Fill the Funnel

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

My list of top sales books to read in 2012 consists of books that were published during 2011 and contain innovative, fresh ideas about selling, customer expectations, and how to improve your ability to win new business customers. Social media platforms are now your best tools. © MASP - Fotolia.com. “Change is hard.”

Social Media 134

Social Media Media Top of Funnel Face-to-face 134

The ROI Guy

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Being provocative is a sales and marketing requirement in order to get your fair share of deals in 2012, this according to the annual B2B Buyer’s survey of Demand Creation Specialists (DCS). Proactively, buyers need to be convinced that the status-quo is not adequate, and that there is a cost-of-doing-nothing.

Survey 72

Survey Case Study ROI Proposal 72

The ROI Guy

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Solution providers that can help facilitate this ever more difficult process will have an advantage in 2012. At this critical stage, defining the vision for the project, most buyers are researching options on their own, and not involving sales in the process. Serious budget constraints make even high ROI projects hard to get approved.

Case Study 70

Case Study Comparison Decision Maker ROI 70

Score More Sales

JUNE 26, 2012

Even if a percentage of your customers are on social tools and platforms now – you need to be there as well. There are many cloud-based tools to help grow your visibility, do niche research, and learn more about your existing and prospective customers. Finally, the tools vary and new ones seem to come out daily.

B2B 183

B2B Lead Rank Lead Scoring Hiring 183

The ROI Guy

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

The continued economic uncertainty may define 2012, as “Frugalnomics” remains in full effect driving companies to be more spendthrift and risk adverse. With the importance of finance in the selection process, the following five best practices can help drive better success in 2012: 1. corporate executives.

ROI 79

ROI Vendor Survey Proposal 79

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 31, 2013

The statistics I share below are from SBI’s 2012 Sales & Marketing Research. There is now an updated 2013 SBI Research Review which you can sign up for here. At no cost, an SBI expert will present our most recent full research findings. You will have access to guides, templates and tools. Then find them.

Lead Rank 324

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Referrals Trade Show 324

Score More Sales

JANUARY 11, 2013

Ed and I spoke recently about the trends, and I shared with him my concerns about how so many smaller organizations are overwhelmed by tools, technology, and strategies for growth. So many new cloud-based tools have not only come to market, but many are tried-and-true now.

Coremetrics 238

Coremetrics Analytics Trends Outbound 238

The ROI Guy

JANUARY 9, 2012

For those who thought 2012 might offer some much needed relief, a new survey uncovers Executives’ pessimistic sentiment going into 2012, indicating significant economic concerns and a strong focus on cutting costs and improving efficiency versus driving growth.

Buyer 69

Buyer Proposal B2B Discount 69

SBI Growth

AUGUST 6, 2013

Give your team the tools to become “Social Sellers”. SBI’s 7 th Annual Research Tour is underway. You will also be able to d ownload the “LinkedIn Assessment Tool” here. Jim Keenan in a recent Forbes article notes that in “2012, 78.6% Next, see how your sales team is doing with the LinkedIn Profile Assessment Tool.

LinkedIn 306

LinkedIn How To Social Selling Social Media 306

Score More Sales

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

IBM has done research on social selling for several years. I trust their research and know of many ways they have embraced social into their inside sales teams and into their business plan. McKinsey Global Institute Report, “The Social Economy: Unlocking Value and Productivity Through Social Technologies” – July 2012.

Lead Rank 228

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Social Selling Twitter 228

Pointclear

DECEMBER 10, 2013

Chad was voted Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals 4 years in a row—2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. With the plethora of scientific data available, salespeople can research potential clients and arm themselves with valuable information. Sales is Getting Scientific.

Inside Sales 255

Inside Sales Lead Rank Social Media Video 255

SBI Growth

JANUARY 15, 2013

Of all the opportunities put in your pipeline during 2012, how many actually closed? Download Your Persona Based Forecasting Tool Here. Personas are research-based representations of the buyers, and influencers and evaluators of your products or services. Download your Persona-Based Forecasting Tool Here.

Forecasting 267

Forecasting Sales Forecasts Buyer Persona How To 267

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Don’t waste time on cold calls with a 1-3% appointment success rate (AAISP, 2012). Download the Tool (free event registration required) so that you''ll be able to leverage your database along with my upcoming blog and tool. You can get this download by signing up for SBI’s Sales & Marketing research review here.

