The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

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.

1. The #1 Way to Respond to Any Question from a Prospect— HubSpot

How do you respond to prospect questions? The most effective type of response isn’t an immediate one. Implement this technique, and you’ll stand out from your selling competition.

Effective marketing and sales alignment doesn’t happen without the dedication of determined leaders. When you consider that a lack of alignment between marketing and sales can cost companies up to 10% of their revenue each year, it puts the severity of the issue front and center. However, the importance of collaboration between the units isn’t limited to financial performance. It impacts the way your employees work with each other, and the way they demonstrate your value proposition to customers. Marketing and sales leaders must make a commitment to come together to better serve their customers, their team members, and the company stakeholders.

Have you played with a slinky recently? Probably not. But you remember how it moves down a staircase. Play that video in your head, and as you do that, think about how adopt a slinky style of sales management.

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.

1. 5 Tactics Smart Reps Use to Get Stalling Deals Over the Finish Line — HubSpot

It’s the end of the month or quarter, and you’re running out of time to hit quota. A deal you were counting on to close is stalling. What do you do? Pressuring your prospect to buy before they’re ready is never wise, unless you want to lose their trust and potentially their business. But there are several non-manipulative ways to increase the buyer’s urgency, like these five ideas.

In our consulting practice we often talk with salespeople who are frustrated because a proposal they have in front of a prospect seems to be going nowhere. Typically, the prospect has said positive things about the plans in the proposal and seems to indicate they have interest in implementing the plan at some point, but still the decision wallows and there’s no sale. So how does one best deal with this scenario?

Here are five ideas to help you activate lagging prospects:

Talent, fit, experience. All extremely important factors to consider when you are working to fill an open position. But where do you start?

A strong talent bank will be filled with a wide variety of people. Rookies. Veterans. Unique personalities. Those much like you. What is the most important thing to consider when you have the golden opportunity to fill an open position?

Talent.

And here’s why:

We’re at in interesting time in professional branding. Few are questioning that they need to work on building a personal brand, but most still want to know how. How do you suddenly become a master storyteller about the one thing that is hardest to talk about—yourself?

Let’s look at building a brand from the perspective of sharing the things you love, the things you care about, or the things you enjoy. For example, let’s look at how building a brand can be like creating and sharing a playlist of your favorite songs. 

• Specific Tastes — Some of us have very specific tastes. We might only like rock, pop, or rap. We don’t venture far from our core tastes, but we know what we like, and we know it well. We’ve become sort of an expert on that genre, or favorite artist. We’ve identified the others that share our tastes. Seth Godin would say they are part of our “tribe.”
• Eclectic Tastes — Some of us have more eclectic tastes in music. You might jump from Classical to The Cure, or Count Basie to Coldplay. For you, there is something they all have in common, but most may not share your interest for this much variety.
• Casual Tastes — Some of you aren’t that into the details of music, but you still like to listen to music. You’re happy to let your others curate your mix. Your casual approach means you’re more likely to listen to what’s popular. You know what you like and there is often a channel or service to cater to you.

“A good boss is a person who isn’t worried about their own career but rather the careers of those who work for them.”—H.S.M Burns 

An article in The Huffington Post written by Dr. Travis Bradberry clearly articulates the above quote. How many times have you heard or read that “people don’t leave bad jobs; they leave bad bosses”? You’ve probably heard it so many times that you don’t pay attention to its importance anymore. The critical takeaway is that it does matter. It matters to the bottom line and it matters to the talented people who are being driven away. A bad boss never has the opportunity to turn talent into performance. A good boss “sees more possibilities in people than they see in themselves and helps them see it too.”

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.

1. The Online Ad Industry Is Undergoing Self-Reflection. That’s Good News. — The New York Times

Traditional and digital media haven't always connected, but the future of the ad industry is a combination of both. Making the leap from traditional to digital doesn't have to be a difficult one, but the online ad industry is also going to have to learn how to work with traditional media. The New York Times explains how both industries are going to have to learn that they need each other, and the best way to build those relationships (and skills).