alone someone with whom you want to do business.  The…

• Voicemail as a Prospecting Tool

  TheSalesHunter

  11 May 2012 | 6:24 am

  Let’s not kid ourselves. The vast majority of phone calls go to voicemail. Because of this reality, if you intend to use the telephone to develop sales prospects, then you have to be able to use voicemail effectively. The biggest mistake people make when leaving a voicemail message as part of their prospecting strategy is they leave a message that has zero value to the person receiving it.   The prospect doesn’t want to know how wonderful you are and a bunch of other blather about what you and your company do. Think about this for a moment. Did the prospect wake up thinking…

• 

  Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog -- Making A Difference

• Only One Thing Is Sacrosanct To Sales

  David Brock

  14 May 2012 | 10:04 am

  Mid-year is approaching.  I’m talking to a lot of people about where they are with quota performance.  With too many, their hands start waving around, the stories start, the excuses start. “We’re still seeing the effects of the economy, customers aren’t buying….”  I know their peers in the same company are making the numbers, their competitors are selling, so I wonder. “Our marketing programs and collateral are really insufficient, I don’t have the tools I need to be successful…”  Again, there are a number of their peers faced…

• Creating Crap At The Speed Of Light

  David Brock

  11 May 2012 | 12:27 pm

  There are a huge number of tools available to help sales professionals be more effective and efficient.  Properly used and implemented they can have a profound impact in improving sales performance.  At the same time, used improperly, the provide the potential of causing great problems or creating crap at the speed of light.  Every tool has the opportunity, properly used to have great impact or improperly used to have great negative impact. Too often, however, it seems the implementation of the tool in itself, is the end rather than just a means.  People implement CRM thinking…

• Pattern Recognition And The Sales Process

  David Brock

  10 May 2012 | 8:32 am

  The human brain is an awesome instrument!  One of the things it enables us to do, sometimes almost unconsciously, is to instantly recognize patterns.  We encounter a situation, in nano seconds, our brains compare the situation with others we have encountered through our life.  It quickly enables us to recognize, “I’ve encountered something like this before—-this is how I recognized it, this is what I did, this is what happened as a result.”  We do it thousands of times a day, comparing everything we have encountered, looking for common patterns that have produced…

• How Easy Are You To Do Business With?

  David Brock

  7 May 2012 | 1:45 am

  I have to admit, I’m writing this out of a little bit of frustration.  I have a prospect, it’s virtually impossible to communicate with them — at least through the normal channels.  Now, you may say, “Dave, don’t you get it–they don’t want to talk to you!”  But they really do want to talk and communicate with me.  They say so, they get upset when it appears that I’m not communicating with them. They originally contacted me a couple of months ago.  I got an email from a mid level executive in the company.  He wanted some information,…

• Media Business In Trouble

  David Brock

  5 May 2012 | 12:43 pm

  The media business is changing.  Traditional media–newspapers, journals, and magazines are struggling to refine their business models.  Figuring out how to make money and continue to grow is a challenge for all in the media business.  As a consumer of both traditional and new media, I want to see them survive, grow, and thrive.  I subscribe to a lot of “traditional” media as well as new media. One of the great trends I see is publishers adopting “any time, any place, any device.”  For example I can read some of my favorite newspapers in hard copy, or, when…

• 

  Steel on Sales

• Understanding Social Media Sales Funnel

  David Steel

  15 May 2012 | 9:38 am

  Social media marketing has had spontaneous impact for many businesses over the years since its inception, but in order to harness the opportunities that come with it, one has to learn how to effectively manipulate the social media sales funnel. If your social media strategies are not generating the much needed leads, then you have not yet fully grasped the social media marketing concept, and hence, you should start by identifying where your links are loosening and form a strong social media sales funnel to give you leverage, to grow stronger and achieve immense success within a short period…

• Nurturing Success in your Sales Force

  David Steel

  1 May 2012 | 9:36 am

  A sales team operates as one cohesive unit. Together, they can achieve the toughest of goals; divided, they fall apart and ruin the company’s profitability. Now, for the sales team to operate as one forceful, profitable unit that easily achieves its goals, every team member must be personally and professionally happy. This is where the sales manager comes in – he must motivate and keep his team happy and ensure that they together make for a successful sales force. He can do this by playing psychologist and making each member focus on the positive side of his work and life. A team member…

• Hiring the Best Salespeople

  David Steel

  1 May 2012 | 9:32 am

  Hiring salespeople who are talented and true team players can boost a company’s profitability. Such salesmen easily connect with customers and convince them to buy the company’s product. The good news is that the recession's still on and many bright and talented sales are actively looking for jobs. Such availability makes hiring salespeople easier for companies. The tough news is that these talented people want employment in an organization that reconciles job satisfaction with money, among other employment factors. So, how will you hire the best brains in the sales industry?

• Social Media in the Workplace

  David Steel

  17 Apr 2012 | 9:34 am

  Several businesses provide limited Internet access to their employees to ensure that they work collectively in the network and do important things like checking emails without succumbing to distractions like social networking sites. Since there are not so many popular social networking sites, blocking these social media business sites using software or the router interface is very simple. You can simply block access to Facebook and Twitter and that may be enough for people to fully focus. But with the way social media is evolving every year, you might be wondering if these businesses should…

• Why Social Media

  David Steel

  17 Apr 2012 | 9:30 am

  Back in the late 90s, the Internet was all about checking email, chatting with other people and searching online for information or news. Right now, millions of people still do this today and there are smartphones and tablets that allow people to do this easily. However, several of the sites in Alexa’s top 20 most visited sites globally are social media sites. This shows that social media is the new trend and it has influenced businesspeople to get into social media for business ventures. You might be wondering why social media for business is something worth exploring if you can just have…

• 

  Media Sales Today

• Traditional Media Still Tops for Many Agencies

  Kathy Crosett

  16 May 2012 | 10:13 am

  The future is not all digital, all the time. That’s the word from STRATA, a research concern that just published a new survey on ad agencies and their attention to media mix. Overall, STRATA analysts continue to say that 2012 will be a good year for advertising and while there’s a trend to purchase more digital, traditional is still an in-demand platform for marketers.

• Soaring Spirits: Get Liquored Up

  Courtney Huckabay

  16 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Everybody's getting a little loose lately. Liquor commercials appear to be on the rise – with broadcast networks easing up on their rules. Frankly, I think it has something to do with Don Draper making your grandad's bourbon cool again, but I digress.

• Ad Opportunity: Telecom Firms Rolling Out Home Automation System Promotions

  Kathy Crosett

  15 May 2012 | 1:06 am

  To make up for revenue shortfalls from the loss of landlines and to eke more revenue out of each subscriber, telecom and cable companies are offering consumers new ways to manage their home systems while they are at work or on vacation. These systems allow homeowners to control lights, thermostats and cameras remotely. Reps can increase sales by talking to service providers about educating consumers on the new technology through ad campaigns.

• Secrets to Being A Sales Hunter

  Jessica Helinski

  14 May 2012 | 2:57 am

  How are your sales hunting skills? If they’re only so-so, you may want to check out the recent blog post by Al Turrisi. He discusses strong sales hunters, listing three “secrets” to their success.

• Coming to a Theater Near You: Live Sports in 3D!

  Courtney Huckabay

  11 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Some interesting stuff is popping up (or should I say OUT?) in movie theaters these days. Live 3D broadcasts are going to be all the rage. Now, I've written about the success of live opera performances shown in theaters before, but I thought SPORTS might really grab you by the collar this time.

• 

  Comments on: Steven Rosen is Stirring it Up! Provoking, inspiring and witty insights on Sales Leadership.

• By: The Other Business Benefit of Social Networking | Small Business Storyteller

  The Other Business Benefit of Social Networking | Small Business Storyteller

  7 May 2012 | 2:57 pm

  [...] Rosen, Star Results; [...]

• 

  Women In Sales and Business | Sales Gravy

• 4 Steps to Avoid Nervous Habits that can Kill a Sale

  carrie

  7 May 2012 | 8:33 pm

  If your prospect can’t see the value of your offerings without so many extra benefits, you missed a step in the sales process; randomly throwing in extra benefits at this point, without resolving these issues, is not your best long term solution. By Robyn Davis Have you ever had that out of body experience where you feel like you’re watching yourself kill a sale? …where it feels like you can literally see the prospect becoming less eager to buy but you just can’t stop yourself from making the situation even worse? You aren’t alone. I work with exhibitors full time and, because the…

• Taking Responsibility vs Offering to Help

  carrie

  1 May 2012 | 9:57 am

  When it comes to recognizing the difference between taking responsibility and offering to help – most men just don’t understand. By Zig Ziglar It’s true.  The typical husband and father doesn’t have a clue as to what the housewife—whether she be full-time or part-time—does to maintain the home.  Ruth Hampton expressed it this way: “The most influential position in the nation today is held by a woman.  She enforces law, practices medicine and teaches without degree, certificate of competence or required training.  She handles the nation’s food, administers its drugs…

• The Pace of the Sales Leader is the Pace of the Sales Team

  carrie

  26 Apr 2012 | 8:52 pm

  How can you enjoy sustainable and predictable revenues?  Here are three ways that can make you the right kind of leader of the sales pack. by Colleen Stanley It’s the second quarter of the year and revenues are running behind.  Sure, it’s easy to point the finger and blame poor results on the sales team.   But take an objective step back and ask the question. Is it you or your sales team that is falling short?  There is an old saying, “The pace of the leader is the pace of the pack.”  What kind of sales leader are you and where could you improve in order to create more…

• Business Dining Etiquette 101: College Students Eat It Up!

  carrie

  25 Apr 2012 | 1:50 pm

  Most of  the young people I work with are  in their junior or senior year of college. They are finishing up their courses and are ready to join the workplace.  The one class they didn’t get is business etiquette training. by Lydia Ramsey One of the favorite aspects of my etiquette training business is presenting “Dining for Success” to college and university students. Since founding Manners That Sell nearly 15 years ago, I have worked with numerous colleges and universities teaching table manners. This is a subject that used to be taught at the family dinner table.  However, we all…

• Marketing 101 – We Can ALL Use a Refresher Course

  carrie

  13 Apr 2012 | 8:33 am

  By Diane Helbig – Seize This Day Coaching When I put a call out for article topics I received a lot of requests for beginner’s marketing information. Really, sharing thoughts on marketing your business is good for all of us. It’s something we can always use a refresher on. So, here we go. The main key to marketing effectively is understanding your value – the value your prospect sees. People don’t buy things they don’t need; especially these days. You have to speak to their pain, their need. So, try this quick exercise: Write down the following – What do you sell? What’s…

• 

  Sales Training: An Independent Perspective. Dave Stein's Blog.

• A Free Course in Political Selling and Competitive Strategy, Starting Today!

  Dave Stein

  11 May 2012 | 11:46 am

  If you’re in sales and haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on in the political arena, you’re missing a rare opportunity (once every four years, anyway). And if you have been paying attention, but don’t understand the opponents’ strategies, tactics, mistakes, wins, positioning, messaging, attempts to control the narrative, political alliances, allegiances, and all the rest, you’ve got some work to do in two areas of advanced selling: leveraging influence and politics within your customers’ accounts and devising and executing competitive…

• My 2012 ASTD Conference Visit and (Downloadable) Presentation

  Dave Stein

  9 May 2012 | 12:43 pm

  Monday I attended and presented at ASTD’s (American Society of Training and Development) 2012 International Conference and Exposition.  Thanks to Mike Galvin for inviting me to contribute to the Sales Enablement track. Although I was only in Denver for a day, I did get the opportunity to chat with representatives and senior executives from some leading sales performance provider organizations including Richardson, Miller Heiman, Shapiro Negotiations, TACK USA, SEC Solutions (home of The Challenger Sale), Mandel Communications, Mercuri International, Celemi, and 3G Selling. I caught up…

• More on Storytelling

  Dave Stein

  30 Apr 2012 | 12:18 pm

  For today’s sales leaders it’s almost impossible not be analytically driven. Every aspect of our sales lives are driven by key performance indicators, dashboards, and pipeline metrics. Making the number is what it is all about. ES Research Group is a strong believer in management by numbers—after all, if it can’t be measured, it can be managed. One area where we think it’s all right to think outside the analytical box is connecting with customers through storytelling. I’ve written about that before here and here. Being able to relate to your prospects is…

• Interviewing Sales Candidates: Body Language

  Dave Stein

  18 Apr 2012 | 6:10 am

  I’m In Ireland again for my yearly visit. I’m an Adjunct Professor of Sales and Sales Management at the Dublin Institute of Technology. DIT delivers an eight module program in international selling for Enterprise Ireland, the government organization responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. Among the subjects I cover in my module is hiring. All of the 75 sales executives and 50 CEOs that participate at one point or another during my eight days of workshops will be hiring sales people, managers and directors during the course of the next…