Referrals 331

Referrals LinkedIn Social Selling Cold Calling 331

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

I provide the Account Networking Tool to build a referral database around your customer. They’re missing the real value of the platform: it’s a sales tool. have held director-level or above positions (source: LinkedIn Ad Platform, 2012). For reference, our customer research shows an average 63% win rate on referrals.

LinkedIn 335

LinkedIn Pipeline Decision Maker Ideal Customer Profile 335

Score More Sales

AUGUST 6, 2012

82% of those surveyed believe that sales reps are challenged by the amount of information and the time it takes to research prospects prior to making contact. CSO Insights surveyed 218 CEOs, CSOs, sales execs and managers during June 2012 in an online study. Reps are on information overload. ” The Big Data revolution is here.

Data 197

Data CRM Survey Study 197

The ROI Guy

DECEMBER 6, 2011

Frugalnomics makes it harder to connect, engage and sell without the right content and tools Alinean, the leading creator of interactive content marketing and diagnostic sales tools for business to business (B2B) solutions, today announced its annual sales and marketing predictions for 2012 with serious implications.

Buyer 51

Buyer B2B Marketing Strategy 51

Score More Sales

MAY 29, 2013

Get names or titles confirmed using LinkedIn or other tool – then pick up the phone and call. This can be a very quick two step process to connecting to people, rather than long research times and long time crafting emails. Use Twitter for research – even if you are not “on” Twitter.

Prospecting 272

Prospecting Decision Maker Lead Rank Lead Scoring 272

The ROI Guy

APRIL 25, 2012

Alinean interactive value selling and marketing tools help B2B sales professionals and prospects fight Frugalnomics, by provoking prospects to take action, tallying the “cost of doing nothing” and cost-justifying proposed solutions. The Alinean tools help answer the key purchasing decision questions of “Why Change?”, “Why Now?”

Lead Gen 45

Lead Gen Proposal Collateral ROI 45

SBI Growth

JANUARY 9, 2013

The top fear of HR leaders for 2012 was finding or developing leaders. Our 2012 sales leader research finds it is still a big fear for 2013. A tool is available for download – a full syllabus of Sales leadership courseware. The below downloadable tool will give over 40 sales leadership skills to choose from.

Sales Leadership 310

Sales Leadership Buyer Persona Exercises Course 310

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

Equip them with tools to succeed. This article provides the insight and access to tools to make a successful transition. We are provided with writing tools and Personas. Evaluate the quality of writing with a content evaluation tool. Register for the Make the Number Tour to receive a copy of SBI’s content grading tool.

Lead Generation 306

Lead Generation Outsourcing Services Lead Rank Lead Scoring 306

The Pipeline

MARCH 2, 2012

RTV - High Execution TV Archive Select Month March 2012. February 2012. January 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012. March 2nd, 2012.

Pipeline 237

Pipeline Twitter Lead Rank Lead Scoring 237

Score More Sales

APRIL 27, 2012

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. Simple, quick, web-based research is extremely important when you are calling prospects. The phone is just one tool in your toolbox. 2) LinkedIn or other warm connection.

Prospecting 212

Prospecting Lead Rank Lead Scoring Cold Calling 212

Score More Sales

APRIL 27, 2012

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. Simple, quick, web-based research is extremely important when you are calling prospects. The phone is just one tool in your toolbox. 2) LinkedIn or other warm connection.

Prospecting 212

Prospecting Lead Rank Lead Scoring Cold Calling 212

The Pipeline

JANUARY 18, 2012

RTV - High Execution TV Archive Select Month March 2012. February 2012. January 2012. Sales Tool. CNi Rapid Research. Your email address will not be shared. Sign up for our Email Newsletter. For Email Newsletters you can trust. December 2011. November 2011. October 2011. September 2011. August 2011. April 2011.

Pipeline 253

Pipeline Cold Calling Hiring Compensation 253

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

This year’s SBI Q3 Tour- Make the Number: How your Peers are Allocating People, Money and Time in 2013 provides research-backed strategies, plans, approaches, and tools that are used by many of the best organizations in the world. Download our specialized custom tool to see how you’re doing, and what adjustments you’ll need for 2013.

