No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2021

Reasons Why Salespeople Fail to Close Sales. They didn’t plan agendas, do their research, or even check the clients’ LinkedIn profiles to identify shared interests, connections, and similarities. Other reasons why salespeople fail to close sales include: The initial prospects were unqualified. Would you buy from them?

Closing 409

Closing Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring 409

Sales 2.0

MARCH 6, 2024

This uptick in the need for AEs to self-source deals has likely been driven by economics, the need to “do more with less”, but is I trend that may continue as AI tools free up AEs from admin tasks. There is always more you can do to bring in more $’s, so figuring out which activities to actually do now is all important.

Lead Rank 195

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Leads Marketing Qualified Lead 195

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 11, 2024

If this is true, why do we see year after year of declining performance and results? For example, we see percent of people achieving goals declining—today roughly 40% of sellers are achieving or exceeding quota? To most of us, it’s unimaginable, but why do we see this persist YoY, even continuing to decline?

Scale 109

Scale Maximizer Quota Revenue 109

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 15, 2021

Problem is, buyers don’t actually buy software. They buy what software does for them—how it saves time, decreases costs, engages customers, tracks referrals, etc. How do you ensure that your sales team gets in the door before your competitors? Some people engender trust immediately. Have We Met? Most don’t.

Lead Gen 397

Lead Gen Sales Qualified Lead Leads Marketing Qualified Lead 397

Mr. Inside Sales

JANUARY 14, 2023

Let’s first look at how most sales reps go about doing it. Some reps can (and do!) What’s wrong with these people?” As soon as I give a top rep the pencil, they pause, and then they begin asking me questions: “So how often do you use pencils?”. How many do you go through in a month?”. Quite a difference, isn’t it?

Face-to-face 254

Face-to-face Gatekeeper How To Sales Qualified Lead 254

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 7, 2023

How asking for referrals will drive your revenue in 2024 How many people should you ask for referrals to get five new clients? In my experience, at least half the people you ask for referrals will introduce you to your ideal prospect. 10 people can’t think of anyone (Unlikely, but I said I’d be conservative.) But they do scale.

Referrals 194

Referrals Scale Decision Maker Sales Qualified Lead 194

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Sadly, too much of this is from smart people who should know better. The net of his broetry said, “Average leadership tenures are 17 months… To protect yourself get a side gig… Do consulting on the outside… Maybe over time move into consulting and fractional roles… ” There is so much flawed logic in this.

Buying Cycle 113

Buying Cycle Outbound Data Channels 113

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 18, 2024

Customers asking us about the product capabilities, drilling deeply into what the products and solutions do. When we look at the data on No Decision Made and Buyer Regret, we know how much our customers struggle with complex B2B change and buying initiatives. They don’t know how to buy. Have they done their homework?

Customer 119

Customer Revelation Buying Cycle Lead Rank 119

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 20, 2024

How do I handle objections… ?” Why don’t these people already know this?” We should know they key people we should be talking to, their typical challenges, their typical responsibilities, how they are measured. Again, the question is, “Why don’t our people know these things?”

Ideal Customer Profile 114

Ideal Customer Profile Revelation Decision Maker Face-to-face 114

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 25, 2024

We know buying cycles are getting longer. And then there is always VUCA, a great yet abstract excuse around why things are getting more difficult. And then there is always VUCA, a great yet abstract excuse around why things are getting more difficult. How are sellers contributing to the longer buying and sales cycles?

Customer 100

Customer Buying Cycle Buyer Sales Cycle 100

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

I don’t think many salespeople are pleased that there are more people than ever involved in any given B2B buying decision. It’s time to deal with it; it’s time to learn from buyers, why are there more players? Focus your view and actions, look at how they make decisions, not only how they buy, the two are different.

Decision Maker 266

Decision Maker Buyer Lead Rank Groups 266

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

One of my favorite things to do on Friday mornings is to listen to Matt Heinz and Brent Adamson’s “Coffee with Brent/Matt.” Business and commerce exist because and for people! It’s all about people seeking to achieve, seeking to satisfy the wants, needs, dreams of each other. Why would they care?