• There’s a better way to select sales training

  Dave Stein

  10 Apr 2012 | 3:42 pm

  Thanks to my editors at Sales and Marketing Management magazine for running this cover story on a very important topic. A few key points from the article: To get sales training right, you have to select the right sales training partner. Note: If you’re part of a corporate Learning and Development organization and don’t outsource at least some of your process, methodology, and content development, we should really have a chat. An objective assessment of your selling requirements from your customers’ perspective is the first place to start. The best provider for your…

• 

  The Pipeline

• How important Are You To Your Client?

  admin

  16 May 2012 | 3:33 am

  Ask any group of sales people what they want to achieve with their buyers, and a vast majority will tell you they want to build rapport and establish a “relationship” with buyers. It seems like the Politically Correct thing to say, sounds nice, sounds safe, and frankly sounds easy; all the ingredients that the 80% are looking for. Now don’t get me wrong, having a relationship with your buyers and customers is important, but when measured in results and revenue, not all it’s cracked up to be. Myself, and I believe the 20%, would rather achieve being…

• Is It Ever A Good Time? – Sales eXchange – 149

  admin

  14 May 2012 | 3:33 am

  One common objection sales people face when making prospecting calls, is when the potentially prospect says “now is not the right time”.  While timing is important, and understanding how specific triggers can help improve your timing, the fact remains that perfecting your timing will only help you in a very (very very) small way, in a very narrow part of you potential prospect segment.  Here is why. Timing is only important with two buyer groups, Passive, those who have realized the Status Quo no longer meets their requirements, and have decided to learn or check out…

• 3 Ways to Steal Time

  admin

  11 May 2012 | 3:33 am

  There a host of things you can focus on to master to improve your sales execution and results, but none more than the need to master time.  We all start with 24 hours at the start of the day, and how we use it will determine our success more than anything else.  I have never heard a sales person, no matter how good, tell me they have run out skills, but at one point they have all run out of time. There are however a few simple things you can do to tilt things your way.  The key is keeping it simple, which is not easy, especially for people in ‘complex sales’; oddly and often,…

• Playoff Selling

  admin

  9 May 2012 | 3:33 am

  If you’re a basketball or hockey fan, you are (should be) enjoying the playoffs. For the most part the level of play, intensity and excitement of the game is at its highest level (most of the time).  Every play counts, it is do or die time, and it brings out the best in players. Some players have made a career out of being clutch playoff players, think of “Mr. October”, Reggie Jackson, and others who have distinguished themselves with their post season play.  But while pro athletes can afford to or even thrive in being sporadic in their playing, as a sales professional you…

• Social Reality – Sales eXchange – 148

  admin

  7 May 2012 | 3:33 am

  This past Saturday, I had the great pleasure of spending the day with some of North America’s brightest sales thinkers. You can track them through my tweet stream @TiborShanto, and there is a list below. These 20 or so sales thought leaders are a subset of a larger group that has collaborated a number of ways online and in the socialsphere, I have worked with some for years, but this was the first (of many I hope) time we got together in one room to focus on and move a common agenda forward. Without getting into detail, we made great strides in specific areas with concrete executables.

• 

  Talking Media Sales

• Ditch The Script

  Ben Shute

  15 May 2012 | 6:25 pm

  Yesterday I presented at The Customer Compass event in Sydney, a conference that looked at how to use data and insights to drive organisations and customer centricity. I spoke about social insights, and how fandom has become a precursor to loyalty in the new age of the social consumer, and I plan on breaking it...

• What Media Sales People Need To Know About LinkedIn

  Ben Shute

  9 May 2012 | 7:14 pm

  Welcome to the third installment of the “What You Need To Know” series on social media. So far we’ve covered Facebook (which is due for it’s IPO next week), and Twitter, probably the two most popular platforms in terms of adoption and usage. Today I wanted to talk about LinkedIn, which has become a powerful...

• The Real Problem With Advertisers

  Mike Brunel

  7 May 2012 | 7:06 pm

  Not all advertisers suck, but some do. In my new book ‘The Desk Closest to the Door – How to Master the Art of Selling Direct Media’, I talk about knowing the difference between a good client and a bad one.

• What Media Sales People Need To Know About Twitter

  Ben Shute

  3 May 2012 | 9:17 pm

  Last week we talked about what Facebook’s rise and dominance means to media sales, and this week I wanted to cover Twitter. While not on the user base is not nearly as massive as Facebook, it’s nonetheless a channel that you need to be familiar with. Twitter has an active user base of over 100,000,000...

• 7 Things You Should Know About Building Rapport

  Mike Brunel

  30 Apr 2012 | 7:18 pm

  Building rapport with your clients is one of you single most important sales tools you have. Here are 7 things you need to think about and do to make sure you are doing it right.

• 

  The Fast Growth Blog

• Kudos to GM

  Doug Davidoff

  16 May 2012 | 1:50 pm

  After years of being able to use GM as a prime example of what not to do, they buck a trend and announce that they are revisiting their entire spend on Facebook. My favorite quote from the story:  “The sources said GM executives found the paid ads had little impact on car buying.” How about that.  GM, one of the kings of advertising, finally learning that paying for ads, especially on social sites, has little impact on car buying. GM is not giving up on Facebook altogether, as they find that can be an effective way to engage with their consumers and share content.  GM spends…

• Selling Done Right

  Doug Davidoff

  15 May 2012 | 2:46 pm

  What profession is best suited for a liar? How do you know when a salesperson is lying? It’s unfortunate that salespeople have become the butt of so many jokes.  In the past I’ve written about pests, peddlers and Demand Creators, and shared the advantages to being a Demand Creator. As the world continues to move forward from the deep recession, there are still not enough companies that are building the organizational capability necessary to consistently grow profits.  Selling, on the whole, is not creating the value necessary to support higher margins and faster profit growth for small…

• 7 Steps to Shortening Your Sales Cycle

  Doug Davidoff

  8 May 2012 | 5:10 pm

  The trends are not good when judging the effectiveness of small and mid-market B2B sales efforts. According to recent purchasing surveys, as many as 40% of organizational buying processes are ending in a “no decision.” A recent research project done by the Wall Street Journal demonstrated that on 37% of salespeople were actually effective, and a comprehensive research project done by The Sales Research Council shows number worse than that. Margin and pricing pressure continues to mount on businesses, even as we emerge from deep recession. Finding good salespeople is tougher than…

• Stop Letting Your Salespeople Down

  Doug Davidoff

  7 May 2012 | 9:33 am

  The days of sending your salespeople into the field (or allowing them to wait for prospects to come to them) armed with product brochures, company glossies and boring PowerPoint presentations and expecting them to “dig deep,” “discover,” engage and close are over! Today’s world is too tough and too competitive, you’re customers are too time-pressed and overwhelmed with other issues, and your salespeople must deal with unprecedented complexity.  Your organization can longer leave it to each salesperson to manage their sales effort independently. Great…

• They’re Not Ready

  Doug Davidoff

  2 May 2012 | 9:04 am

  The single biggest, most common, and most expensive mistake made by salespeople occurs when they go to their solution too early. The biggest cause of this mistake is the apparent readiness on the part of the prospect to hear about the solution. The nature of most small and mid-market organization’s sales and marketing efforts leads to the primary contributor of this problem.  80% or more of the time, salespeople begin their interaction with the prospect after the prospect is looking for a solution. When they first meet with a prospect, or when a prospect first reaches out to them the…

• 

  Hunt, Gather, and Cultivate...meaningful relationships

• Don’t you love cliches and buzz words?

  Brick

  14 May 2012 | 7:51 pm

  Value Add Think outside the box In the wheelhouse At the end of the day Win-win blah blah blah… Everyone spews the same nonsense.  It’s no wonder no one answers the phone because they are afraid of the same old onslaught of clichés and buzzwords!  Give me something original please! Here is a clue and it’s really simple, yet no one does it – learn about your client and their business and then ask questions and you may have a chance to help.  Otherwise, stay home and watch reruns because that’s the business you are in if you are just doing whatever everyone is…

• You sent me a message…

  Brick

  14 May 2012 | 7:30 pm

  And, then I replied and nada! Why did you send me an idea and then leave me hanging I ask?  This is not unusual for some strange reason.  Maybe these folks need a contact management  system or I can teach them the simple flag mechanism that comes with Microsoft Outlook…I don’t know, but something. This leads me to my longstanding belief that just doing the basics will put you ahead of the otherwise unorganized, scattered pack of other client facing people out there that seem to lack basic organizational skills. I know this is true when a client is amazed that they received a…

• Be a problem solver

  Brick

  9 May 2012 | 11:06 am

  Maybe this is common sense to some of us but I am still amazed at how many sales professionals are still pushing products with a rigid “script”.  The following article is spot on in my opinion. Stop selling to increase revenue Just like in life with any relationship, you can’t be a resource unless you really, really know your “client”. Brick Filed under: Business Principles, Relationships, Want to be a great salesperson?

• Before you get married, check out the family

  Brick

  7 May 2012 | 5:50 pm

  Most of get really excited about the wedding and our bride-to-be, but we skip an important step in the process, the one that lasts a lifetime beyond the party – the family! Here is a good article about the importance of culture when you are selecting a place to work.  You better make sure the culture fits or no amount of money will compensate for the lack of harmony. When choosing a job, Culture matters Take the proper time and get to know the “family” before you book the banquet hall. Brick Filed under: Business Principles, How to Hire, Relationships

• The Lemonade Stand

  Brick

  3 May 2012 | 11:34 am

  This is really good…it’s so true.  Keep the language simple and compelling.  Everything else is a waste of time. What a 9-Year-Old Can Teach You About Selling If you want your conversations to have a real impact, you need to simplify your message. I recently read a study that confirmed my suspicion that most people don’t remember what we present to them in a sales call. The data suggested that the average buyer in a meeting will only remember one thing–one!–a week after your meeting. Oh, and by the way: You don’t get to choose what that one thing is. Sigh. So…

• 

  ViewPoint | The Truth About Lead Generation

• How many inquires does it take to make quota?

  Guest Blogger

  15 May 2012 | 5:03 am

  James Obermayer, Executive Director and CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association and President of Sales Leakage Consulting is a regular guest blogger with ViewPoint. Formula to Predict Inquiries Needed to Make Quotai Marketing managers regularly ask me how to predict the number of leads (really raw inquiries) needed to achieve quota (I wish more sales managers would also ask). It’s a simple formula that jump-starts a discussion with sales management and helps C-Level types understand that this magic of marketing is more science than magic when it comes to lead…

• PowerViews with Christopher Hosford – CRM/Marketing Automation/Social Convergence

  Dan McDade

  10 May 2012 | 7:22 am

  Today's PowerViews guest is Christopher Hosford. Christopher is an award-winning business writer and editor based in New York City. He is East Coast Bureau Chief for BtoB Magazine. He is former editor-in-chief of Sales & Marketing Management magazine, and has written for Architectural Record, Inc. Magazine, Multi-Housing News and Hospitality Design. Christopher has served as editor-in-chief or senior editor with Meeting News, Corporate & Incentive Travel, and Life Extension. He is co-author (with Dr. Jorge Picaza) of "AIDS: The Hidden Killer," one of the first book-length…

• Why Engagement Will Not Generate Leads (and what to do about it)

  Guest Blogger

  8 May 2012 | 9:30 am

  Today's guest blogger is Jeff Molander. Jeff is the authority on making social media sell, adjunct faculty at Loyola University business school, a social selling speaker and author of, Off the Hook Marketing: How to make social media sell. Produce engaging content. For years now, there's been a steady drum beat coming from content marketing experts who say producing engaging content on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and other social media is the key to success. But in reality even the most engaging blogs, videos and other forms of online publication fail to produce leads and sales. At best,…

• The Cost-Per-Lead Fallacy in Measuring B2B Lead Generation Investments (Pt 3 of 3)

  Guest Blogger

  3 May 2012 | 7:11 am

  The introductory post in this series addressed the problems and costs of applying the cost-per-lead metric to measure the success of B2B lead generation investments. In the second post, we looked at elements of a complex sale that impact B2B lead generation costs. Let’s now turn our attention to the characteristics the right marketing metrics should have and then use those characteristics to clearly identify the marketing KPIs needed to correctly measure lead value in B2B lead generation. Shifting to outcome-based accountability and revenue metrics While cost-per-lead…

• PowerViews with Paul Gillin: Social Media – Pick Your Spots & Focus

  Dan McDade

  2 May 2012 | 7:21 am

  I'm pleased to have Paul Gillin as a guest for our fourth episode of PowerViews. Paul is a veteran technology journalist, author of several books, a consultant and speaker. He is a regular contributor to BtoB Magazine and was founding editor of TechTarget and editor-in-chief of Computerworld. Today we discussed several of the latest marketing trends and the impact new technologies are making in the B2B business climate. Below, you can read highlights from our discussion or use the links to start the video from different parts of the conversation. Social Media: What's Hot? Click to start video…

• 

  Results Count ... everything else is conversation.