Top of Funnel 267

Top of Funnel Funnel Demand Generation Demand Generation Targets 267

Score More Sales

MARCH 14, 2013

Many have closed new business as a direct result of using LinkedIn as a serious tool. Prospect research is the most frequent LinkedIn activity. These users feel that LinkedIn is an essential business tool. Social Selling Power Tools. Top sellers use more of LinkedIn’s capabilities. Boost Your LinkedIn Profile.

LinkedIn 238

LinkedIn Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Lead Scoring 238

Score More Sales

MAY 16, 2012

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. You have a poor CRM tool, perhaps not cloud-based and it is difficult to use with poor reporting capabilities. You probably fall into one of three camps: A.

Opportunity 206

Opportunity Pipeline Hiring Top of Funnel 206

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 23, 2018

It is a place for networking, research, and engaging audiences, not for pitching prospects. Gartner research backs this up, suggesting that social engagement is the more appropriate term. Derry Finkeldey, research director at Gartner, puts it this way: . Researching Sales Leads. 5 Social Selling Don’ts.

Social Selling 218

Social Selling Social Media Referrals Lead Rank 218

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

Deploying a Sales Force Automation tool will not solve the challenges facing your Sales organization. In fact, “20% to 30% of Enterprise Resource Planning projects fail, and 50% to 60% are considered compromised,” according to Gartner research. Technology alone is not the solution. Sales Leaders are searching for solutions.

Territories 306

Territories Top of Funnel Analysis Penetration 306

SBI Growth

JANUARY 7, 2013

A lot was written in 2012 regarding the change in buyer behavior. Chances are you began your research online. Use the LinkedIn Grading Tool to find out. Research – Stay up on best practices to make the most of your brand. Corporate marketing tools should be more than enough for you to master your own brand.

Social Selling 321

Social Selling Ideal Customer Profile Harvest Social Media 321

Score More Sales

DECEMBER 21, 2012

Earlier this year, IBM published the results of a study that was done by Forrester Research about how today’s empowered customers are thinking, and the importance of really knowing your customer. Jeff Ernst, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research narrates the overview click here to view the video.

Customer 196

Customer Hotels Lead Rank Lead Scoring 196

SBI Growth

AUGUST 10, 2013

Historically Julie has been an ‘A’ player, but 2012 was tough. Our research shows that Julie is not alone. By signing up for our 7th annual Research Tour your team can learn why. When a new rep leaves a training, he does not have the tool kit to succeed. But it hadn’t always been so rosy. The New ‘A’ Player.

Training 293

Training Top of Funnel Hiring Hotels 293

SBI Growth

JANUARY 16, 2013

Then I provide several tools for success in the Social Seller Mobile App Guide. Source – CEB, The New High Performer Playbook, Arlington VA, 2012). This means the Buyer is researching before you enter the picture. All of our client research on this topic at SBI yields the same result. Why Buyers want Social Sellers.

Eloqua 331

Eloqua Networking LinkedIn Influencer 331

Mereo

MARCH 16, 2023

Recent research shows how time spent in the great outdoors can not only be therapeutic to your individual team members’ mental wellbeing — it can also boost their performance and productivity. In a study he led in 2012, a group of hikers spent three days in a remote nature setting without any technology. Much like with point No.

Hiring 41

Hiring Research Study SalesForce 41

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 7, 2011

RTV - High Execution TV Archive Select Month March 2012. February 2012. January 2012. Sales Tool. CNi Rapid Research. Your email address will not be shared. Sign up for our Email Newsletter. For Email Newsletters you can trust. December 2011. November 2011. October 2011. September 2011. August 2011. April 2011.

Pipeline 245

Pipeline Cold Calling Webinar Metrics Hiring 245

Zoominfo

APRIL 16, 2018

Administrative tasks and prospect research eat up a ton of time that reps could spend selling. Look for hacks and restructure your processes to streamline your research. There are a million tools out there (Zoominfo) to help with that. So, what tips do you have for sales reps looking to be more productive and get more done?

Journal 171

Journal Influencer Case Study Sports 171

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 22, 2012

If you aren’t able to answer YES to all 3 questions then sign up today for our Q3 Tour Research: How your Peers are allocating People, Time and Money in 2013. You’ll get access to the tools and information that will give you the ability to answer YES. Even if 2012 was below targets, the future is bright. Where do You Stand?

Territories 316

Territories Follow-up Meeting Tools 316