The Pipeline

JULY 16, 2012

The specific comment was that the rep was reluctant to ask prospects/clients for referrals “because what if the person or company they refer are out of my territory?” Giving a reasonable reward to fellow sellers will encourage them not only to refer opportunities to you, but to pay you for referrals you may generate for them.

Referrals 324

Referrals Lead Rank Lead Scoring Territories 324

The Pipeline

JUNE 28, 2013

If you do improvise and it does not work, I refer to the small print, which basically states that we stand by our method, good luck with yours. Try it the way it is presented, no variation, no improvisation. If you do improvise, and it works for you, great, share what you did, we can all learn. What’s in Your Pipeline? Tibor Shanto.

Video 282

Video Demand Generation Demand Generation Targets Intent 282

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Assuming you had actually, and in fact, done business with Coca Cola, and you were pursuing PepsiCo for your conveyor system, it may sound like: “George, this is Tibor Shanto, with ZYX Faster Mover; The best number for you to call me back on is 111-222-3344; And George, when you call, please reference Coke!”. I did warn you.

Call-back 262

Call-back Objections ACT Prospecting 262

The Pipeline

APRIL 11, 2012

Sales like other groups have certain common words, reference points and symbols. They use them to communicate facts and concepts both to the tribe and to their buyers. The challenge is that often these words or symbols are often quiet subjective and open to broad interpretation, unless the seller defines the term.

Objections 248

Objections Buyer Groups Pipeline 248

The Pipeline

MARCH 9, 2012

People in the same neighbourhood will see and refer the same thing in different ways. And it’s not just the big and obvious things but the little things that can quickly have your prospect reaching for the mental off switch. It is an exercise in sales multi-culturalism. While in the C suit they’ll speak of shareholder value.

Buyer 234

Buyer Face-to-face Promotion Exercises 234

The Pipeline

JULY 24, 2014

Typically, both an existing customer and their refer-ee are rewarded for giving your company business. Studies have shown that people who become customers through referrals go on to be more loyal and profitable than customers that are acquired through other sales channels. There are really very few downsides to referral marketing.

Referrals 282

Referrals Advertising Advertising Channels 282

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 5, 2017

Above I referred to these rituals as an “event”, when they need to be ongoing process, reviewing the specific actions of the buyer, and planning and taking the next appropriate steps; do that and your pipeline and the opportunities in them, will fare better than if you’re just performing a CYA routine.

Pipeline 281

Pipeline Lead Rank Groups Opportunity 281

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 1, 2019

I find it funny that despite all the noise around Return On Investment, most still refer to price or cost rather than investment. Investments people see as something that will yield returns, cost, on the other hand, these are called sunk for a reason.

Objections 291

Objections Sports Up-Sell Buyer 291

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

I was taught early that we need to call things what they are, and if I referred to someone or an opportunity as “Prospect”, it clearly stated that the “Prospect” was fully engaged, and if they were fully engaged, my manager should be able to see a clear Next Step relating to the opportunity in CRM.

Prospecting 274

Prospecting Forecasting Call-back Pipeline 274

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 30, 2018

The above refers to the fact that in the end, it is entirely down to you. In another piece a couple of weeks later, I suggested that if half your team is not producing, you should fire that half , today you’ll find a few things you can do to be part of the group that stays and thrives. Good News Bad News.

Conference 242

Conference Channels Up-Sell Study 242

The Pipeline

APRIL 14, 2014

As discussed here before, sales people fall into one of two groups, what I’ve referred to as the X Factor of sales, execution, or excuses. Sales people are no different than others, if you don’t like the message, you shoot the messenger, and if the messenger is wearing Kevlar, try to undermine the numbers in question.

Margin 312

Margin Trade Show Follow-up Lead Management 312

The Pipeline

MARCH 17, 2014

Process here refers to a set of necessary and common-sense activities required to move the sale to close, executed in a logical and sequential stages, not something overly complex just for the sake of being complex, or more expensive.