• Social Media Has the Power to Kill Pink Slime

  Chris Petersen

  16 May 2012 | 11:00 am

  Bettina Siegel is the poster child for what a blog can do! Social media gets a lot of hype, but how much power does it really have to change things? If you don’t know Bettina Elias Siegel, you are probably in good company. Ms. Siegel is the author of a small blog that popularized the term “pink slime”. Her blog could be a case study in the power of “viral branding,” which impacted an entire industry. Now, if she would just take on “meat glue”. Bettina Siegel personifies the power of social media If I hadn’t read Michael Sansolo’s post in the Morning News Beat, chances are I…

• Another nail in the coffin of big box stores?

  Chris Petersen

  8 May 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Ability to sustain traffic will be a critical success factor You don’t need to look very far to see another article on the growth of online retailing. The phenomenon of online shopping is truly worldwide. While Amazon grabs the headlines with record profits in the west, Alibaba dominates China. Consumers are voting. The biggest threat to traditional bricks and mortar stores is not the loss of just sales, but the ability to drive future traffic. Two recent tests offer a crystal ball of new challenges traditional big box stores will face in maintaining consumer traffic. Historical store…

• Retailers are missing Mother’s Day “wow” factor

  Chris Petersen

  2 May 2012 | 11:34 am

  Don’t just click … Give Mum an experience to remember Everyone has one … a “Mum”. So, how can you not remember her on this holiday! Yet, in this time crunched world a majority of kids will purchase something quick and easy. Want to give your Mom something to remember this year? How about giving her a “dog fight”! Retail stores would do well to think outside of the box to capitalize on the emerging trend of gifting “experience” over token gifts purchased online. Mother’s Day – It’s one of those retail “spring things” For much of retail, there are three selling…

• 7 Ways to Wake the Dead and Inspire Action

  Chris Petersen

  26 Apr 2012 | 11:00 am

  How to use PowerPoint without boring people If you are in business, most of you probably put together “decks of slides”. Outside of business, many of us get called upon as leaders to orchestrate meetings. Even if you have a slick deck with cool graphics doesn’t mean you won’t bore your group. I often get asked how we put together decks that engage workshop attendees. I had an opportunity to provide our 7 tips in a recent guest blog for “SmartBlog on Leadership”. How to be a more effective leader and presenter If you follow this blog, you know that I travel extensively and lead a…

• What’s a name change worth … Results Count!

  Chris Petersen

  19 Apr 2012 | 9:00 pm

  The shoemaker’s kids finally have some new shoes! When you are in a client service business, the focus is rightfully on the clients. And, when you work with some the largest Fortune 500 companies, there never seems to quite enough time to work on your “own stuff”. The classic saying is that the “shoemaker’s kids are barefoot and have no shoes.” Well, 2012 became our year to get new look and a new name. Warning: this post seems to scream out in clichés To borrow another cliché, “we are older than dirt”. Our original consulting practice began in 1983. It was formed at a time…

• 

  Top Sales Dog

• Angry customers: It’s not yelling. It’s a cry for help.

  Michael Boyette

  16 May 2012 | 9:38 am

  Every one of us – even those in sales – has at one time or another, been an Angry Customer.Think back to one of those times and get in touch with your pain. You’ve been on hold for 20 minutes. Given your information to three different people. Heard “no” about seven different ways. And finally you’re told that, unfortunately, you needed to call by yesterday and the policy can’t be waived.Are you there yet? Good.Now, if you could only hear one thing, would it be…A silky soothing voice?Chirpy confidence?An apology?A solution?Sweet talk and apologies are nice, but I’d choose…

• ‘Get lost,’ the prospect told me

  Michael Boyette

  14 May 2012 | 10:05 am

  Editor’s note: Greatest Sales are true accounts of how successful salespeople closed the deal despite sales objections, buyer inertia, cutthroat competition and other obstacles. Veteran salesperson Mark Chilnick tells how one sale early in his career taught him what it took to get past the buyer’s “no.”“Please leave,” the prospect said. “I like my current supplier. I don’t even want to know your company exists.”Early in my career, I sold advertising for a major telephone directory company. It was a tough, prospecting-intensive job, and I got my fair share of…

• Key to maximum profit: Your customer’s price-tolerance ratio

  Michael Boyette

  11 May 2012 | 9:32 am

  Every customer has a price range where he or she is willing to make a decision without any further thinking. Sales guru Mark Hunter refers to this as the Price Tolerance Ratio, or PTR. Knowing your customer’s PTR is critical, yet salespeople fail to comprehend the obstacle that not knowing it presents. When you don’t understand a customer’s PTR, you inevitably:offer a price that does not maximize the profit potentialget the order but encounter resistance from the customer that hinders the relationship, orencounter resistance that leads to spending too much time on the selling process…

• To buy … or not to buy

  Michael Boyette

  9 May 2012 | 10:04 am

  Elaine recently took over the Denmark territory for General Armor. Today she’s visiting her prospect, the CEO of Elsinore Inc.Frankly, Elaine can’t figure out how this Hamlet guy got the top job at Elsinore, because he can’t make a decision to save his life. He was all set to order new chain mail for his knights, but now he’s waffling.“To buy or not to buy? That is the question,” Hamlet muses, while Elaine looks at her watch. “Our cash flow is down this quarter, and the economy’s not looking so good, and my mother says chain mail is practically obsolete. Oh, to die, to sleep…

• Six ways to make sure you learn as much as you can from lost sales

  Michael Boyette

  7 May 2012 | 9:51 am

  There’s nothing quite like the feeling of closing a sale. Whether it’s large or small, salespeople celebrate first and then try to understand why they won so they can replicate their success.There is much more to be learned from losing, says sales coach Richard Schroder. Yet most salespeople don’t know how to gather accurate and meaningful information from prospects to learn from their losses.60% of customers won’t tell the complete truth Salespeople often ask prospects why they lost a deal, but typically don’t get a straight answer. In fact, recent sales research says salespeople…

• 

  Sales Intelligence Blog by Lattice Engines

• Lattice Engines Named Finalist for Most Innovative Tech Company in the 2012 American Business Awards

  Kathy Mammon

  15 May 2012 | 9:21 am

  Lattice Engines, the pioneer in big data for sales, today announced that it has been named a finalist in the 2012 American Business Awards in the category of Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year. Inclusion in the American Business Awards, the nation’s premier business awards program, signifies Lattice Engines’ leadership in the market as one of the fastest growing and most innovative technology companies of the year.  Lattice Engines’ big data for sales platform, salesPRISM, arms front-line sales professionals with real-time, predictive and actionable insight, impacting…

• Cliffnotes for Bankers: 5 Tips for Knowing Business Clients

  Alicia Brayboy

  11 May 2012 | 1:09 pm

  Recently, Lattice Engines had the pleasure of co-presenting a webinar with Vertical IQ hosted by St. Meyer & Hubbard. The webinar entitled, Cliffnotes for Bankers: 5 Tips for Knowing Business Clients, focused on the 5 key elements you need to know before you get in front of a banking client and how to demonstrate that you truly understand that client’s business. In this recorded webinar, Vertical IQ and Lattice Engines discuss how to: Discover 3 Context-Driven Conversation Pieces before each client meeting Investigate 3 Unique Aspects of a client or prospect’s cash flow Find an…

• Retaining Assets: How Big Data Can Stem Big Redemptions

  Alicia Brayboy

  9 May 2012 | 5:57 pm

  The years ahead look challenging for asset managers. In addition to the ongoing structural shift in asset flows stemming from baby-boomer retirement, continued stresses in the global economy makes it even more difficult for firms to increase assets. In a world with low net inflows, the competition to grab share of a fixed or shrinking pie will increase. Firms  will evaluate all the levers they have in their arsenal to capture asset share. As always, fund performance, particularly with respect to peer categories, will be a major factor, as will asset acquisition. But what else can asset…

• Lattice Engines Presents at the ICI 54th Annual General Membership Meeting

  Kathy Mammon

  8 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  fundPRISM for asset management delivers the power of predictive analytics to front-line wholesalers. Lattice Engines, the pioneer in big data for sales, announced today that it will be exhibiting at the Investment Company Institute’s 54th Annual General Membership Meeting on May 9 -11, 2012 in Washington, D.C. at booth #100. The explosive growth of available data about financial advisors contains invaluable intelligence for frontline sales teams.  Lattice Engines helps asset management firms tap into the power of big data to operationalize a data-driven approach to selling.  Using…

• The Algebra of Success in Business Banking

  Glenn Wong

  3 May 2012 | 10:48 am

  Last week Jeff Zamiska, Angel Reyes, and I were down in Atlanta at the Barlow Research 2012 Annual Client Conference, where we had the opportunity to meet past acquaintances and make new ones among the 100+ banking professionals.   Glenn Wong presents on the future of Business Banking The famous Lattice Engines Rubik's cube As a conference sponsor, we joined about half a dozen other organizations that had a booth presence, and during the informal drinks and meals we enjoyed talking to attendees about our company and salesPRISM.  Furthermore, we participated in the conference’s…

• 

  Sales Training Sales Tips Blog

• May 3, NEED HELP PLEASE HELP

  3 May 2012 | 3:17 pm

  I work for a fundraising company and we call for various state Fraternal Order OF Police and I cant seem to get great donations like everybody else. I

• Apr 18, A Sales Training Technique from a Very Unusual Source That I Now Share with You

  18 Apr 2012 | 4:05 pm

  As I watched 2 non-sales people go about their daily job I learned sales training that you will not get in a classroom. From my salesman’s perspective I saw a queue of prospects all wanting to ask questions, gain information, and get a quote. The person they were asking was not a sales person and all he saw was a distraction from his work. Put the two together and you have a fantastic sales technique that will work for many types of businesses. Want to know more? See the latest edition of the Sales Buzz Sales Training Newsletter, it’s free, with no cost, so what have you got to lose, open…

• Apr 16, Prospecting

  16 Apr 2012 | 4:52 pm

  I'm looking to have an advantage on other salesmen on correct way of prospecting? Comment from Stephen Craine There are some really effective ways to

• Apr 11, Learn From a Bookmaker Who Pays Out Early on His Bets

  11 Apr 2012 | 1:48 pm

  A bookmaker has paid out early on £500,000 worth of bets, is he mad or is he a shrewd businessman who can teach us a valuable sales lesson. Bookmaker Fred Done from Manchester UK paid out on Manchester United winning the English Premiere Soccer League with seven games still to play. In this week’s edition of the Sales Buzz: Why would a bookmaker pay out before he has to, and is there a technique behind all this that you could use to increase sales revenue from your customers. You can see the latest edition of the Sales Buzz Sales Training Newsletter, it’s free, with no cost, so what have…

• Apr 10, Motivating Quotes and Tips for Sales People

  10 Apr 2012 | 2:41 pm

  Motivating quotes and tips for sales people with real examples of how and when to use them to get the best results for yourself, your team, and to grow your business.

• 

  Touch Point City

• Should the CEO be Contributing More to Your Content?

  Vince Giorgi

  16 May 2012 | 1:00 pm

  What role should your organization’s CEO play in your content marketing? No, that’s not a typo. I don’t mean the chief marketing officer (CMO) or chief content officer (CCO). I mean your CEO. The big guy or gal. We talk a lot in content marketing circles about the importance of humanizing our organizations. Putting a face(s) and [...]

• Putting Your Content to the Vision Test

  Vince Giorgi

  12 May 2012 | 9:47 pm

  In the steady flow of posts, alerts and e-newsletters that hit my inbox each day, this bit of news caused me to pause mid-mouse over: In its The State of Content Marketing, 2012 study, Outbrain found that 100 percent of brand marketers and agencies surveyed said they are doing content marketing. 100 percent. If you’re [...]

• Mind the Gap: 6 Ways to Fill an Audience’s Content Needs

  Vince Giorgi

  27 Apr 2012 | 9:18 pm

  The question came recently from Wayne Tay, a Content Strategy group member on LinkedIn. But it’s a question which could be on the minds of other marketers. Here’s how Wayne put it: Hi friends, I am wondering what is the process of identifying content gaps for your target audience? Any kind souls to enlighten me? I don’t [...]

• Yes, Virginia, there is a “New Normal”

  Vince Giorgi

  26 Apr 2012 | 12:57 pm

  We’re starting to see signs of growing confidence in the U.S. economy, following the biggest economic swan dive since the Great Depression. The question is: Will consumer and small business owner attitudes toward spending begin to shift as a result? Last month I heard Dennis Jacobe, Ph.D. and chief economist for Gallup, speak at the [...]

• 14 Reasons Pinterest Might NOT Be In Your Best Interest

  Vince Giorgi

  22 Feb 2012 | 10:42 pm

  If you’re a B-to-B corporate marketer, should you extend your marketing program to Pinterest? Dumb question, right? After all, Pinterest is the latest hot social sharing network. And we’re talking hotter than hot.  I recently saw Pinterest described as the fastest growing social networking site ever (Facebook included).  A HubSpot e-book, How to Use Pinterest for [...]

• 

  entreQuest

• Attention Leaders: What you say – matters.

