Sales and Marketing Management

DECEMBER 16, 2019

Author: John DiJulius The vast majority of business leaders will agree that customer service is critical to their success. However, most haven’t done what it takes to be a world-class customer service organization. . A recent study by the Relational Capital Group revealed that 89% of senior leaders believe that relationships are the most important factor in their success year over year.

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Company Customer Insurance Insurance 423

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Repeat After Me: I Will Not Cold Call. I want to scream every time I read articles about cold calling—the ones where “expert” cold callers explain how to capture a prospect’s attention in 10 seconds, craft a message to reach the decision-maker, navigate through gatekeepers, overcome sales resistance, create voicemail messages that will actually get your calls returned, and build a sales pipeline that can’t be beat.

Cold Calling 365

Cold Calling Social Media Telemarketing Referrals 365

Steven Rosen

JUNE 20, 2019

Coaching the Coaches The question of the day is, who’s coaching the coaches on coaching? The reality is, there is no one coaching the coaches. That’s right. Second line sales managers (SLM) don’t coach their FLMs on their coaching. The reality is, they have one-on-ones, but their meetings tend to focus on business issues, follow up items and people issues.

Coaching 334

Coaching Hiring Sales Coaching Social Media 334

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

By Tibor Shanto. Some of you Boomers will remember the “Is it live – or Memorex” commercial, you Millies can see it here. The goal was to deliver an experience so real; the listener can’t tell if they hear something live or recorded. That desire to provide “an in-room experience” took hold and was further propagated by people who sold us voicemail. Hasn’t turned out to be the boon for sellers as promised.

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Call-back Forecasting Face-to-face Buyer 319

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Sales at Allego

Maximizing sales rep performance is no easy task. 📈 Traditional sales training methods focus heavily on the first few weeks in the sales role. Companies dedicate time, resources, and budget to onboarding new hires, only for them to forget what was learned in those first few weeks, lose motivation, and struggle to come to grips with their role.

Hiring

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 15, 2019

I was in the basement of our home looking for something when I saw it. It moved left to right, low, between the stored Christmas trees. I took another look and this time it moved right to left. Each time I moved, it moved. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't a critter but a shadow that I was casting. I saw something that simply wasn't there.

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Opportunity Closing Sales 324

Shari Levitin

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

As a sales strategist, I’ve spent the past 30 years studying how gratitude, optimism, and resilience shapes people’s lives. Research shows that feeling grateful has positive effects on our behavior making us more honest (I swear!), increasing our self-control, enhancing our performance at work, and our relationships. The post Is the “If Only Syndrome” Robbing You of Your Happiness?

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Study Research Positioning Sales 146

Membrain

DECEMBER 1, 2019

In a recent article for the CEB, Andrew Kent posed the question “Are your reps bartenders or personal trainers?” It’s a great question, a wonderful analogy, and a concept that deserves a broader exposure.

ACT 141

ACT Sales Sales Management 141

Hubspot Sales

MARCH 15, 2019

Anyone can start a business. Fill out a few forms. Get the necessary permits or licenses. Advertise in some way, shape, or form. Running a successful business, though, is an entirely different story. For example, in the United States roughly 9% of businesses both new and old close each year. On the flip side, only 8% are opened. We're losing more than we're gaining for the first time since those statistics have been tracked, and the crossover coincided with the recession of 2007-2009.

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Outsourcing Services Scale Lead Rank Lead Scoring 145

Sales Hacker Training

MAY 27, 2019

Wondering how other sales teams are working their magic? Sure, their processes and talent have something to do with their success, but so does their sales stack. So what’s going on behind the curtain? Yeah, we’ve been thinking about that too. Namely… What does the perfect sales stack look like? And is it possible to leverage technology for a better pipeline and bigger deals?

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Top of Funnel Scale Lead Rank Sales Qualified Lead 143

Speaker: Laura Noonan, Chief Revenue Officer at CallFinder + Angie Kronlage, Director of Program Success at Working Solutions + April Wiita, Vice President of Program Success at Working Solutions

Are you still manually reviewing calls? 🤔 It's time for a change! The traditional method of manual call monitoring is no longer cutting it in today's fast-paced call center environment. Industry experts Angie Kronlage and April Wiita from Working Solutions are here to explore the power of innovative automation to revolutionize outdated call review processes!

