Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter.
I celebrated a milestone this month. It’s been 27 years since I founded No More Cold Calling. For nearly three decades, my sole focus has been helping growing companies leverage referrals to drive revenue. Is it working? I’m still not satisfied with the results.
Sales teams continue to face more and more pressure to ramp up. Where can they get revenue now? The irony is that every company has an under-utilized, higher-value revenue stream that can generate significant qualified opportunities in both good times and bad. Your most neglected sales channel is your existing client base.
Everyone agrees that referrals are the best source of new business. Referrals have an average conversion rate of more than 50 percent (most say it’s closer to 70 percent) and an increased ratio of qualified opportunities. Yet, no company has asked every single one of their clients for referrals. They should be asking everyone they’ve met during the buying process—that’s how referrals scale. But almost no one does. What a waste!
2023 is halfway over. Isn’t it time you considered a prospecting approach that delivers double-digit results and eliminates your competition?
If your answer is yes, let’s chat. Schedule 30 minutes on my calendar, and we’ll discuss how you can get referrals at scale. In the meantime, here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter.
Maximizing Referrals: Strategies for Turning Your Network Into a Powerful Revenue Generator
It’s interesting how you meet people, and when you sell by referral, you meet a lot of interesting people. In the summer of 2015, I got an urgent call from Barry, a colleague who was working with Dr. Stephen Timme and Finlistics on their sales strategy. Barry said: “They were just about to hire someone to cold call. I told them they needed to talk to Joanne Black immediately.” I got on a call with the VP of sales for Finlistics before the end of that day, and thus began a successful, several-year working relationship. It was also the start of Finlistics’s relationship with referral selling. Now, we’ve created a webinar about the science (and art) of referral selling. (Read “Maximizing Referrals: Strategies for Turning Your Network Into a Powerful Revenue Generator.”
Your B2B Lead Generation Sucks … 5 Reasons Why
Are you looking for your B2B sales leads in all the wrong places? Is your sales team searching too many faces, looking for traces of prospects, instead of narrowing the search to recruit only your ideal clients? I bet they are, and in doing so, they’re clogging up your pipeline with cold leads and ignoring their best source of new business—your current customers. New business is harder and harder to come by. During these uncertain times, there are fewer opportunities and more competition going after the same exact business. How do most companies ramp up their B2B lead generation strategies? They reply to every RFP and win few, if any. They correlate activity with results. Not an encouraging scenario. There’s a better way, but it takes guts and conviction from every sales leader. (Read “Your B2B Lead Generation Sucks … 5 Reasons Why.”)
Truth Bomb: Salespeople All Look Alike to B2B Buyers
How do B2B buyers tell one internet security company from another? One IT provider from another? One marketing platform or sales enablement app? One insurance broker, attorney, banker, or consultant? Often you can’t tell them apart, because sellers have similar offerings and the same party line about what they do. There’s nothing unique and certainly no reason for B2B buyers to spend time hearing their pitches. The problem is, there’s too much competition and not enough competitive differentiation. B2B sellers are working on tight budgets, so they’re only signing deals with salespeople they trust to deliver ROI. Salespeople who stand out and earn their trust. (Read “Truth Bomb: Salespeople All Look Alike to B2B Buyers.”)
Building Bridges: How to Make a Difference in a Crazy World
I’m so conflicted, often scared. What’s this world coming to? I’m not a pessimist and try to look at the bright side, but there’s so much violence and hate. It’s enough to make even optimists wonder if the glass is half empty after all. I’ve been at a loss for how to make a difference. How can one person help to better our society? Finally, there’s an answer from a woman you probably know: Jill Konrath. Jill is my long-time colleague and friend. She’s been a powerhouse in the sales space. But she has given that all up, because she felt compelled to find a place for herself and for us, the “millions in the middle” searching for opportunities to improve the lives of others and make the world a better place for future generations. Here’s how we all can help. (Read “Building Bridges: How to Make a Difference in a Crazy World.”)
How to Solve Your Sales Problems Before They Start
It was a weekly meeting of sales team leaders. Our goal was to identify urgent problems and decide how to fix them. We all had different points of view about lead generation, and conversations often got heated. Everyone was concerned with how the proposed solutions would impact themselves and their teams. No one was really happy with the “fix.” I thought back on those meetings when I read Frank M. Campbell’s post: “An Ounce of Prevention.” Today he is the founder of Stratus Financial Partners, but he learned some early lessons about the value of preventive measures during his time working on a submarine. Now he’s sharing his strategies for how to solve problems before they happen. (Read “How to Solve Your Sales Problems Before They Start.”)