  Joe Mechlinski

  10 May 2012 | 10:04 am

  When The SEED School of Maryland asked me to give a speech to 308 middle-school students, my reaction was one part flattered, one part nervous. I’ve spoken to high-schoolers, sharing my experiences as a Baltimore City kid and my path toward business ownership. But a gymnasium full of young, boisterous adolescents? I worried that I may be outmatched – not to mention, outnumbered. Turns out, I was right. Misgivings aside, I accepted this mission because I believe in giving back and I believe in The SEED School. This public, college-prep boarding school provides kids from Maryland with a…

• 5 Internal Factors Critical To A Company’s Growth– Part 4 of 5: Value within an Organization

  Joe Mechlinski

  1 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  Ensuring your employees feel valued is a major key to your company’s success. When employees feel valued, or important, they are much happier. And we all know people perform better when they’re happier. A recent Gallup study quantified the link between employee feelings and corporate outcomes determining that employee disengagement costs US companies $300 billion annually. $300 billion! Value Within An Organization At A Glance: When asked if they felt like a valued member of the organization 46% responded positively, stating that they Strongly Agree (20%) or Agree (26%). When Asked the…

• Slow Down and Hit the RESET Button

  Joe Mechlinski

  17 Apr 2012 | 6:00 am

  Usually, I try to avoid making assumptions, but I’m going to go out on a limb and make a couple here. I think it’s safe to assume that for every time you’ve read an advice book, attended a seminar, or made a New Year’s resolution with the goal of improving some aspect of your life or work, the same burning question immediately crops up: How do I start? You don’t have the slightest idea, so you make a thousand excuses for why you can’t move forward. Then you ask yourself another question: Why isn’t change happening? The need for change is there. The intention to change is there.

• The Side Bar -The Most Overlooked Opportunity in Business Meetings

  mslatin

  11 Apr 2012 | 11:35 am

  Imagine you’ve just spent the last 18 months preparing for a big meeting with a new prospect. Ever since your team was selected as a finalist, everyone’s energy has been focused on the big presentation and now: The agenda is finished. The last slide in the PowerPoint deck is complete. The binders and inserts have been collated. Everyone on your team knows their roles. The client’s team knows their roles. Finally, like two football teams filing out of the locker room on Super Bowl Sunday, game time is here. Everyone on your team hits their cue, there aren’t any curve balls. All in…

• Five Internal Factors Critical To A Company’s Growth – Part 3 of 5: Goal Setting

  Joe Mechlinski

  3 Apr 2012 | 11:00 am

  Goal setting is helpful for managers and employees. Managers have multiple opportunities to provide employees with feedback during this process, and they are able to identify their employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Employees can see how their individual contributions affect and support their company’s bottom line when they begin making goals. If goal setting is done correctly, managers have measurable results to verify that employees met or did not meet their assigned goals, which is helpful when determining rewards and future career paths. Goal Setting At A Glance: When asked about…

• 

  Looking to Business

• Getting Your Own Office

  Daniel M. Wood

  9 May 2012 | 12:18 am

  When starting a company one of the most loaded questions is; “When should I get my own office?” Should you get it at once, should you wait until you want to start hiring? When should you get your office? In my opinion there is only one way to answer this question – when you get a positive Return on Investment from having an office. As soon as your increased income from having an office is more than the cost of the office it is time to find one. How do you calculate the ROI? First, you need to know how much the office would cost per month that is your baseline, the figure you need to…

• Storytelling in Goal Setting

  Daniel M. Wood

  26 Apr 2012 | 12:22 am

  Goal setting is one of the most important parts of success, if not the most important. Setting goals helps you focus your efforts, it gives you a target, opens you up to new ideas and unlocks your creativity. The classic advice is to be brief when writing down your goals, it should be in the positive active form with a deadline e.g. I have 12 million dollars in the bank by the 31 of December 2014. This way of writing goals activates the subconscious, since you are telling it that you have already achieved the above statement. By giving yourself a deadline it becomes a goal instead of a wish,…

• Passion – How to Find it and Nurture it, in Yourself

  Daniel M. Wood

  23 Apr 2012 | 7:46 am

  For managers the most important trait they are looking for in their employees is passion. People with passion get noticed; it opens doors and opportunities. But what if you don’t feel passionate about your job? What if you haven’t felt passion in any job you have been in? If you don’t really care about the work you do during the day? 3 Steps to Becoming Passionate 1. Start by reading this article about setting your goals Without long term goals, without a reason to perform, passion is very hard to find. Once you have set your long term goals, evaluate how your job can help you reach…

• Success is Right There – You Just Have to Reach Out and Grab It!

  Daniel M. Wood

  31 Mar 2012 | 3:00 am

  I don’t know how many times I have been told this, and given this advice myself. Last week I realized the truth and the false in this statement. Think of when you are standing in the shower. You have soap in your eyes, you cannot see and you want to pick something up. It is right there in front of you, you reach out your hand, and miss. You reach out again and end up pushing it away. You grab for it again and you find it! It is the same way in success. Success is right in front of you, but you cant see it. The ones who succeed are those who try, try and try again until they are…

• Sorry for my absence and Merry Christmas

  Daniel M. Wood

  19 Dec 2011 | 9:34 am

  The last month I haven’t posted much on LookingtoBusiness.com, I apologize for this. The reason is that me and my wife chose to move home to Sweden from Norway. I have changed jobs and had a lot to do with the move. Sadly this has left little time over for studying psychology or sharing what I have learned about personal development. I will be taking a break for christmas but as the new year enters I will be back 100% working on new techniques and sharing tips on how to improve your efficiency and become more successful! Merry Christmas! In the mean time I just want to wish you a merry…

• 

  Revenue-IQ

• Buying On Emotion

  Chris Arlen

  15 May 2012 | 1:17 pm

  Traditional wisdom says, “People buy on emotion and justify with fact”. But which emotions exactly? Sales reps understand facts. They present them quantified (ROI), certified (ISO), and verified (references). But facts are after the fact. Customers have already bought on emotion by the time they’re looking at the facts. What do sales reps do to get customers to that point? Do sales reps motivate customers? Is that where customers buy on emotion, because they’re motivated to: Approach (going towards something they want more of) Avoid (going away from something) Attack (eliminating…

• “Congratulations, you’ve got the sale – Now, about your offer…”

  Chris Arlen

  30 Apr 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Remember during your sales presentation when there were so many buying signals you needed an air traffic controller to navigate them? Then negotiations began. You were almost done but the customer began asking for the moon and in your desperation to make the deal you gave them almost everything. But you felt cheapened, taken advantage of, by their avariciousness and your own greed. Still, you got the deal done. Signed contract in hand. What’s the problem? The last step to finalizing a sale is negotiation. Almost every sale has some form of it. Yet when the deal is eventually done, reps…

• Selling isn’t Telling – but it is Storytelling

  Chris Arlen

  23 Apr 2012 | 7:56 pm

  The first lesson in sales is that “selling isn’t telling” – you can talk at customers but that won’t get them to buy. However, this #1 sales directive doesn’t say what selling is, nor does it say how to sell, it only describes what selling isn’t. In answer to this dilemma, consider a new sales directive: “Selling is storytelling”. But before you let word prejudices get in the way, think about this: Stories and storytelling are the most effective form of human communication. They are more interesting and compelling because humans live…

• Ditches & Pitches

  Chris Arlen

  13 Apr 2012 | 6:55 pm

  Everyone makes pitches, some more formal than others. But with every presentation there are ditches to overcome. Ditches are the many, critical choices to be made before developing your pitch. They are the determinants of your presentation’s success. PowerPoint failures occur before the pitch. There’s no one correct choice but ignore them at your peril. Who else but you loses, or ends up looking like a fool? Consider these ditches as your prep work prior to all live pitches. Presentation Duration (Time) Often your audience decides the time available for your pitch but you…

• The Most Damaging Sales Tip to Avoid

  Chris Arlen

  29 Mar 2012 | 12:30 pm

  ABC (Always Be Closing) has damaged more reputations and hurt the selling profession more than any other sales tip. Doubt that? Answer these truthfully: Do you ask for the sale right after you first meet a customer? Do you try to sell things customers don’t want or need? Of course not. Asking for the order is only one component in a sale and it occurs at a specific time. There are other requirements. Ask at the wrong time and you’ll have lost a sale, and may have angered a customer by appearing insensitive and selfish. Like an American driving a car in England, if sales reps…

• 

  TopLine Leadership » TopLine Leadership Blog

• To Become a Better Sales Coach You Need to Think Differently

  Kevin Davis

  9 May 2012 | 11:59 am

  Have you ever considered what made you successful when you were a salesperson? You were, and still likely are, action-oriented, decisive, and adept at problem solving. These sales attributes were rewarded as a salesperson – and then you got promoted and everything changed. Except – perhaps – you. Now I ask you to consider – are the same keen sales attributes which made you a successful salesperson creating a stumbling block to effective sales management? As a sales manager, if you are still action-oriented, decisive and adept at problem-solving – are you jumping in to “rescue”…

• Sales Coaching Should be a Sales Manager’s #1 Priority

  Kevin Davis

  23 Apr 2012 | 1:39 pm

  Recently I was working with a group of sales managers and I posed this question- When you arrive at your office on a typical day what would you say is your #1 priority? Some of the answers I received were Reacting to my boss i.e. answering questions, following directives, etc. Prioritizing my day according to voice mail and email. Reviewing the opportunities on our CRM “dashboard.” Trying to generate more revenue. In order to be an effective coach and sales leader the answer to this question should be, that a sales managers’ #1 priority is the coaching and developing of salespeople. It…

• An Argument Against “Qualification”

  Kevin Davis

  7 Apr 2012 | 5:28 pm

  At the beginning of a recent Slow Down, Sell Faster sales seminar, I asked each participant “What is your #1 goal for this session?” Several stated that their biggest challenge is how to get past a low-level relationship and reach decision makers with more money, authority and need. Later that day, when we arrived at the “C-Level Prospecting” skills module, I asked them, “When you call a prospect on the phone, what do you say?” Almost uniformly, the answer was, “The first thing I do is qualify him/her by asking, ‘Do you make the decisions on products such as X?’ If the…

• How to Manage and Lead your Millennial Salesperson

  Kevin Davis

  16 Mar 2012 | 1:42 pm

  I often get asked about coaching millenials—the youngest members of the sales force (under age 34), who are the fastest growing segment in today’s workforce. While sweeping statements about an entire generation can never be 100% true for any individual, there are a few factors that do separate millennial salespeople from both Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. For example, millenials are the first generation to be considered “digital natives.” They’ve been around technology their entire lives, and see technology as helping them be more flexible in both their work and private lives. You may…

• 4 Tips for Sales Coaching & Leadership

  Kevin Davis

  29 Feb 2012 | 11:58 pm

  Communicating clearly to your salespeople the specific behaviors and activities that you both want and need for sales success is essential for sales coaching. Here’s a quick exercise to test common understanding. Send out an email to your sales team and ask, “In regards to the first meeting with a new prospect, what specific behaviors do we need to perform, and in what sequence?” How many different answers will you get back from your sales team? If you don’t have a systematic sales process implemented in your company, a process everybody understands, you cannot coach effectively. Be a…

• 

  VanillaSoft Blog

• Wasted Days and Wasted Nights – How we Fail to Collect Vital Data on Each and Every Sales Call

  Ken Murray

  16 May 2012 | 11:45 am

  Yep – I am astonished by the lack of what we should know but don’t. Every day, businesses are cranking out tons of sales calls that seem to fall short of gaining any real intellectual knowledge, despite all the effort. I was chatting with an Inside Sales manager a few weeks back, and he shared some [...]

• Beyond Basic VoIP – New Features That Sizzle

  Ken Murray

  9 Apr 2012 | 11:50 am

  Several months back I wrote a post titled, “VoIP – Choosing the Right Provider for Your Inside Sales Team.” The post not only turned out to be popular, but actually generated quite a bit of traffic for one of the companies I referred to. The popularity of the post, the feedback I received from it, [...]

• Call Center Software – Is Your Pick About Productivity?

  Ken Murray

  27 Mar 2012 | 9:33 am

  Several times a week, we hear from people who are either searching for call center software or looking to upgrade their existing platform. I am often surprised that they have done little or no due diligence to identify their desired outcome. Are they looking to move calls more fluidly through their maze of departments and [...]

• Cold Calling – It Is Not The Volume, But The Art

  Ken Murray

  27 Feb 2012 | 11:22 am

  Yep!  I used the words “art” and “cold calling” in the same sentence. We sponsored a webinar last week by our good friend Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling.” Pretty much anyone who uses the phone as a selling tool knows Wendy. If you don’t, you really need to jump on her next webinar. Wendy [...]

• Software Features – Don’t Leave Money in the Bag! 5 Ways to Get the Most From What You Are Paying For.

  Ken Murray

  7 Feb 2012 | 1:38 pm

  Recently, I started writing a new post about some of our best features which we think are underutilized by our customers. As I thought about several customers, knowing what I know about their business, I had a “Wow!” moment. These folks have no clue that VanillaSoft has these features baked in. With this new knowledge, [...]