Call Monitoring

Grant Cardone

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

When you were around 30, what was the thing that you were most fearful of? Well, for me, I was working for a guy at that time and I knew it was a dead end. I’ve never said this before, but I actually went back to my treatment center that I went to when I was 25 and chilled out for two weeks. I quit the job. I had been on the road for 18 months and I thought I was burned out.

Real Estate 131

Real Estate Government Call-back Travel 131

Sales and Marketing Management

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Author: Kelly Bosetti Salespeople once played a significant role in educating buyers about their options and helping them come to a decision regarding a product or service, but times are changing. In many ways, the average customer now carries the sum of all human knowledge in their pocket on their smartphones. Because of this, it’s no surprise that the buyer’s journey has undergone a fundamental shift.

Education 330

Education Buyer Buyer Persona Social Media 330

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 19, 2019

No one really listens to sales pitching anyway. Are you focused on business storytelling? Or have you reverted to those old, tiresome sales pitches that go on and on about why you’re so great? Newsflash: Nobody wants to hear that. What do you remember about a speaker, a movie, a novel? Not the ads for those events or products. You remember the stories.

Sales Qualified Lead 349

Sales Qualified Lead Hiring Face-to-face Cold Calling 349

Igniting Sales Transformation

DECEMBER 1, 2019

As sales teams mount their final push to finish 2019 strong, someone in a sales enablement, marketing or sales support role is planning what has become status quo in sales. The annual sales kick off (SKO) meeting. As the term implies, a sales kick-off meeting is meant to be a sales reset. An opportunity to review what worked and what didn’t in the prior year while also creating the positive momentum needed to achieve sales goals for the year ahead.

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Meeting Decision Maker Revelation ACT 130

Speaker: David Nisbet, Everett Zufelt, and Michaela Weber

Once upon a time, in the vast realm of online commerce, there lived a humble checkout button overlooked by many. Yet, within its humble click lay the power to transform a mere visitor into a loyal customer. 🧐 💡 Getting checkout right can mark the difference between a successful sale and an abandoned cart, yet many businesses fail to make payments a part of their commerce strategy even when it has a direct impact on revenue.

Sales

SBI

JUNE 5, 2019

Transforming Sales: How Engaged Accounts Can be Known and Then Treated More Effectively. In this series, we ask Sales Tech Executives to describe how their solution can transform sales in a significant way. This week I interview John Steinert , Chief Marketing Officer of TechTarget. NANCY: WHAT ARE THE TOP AREAS OF FOCUS IN THE NEXT 12-24 MONTHS FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT WANT TO TRANSFORM THEIR SALES ORGANIZATIONS?

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Account Scale Ideal Customer Profile Intent Data 135

Anthony Iannarino

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Salespeople and sales organizations work very hard to differentiate themselves and their offerings as a way to create a competitive advantage. Many believe their company is the differentiation. Others think their solutions provide differentiation. Few would dare to describe their people as their competitive advantage, even when it is true. Even fewer would recognize caring as their competitive advantage and the superpower that it is in an age of commoditization and the conflation of everything t

Competition 133

Competition Call-back Guarantee Proposal 133

Women Sales Pros

APRIL 26, 2019

There are, of course, right ways and wrong ways to respond to buyer objections. This blog post doesn’t go into that. Instead, this post focuses on a fundamental first step that most sellers forget when responding to an objection. Unless you take this critical step, no response to the objection will really be adequate. You’ll lost valuable time and blow “hot air” no matter how eloquent and technically correct your response may be.

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Objections Buyer Vendor Examples 134

Nutshell

DECEMBER 5, 2019

There’s something special about attending a sales conference. Maybe it’s the electricity in the air as a highly anticipated keynote speaker fires up the crowd. Perhaps it’s the rush of meeting new and interesting people during networking sessions , or the opportunity to learn actionable tips during the breakout sessions that will help you level up your game.

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Conference Top of Funnel Networking Hotels 124

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

Longer sales cycles. Increasingly discerning buyers. More meetings. Intensifying competition. Economic uncertainty. Go-to-market teams of every size, in every industry, are grappling with these challenges firsthand. Thankfully, there’s an answer. We’ve developed an entirely new way for GTM leaders to identify and execute proven, data-driven strategies that drive revenue.

