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Social selling. It’s not just an industry buzzword. It’s a legitimate technique that salespeople should use to build and maintain relationships within a social network that a salesperson and their customers already trust.
Shaye Smith, on February 28, 2018
Social selling. It’s not just an industry buzzword. It’s a legitimate technique that salespeople should use to build and maintain relationships within a social network that a salesperson and their customers already trust.
Shaye Smith, on February 27, 2018
I’ve heard many people say that selling is more of an art rather than a science, but what if science could increase the effectiveness and efficiency of that art? Today, we have access to a mass amount of technology and tools that not only enable us to get more done in a shorter amount of time, but that also allow us to be more competitive and just all around better at the tasks we have to tackle daily.
There are many different sales technology, software, and gadgets available to us, but here are a few tools we consider ‘must-haves’ for the top salespeople.
Kurt Sima, on February 26, 2018
Sales managers in the media space are faced with the challenge of hiring sellers who sell integrated solutions. No longer is hiring a one trick pony—a master negotiator who secures large shares of available opportunities—the recruitment and selection gold standard. Hiring great negotiators who can also develop business by selling integrated solutions is now standard operating procedure.
Shaye Smith, on February 23, 2018
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
John Henley, on February 21, 2018
I was driving around downtown Tampa recently during a convention and found many roads blocked off as I was trying to get to my destination. I know downtown Tampa pretty well, and knew exactly where I wanted to get, which made it even more frustrating that I couldn't get to where I wanted to go. I was tempted to get out of my car and remove the roadblocks. I didn't, and ended up going in circles, not making the best use of my time.
Mindy Murphy, on February 19, 2018
Superstar salespeople have a unique combination of talents that lead to excellence, and this combination of talents is very rare. It can be tough to find the people with all of the right "stuff" who have the potential for greatness.
Shaye Smith, on February 16, 2018
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
Kurt Sima, on February 15, 2018
A client of mine recently told me about the departure of seven salespeople from his organization. All seven of the sellers had been hired in the last year — all seven departed before their one-year anniversary. One other thing related to the departed seven; they were all millennials!
My client immediately came to the conclusion that there is something different about millennials that caused them to leave his organization. My client was partially correct and partially incorrect.
Below are five reasons millennials quit sales jobs:
Deborah Fulghum, on February 13, 2018
As a sales manager, do you expect your sellers to conduct a Client Needs Analysis routinely with their clients? I’m sure you do. Because you know that customer needs change all the time. What a client focuses on this quarter may vary in the next. The only way to know their goals is to ask regularly.
That same focus on uncovering needs and goals applies to those you manage as well, as it leads to greater loyalty and retainment of your staff. How often do you take time to ask each person on your team what they want in their job, what they need from you, from the company? Wouldn’t it be nice to know these things so that you can engage, develop, and retain them?
Matt Sunshine, on February 13, 2018
As a successful salesperson, you’ve probably spent years perfecting your strategy. But picture this: You’re going on three discovery calls a day, and suddenly there’s no follow-up, no next step, and no sale.
Beth Sunshine, on February 12, 2018
Shaye Smith, on February 9, 2018
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
Dani Buckley, on February 8, 2018
I have a confession to make… I absolutely hated cold calling. It’s been a few years since I was in outside sales, but I still have flashbacks to some of my worst cold calling experiences. You know the ones where you’re treated like a complete nuisance, talked down to, or hung up on.
Necessary Evil
Like most salespeople, cold calling for me was a necessary evil. It was evil because of those nightmare experiences, though pretty rare, but it was necessary because sometimes cold calling actually worked – especially if you did it often enough. Some of my best clients started with a cold call, or 10. While it was a numbers game, I found that the better I got at identifying the potential of a prospect and utilizing valid business reasons, the more success I would have.
However, despite the “wins” that occurred on occasion – I spent a lot of my precious time cold calling, and if you’re in media sales or many other B2B sales industries then you probably do too. The downside to that was the fact that I wasn’t great at cold calling, I was great at selling. I was great at identifying needs, creating customized solutions, developing integrated marketing campaigns, and building relationships – yet I had to spend at least a quarter of my time doing the former.
John Henley, on February 7, 2018
I wonder if we could all treat people better if we replaced human resources with a department focused on human flourishing (HF). People are certainly more human than they are resources, but I wonder if there is a better way to think of them than merely resources. One of the dictionary definitions of flourish is "to thrive or grow luxuriantly." Pretty cool way to think of your people.
Trey Morris, on February 6, 2018
As an Account Executive, we hated when it happened.
As a Sales Manager, we might have done it a few times... ok... we probably did it a lot.
We turned an email into a sales meeting (or for us older guys... a memo).
John Henley, on February 5, 2018
It’s February. We’re well into the New Year, and your resolutions may have already fizzled out like most people. With a new year (or a new month), comes a time for new thinking and new habits. I suggest you start with a "not to do list." You might have one thing on it or a few, but the best way to make a meaningful change this year is to determine what you won't do and to make room for what you will do.
Shaye Smith, on February 2, 2018
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
A lot has changed in the sales industry over the last year. Salespeople, processes, systems, compensation, and strategies have contributed to and changed the way we sell. Here are specific discoveries from thousands of data points about how the world of sales has changed.
Jim Hopes, on February 1, 2018
I think we’d all agree that long-term relationships are gold in the business arena, and long-term relationships begin with the very first interaction that delights a customer and are fed by every other interaction subsequently.