• 

  3FORWARD

• Sales and Marketing Alignment, All Talk and No Action

  Dan Hudson

  15 May 2012 | 8:05 am

  In the last two years I have read over 200 articles / blog posts on the criticality of sales and marketing alignment. Yes, there is a lot of talk about aligning sales and marketing but according to Marketing Sherpa’s 2012 B2B Benchmark Report almost 50% of the 1,745 survey respondents reported that it is still a significant challenge. This lack of alignment not only impairs a firm’s ability to succeed, it also cause a tremendous amount of friction and animosity between the sales and marketing teams. You will often hear sales complain about the quality and quantity of marketing leads and…

• Improving B2B Sales Close Rates Is All About Timing

  Dan Hudson

  11 May 2012 | 10:27 am

  How many sales cold calls have you made this week, ten, twenty, more? How many qualified prospects have you discovered during your prospecting activities? If you are like most sales reps the answer is probably very few!  Selling – just like life – is all about timing. Being at the right place at right time is everything; the question is how can you better predict how to be at the right place at the right time? The answer lies in being able to know when a prospect goes from a status quo environment to some degree of dissatisfaction with their current situation. According to the…

• Should B2B Companies Blog? YES They Should!

  Dan Hudson

  4 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  It’s hard to believe that this year marks the 15th anniversary of web logs or blogs as we refer to them today. What started as a personal publication platform has exploded into it’s own market and has created a huge array of ancillary products and services. For many companies their blog is the hub of their social media efforts with other social media spokes attached to it.  Blogging is hard work; it’s a big investment in terms of time and effort to ensure that you are building quality content that’s of interest and brings value to your target audience.  Aberdeen Group recently…

• What Is Wrong With Most Outsourcing Company Websites

  Matt Smith

  3 May 2012 | 7:46 am

  “I’m dreaming of a great provider website” That’s the intro to a must-read blog post from Horses for Sources outsourcing analyst Deb Kops.   “Why are outsourcing providers’ websites such an abysmal lot when, for many, they are buyers’ first introduction to a provider?” Deb asks this simple question, then goes on to share her list of “website sins against mankind that our industry regularly commits.” Whether your role is Sales, Marketing or CEO you need to check your site against Deb’s list and prepare yourself for a rude awakening! Read…

• Facebook Marketing – A Case Study

  Matt Smith

  2 May 2012 | 8:03 am

  The Gents Place Puts A Modern Twist On Barbering This article appears under the title “Hair Extensions” in the May 7, 2012 edition of Forbes. Full Article on Forbes by Alex Knapp, you can follow him at: @TheAlexKnapp Since opening the first Gents Place in Frisco, Tex. in December 2008, Davis has signed up more than 5,000 clients by offering a free haircut through Facebook.   Read More….

• 

  WordPress.com News

• Stay In The Conversation

  Beau Lebens

  15 May 2012 | 6:01 pm

  It’s now much easier for you and your commenters to keep track of the conversations you’re involved in across WordPress.com. Some recent tests have shown that by subscribing commenters to new comments by default, they are more likely to stay engaged and come back and comment more on your blog. With that knowledge, we’ve changed the default comment following behavior to help you get more conversations going on your blog. We made the initial changes last week and after great feedback from you we just launched an update. Here’s how it works: By default, posting a comment…

• Look at These Gorgeous Blogs

  Sheri

  15 May 2012 | 1:05 pm

  We’ve added a user showcase where you can view stunning customizations made by people just like you. From complete redesigns with CSS to adding pizzazz with Custom Fonts to clever use of options like background and header, this showcase will spark your imagination and inspire creativity. Discover details about what each showcase blog is doing with WordPress.com themes and customizations by clicking a thumbnail to see a colophon-style list of credits on the left. We’ve also updated footer links so blog owners can show off the types of customizations they’ve made and visitors can…

• Photo Blogging 101, Part 1

  Erica V.

  14 May 2012 | 10:00 am

  Spring is in the air. With the weather warming up, now is a great time to get started on a photo blog. Creating a photo blog is a wonderful introduction to blogging on WordPress.com or an opportunity to refresh your current site. Ready to get started? You can sign up for a new blog right over here. Getting started Photo blogs, sometimes called phlogs, use pictures instead of words. While many photo bloggers choose a type of photo that they want to focus on, such as portraits, others use their photo blog to document their life’s events. Photo blogs come in a variety of styles, including…

• New Themes: Just Desserts and Oxygen

  Michelle Langston

  10 May 2012 | 8:11 am

  Happy Thursday! We’ve added some exciting new themes to our ever-growing collection, and we’re happy to tell you all about them. First out of the oven is…Just Desserts. Yep, that’s a theme! Designed by Andy Rutledge, Just Desserts is a deliciously stylish premium theme that’s perfect for blogs centered on food. With its responsive, single-column layout and unique presentation of images and posts on the front page, Just Desserts gives you a delectable canvas on which your mouthwatering photos and text can really shine — even when viewed on smaller mobile devices…

• Find Friends Who Use WordPress

  Nick Momrik

  1 May 2012 | 2:32 pm

  Are you curious to see how your friends are using WordPress? Give the new and improved Friend Finder a try to connect with your Twitter, Facebook, and Google contacts who have WordPress sites! After authorizing WordPress.com to use your Twitter, Facebook, or Google account to find your friends (don’t worry — none of this account information is saved!) you’ll see a list of people you know who have WordPress sites. Click Follow and each time your friend publishes a new post it will show up in your Reader under Blogs I Follow. If you have multiple blogs, make sure to set the…

• 

  VisibleGains Blog

• Are you a “social” salesperson?

  Carrie Kuempel

  24 Apr 2012 | 11:18 am

  Our hunch is “Social Selling” is a label on the way out. It describes the practice of using social media to gain insights about prospects and buzz in the marketplace, as well as to collaborate internally with the Sales and Marketing teams. We’ll soon not need a label once use of social media tools to develop and close deals becomes second nature to most. Want to find out how your organization stacks up with other sales teams using social media and collaboration tools in their sales cycle? We’re participating in a research study conducted by Aberdeen Group and invite you to…

• Business Casual Email

  Carrie Kuempel

  10 Feb 2012 | 12:59 pm

  What started in the late 90’s as “Casual Friday’s” is now standard dress code all week long for many working professionals. Just as fashion shifts to be more relaxed, so have email communications. Have you noticed? Messaging has become much less stilted, more familiar and conversational. We call it business casual email. Case in point is an email I received from the President, Barack, with a one-word subject line: “Hey”.  The brief message was an appeal for an end of year online donation. I was a prime target because I supported Barack back in 2008 with a micro-donation. Yes, I…

• The Meaning and Value of “Content” in Selling

  Carrie Kuempel

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:53 am

  This guest post is written by Andy Paul, a leading authority on sales for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and the Founder of Zero-Time Selling. Andy is also the author of the award-winning book, Zero-Time Selling: 10 Essential Steps to Accelerate Every Company’s Sales.  Zero-Time Selling was selected as one of the Top 3 Sales & Marketing books of 2011. Andy is our featured guest in a webinar on Thursday February 9 @1PM EST. You can view a preview and register here. Take it away, Andy… There is a lot of talk about content in marketing and sales these days. A company no…

• Happy Groundhog Day!

  Bill Carney

  2 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

• Lessons from LIFT

  Peggy Kriss

  1 Feb 2012 | 2:54 pm

  Need a lift? Then please read this New York Times opinion piece:  It’s not about sales strategy—it’s about an amazing antipoverty organization called LIFT.  (With lessons for every salesperson, I promise!)  LIFT got a terrific “lift” when David Bornstein of the Opinionator column of the New York Times highlighted this tremendous nonprofit in its “Fixes” column. “One of the most innovative organizations working to re-imagine poverty alleviation. It was founded by college students in 1998, and most of the work is still conducted by student volunteers…If the…

• 

  Sales Force Effectiveness Blog

• The Biggest Market Problem the VP of Sales is having in Q2

  Matt Sharrers

  16 May 2012 | 6:01 am

  Why is my sales organization not evolving faster? As a benchmarking firm, we have a distinct advantage of speaking with VP of Sales from across 19 industries on a regular basis. Sales forces are not evolving as fast as the executive sales leadership would like. They have identified a sales talent problem. Why do you care? Because the maturity level of the sales force determines what improvement initiatives can be consumed by your team. If you want to know where to target your initiatives, complete our assessment by clicking here. We just completed a round of research on the current market…

• Hit Your Number by Hiring 'A' Player New Business Reps

  Scott Gruher

  15 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  I continue to see sales organizations attempt to specialize by selling activity and fail to hire true hunters.  Furthermore, the environment they create isn’t conducive to retaining top performing new business reps.  If your sales force structure has been designed based on an effectiveness strategy (growing revenue and maintaining cost), specializing by selling activity is a great way to drive revenue.  In this article we will explore why mistakes are made when deploying new business reps and how you can begin to solve the issue. The result…

• Understanding Market Potential to Properly Size your Sales Force

  George de los Reyes

  14 May 2012 | 6:01 am

  Sales Force Sizing is defined as the science of matching selling capacity to market demand.  In my last blog post, I laid out our six-step methodology for determining optimal headcount and aligning sales force size with market potential.  In this post, I want to specifically address market potential.  We often find that most sales organizations lack clarity on their TAM (Total Addressable Market) and as a consequence, the market potential within their individual territories.  In lieu of market potential, we typically see sales territories designed based on customer…

• How to Set Accurate Quotas Q&A from May 10th Webinar

  Joshua Meeks

  13 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  Setting quotas is difficult for organizations because so much at stake from a financial perspective for both sales representatives and the company. The way to perform proper Quota Setting is by following our Methodology shared in our webinar that you can download today here.   Without further ado here are the answers to the great questions that were submitted during our webinar. How do you set quotas when you are launching brand new products and don’t have accurate historical data? Launching new products or services is always a daunting challenge. In terms of setting quotas…

• 3 ways to get Sales Managers to change the habits of ‘A’ players

  Dan Perry

  12 May 2012 | 6:01 am

  87% of sales management tell me they want to spend more time with their ‘A’ players   Yet, Sales Manager selling time is hovering around 48%.  SMs don’t have the time to spend with their ‘A’ reps (or any reps like they should).   In comparison, World Class selling time is around 77% for SMs.  And part of this time must be spent with those ‘A’ players. Why? You need to retain these people and help them increase their productivity even more.  Your best sales people are being recruited away daily.  Heck, I get…

• 

  Coffee for Closers | Leads360 Sales & Marketing Blog

• Dial-IQ or Predictive Dialer: What’s the Right Fit for your Organization?

  Alyssa Trenkamp

  8 May 2012 | 10:23 am

  By Nick Hedges May 8, 2012 — Last month we rolled out a new and improved Dial-IQ, the market’s first, full-featured intelligent dialer solution, fully integrated with a comprehensive sales lead management platform. One of the biggest challenges we faced with Dial-IQ was balancing between high-quality consumer experiences and added sales productivity from multi-line dialing. We believe we have created the right harmony between speed and positive customer experience, without crossing the line into predictive dialer territory and its associated negatives. Predictive dialers are one of…

• What do BIG Conference Attendee’s Really Do?

  Alyssa Trenkamp

  26 Apr 2012 | 3:28 pm

  April 25, 2012 – Attending the Brokers Insurance Group’s Third Annual Convention and Trade Show next week in Riverside, CA? Get to know your meme: Leads360 will be exhibiting – booth #315. If you ask us about our Meme, you might hear from some that we make robots that kill other robots (interesting story, ask us about it) but what we really do is build software that helps insurance brokers and agents get more value out of the leads they buy or self-generate. Our intelligent sales automation solution is used by some of the most successful agents in the industry, helping them be the first…

• State Farm Agent’s Drive to #1 in Auto Insurance Sales

  Alyssa Trenkamp

  23 Apr 2012 | 1:17 pm

  By Alyssa Trenkamp April 23 — For insurance marketers, even a small improvement to lead conversion rates will drive down operational costs, while significantly impacting sales. Hence our interest when we were offered a VIP tour of the inner workings of one of the top State Farm agents in California.  Northern California State Farm Agent and Business Owner, Mark Wong, graciously offered to take us behind the scenes to show us how he dialed up his sales velocity with Dial-IQ and Leads360 and increased purchased lead conversion rates from 10% to 20% in the first year. Driving a Positive…

• Good Decisions Are Good Business

  Matt Johnson

  17 Apr 2012 | 10:40 pm

  April 17, 2012 – Good decisions are good business. But so are quick decisions. When making business decisions, there is often a tug of war between acting fast and acting smart. To be effective one has to both be well informed and act decisively. We always want to make the best decision possible, and that means examining the facts. But in practice, examining facts takes time. The longer it takes, the greater the risk that the time spent making decisions will introduce delays that result in rising opportunity costs. This type of tension between analysis paralysis and hasty decision making…

• Intelligent sales velocity – the next frontier of consumer sales automation

  Alyssa Trenkamp

  10 Apr 2012 | 8:42 am

  By Nick Hedges April 10, 2012 — I’m fortunate in my position at Leads360 to meet with a lot of smart sales executives — many of them Leads360 customers. I find these discussions invaluable for learning from executives experiencing the consumer sales revolution first hand. What I hear and observe is consumer behavior is continuously evolving, influenced by the web, mobile and social. This evolution is creating a demand for flexibility and ongoing optimization of sales processes. In this Sales 2.0 world, it is no longer good enough to respond quickly. In order to compete for…

• 

  Saleskick

• Five truths to getting in every salesperson needs to accept

  Jim Logan

  10 May 2012 | 9:04 am

  There are five truths to getting in every quota carrier should acknowledge and embrace: Truth #1 — If you can’t get in you can’t sell It’s obvious. If you cant’ get in front of a decision maker, there’s little chance of winning a sales opportunity other than luck. Yet many sales people never get close.  Too many sales opportunities are artificially limited by sales staff taking their lead from recommenders and influencers, as opposed to decision makers. The difference is huge. The problem is it’s easier to get in front of those who recommend and…

• Sales success starts with your worldview

  Jim Logan

  9 May 2012 | 9:27 am

  What is a worldview? A worldview is the way you or someone else views the world. It’s the environment we work in, the things we care about, the rules and regulations that form parameters around our work-life, our influences and biases, etc. Why worldviews are important Worldviews are important because it’s the lens each of us use to evaluate a problem, solution, and opportunity.  It’s the reference point we have that forms our interest and concern.  Things that fall within our worldview have a greater opportunity to catch our attention and compel us to learn more.