Study 107

Study Exercises Groups Tools 107

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 8, 2024

” While all of us are fairly high energy people, Shari brought an energy level and passion beyond all of us–causing us to raise the level of our discussion. I had no idea in the 80s that I would make great money in sales and eventually teach tens of thousands of people to do the same.

Energy 118

Energy Face-to-face Up-Sell Education 118

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Ever since I started selling–you know back in the old days when phones were still attached to cords–I’ve been taught, “Buyers have a structured buying process.” ” I’d see all sorts of block diagrams, showing how the buying process always, coincidentally, aligned with the customer buying process.

Buyer 120

Buyer Face-to-face B2B Up-Sell 120

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 25, 2024

I’m afraid too many people will latch onto that concept and miss the real point of this post which is the revenue/growth potential we lose. The majority of our sales engagement strategies involve us in only the very latest stages of our customers’ buying journeys. With that as forewarning, let me dive into this.

Competition 107

Competition Customer Buying Cycle Vendor 107

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 4, 2023

I think, “Why do we revel in achieving our quotas and scaling goals, when we could be doing so much more?” ” If we achieve our growth/revenue goals, we think we are doing well. Too often, however, we could/should be doing much better. Why don’t we demand win rates of at least 40%?

Opportunity 109

Opportunity Scale Revelation Quota 109

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 22, 2024

Why Do I love Selling? While some people wake up in the morning and think “who am I going to sell to today?”, I still want to buy stuff for me. I used to tell people I would hold the bucket for the blood and then pour it back into the sellers at the beginning of the next quarter. And that is why I love selling.

Hiring 73

Hiring Quota Up-Sell Engineering 73

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 26, 2024

It’s a solution that addresses the way buying is changing, integrating digital and personal selling. But what really interested me were Bill’s perspectives on where buying and selling is headed and how we must change our engagement strategies to work with buyers more impactfully.

Hiring 95

Hiring Lead Rank B2C Conference 95

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 12, 2024

I want to accomplish a lot, but I want to do it with minimal effort. As I look at selling, today, it requires far too much effort—far more than I’m willing to do. After all, we have to send 1000s of emails a day, we have to make 100s of calls, we have to spend hours doing outreach in LinkedIn and other channels.

Face-to-face 107

Face-to-face Commission Up-Sell Discount 107

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 7, 2024

Over the years Dave and I have shared multiple emails and conversations where we have discussed, among other things the state of marketing and selling, so when he asked me if I would be interested in sharing my thoughts on why I am interested in selling I could not say no. I do believe that in many ways I am in a rare position.

Up-Sell 108

Up-Sell Intent Call-back Positioning 108

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 18, 2021

Probably one of the weakest areas of buying and selling I see is “qualifying.” ” As sales people, there are dozens of acronyms, if any are applied, you have a “qualified deal.” These can be helpful if applied, but too often, sales people don’t apply them in a disciplined fashion.

Ideal Customer Profile 165

Ideal Customer Profile Outsourcing Services Customer Enterprise 165

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 4, 2023

Yet, virtually everything we see people doing is product focused. Some would say, “Dave, we’re hitting our goals, we’re scaling, why change?” So why change? However, many segments are having increasing difficulty doing this. However, many segments are having increasing difficulty doing this.

Customer 105

Customer Scale Buying Cycle Discount 105

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 15, 2024

The key opportunity we sellers face is our customers posing a question to themselves, “Should we do things differently?” The customer recognizes these, asking themselves, “Should we do things differently?” They are so busy doing their day jobs they don’t take time to look around.

Face-to-face 100

Face-to-face Competition Opportunity Customer 100

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 29, 2024

For those committed to a change, the focus will be on defining the problem, learning about it and it’s impact on the company, learning what others are doing, identifying the people that need to be involved in deciding what to do about the problem. ” Why do we refuse to change?

Face-to-face 78

Face-to-face Sales Cycle Quota Loyalty 78

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 31, 2024

Summarized, at any point in time, as we look at B2B companies (To help us understand it, let’s imagine the total market size is 1000 companies): At any point in time, 3-4% of companies in an industry are actively engaged in a buying effort. That’s roughly 40 companies actively engaged in buying. That’s 500 companies.

