No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 16, 2020

I’ve been there—given a quota (usually without my input) and a list of client companies, and then told to “go at it” and do whatever it takes to get meetings. They are your frontline and your ear to what is going on—not only with your clients, but within your company. Create company metrics. I’m including myself here.

Referrals 328

Referrals Sales Management Hiring Scale 328

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 7, 2023

Image attribution: Perawit Boonchu ) My Referral Business Case My business is consulting with companies to get ideal referrals and drive revenue. Bring Joanne Black into your company, sales conference, or attend a webinar. Contact Joanne.

Referrals 194

Referrals Scale Decision Maker Sales Qualified Lead 194

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

Mark, a salesman with an enterprise company, invited me to connect on LinkedIn. Read “ Here’s Why You’re Not Getting Referrals ”) Stop Counting Dials, Start Counting Connections Rachel, a sales VP at a large technology company, was frustrated with her sales team. Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter.

Referrals 177

Referrals Cold Calling Lead Rank Lead Scoring 177

No More Cold Calling

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Buyers take referrals when: They’re wrestling with a problem, and someone they trust has explained how your company might be able to solve it. Instead, they’ll learn best practices, get insights, and hear stories about what’s going on in other companies in their industry.

Social Media 194

Social Media Referrals Media Lead Generation 194

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

I was trying to contact a prospect and couldn’t find the company phone number on their website. When companies make it difficult for their prospects to buy, they lose business without knowing it. Companies invest significant money on marketing—email campaigns, SEO, and strategies for getting found and building customer loyalty.

Loyalty 249

Loyalty Customer Cold Calling Fashion 249

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 3, 2019

As Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, once put it, “We run this company on questions, not answers.” But curiosity isn’t just important at innovative tech companies. When they get curious, they bring the brain trust of the company together to solve the prospective client’s problems and win deals. It’s also key for sales success.

Google 299

Google Face-to-face Cold Calling Survey 299

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 31, 2021

Too many companies accelerated what they knew—send more and more emails—knowing that strategy was never really successful, even in the best of times. Companies that thrived in 2020 had a different mindset. When the economy shrinks and companies cut budgets, buyers don’t want to talk to salespeople. They freaked out.

Referrals 371

Referrals Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead Call-back 371

No More Cold Calling

MAY 2, 2019

More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and those companies create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. These companies tend to be founded by people with deep expertise in their fields and an inspiring vision for the future. Or hiring companies to call for them.). In fact, 99.7

Small Business 316

Small Business Small Business Referrals Hiring 316

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

By contrast, the traditional growth model has fostered a vicious cycle of inefficiency—a company gains a few new clients, so they hire more people to service those clients, adding costs at nearly the same rate that they’re adding. Written weekly referral selling goals for your company and for each salesperson.

Scale 313

Scale Referrals Hiring Sales Qualified Lead 313

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 25, 2021

Her book Selling to Big Companies was published in December 2005, and my book No More Cold Calling was published in 2006. Checkout the job board for women looking for sales jobs, and for companies posting their open sales positions. More companies must make balancing the diversity scales in sales a strategic business priority.

Hiring 379

Hiring eBook Cold Calling Scale 379

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 14, 2019

I’d been thinking about starting my own company, and many people had encouraged me. I got to stay in my office, work with this problem client (who turned out not to be a problem after all), and start my own company. I would work with small-to-medium companies to craft their sales strategy. Was this company asking?

Referrals 291

Referrals Cold Calling Survey Scale 291

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Never lose touch with your contacts at client companies. They are your best sources of referrals—to other divisions of their companies and to their peers in other organizations. But that can be a big problem, because customer relationships drive referral sales. Don’t Lose the Right Once You’ve Earned It. There’s a lesson here.

Referrals 227

Referrals Customer Revelation Networking 227

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 13, 2022

Most companies met the pandemic like a deer in the headlights. Companies fell back on what they’d always done—depending on technology for automation and high-volume transactions. What COVID-19 has magnified is the over-reliance on technology to sell. Their clients were in the same position, watching in panic as revenue declined.