ACT 310

ACT Intent Objections Account 310

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 30, 2017

I had a call last week from an enthusiastic rep, eager to introduce me to his company’s new and “disruptive” technology that will “change the way I present to prospects and buyers” Hmm, disruptive, here is the definition I go with: “Disruptive innovation is a term in the field of business administration which refers to an innovation that creates (..)

Sales Qualified Lead 258

Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring Leads 258

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 4, 2020

Much of it on the back of their CRM, colloquially referred to as the Stack. While we all may agree on the why, there is a question about the what and the how. Simply stated, much of the growth in bodies in the Sales community, has been fuelled by the growth in apps. You need more bodies competing for the same slice of the budget.

Revenue 370

Revenue Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank 370

The Pipeline

JANUARY 13, 2014

Not only do you find people dropping euphemisms when referring to the activity, companies popping up all over the place to perform a service many are needing but forgot how to execute. The only thing I can’t remember if it was 1987, 1993 or 2007 when I actually first bought it. Well it seems that cold calling is coming back into fashion.

Cold Calling 312

Cold Calling Webinar Metrics Fashion Social Selling 312

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 15, 2019

If I can influence how a prospect responds to those events; help a prospect make sense of things happening in their world, without referring to and unrelated to my product; educate them without stated expectations of reciprocation. I will be the one that prospect turns to when he grows into a buyer. This involves time and a team approach.

Prospecting 212

Prospecting Influencer Buyer Education 212

The Pipeline

JUNE 20, 2016

There is no doubt that the pattern for a long time has been to start off a sales career prospecting, because unless you adopt a territory, there is no other way to build a base, (even if you’re good at referrals, you need someone to refer you). And eventually stop prospecting, or do a token amount.

Hiring 198

Hiring Referrals Territories Prospecting 198

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Another is when you “know” they need your product, or “know” they are looking, hey after all you were referred to them, yet they insist that they are “all set”. Sure I can tell myself they lied, or I can ask myself how I could have discovered it earlier, and moved to engage the right people.

Buyer 275

Buyer Face-to-face Intent Prospecting 275

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

A real salesperson will be able to engage with all three types of opportunities in the buyers’ language and reference points. As long as salespeople and organizations continue to talk about irrelevant things in a foreign language. All Not Some. Most sellers take a binary view, the party they are speaking to is either a buyer or not.

Travel 213

Travel B2B Call-back Sales Qualified Lead 213

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Enterprise software sales usually involves a multi-stage process in itself, with several phases including RFP, demonstrations, references, review meetings, which together can take months. It can be a long process, but none tend to be as long a process as software sales.

Telecommunications 312

Telecommunications Real Estate ROI Enterprise 312

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

New customers that are referred by someone in your Social Channel are Valuable. Brand advocates do this for a brand because they trust the brand and they want do it. Therefore, the time and cost invested into this channel is significantly less than other channels.

Channels 296

Channels Influencer Lead Rank Referrals 296

The Pipeline

MAY 23, 2014

This is a book belongs in every sales library, not only to expand on many of the things already there, but to use as a reference when faced with new challenges and unfamiliar situations. The stories are humorous, helping the reader visualize they can apply these important principles in their everyday selling. What’s in Your Pipeline?

Face-to-face 244

Face-to-face Call-back Territories Negotiation 244

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

Copiers as an example, you may refer to document management at one end, and sell copiers to the other end. In the process of prospecting a small business, you bring up a recognizable Fortune 50 company as a point of reference.

Pipeline 226

Pipeline Social Media Face-to-face Ideal Customer Profile 226

The Pipeline

APRIL 30, 2011

A friend of mine affectionately refers to Starbuck as Fivebucks, as he never seems to leave the place spending less than that, but hey it’s coffee, so I get it. I am a big coffee drinker, 5 to 8 cups a day is just a start, this no doubt encouraged by my tendency to view Starbucks outlets as my network of remote offices.

Pipeline 223

Pipeline Conference Webinar Metrics Cold Calling 223

The Pipeline

MAY 15, 2018

This is because real and sustainable change occurs incrementally; and while most will refer to it as evolution, things are changing nonetheless, just moving at its more usually slow indiscernible way. The changes which grab headlines are generally significant, unexpected, and because it sells, disastrous.