Sales Cycle

Membrain

NOVEMBER 24, 2019

If it isn’t obvious from my many posts using the Objective Management Group’s database, I love to mine facts on salespeople. I’m fortunate to have access to this large database and all the information it provides. And recently I’ve noticed a slight trend shift regarding how salespeople are motivated that needs to be shared.

Motivation 125

Motivation Trends Objections Research 125

Hubspot Sales

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

There are nearly 15 million salespeople working in the United States, and they spend weeks or even months training for success in their role. Given the different responsibilities, industries, and team structures salespeople encounter, it’s hard to recommend a one-size-fits-all approach to sales training. Your reps need to learn and retain all of the company-specific skills and knowledge in order to succeed in their jobs.

Hiring 144

Hiring Training Exercises Hubspot 144

Close.io

JANUARY 28, 2019

Dealing with sales objections is always difficult. But if you sell a product or solution that your clients could create for themselves, in-house, you face a unique objection: “We’re already doing this in-house. Why would we hire you to do it for us?”. Even the most experienced salespeople can have trouble with this one—you need to tread carefully to not come off as dismissive, confrontational, or out of touch.

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Objections Hiring Face-to-face Sales Qualified Lead 132

Grant Cardone

MARCH 21, 2019

I just turned 61 years old. Here’s what America looked like back in 1958 when I was born: The average cost of a new house: $12,750. Average monthly rent: $92. Average yearly wage: $4,600. The world population was 2.9 billion. NASA was created that year. American Express and the Hula Hoop were first introduced. Toyota made its first sales in the US. The first Trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service began with flights between New York and London.

ACT 134

ACT Exact Motivation Closing 134

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Sales

Gong.io

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

If doing a product demo FEELS easy and intuitive, watch out. Even if you have lots of product knowledge, doing a product demo persuasively is hard and counterintuitive. That’s right, COUNTERINTUITIVE. What do I mean? I mean that what feels right during a product demo usually causes failure. For example, it probably feels right and intuitive to do a “ramp up” product demo.

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ROI Face-to-face Lead Rank Buyer 132

No More Cold Calling

MAY 9, 2019

Get out of the weeds. How many balls can you keep in the air at one time? Some business leaders are better jugglers than others, but everyone has their breaking point—or, rather, their dropping point. Juggling priorities is a challenge for every business owner. You’re overwhelmed with business development and all the things you need to do to attract and retain customers.

Small Business 329

Small Business Small Business Face-to-face Social Media 329

BrainShark

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The winners are in for the 2019 SHARKIE Awards! This annual Brainshark awards program honors the best sales enablement success stories and content across our customer base over the past year.

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Sales Enablement Customer Sales 123

Alice Heiman

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

We appreciate our customers and we all know it is important to thank them. Yet, do we do it in the best way and at the best time? . Asking clients about their level of satisfaction and thanking them for their business should be part of our routine. I believe in thanking people throughout the year in different ways. This also gives me an opportunity to ask them for a referral. .

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Referrals Promotion Trade Show Discount 131

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Chorus.ai

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Sales team managers have a tough job, don’t they? They used to be great sales reps and hit quota repeatedly. Eventually there came a time when they had to take up a much bigger goal - build a team of quota crushers! Now they have 5 people to work with but are responsible for a 5x higher goals as well.

Sales Coaching 130

Sales Coaching Sales Management Coaching Quota 130

Women Sales Pros

MARCH 8, 2019

Today we give a tip of the hat to the top women B2B sales experts of Women Sales Pros. These experts do varying roles within the sales industry – Some are top keynote sales speakers Some are top sales workshop and sales breakout speakers Some are top sales authors Some are top consultants Some are top trainers Some are top coaches Some lead big organizations, some are solopreneurs.

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B2B Lead Rank Lead Scoring Inside Sales 134

Keith Rosen

JUNE 24, 2019

The best salespeople who exceed their sales goals have no need to sell. Instead, they attract sales to them. As you’ll see in this story, the power of questions, authentic, radical curiosity and care, and coaching your customers to succeed is their secret to becoming a sales champion. Adrian was responsible for managing the sales team for one of the largest sporting goods and boating distributors in his town.

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Hiring Coaching Quota Sports 130