Trends 356

Trends Margin Cold Calling Outbound 356

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 27, 2020

Most importantly, they have relationships from past companies. People don’t refer companies; they refer people. Most business owners don’t realize that they have a large network they can tap into for referrals. What they also don’t realize is that people will refer them because of the trusted relationships they’ve developed.

Referrals 317

Referrals Hiring Webinar Metrics How To 317

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

Many companies only bring out their technicians to do demos. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, technical and academic experts and analysts in your company are more trusted than your CEO. He also explains why and how companies should promote the wisdom and insights of their technicians and other internal specialists.

Lead Generation 266

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Lead Leads Marketing Qualified Lead 266

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

3 steps to build a referral culture for your company. Most importantly, unless you solve a problem, nothing matters—you, your solution, or your company. Why to challenge the elephant in the room and why no one’s talking about it. 4 misconceptions about referrals (Don’t just tell reps to “go get ‘em.”).

Lead Generation 267

Lead Generation Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Leads 267

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 13, 2019

Companies need to acknowledge the dangers to their workforce and take action. Some companies already are. Daren Dodd, in the Financial Times , writes about social networking, the increasing burden on mental health, and how technology is intruding on our sleep, interfering with our family time, and making us less productive at work.

Wireless 311

Wireless Face-to-face Social Media Cold Calling 311

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

Many companies survived and others thrived during the pandemic, but they forgot to enable their sellers to build relationships via video. Sadly, it hasn’t happened in most companies. Our new way of building relationships was Zoom. (It It even became a verb.). If virtual sales training was ever needed, this was the time.

Video 289

Video Cold Calling Exercises Conference 289

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 16, 2018

Buyers know everything about our companies, products, and solutions before they ever speak to a salesperson. The implication is that B2B sales companies have to use technology to power and optimize both digital and human interactions. Companies that add the human touch to digital sales consistently outperform their peers.

Fashion 219

Fashion Buying Cycle Social Media Survey 219

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 15, 2021

Despite the fact that most companies have marketing automation solutions, targeted outreach by SDRs, and intense social media strategies, account execs are still missing quota en masse. They complain they don’t have enough leads, or at least not enough qualified leads. Wait, wasn’t lead-gen technology supposed to solve that problem?

Lead Gen 397

Lead Gen Sales Qualified Lead Leads Marketing Qualified Lead 397

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

That comment came from the CEO of a fast-growing software company. Even in B2B companies, many salespeople are like that, and it’s gotten worse today. Watch what you say, and do what you say. . “I I want you to know it hasn’t gone unnoticed that there are no women on our sales team.” Think used-car salesman.) It’s all about them.

Hiring 280

Hiring Referrals Social Media Cold Calling 280

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 29, 2019

Everyone complains about their cell phone providers, their utilities companies, and their myriad of unpleasant shopping experiences. What happens in B2B companies when a salesperson pitches strangers on social media , when customer service takes hours to respond, or when the solution didn’t work as promised? Or blogging about it.

Referrals 261

Referrals B2B Sales Qualified Lead Cold Calling 261

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 30, 2023

They tell me the truth and help me navigate the unique buying landscape at their companies. According to some “experts,” buyers know everything they need to know about our companies, products, and solutions before they ever speak to a salesperson—and most buyers prefer not to talk to a salesperson at all. My prospects are on my side.

Referrals 156

Referrals Cold Calling Social Media Call-back 156

No More Cold Calling

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

When the economy shrinks and companies cut budgets, buyers don’t want to talk to salespeople. percent of them get at least a quarter of their leads from their companies. Are your buyers clamoring to talk to you? My phone rang off the hook the last half of 2020. Why the sudden interest in referral sales?

Referrals 323

Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Marketing Qualified Lead Lead Generation 323

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 8, 2019

Nearly 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented rigorous initiatives to hire more women, according to PwC. What are companies doing to keep these valuable women current? The problem is that most companies don’t know how to find women in sales. It’s very similar to the language used when companies recruit for sales.

