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. How Marketing Must Evolve: 19 Leaders Peer Into Content’s Future — Content Marketing Institute

What do you envision for the future of content from a marketing perspective, and how do marketing teams need to evolve to prepare? The CMI editorial team recently put this question to the pros who will present at the Intelligent Content Conference March 28–30 in Las Vegas. Here's what they said.

A few months ago I was working with our client in Los Angeles and the managers were telling me they had a feeling their salespeople were not unearthing all the needs they should in their client needs analysis process. They cited a number of instances where the Account Executive did go deep enough and huge opportunities emerged for both the prospect and my client. They wanted to see that happening more often. After exploring the problem in more detail, I made several recommendations. One of those turned out to be particularly impactful.

The contact page is one of the most important pages on a company's website. But it's also one of the pages that receives the least attention from the company's marketing team. Several months ago, I wrote a post about how to optimize a website’s contact page to increase the number of leads it creates and to improve upon tracking contacts. Little did I know that the client that I had specifically recommended this approach to would have almost three-hundred new leads over a five month period from this new contact page.  

Many sales organizations miss revenue goals because they are understaffed and have open sales positions. This silent killer of productivity is a problem for many reasons: 

It’s not that annual reviews are bad… it’s just that they’re not enough! Whether the person you are managing is doing a great job, a terrible job, or performing somewhere in-between, waiting twelve months to let them know that information is damaging to them and to your company.

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. How to Know Exactly What Content to Deliver to Convert More Prospects — Copyblogger

How do you know what content to send to prospects when? Whether it's top-of-the-funnel marketing content, sales collateral, or something in between, it's critical to get content delivery right. This article provides a content mapping framework from the perspective of the hero's journey.

You've worked hard in 2016, built up your sales funnel, but 2017 is really going to be your year to shine. Perhaps you would like to get more high-quality appointments or try new prospecting strategies. The comfort zone is certainly a relaxing space, but nothing grows there. It's time to step outside and achieve your sales targets. Here's how.

For many of you, the thought of relying on technology to grow your customer base may seem awkward and  uncomfortable. I get it! But I also want to remind you… not that many years ago, using a mobile phone and email for business communications seemed awkward and uncomfortable too. Imagine if you didn't jump on that bandwagon!

Often the things that make us uncomfortable are also the things that grow us.

It's a fact. Using technology to assist in acquiring new customers is effective. But even more importantly, if you are going to survive, it’s essential! 

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. How to Take Advantage of LinkedIn's Updated Search System — Social Media Today

LinkedIn recently announced that its updated desktop design will hit profiles worldwide within the next few weeks. And while the new look and updated functionality is interesting, the biggest takeaway is an improved ability for you to leverage any original content you publish on the platform as a gateway to new business. Learn more.