Education 222

Education Buyer Buying Cycle Objections 222

The Pipeline

JUNE 23, 2016

The goal is to get them to look past their current positions pain or perhaps problem, and refocus the on their success plan, hence the grand slam reference. You’ll find that there is a moment of reflection, a couple of basic things, and then it gets interesting when they start detailing what their equivalent of a grand slam is.

Objections 202

Objections Buyer Energy Positioning 202

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 19, 2013

Size of Sale – Refers to the specific size of the order, specifically in two forms. While the framework for the fundamentals are process and quality of execution, the key fundamentals that we need to continuous focus on regardless of methodology or approach are: Size of Sale (or order). Volume of Sales. Price integrity.

Scale 296

Scale Fashion Margin Sales Cycle 296

The Pipeline

JUNE 7, 2013

Once we did that, we had 10,000 connections, including happy clients, to act as references and help with introductions. We used to lean more on cold calls. But now we use a referral sales approach. The first step was to get everyone on LinkedIn. The culture shift has pushed us to the next level of growth.

Commission 314

Commission Compensation Decision Maker Face-to-face 314

The Pipeline

MAY 30, 2016

I don’t take that comment so literally, I think it refers to a scenario we all have seen, where there is an opportunity to move the process forward, or everything is in place, and rather than moving to implementation, both the seller and the buyer allow for creep, creating an ongoing cycle, rather than to the objectives set out at the start.

Lead Rank 120

Lead Rank Vendor Groups Objections 120

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 28, 2015

This means your message will be better understood if you use visual references and use visual examples. For instance, if they say “here is the way I see it”, vs. “It sounds to me like”, it is better speak to the first in visual terms.

Hiring 120

Hiring Cold Calling Quota Conference 120

The Pipeline

APRIL 29, 2011

Of course, activity is still important, but what really matters is that you feed the right people into the funnel in the first place and nurture those prospects who have been referred to you. When you’re referred, you get a new client more than 50 percent of the time. Then hasten their passage through the sales funnel.

Lead Generation 257

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Lead Top of Funnel Pipeline 257

The Pipeline

JANUARY 14, 2020

In a previous life, I used to be a cab driver; as a result, I still use a lot of driving references. By Tibor Shanto. People who work with me know I believe in leaving your product in the car, makes for a better conversation.

Lead Rank 250

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Buyer Objections 250

The Pipeline

MARCH 12, 2012

One did ask a few questions, but once I politely explained my lack of interest and why, she understood, gave me a post card of the product for reference. The first couple of shpritzers I encountered, were nice enough to ask, and promptly backed off once I declined.

Prospecting 215

Prospecting Face-to-face ACT B2B 215

The Pipeline

JULY 20, 2015

Sadly, many of the people that sellers refer to as gatekeepers, can actually be helpful in moving your agenda forward. As with most things it needs to be brought to their attention, and then the hard part, putting it into practice instead of going back to the same old, same old. Right out of the gate, us vs. them.

Gatekeeper 120

Gatekeeper Decision Maker Up-Sell Objections 120

The Pipeline

JULY 6, 2012

These same organizations do not have a formal process for prospecting, especially prospecting the vast majority of the market, those we refer to as the status quo. This allows them to cope with challenges along the way, and more importantly put wins and losses in context.

Prospecting 227

Prospecting Sales Qualified Lead Cold Calling Objections 227

The Pipeline

AUGUST 16, 2011

A couple of months ago in the Pipeline, I published a piece called Long Live The Status Quo , which challenged the way most people look at buyers commonly referred to as being in Status Quo Zone.

Pipeline 267

Pipeline Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Lead 267

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 29, 2015

Many business phone systems now have the option of setting up what is often referred to as an “automated attendant” or “automated assistant.” By setting up in-depth call rules, you can ensure that your sales’ calls do not inadvertently fall through the cracks. Get a Phone System that Has an Automatic Call Routing Attendant.

Ideal Customer Profile 120

Ideal Customer Profile Small Business Small Business Follow-up 120