Hiring 247

Hiring Referrals Networking Conference 247

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 1, 2021

Companies are betting on quantity. Take it from someone who’s been helping companies get referrals for more than 25 years. , a phone message, or a video. Random group texts offering to sell you real estate, cheap prescription drugs, or oceanfront property in Arizona. The problem is automation. Referrals can be digital.

Referrals 316

Referrals Decision Maker Cold Calling Social Media 316

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 15, 2017

I was so close to nailing a million-dollar deal—something no one in my company had ever done. My prospect: Had a relationship with an existing vendor for basic sales training (When I asked why the buyer didn’t contract with this company, I was told their system didn’t have advanced capabilities.). I pulled out all the stops.

Account 257

Account Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Lead Generation 257

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 3, 2020

Companies that take action, win. The companies that are readiest to act on solid information are primed to shoot ahead of the business cycle.”. Sales leaders: Lead generation must be your primary focus. There’s no time to waste.

Pipeline 414

Pipeline Prospecting Ideal Customer Profile Referrals 414

No More Cold Calling

MAY 25, 2017

From looking at many companies’ social media presence, marketing strategies have not changed much since then. None of us care about your company or products. Please take a few seconds to review your company’s social media feeds. Are you only posting about you, your company, and how great you are? By Tim Hughes.

Account 288

Account Social Media Social Selling Twitter 288

No More Cold Calling

MAY 14, 2020

I knew companies needed to trim costs across the board. Wow, did I really say that? It surprises me, too, but different times call for different approaches. I was struggling with a new way to position referral selling during a recession. Laying employees off was just a first step.

Prospecting 428

Prospecting Referrals Scale Sales Qualified Lead 428

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 27, 2017

The solution seems simple: Decide which companies to target based on predictive analytics and client history with your company. In other words, which companies bring in the most revenue? Also consider which clients have provided referrals to your company in the past. What’s the best approach to account segmentation?

Account 185

Account Lead Rank Lead Scoring Decision Maker 185

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 1, 2020

I checked LinkedIn to see if she was still at the same company. People don’t understand precepts and are not engaged by big ideas—unless leaders translate vision into sales strategy and explain what it means for every function in the company. I trusted that she would follow up. I called and left a message. No response.

Follow-up 344

Follow-up Referrals Up-Sell Cold Calling 344

No More Cold Calling

FEBRUARY 23, 2017

Last time the stock market was on the rise, companies hired at an unparalleled pace. What companies needed were expert salespeople. Actually, that’s what companies always need.). What companies needed were expert salespeople. Actually, that’s what companies always need.). Phones rang off the hook.

Hiring 229

Hiring Cold Calling Referrals Twitter 229

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Many companies survived and others thrived during the pandemic, but they forgot to enable their sellers to build relationships via video. Sadly, it hasn’t happened in most companies. My company took off quickly—almost too quickly. Our new way of building relationships was Zoom. (It It even became a verb.)

Referrals 194

Referrals Small Business Small Business Cold Calling 194

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 24, 2017

There are a lot of places to examine (and blame) if your company isn’t consistently achieving sales goals. The real irony of this scenario is that CEOs are always looking for ways to make sure their companies are relevant. Companies often accept this statistic by saying, “It’s hard to find good salespeople.”. By Colleen Stanley.

Hiring 214

Hiring Account SalesForce Quota 214

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 31, 2019

That’s exactly what the CMO of a tech company said about how to explain your mission statement. Nearly 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented rigorous initiatives to hire more women, according to PwC. We know the wage gap between women and men continues to exist and that companies with women leaders perform better.

Referrals 240

Referrals Hiring Decision Maker Cold Calling 240

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 4, 2018

The more power the technology has, the more people or companies need us (good sales people ) to connect and to do what has to be done! Your referral training has forever shaped much of what our company teaches today. Never forget that we ultimately do business with people, not with companies. Wonderful call this a.m.

Referrals 287

Referrals Social Media Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead 287