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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Alina McComas

Alina McComas

Recent Posts by Alina McComas:

The Foundation of a Strong Campaign Recap

campaign recapCampaign recaps have become an expectation of doing business in the digital marketing era, but they often become a delivery report instead of reporting on the performance of a campaign. The goal of any recap should be to sell the results of that campaign in an effort to retain and grow the business. Over the years, I’ve seen some really good recaps, and I’ve seen some bad ones.

Topics: sales performance Sales customer service

How the Consumer Journey Can Help You Sell More Integrated Solutions

integrated solutionsMedia sellers today have more capabilities than ever to drive results for their clients. With all of the potential options, you would think that it has gotten easier to build a solution that will drive results, right? Nothing could be further from the truth! If anything, the sheer number of solutions has made it more challenging to determine when to use what when. And with all of those capabilities, their presentations have also become longer – many filled with a multitude of product one-sheets and then a laundry list of recommended products in the recommended solution.

That is a struggle that I hear from salespeople that I work with all over the country. It’s not just determining what should be in the solution, but how to present it in a truly integrated format where it is clear why all of the components are critical to a successful result.

Topics: selling digital advertising integrated media solution sales performance Sales sales process

How Measuring Success is Different in Digital

digital campaign analyticsMeasuring the results of an ad campaign or a marketing push is important. How else will you know if the effort was a success, and if the investment produced a profitable return? In the past, it was often tough to measure, causing uncertainty and frustration among both buyers and sellers.

In the digital age, I could argue that it’s gotten too easy to report campaign metrics.

Topics: digital marketing metrics

Which Is More Important—Product Training or Sales Training to Drive Digital Sales?

sales training to drive digital salesProduct-focused training and sales skill training - both are important to increase the knowledge and expertise of a sales team, but which is more important? Which has the larger impact? Before I answer that question, let me define the differences between the two to make sure that we are all on the same page.

Topics: Digital

Selling Digital Advertising: The Magic of the Digital Needs Analysis

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Over the past couple of weeks, I have had several account managers ask me questions surrounding a digital client needs analysis. Everyone wanted to know those three or four questions that would magically give them everything they needed to put together a fool-proof digital solution. The truth is: there are no magical questions.  

There is nothing special about a digital client needs analysis. When selling digital advertising, you need to learn about your prospect's business, their competition, and their primary business challenges.

Topics: Digital selling digital advertising

The New Word of Mouth

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Personal recommendations are a powerful thing. Good or bad, they have the power to persuade us in one direction or another. Think about it—when most of us have little to no knowledge about a particular company or product, we typically ask those whose opinions we trust: family, friends or coworkers. As we all become more and more connected, most of us have also begun to rely on digital reviews.

Topics: referrals Digital reputation management

Sales Manager Gut Check

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As a student of Florida State University in the 90’s, I fell in love with the sport of football. It has been great to see my alma mater be relevant again in the world of college football, but I have always been a fan of the sport—whether it is college, professional, or even just well-done football movies. One theme that flows through all football successes is strong leadership, talented players, and a vision/philosophy that every person must believe in, to be a part of the team. 

Topics: Sales

The Fastest Way to Lose a Sale

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Yes, it’s a strange question to be asked, but it led to a great conversation. I remember the workshop so clearly. Someone once asked me what I felt was the easiest way to lose a sale.

Topics: Digital

5 Tips to Building a Strong Social Media Strategy

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The average American social media user spends an average of 3.2 hours a day with social networks according to research by Ipsos. With that much time being spent on a social network, businesses who have not developed a social media plan as a part of their marketing strategy are missing out on a lot of opportunity.

What’s the solution? Use social media! Sounds easy enough, and building a page on social media is simple. But posting once a day and tweeting is not enough. To effectively use social media for marketing, marketers need to build an audience and create engaging content that resonates with that audience.

If you are currently using social media to market your business, or you offer digital solutions and are looking to help your clients build and enhance their social strategy, here are five things to consider:

1. Start by determining which social media network(s) is the right social network.

Social networks are not all the same. They all have different audiences that engage with the content in different ways. To understand which social network(s) you should be active in, first identify your target persona. Learn how they use social media, which networks are they most active in, and which content they engage with most on your website.

Topics: Digital

Have You Chosen Your Professional New Year’s Resolutions?

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In this first week of 2017, most ofus are thinking about our New Year’s Resolutions and what we can change in the new year to make ourselves better. The usual list of suspects includes a promise to get into the gym more, quitting smoking, losing weight, spending more time with family and friends, getting out of debt, and getting organized. But what about your professional resolutions? Have you determined what commitments you plan to make to achieve your professional aspirations for 2017? 

Topics: selling digital advertising Sales branding