Jim Hopes, on November 12, 2018
In fact, it’s better than OK. The reality is, in the course of any business relationship, something is going to go wrong at some time and it’s smart to get out front of it and to be very transparent.
Here’s a recent example of a problem we encountered in our own company we had to deal with, and an email we sent to the affected clients shortly following the incident as an apology:
Shaye Smith, on November 9, 2018
-FRANLIN D. ROOSEVELT
Senior decision makers in general are becoming fatigued by salespeople’s questions. This post shares data that supports strategies to help you sell to C-Suite executives.
Matt Sunshine, on November 8, 2018
Sales superpowers? Yes, really. To understand what I mean, please take a step back from the world of selling and focus instead on the process of buying.
The easiest way to wrap your mind around this is to consider a few common business-to-consumer (B2C) purchasing processes like buying a car, remodeling a kitchen, or selecting a college. Looking through that lens, it is easy to see how different the process of buying is today than it was only 10 years ago. I’m sure you would agree that the most notable difference is the amount of time the consumer spends researching in advance.
This sort of pre-purchase work is just as prevalent in the B2B world! Whether an individual is shopping for office space or office supplies, or selecting a bank, an accountant, a lawyer, or an insurance agent, chances are they will do a lot of pre-work before they ever engage in a significant conversation with a representative from any company. And when they do finally begin that conversation, they will come loaded with information and expectations.
Alysa Hinshaw, on November 7, 2018
We're partially through the 4th quarter of the year, and as planning is in the works for the following year, it’s a great time to do an account review with your team. After all, their success equals your success, so it’s vital that you help them set a strategy that helps them meet their goals.
Jim Hopes, on November 6, 2018
How many decisions does a sales manager make in day? 10? 25? 50? That number probably varies, but most people would agree sales managers make a lot of decisions each day as they navigate changing conditions, corporate demands, and plenty of persuasion from their salespeople about doing what they want them to do. Better sales managers make good decisions more often than mediocre sales managers. So, how do they do that?
Alina McComas, on November 5, 2018
Campaign 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.
Shaye Smith, on November 2, 2018
-THOMAS PAINE
You can’t think of your database as just a list of names and contact information. It’s so much more than that. This data represents what’s possible for your business. It’s your future customers and referral sources. It’s next month’s closed deals and next year’s revenue. A company’s database can be the lifeblood of its revenue growth strategy.
Greg Giersch, on October 29, 2018
Deepak Chopra was an interesting pick as Keynote speaker to open the Inbound 2018 conference. Deepak brings to mind meditation and alternative medicine more than cutting edge marketing techniques. But he had a few insights that we can apply to business within his message of consciousness and healing.
Shaye Smith, on October 26, 2018
-CHRIS GROSSER
Is cold calling dead? Let's be honest. That answer is "No." Cold calling used to be one of the best -- and only -- prospecting strategies salespeople could use. But in the past 40 years, a variety of more effective alternatives have emerged.
Beth Sunshine, on October 25, 2018
If you have hired a salesperson that is younger than 36 years old, you hired a millennial. And you may sometimes feel like many of the other sales managers I talk to every day…
As a Talent Analyst, I spend a lot of time identifying people’s innate sales talents and helping managers make smart selection decisions. Once each hire is made, I work with the sales manager to turn talent into ever-increasing performance by maximizing each seller’s strengths and working around their weaknesses.
So my attention is sharply focused on two things: Talent and Fit.