Opportunity 110

Opportunity Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Analysis 110

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 19, 2023

We train our people, endlessly, about all the capabilities of our products and their superiority over the competition. If the value of our offerings is virtually undifferentiated, how do we create a unique value? It’s how we make customers feel about what they are doing. We aren’t helping them succeed.

Face-to-face 117

Face-to-face Report ROI Research 117

Alice Heiman

JANUARY 24, 2023

Whether they are near the beginning or the end of their journey it’s always interesting to learn why they started and how they grew sales. Just doing more of the same doesn’t cut it. You need to understand what your customer wants, how they want to buy and meet them where they are. 07:17] Creating a conversation. [08:16]

Cold Calling 128

Cold Calling Guarantee Networking Lead Generation 128

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 5, 2024

How I got into selling — Martin Mackay Actually, I graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Modern Languages and considered that the last thing I wanted to do was go into Sales! In Sales, of course, you have to get people both to buy into the long term vision of the company and deliver quarterly results.

PeopleSoft 105

PeopleSoft Software Software Course 105

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

“Why does your lock screen look so different, can I do that?” Ideally a simple upgrade and not needing to buy a new device.) ” More people are involved in the buying process. We have hybrid work environments, many WFH, others involved in buying are scattered around the world.

Face-to-face 92

Face-to-face System Tools Up-Sell 92

Partners in Excellence

JULY 21, 2023

I, and so many others, write constantly about how buying is changing and how sellers (sales and marketing) must change to respond to these changes. Do we leverage thought leaders and influencers? Do we personalize or not? Yet we seem to be using AI to do more of the same, at greater volumes and velocity. Is in webcasts?

Customer 75

Customer Prospecting Revelation Trade Show 75

Anne Miller

MARCH 13, 2024

How do you stand out? Most people totally ignore the use of imagery…the process of creating images with words. That’s why using literary devices like metaphors, analogies and similes is so powerful. What do you do? There were 60 attendees. And at networking events, that is a big missed opportunity.

Lead Rank 118

Lead Rank Networking Face-to-face Follow-up 118

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 26, 2023

No, I’m not channeling my inner Simon Sinek, but “Why” initiates very powerful diagnostic processes. Buyers are spending less time with sellers, now somewhere around 17% of the time they invest in their buying process. Buyers are deferring rep involvement to as late in their buying process as possible.

Channels 93

Channels Face-to-face Buyer Outbound 93

Partners in Excellence

MAY 30, 2023

The world has changed, but we are still doing the stuff we’ve always done–at least in selling. We may have “invented” a customer buying process that aligns with our desired process–Defining Problems, Identifying Alternatives, Identifying Needs, Assessing Alternatives, Choosing A Vendor.

Face-to-face 104

Face-to-face Proposal Hiring Quota 104

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 22, 2024

We are always trying to get others to buy into our ideas or strategies, to do things that are important to achieving our goals, to change and move forward. When I first met Maddy, I was immediately struck by her ability to engage people in meaningful ways. She has an ability to listen deeply. I am forever grateful!

Film 73

Film Advertising Advertising Media 73

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 26, 2023

And regardless what we do, we never will. Since they had “word processing technology,” I could have one letter that would apply to a number of people. I’d call a few days after I sent them, people actually picked up their phones, and we’d have a conversation. Time is a problem. We never have enough.

Retention 126

Retention Maximizer Buying Cycle Social Media 126

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Endless forecast and pipeline discussions–usually between managers and not with people. We see them leading team meetings, but usually these are fairly one way discussions, “You aren’t hitting the numbers, you need to do more!” And every once in a while, they see a customer with their sales people.

Coaching 104

Coaching Lead Rank Pipeline Data 104

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 11, 2023

“We do not learn from experience, We learn from reflecting on experience.” Rather than reflect on what’s happening (or not happening), in our rush to move forward, we simply do more of the same. We see customers prefer rep-free buying experiences. We know our people want to feel valued, heard, included.

Coaching 90

Coaching Quota Groups Data 90