• Don’t forget to ask this qualifying question

  Jim Logan

  8 May 2012 | 8:52 am

  There’s a point in every sales meeting when the wrap-up hits on the issue of whether or not there’s anythign more to talk about. When that moment arrives, I like to ask the prospect this question: To help me best understand the impact of this project, what happens if you decide to do nothing? That simple question does two things: Qualifying: That question helps determine how likely the prospect is to complete the purchase. The greater the consequence, the greater the likelihood they will advance the purchase decision in a given time. If there’s little impact to not making a…

• Getting In: More on the greatest sales skill of them all

  Jim Logan

  4 May 2012 | 12:41 pm

  I’ve written before on my belief getting in is the greatest sales skill of them all — greater than qualifying, advancing, and closing a sale. The reason is simple, if you can’t get in, nothing else matters. It’s impossible to close a sales opportunity that doesn’t exist and you can’t qualify an opportunity until you’re engaged in an account. When I talk about getting in, I’m referring to actions a salesperson takes to initiate a conversation with a target account. That conversation is what leads to qualifying activities and hopefully, a sales…

• 5 Go-to-Market Influencers

  Jim Logan

  27 Apr 2012 | 11:27 am

  I’m pleased to have been included as one of five Go-To-Market influencers highlighted by OpenView Labs. A go-to-market strategy is a unified, multi-disciplinary approach to bringing products and services to the marketplace. While many companies have traditionally treated their marketing, sales, customer service, and product teams as autonomous functions with little interaction, those with a well-developed go-to-market strategy bring these functions together to help achieve profitable growth. This approach requires alignment across the company’s outward-facing functions with respect to…

• 

  SalesForce Search Blog

• 3 Reasons Why Using a Sales Recruitment Agency Can Help Land a Great Sales Job

  Matt Cook

  19 Apr 2012 | 2:57 pm

  If you are hunting for a new sales job today, it can be tough to know which companies are hiring and which companies you may want to work for. It’s tough to really understand how a company works internally and what the culture of the sales team is until you actually start the job. Unfortunately, at that point, it’s too late. Using a sales recruitment agency can help you find the best sales job and give you better insight into how the company operates. Here are 3 reasons to use a sales recruitment agency when looking for your next sales job. Access to More Jobs Sales recruitment…

• 3 Things to Consider When Engaging a Sales Recruitment Agency

  Matt Cook

  17 Apr 2012 | 12:23 pm

  Your company is growing and is looking to continue to grow revenue so you begin to look for sales people to help. You struggle to find good sales resumes, you interview a few sales people but you don’t really find what you are looking for. What do you do now? It may be time to engage a sales recruitment agency to help you with your search. Sales recruitment agencies specialize in helping companies find and hire top performing sales people in a timely manner. Sales recruiters also will provide a guarantee should the sales person not live up to expectations or you find you need a…

• What is a Sales Job?

  Gavin Inkster

  5 Apr 2012 | 1:09 pm

  The world of sales is very much a people-centric business but there is much more to a sales job than just warming up to customers and flaunting a pronounced gift of gab.  Not to suggest that good interpersonal communication skills aren't a key facet, in fact most sales job descriptions go to great lengths to detail the requirements of customer interaction.  So the question remains, what is a sales job? Sales jobs are essentially the key cog in the confluence of merchant supply and customer demand.  Sales professionals are responsible for determining customer wants and needs,…

• Recruiting Sales People

  Doug O'Grady

  3 Apr 2012 | 2:40 pm

  Every industry has its own nuances.  The skills and traits necessary to succeed in that industry are, of course, very important when recruiting sales people.  But specific industry experience does not equate to instant success.  A potential hire that comes from within the industry can fail just as well as someone from the outside.  In fact, many inner-industry hires fail because of their industry experience.  There are four main reasons for failure when recruiting sales people from the same industry: Employers hiring from within their industry often fail to…

• Selling Careers: Use Every Role to Hone Your Skills

  Kris Johnson

  2 Apr 2012 | 8:24 am

  Skill development for sales people involves a litany of intangible traits not all that common to non-selling careers.  As sales is a people centric field, the focus of skill development is primary based on interpersonal talents. Honing those skills can be successfully accomplished within nearly any role of the sales process and is a key element to advancing promising selling careers. Become a Better Listener Most successful sales professionals are natural talkers.  The gift of gab is a prerequisite in most selling careers but just as important is the ability to listen…

• 

  amacus.net

• Reflections on a Week of Small Improvements in B2B Sales Productivity

  John

  28 Apr 2012 | 10:56 am

  It’s been a good week. Time to reflect on some of the things we’ve seen and learned: new sales hires are a joy to work with. They’re curious. They’re motivated. They’re not easily discouraged by poor, early, results. More proof … Continue reading →

• One Change That Can Double Your B2B Sales Productivity

  John

  5 Apr 2012 | 7:45 pm

  Gary Hart’s post “Are Your Prospecting Results Disappointing” thoughtfully explains how customer-centric messaging attracts buyers to engage in sales conversations. Conversely, when results are disappointing, it’s often because calls and emails are, instead, product-centric. In response, I commented that we’ve … Continue reading →

• 3 Lessons to Seed Improved B2B Sales Productivity Next Quarter

  John

  10 Mar 2012 | 4:07 pm

  As quarter-end approaches, reflections on what we’ve learned recently with implications for next quarter: 1/ ‘WHY’ IS THE KEY TO GAINING ACCESS In general, we’re seeing vendors with a sharply defined WHY gain access to new leads faster, and more … Continue reading →

• Sales Leaders’ Priorities for 2012 – Survey Results

  John

  14 Feb 2012 | 7:18 pm

  The Alexander Group does an annual survey of sales leaders’ growth plans + tactics in conjunction with its Chief Sales Executives Forum. Amongst their findings for 2012: Sales leaders expect their firms’ growth to outpace economic growth in 2012 They … Continue reading →

• Exceptional sales performance requires exceptional buyer experiences

  John

  17 Jan 2012 | 7:17 pm

  Recently had the pleasure of gaining John Holland’s perspectives on the keys to high performing sales teams. The titles of John’s best-selling books, in many ways, nicely summarize his thinking. CustomerCentric Selling and Re-Thinking the Sales Cycle. A summary of … Continue reading →

• 

  Lushin & Associates - Indianapolis Based - Business and Sales Development

• Confirming the Sale [video]

  simon

  14 May 2012 | 2:54 pm

  Have you ever made a sale just to have your prospect back out the next day? Did you skip the confirm step in the sales process?

• Overcoming Call Reluctance

  simon

  14 May 2012 | 2:27 pm

  I work with many salespeople that have trouble picking up the phone. You may ask is it heavy? NO.  Does it shock you when you put to your ear? NO. But somehow they still have trouble getting the motivation to just pick it up and instead insist on making excuses on why they don’t have time today. Clearly cold calling is not fun but we have to do it. Here are a few common excuses I hear and my feedback on how to think about it instead. 1 – Cold Calling is Unproductive – I am not saying cold calling is the most productive way to get business but you might be surprised that if you do it…

• The Three Month Drop [video]

  simon

  30 Apr 2012 | 1:24 pm

  Have you or your salespeople ever experienced the “three month drop”? Where new salespeople excel for three months and then numbers suddenly start to dwindle. Find out why this happens and how to avoid it. __________________________________________ Restaging the Pipeline Workshop In this live interactive 2 hour session you will learn how to unclog your pipeline, how to develop a specific set of criteria for your company’s pipeline and the questions you can ask to determine the strength of your pipeline. Learn More>>

• What Motivates People?

  simon

  30 Apr 2012 | 12:43 pm

  This question gets asked a lot by leaders of companies who can’t seem to keep their people motivated. It isn’t just a problem with their salespeople either. Lack of motivation can affect everyone in the business from admin to customer service. Many times Presidents, CEO’s, VP’s, or front-line managers will do things that they think will help motivate their people but usually fail because they don’t fully understand what will or won’t drive motivation and productivity. With that being said, it is important to understand your people and understand the two different ways people are…

• Restaging the Pipeline

  simon

  30 Apr 2012 | 9:52 am

  Join us on May 16th for this live workshop presented by Aaron Prickel Are you… Concerned because pipelines always seem full but the business doesn’t seem to close as fast as it should? Left wondering why opportunities become clogged in your pipeline? Frustrated because your reps have the same opportunities in the pipeline and the only piece changing is the future close date? Annoyed with reps wasting internal resources on opportunities in the wrong stage of the pipeline? Attend Restaging the Pipeline. In this interactive 2 hour session you will learn how to unclog your pipeline, how…

• 

  5 Online: Recent Blog Posts

• Author interview: 'Customers are F.I.C.K.L.E'

  Tom Diederich

  16 May 2012 | 1:00 am

  The following is a conversation I had recently with Nick Bailey, managing director of Apexselling Ltd. Nick's new book, "Customers are F.I.C.K.L.E: How to Sell Large and Complex Deals to Equally Large and Complex Clients," presents a how-to approach for using the sales skills and techniques he's developed over the past 25 years in the IT industry. Nick Bailey, author of “Customers are F.I.C.K.L.E”Tom: There are so many books on selling on the market, Nick… why did you decide to add another to the pile so to speak? And who, specifically, is your target market for this book…

• Are you joking?

  Bill Rust

  14 May 2012 | 1:00 am

  "If you tell a joke in the forest, but nobody laughs, was it a joke?" -- Steven WrightAre you joking?Starting out a speech with a joke is a tried-and-true method for breaking the ice, warming up the crowd and easing into a topic.It's the best way to begin a set at local comedy club open-microphone night. What about at the beginning of a business meeting?Meetings in formal business environments can be quite stressful both for you and the other party, especially when you have not met before and there is are doubts about if you should even be talking.There are a lot of potential upsides.

• Tip of the week: Do It now!

  Damien Moroney

  10 May 2012 | 1:00 am

  Do it NOW There's no time like the present or as a famous president once said, "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."Some of the most successful people I know are really good at getting things done. A common trait seems to be their unwillingness to procrastinate. I'm convinced Nike was influenced by one of my friends in particular -- for as long as I can remember his favorite saying has been: "Just do it!"For the past couple of months, I've been taking the "Do it now" approach and it has dramatically increased my productivity. The lesson learned is that this is really a mindset,…

• Oneness

  Joe Thomas

  9 May 2012 | 1:00 am

  Oneness. What a cool word! We achieve it when our actions align with our words, which align with our values, etc., etc..  We could go deeper here but for this blog post I’ll keep it simple."Integrity" comes from the same root as the word "integer." It’s a oneness. When people have this "oneness" , they are described as "straight," "stand up," "aligned," "ducks in a row," "in line," "right," "straightforward," "square," "true," "upright."When people lack this oneness, they are described as "crooked," "warped," "bent," "deviated," "distorted," "twisted," "2-faced,"…

• Changing your point of view

  Tara Watson

  8 May 2012 | 1:00 am

  When it comes to analogies, I'm rotten at sports…so best to stick with something I know: Art. When I was reflecting on the changes taking place around me, pointillism came to mind. During times of change, it's so hard to focus on the big picture. Everyone has something at stake, we all see what's relevant to us, and sometimes it's hard to look past it. When you stand too close to a pointillist painting, all you see are a bunch of little dots that don't make any sense.pointillist paintingIt's not until you step back that you can view what has been right in front of you in a totally…

• 

  ActionCOACH - Derek O'Dwyer

• Dealing with Insubordination

  Derek ODwyer

  7 May 2012 | 6:56 am

  It can be very frustrating for business owners when team members simply will not do what is asked of them. This frustration is compounded even more when this attitude spreads to other team members and the business owner is fearful of the the team. This happens often – its a form of bullying. And the team member uses the threat of Employment Law as a tool to beat up on the owner. So what can be done about this? The answer is lots but it does require some learning, some discipline and a measure of assertiveness. Step 1. Understand the law and how it is also there to protect you. Take the…

• Your options when a team member underperforms…

  Derek ODwyer

  19 Mar 2012 | 4:50 pm

  So you’ve got a team member who is not cutting the mustard. And like many other business owners, you have avoided the issue for too long. And now its starting to cost the company money. And more importantly, its costing you money. So what can you do? Well, there is a lot that you can do. You can act quickly and get a result thats good for all. There is a good deal of learning to be done at the same time because if you do not learn, history will repeat itself. You must be a great leader in your business and you will attract great people. Firstly, you’ve got to answer this…

• Is your business for sale?

  Derek ODwyer

  4 Mar 2012 | 4:16 pm

  Or more importantly could you sell your business if you wanted to? For many business owners, the day that they sell their business is the day that they are finally rewarded for all their days and years of hard work and effort. For others its the day that they give up on their dream, having worked hard with little to show. How would your business fare? Some things that make your business more saleable and more valuable? Repeat Business Low skill levels High Cost of Entry for Start Ups Loyalty of customers to your business type in general. What makes it even more valuable is: That is can run…

• How to Increase Your Sales in 2012

  Derek ODwyer

  11 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pm

  If you need to increase your sales in 2012, make a commitment now to doing 2 things: 1. Measure your conversion from enquiry to sale 2. Spend more time getting in front of prospective customers. Most business owners and team spend so little time actually marketing or selling their business, it is amazing that they survive at all. Very little real time is given to sales and marketing on a consistent basis and many people will avoid it at all costs. Yet they will complain if they are quiet and they will attend functions and rallies to speak about the economy. Participate in your own rescue.

• Interested in Growing Sales

  Derek ODwyer

  6 Feb 2012 | 3:43 am

  Register now for the webinar  Join us on Wednesday Evening for a Fast Paced 35 Minutes of Sales Help for you and your business. Every business needs to be excellent at sales, you need to understand that sales are the lifeblood of the business and that if you are to achieve success, you must focus your efforts on sales first. Register Today – Its FREE  

• 

  Daily Sales Thoughts

• 80% rapid execution of the sales plan is better than 100% slow execution. Rapid execution is everything.

  Daily Sales Thoughts

  14 May 2012 | 5:22 pm

  One of the things I see that consistently slows Sales Teams down is the idea that they need to be Perfect on Execution.  Consider this Fact: Without Perfect Information, Perfect Execution is Impossible I have seen Sales Teams get overly focused on being Perfect.  It may sound Counter-Intuitive, but consider that in this day and age, Information changes at a blinding pace.  As such, it is harder and harder to Execute flawlessly, even though that should be the goal.  Sales Teams sometimes feel stuck and can’t move forward on executing the sales plan because they don’t have all the…

• Prospecting is a combination of having the right message and consistently repeating it. You need both!

  Daily Sales Thoughts

  30 Apr 2012 | 3:56 pm

  It is an always an interesting discussion when we talk about Prospecting.  Unless you have “Game Changing” product, you are always, to some degree, playing a numbers game.  Based on a large population of Prospects that you have to reach out to, a certain percentage of them will be Prospects for what you sell.  The real interesting question is: What do you do when you have found a “True” Prospect? This is the key that separates great sales people from the merely Good ones.  What is your strategy to get the prospect thinking your way more consistently? There are 2 parts to…

• If you are not demonstrating win-win with your sales approach, don’t expect the customer to think that way! Win-Win matters and closes profitable deals!

  Daily Sales Thoughts

  24 Apr 2012 | 7:31 pm

  Sales is admittedly a process where it is easy to develop Winners and Losers.  Many people believe that Every Sale Results in a Winner and a Loser.  While this may be true in some Sales situations, it is not healthy for a long term relationship.  Customers have, in most cases, been burned by Sales People.  In order to distinguish yourself, take whatever steps you have to take to NOT be “Just another salesperson.”  Work at being someone who believes that Sales can be done while taking a Win-Win Approach.  This approach lets you act in an Honorable fashion for both Your Company and…

• Take a step back from your sales opportunity to be sure you REALLY understand customer need. Don’t pitch: Question, particularly when you feel stuck.

  Daily Sales Thoughts

  20 Apr 2012 | 8:46 am

  One of the most difficult things for a sales person to do is NOT sell.  When you are called on to position your product, there is a natural tendency to want to “Pitch” the product.  While this may feel like something you have to do, there are times where you can do yourself a lot of harm if you pitch too early. When you are not sure, take a Step back and focus on understanding the customer’s “Real Need.”  If you don’t do this, you will find yourself throwing things against the wall and hoping something sticks: This is not a place Sales Professionals should find themselves. …

• Focus is critical for sales teams. Don’t buy into wild changes of direction. Stay focused on the big picture!

  Daily Sales Thoughts

  18 Apr 2012 | 5:11 pm

  Consistent Execution is key to success in Sales.  One of the things that I have noticed is companies making changes to Sales Strategy, thinking that it will rapidly improve their sales.  What actually happens is that when you make major sales strategy changes the Sales Team is forced to adjust all that they have worked to put in place with their Customers.  Everyone Usually loses in these situations: Sales Company: Loses Credibility in these situations, as the changes they make typically are confusing more than helpful, and the company gets blamed.  Some sales people just leave in this…

• 

  ecquire.com

• We Break Every Rule of Tech Startups

  Toan Dang

  7 May 2012 | 3:27 pm

  Posted in Uncategorized We each work in any country we want We each work any hours we want (we can’t see each other and don’t really care) We take the money we save on office rent and use it to fly to Canada to surf and hack on a beach, Norway to kayak and hack with partner startups, San Fran to… you get the idea. We went through 2 startup accelerators. That’s like being the tallest kids in third grade. We’ve turned down three acquisition offers and turned them into partnerships instead We have paying customers (not just our moms) We have the world’s…

• Why CRMs Fail and How to Choose One that Works for You

  Paul_DeJoe

  3 May 2012 | 10:48 am

  Posted in CRM WorkflowSales AutomationMisinformation, failed implementations, and “me too” mentality have plagued the CRM industry, resulting in implementation failure rates ranging from 40-80%. It is so bad that there are even annual competitions for “CRM Implementations of the Year” and even a “CRM Idol”. Ironically, the majority of reasons for why CRMs fail are common sense things. CRM is Not a Saviour to your Existing Problems A disorganized organization will not be able to capitalize on the benefits of a CRM when it is not in a position to do so. Said…

• After Two Startup Accelerators, What I Wish Someone Had Told Me

  Paul_DeJoe

  20 Apr 2012 | 1:30 pm

  Posted in Ecquire UpdatesStartupAh, spring. Birds chirping, bees humming, and the annual ritual of tech startups kicking off accelerators. Ecquire went through two incubators, one in 2008 and one in 2011. Yep, that’s like repeating third grade twice, but at least now we’re “experts” at utilizing startup accelerators, if nothing else. Looking back at 2008 (DreamIt Ventures) we totally underused those three months. We went from no product to 11K users but had no clear vision for what came next or why. In 2011 (GrowLab), demo day got us partner meetings, term sheets,…

• Publishing a Chrome Extension? 7 Tips to Get More Downloads

  Tal_Raviv

  16 Apr 2012 | 4:01 am

  Posted in Chrome Web StoreStartupLaunching your Chrome Extension is technically very straightforward. However, getting the most from Google’s Chrome Web Store (especially in terms of traffic) is less obvious. Here’s what we at Ecquire have learned from launching on the Chrome Web Store. Image credit: http://laptops-parts.co.uk/ 1. Beautify Your Chrome Extension Load the Chrome Web Store – look at all the pretty pictures: The Store was designed to be endlessly browsable. It’s meant to look good. If you make the Chrome Web Store look good, you will be rewarded. Invest a…

• 6 Tasks a Non-Technical Cofounder Must Execute

  Toan Dang

  6 Apr 2012 | 3:01 pm

  Posted in Ecquire UpdatesStartupThis is Part II of the “Non-Technical Cofounder’s Job” series. You can read Part I here. Each day, I ensure that I am putting the company in the best position to succeed as I can by working towards these 3 goals and executing on these 6 following tasks. Interact with prospects (in this order): Face to face – these should be with ideal customers Social Media – A social media connection is much warmer than a cold phone call or cold email Email – Get an introduction if you can. Otherwise keep it short, show personality, and…

• 

  SalesCrunch Blog

• Expert Tips for Launching Your iPad for Sales Strategy

  Jay Chalnick

  16 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  By Ashley Furness of Software Advice Two telecom sales reps recently stopped by my office to pitch executives on their latest solution. Both toted iPads, which I assume were loaded with dazzling interactive presentations and other tools for elevating the pitch. But neither rep turned on their device. This got me wondering, did they plan for how they were going to use their iPads? And if they did, what did that plan look like? One recent study reported that while 78 percent of employers plan to deploy tablets across their organization (83 percent of which will opt for the iPad), more than…

• Sales is a Flawed Model

  Alex Volkov

  15 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  By Sharon Drew Morgen  Do you know why you don’t close all the sales you deserve to close? Do you know, on your first prospecting call, who will buy? Do you know where buyers go when they say ‘I’ll call you back?” Do you know what takes buyers so long to buy when it seems so obvious to everyone – including them? You don’t know the answers to these questions. Because the sales model is geared for solution placement. Of course you give good service, ask all the right questions, understand the need and how it fits with your solution. But the sales model is not set up to manage the…

• Top 5 Tips to Crafting Your Elevator Pitch

  Jay Chalnick

  14 May 2012 | 6:00 am

  By Linda Forshaw The elevator door opens, you step inside and there stands the head honcho of the firm you’ve been trying to get a meeting with for months. In all likelihood, it may very well not be in an elevator — you might be sat next to him on the same flight, attending the same conference or be waiting for a coffee fix in the same queue — but wherever it happens, you must be prepared. 1. Have more than one pitch: In other words, know your targets. Say you want to do business with a particular company. You should know who all the decision makers are — often there…

• Online Class: Funnelomics: How to Build Marketing Automation into Your B2B Strategy (Part 2)

  Alex Volkov

  11 May 2012 | 2:00 pm

  A big thank you for all who attended SalesCrunch’s Online Class ”Funnelomics: How to Build Marketing Automation into Your B2B Strategy,” hosted by Adam Stein, Head of Marketing at MobileIron. Below is Part 2 of the online class. In this class, you will learn: - How to best integrate your sales and marketing programs for measurable and repeatable results - What works in Enterprise B2B sales - How marketing accelerates sales efforts and ensures an actionable sales playbook is in place. Funnelomics: How to Build Marketing Automation into Your B2B Strategy (Part 2) (14:10)…

• Online Class: Funnelomics: How to Build Marketing Automation into Your B2B Strategy (Part 1)

  Alex Volkov

  11 May 2012 | 11:00 am

  A big thank you for all who attended SalesCrunch’s Online Class ”Funnelomics: How to Build Marketing Automation into Your B2B Strategy,” hosted by Adam Stein, Head of Marketing at MobileIron. Below is Part 1 of the online class. In this class, you will learn: - How to best integrate your sales and marketing programs for measurable and repeatable results - What works in Enterprise B2B sales - How marketing accelerates sales efforts and ensures an actionable sales playbook is in place. Funnelomics: How to Build Marketing Automation into Your B2B Strategy (Part 1) (36:27)…

• 

  Kelley Robertson: Fearless Selling Blog

• 7 Sales Myths You Need to Stop Believing

  Kelley Robertson

  16 May 2012 | 7:01 am

  During my career as a sales trainer and keynote speaker, I have been able to interact with thousands of salespeople and I have discovered that many of them still believe some myths about sales and selling. Here are seven of the most common myths. 1. Price is the primary reason people make a buying decision I will never argue the fact that price is a factor in every buying decision. However, it is seldom the primary reason people make a buying decision. It is important to note though, that people will default to price if you fail to demonstrate the value of your product or differentiate…

• 7 Ways to Conquer Your Fear of Asking for the Sale

  Kelley Robertson

  15 May 2012 | 6:15 am

  In the seventeen-plus years I have been working with sales people and helping them increase their sales, I have noticed that many fail to ask for the business. In my sales training workshops, people express a variety of reasons why they don’t ask for the sale. Here are 7 of the most common reasons why sales people don’t ask for the sale and what you can do about it. 1. Fear of rejection This is by far the most common reason why people don’t ask for the business. I don’t know many people actually enjoy being rejected and sales people are no different. However, it is critical to realize…

• So I Was Dead

  Kelley Robertson

  14 May 2012 | 4:55 am

  “So I was dead.” That was the opening line in the movie Confidence and it was accompanied by a shot of a guy sprawled out in a parking lot looking quite dead. I have watched hundreds of movies over the years and this opening line rates as one of the best. In fact, it’s one of the openers I still remember even though the movie was released in 2003. So what does this have to with sales? The faster you capture a person’s attention (prospect or existing customer), the more likely it is you will move the sales process forward. This applies to telephone conversations, voice mails,…

• 7 Reasons Why Talking Heads Seldom Reach Their Quotas

  Kelley Robertson

  11 May 2012 | 7:03 am

  In 1987 a TV series called “Max Headroom” broke onto the scene. It was a futuristic show about a network reporter who gets caught up in an experiment and becomes a computer-generated personality. The series only lasted one season (14 episodes), I think but it was fun to watch. Unfortunately, many sales people are talking heads, too. And they aren’t so fun to watch—or listen to. A talking head sales person is someone who shows and throws up. A few years ago I took a call with a sales person who ended up talking endlessly about his product. Although he had a great product, he lost the…

• The Drawbacks of Social Networking

  Kelley Robertson

  10 May 2012 | 7:00 am

  About a year ago, I made the decision to become an open networker on LinkedIn after a fellow sales trainer and sales keynote speaker  told me that it helped him connect with dozens of decision makers. I registered for a service that added my name and LinkedIn profile to a database and within hours dozens of people were reaching out to connect. Woo hoo! A few months later I had added more than 1000 people to my contact list. Flash forward 10 months and my list of connections has grown to more than 3000 people. Sounds great, right? Uh, not so much… What seemed like a good idea at the time…

• 

  EcSELL Institute™ Sales Coaching Blog

• The leader’s dilemma – Today’s outcomes or tomorrow’s growth

  16 May 2012 | 6:54 am

  Today's sales leaders have a constant battle - to they focus on today's outcomes or tomorrow's growth.  This story about Julie, a bright, well-educated leader, illustrates the answer. Julie was brought into to turn around one of the divisions of a publicly-traded company.  When Julie joined her new company, the direction she received from the CEO was clear – define a new way of delivering services to increase our revenue.  Driven and confident, Julie knew she was up to the task. Generating Sales Results Today After gathering and analyzing customer feedback, Julie…

• 6 Steps To Conflict Resolution

  14 May 2012 | 6:41 am

  Conflict is inevitable. How you resolve conflict is critical. Handling it effectively a key to success but handling it poorly is the roadmap to further conflict.  Robert Pagliarini the founder of Richer Life a community of passionate people who want to learn and achieve more in life and at work, recently wrote an article for CBS MoneyWatch based on his experience counseling hundreds of people on financial disagreements. He shared the six key steps to conflict resolution.  Whether dealing with a money issue, a disgruntled employee, or a frustrated boss, these six steps apply. After…

• Why you can't "manage" your way to sustainable growth

  9 May 2012 | 6:30 am

  As we lead our sales teams, we do everything in our power to hit our sales goals and grow our business.  We define processes so we can have efficient execution.  We employ never ending searches for time saving, cutting edge technologies.  We develop strategic plans so we can have predictable outcomes.  We manage sales activity so we can ensure we hit our quarterly number and annual goals.  We constantly strive to do more, always looking for the next great growth tool and opportunity. This isn't enough anymore! Too often, sales leaders stop there.  They see the…

• Lessons of Leadership

  7 May 2012 | 11:00 am

  As we advance in our careers, we become more aware of what it takes to be a great leader. Harvard Business Review recently published an article written by Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything. Tony shares twelves of his favorite leadership lessons.  Read them and then add to the list! Lessons On Leadership 1. The more we know about ourselves, the more power we have to behave better. Humility is underrated. We each have an infinite capacity for self-deception — countless unconscious ways we protect ourselves from pain,…

• 4 Common Traits of Top Sales Managers

  2 May 2012 | 7:15 am

  According to Harvard Business Review writer Scott Edinger founder of Edinger Consulting Group, the leadership job that's hardest to do is the head of sales. And not just because sales brings in the revenue and tends to feel the friction from the external environment first, though both are certainly true. But because in addition, sales leaders deal with situations no other department encounters! Below are the highlights of Scott's article "The Most Challenging Leadership Job" Sales organizations are unique in ways that create unique challenges. First of all, in most cases, sales reps are…

• 

  Adrian Miller

• Business & My Mom

  adrianmiller

  12 May 2012 | 2:18 pm

  I wrote this post a little over a year ago, just one day before my mom passed away.  In recognition of Mother’s Day, I think that it deserves to be reposted. My mom wasn’t exactly a business woman. Sure, she worked as a bookkeeper for a number of years. Yet, I’m not certain that she ever considered it a career. And, I can’t say that I thought of her a role model as I carved out the beginnings of my company. Still, as I reflect upon her now, I realize that there were several characteristics that she embodied that I see in myself. And, these very same characteristics are those that…

• Can’t Ya Hear Me Knocking?

  adrianmiller

  8 May 2012 | 6:25 pm

  Can’t ya hear me knocking Or calling. Or emailing. Or snail mailing. Or any of the proactive things sales people do to prospect for new business.  Yep, new business, the lifeblood of our organizations and our paychecks too. Make that new business that can pay their invoice.  Awesome. So can’t ya hear me knocking? What’s a salesperson to do? 1. Persistence rules. You can’t lose what you don’t have and it often takes multiple attempts to break through the clutter and gain some mind share. 2.  Make certain that your ongoing attempts to reach out and connect have…

• 3 Amazingly Easy & Overwhelmingly Effective Ways to Stay on the Grid

  adrianmiller

  7 May 2012 | 6:08 am

  It’s true for almost everyone that sells almost anything. You have prospects that are stuck in the sales funnel and there’s been no progress for weeks or perhaps even months. You have referral sources with whom you need to stay current and visible for once you fall off the grid one of your competitors will take your place. You have dormant accounts that you’d like to reactivate if only you knew what to say. You have small, marginal accounts that get minimal attention (even though you don’t want to lose them). What’s a person to do when they know that simply…

• Birthing a Son, Birthing A Business

  adrianmiller

  30 Apr 2012 | 5:01 pm

  25 years ago I gave birth to my son. I also gave birth to my business and in both cases  it has been an awesome ride, at times thrilling, rewarding, scary and gratifying, and sometimes, all at the same time. (Hey business owners, you know what I mean, right?) But while my son is now very independent and confident and needs significantly less “mothering” I feel that my second baby, my business, is now extremely needy. You see, unlike my son who has continued to grow stronger and more resilient, my business has been buffeted and negatively impacted by many factors: The economic…

• Do Your Clients Think You’re Easy?

  adrianmiller

  26 Apr 2012 | 9:48 am

  Bad Girls. Back when I went to high school there was a certain group of girls that were referred to as “easy.” If you’re 40+ you know exactly what I mean! Remember that this was well before the Internet and Facebook and yet the word spread quickly…EASY. The easy girls got lots of dates but had few, if any, long-term relationships. The easy girls suffered as a result of their bad reputation and were often disrespected and not invited to activities when the “good girls” had anything to say about it. The easy girls got taken advantage of and well, sometimes they didn’t even look…

• 

  Sales Enablement Perspectives

• Why I’m so passionate about sales enablement!

  Tamara Schenk

  6 May 2012 | 4:14 pm

  The other day, I had a call with a sales rep. So what, you might think. I thought the same, until the call happened. First, there was the sales rep’s request for a one hour meeting. I said, I’d prefer to have a short call first. Unwillingly, he agreed. Then, we had the call: „Did you already have a look at our web site?“ Interesting approach…would it become funny or horrible? „Yes, I had a quick scan, when we scheduled this call, but I didn’t find something really valuable regarding my current business challenges. But I’m sure that you will now connect the…

• How to leverage the full potential of your sales enablement platform!

  Tamara Schenk

  15 Apr 2012 | 4:59 pm

  It’s time to share some insights on sales enablement platforms/solutions and their real value – and how to leverage their full potential. A few weeks ago, there was an interesting LinkedIn question regarding sales enablement platforms. It was called „So you’ve got a platform for Sales Enablement! What is the feature that really benefits or differentiates, that enables you more than yesterday?“ Those of you who know me won’t be surprised that I wrote a response which was rather a blog post than a short response on a LinkedIn question. That’s why I’m…

• What’s the role of collaboration for sales enablement?

  Tamara Schenk

  3 Apr 2012 | 4:29 pm

  Attending a conference, having the possibility to talk to many people in different roles is always exciting, especially attending the second Forrester Sales Enablement Forum, March 19-20 in San Francisco. Ask ten people how to define sales enablement, you will still get ten different answers. Ask ten people how to define collaboration and collaboration’s role regarding sales enablement, it’s almost the same. But at least eight will define collaboration from a technological perspective only. I had many conversations on the role of collaboration for sales enablement and most of them…

• Sales enablement professionals – Why to be a “simpltist” AND a “linchpin”!

  Tamara Schenk

  25 Mar 2012 | 10:12 am

  Back from the second Forrester Sales Enablement Forum in San Francisco, there are many topics to be shared and to be discussed. So, let’s get started: One of these topics is the idea of being a „simpltist“. Scott Santucci ended his key note with the idea of being a “SIMPLTIST”.  This is a word made up by combining SIMPLE with SCIENTIST. The “S” is shared by both SIMPLE and SCIENTIST.  The IMPL comes from SIMPLE and the TIST comes from SCIENTIST. So, what was Scott’s intention to come up with this idea? As Scott said, „simple“ should be the first…

• Bridging the gap in strategic accounts

  Tamara Schenk

  11 Mar 2012 | 5:58 pm

  The date is fast approaching! I hope, you will join me for the Forrester Sales Enablement Forum 2012 in San Francisco, March 19-20. I’m happy to be part of a track with several sessions together with Scott Santucci, Principal Analyst, Forrester and David B. Irwin, President and CEO, Allant Group. Our track is called „Bridging the gap in strategic accounts“ and I will share our experiences and lessons learned regarding „Designing a cost effective tiered coverage model“. It will be your track if you are interested in a variety of topics such as: How to evolve sales enablement as a…

• 

  TopLine Leadership » TopLine Leadership Blog

• To Become a Better Sales Coach You Need to Think Differently

  Kevin Davis

  9 May 2012 | 11:59 am

  Have you ever considered what made you successful when you were a salesperson? You were, and still likely are, action-oriented, decisive, and adept at problem solving. These sales attributes were rewarded as a salesperson – and then you got promoted and everything changed. Except – perhaps – you. Now I ask you to consider – are the same keen sales attributes which made you a successful salesperson creating a stumbling block to effective sales management? As a sales manager, if you are still action-oriented, decisive and adept at problem-solving – are you jumping in to “rescue”…

• Sales Coaching Should be a Sales Manager’s #1 Priority

  Kevin Davis

  23 Apr 2012 | 1:39 pm

  Recently I was working with a group of sales managers and I posed this question- When you arrive at your office on a typical day what would you say is your #1 priority? Some of the answers I received were Reacting to my boss i.e. answering questions, following directives, etc. Prioritizing my day according to voice mail and email. Reviewing the opportunities on our CRM “dashboard.” Trying to generate more revenue. In order to be an effective coach and sales leader the answer to this question should be, that a sales managers’ #1 priority is the coaching and developing of salespeople. It…

• An Argument Against “Qualification”

  Kevin Davis

  7 Apr 2012 | 5:28 pm

  At the beginning of a recent Slow Down, Sell Faster sales seminar, I asked each participant “What is your #1 goal for this session?” Several stated that their biggest challenge is how to get past a low-level relationship and reach decision makers with more money, authority and need. Later that day, when we arrived at the “C-Level Prospecting” skills module, I asked them, “When you call a prospect on the phone, what do you say?” Almost uniformly, the answer was, “The first thing I do is qualify him/her by asking, ‘Do you make the decisions on products such as X?’ If the…

• How to Manage and Lead your Millennial Salesperson

  Kevin Davis

  16 Mar 2012 | 1:42 pm

  I often get asked about coaching millenials—the youngest members of the sales force (under age 34), who are the fastest growing segment in today’s workforce. While sweeping statements about an entire generation can never be 100% true for any individual, there are a few factors that do separate millennial salespeople from both Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. For example, millenials are the first generation to be considered “digital natives.” They’ve been around technology their entire lives, and see technology as helping them be more flexible in both their work and private lives. You may…

• 4 Tips for Sales Coaching & Leadership

  Kevin Davis

  29 Feb 2012 | 11:58 pm

  Communicating clearly to your salespeople the specific behaviors and activities that you both want and need for sales success is essential for sales coaching. Here’s a quick exercise to test common understanding. Send out an email to your sales team and ask, “In regards to the first meeting with a new prospect, what specific behaviors do we need to perform, and in what sequence?” How many different answers will you get back from your sales team? If you don’t have a systematic sales process implemented in your company, a process everybody understands, you cannot coach effectively. Be a…