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. Why Disastrous Sales and Marketing Misalignment Persists (& How to Fix It) — HubSpot

Sales and marketing teams both directly touch the customer, but for some reason, the average company just can’t find a common ground after that. However, consider that more than 50% of the success of a social selling ecosystem within your company is going to start and end with Marketing! This article offers practical advice on how to get Sales and Marketing working together.

As a sales leader whose responsibility is generating revenue, you would most likely answer that you are a Sales Promoter. But are you? Has an obstacle course actually been created that prevents your sales people from selling? Sales Prevention sounds like an oxymoron, but it exists in many sales cultures.

Sales Prevention exists when there is a misalignment between the sales manager and salespeople's challenges and priorities. Jim Hopes, Managing Partner of The Center for Sales Strategy, conducted a study based on the responses of 400 sales professionals. The results showed that of the top four responses regarding challenges, only one intersected between the sales manager and salespeople.

The perspective from which we look at our world dictates our expectations and our behavior. As our points of view change, so too will our attitudes and our actions. As the great philosopher (and comedian) George Carlin once said, “Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.”

Buyers and Sellers See Things Differently

Buyers and sellers obviously have different perspectives, and they see the buying/selling process very differently. In fact, according to HubSpot’s Q1 2016 Sales Perspective Survey (see chart below), there is a significant gap between how each group views salespeople. Salespeople like to think we’re not pushy, we listen to our prospects, we provide value, and we help our prospects succeed. Unfortunately, our buyers don’t always agree.     

We have all been there. You walk into your new office. You’re excited, maybe a little nervous, but ready to take on this new challenge. And…no one is expecting you. The receptionist says, “Oh, was that today?? No one told me. I’m not sure where to have you start…” Bad first impression, sure, but what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that in today’s market, qualified job seekers have choices. Chances are that from the time you agree to hire them to the time they walk in your door, they have had multiple other requests for interviews and maybe job offers. You spent time finding and qualifying just the right person for this position. Do you want your new employee to walk away on that first day, thinking about finding a better job?

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. 6 Unexpected Questions That Reveal What Your Prospect Is Really Thinking — HubSpot

Most prospects get the same questions from salespeople over and over again. Using any of these cliché, routine questions harms your credibility. Rather than seeing you as a trusted advisor, the buyer associates you with all the other reps they’ve ever spoken to. In addition, your prospect will go on autopilot and recite the same answer they’ve given on previous sales calls. You’ll lose the chance to get information your competition doesn’t have. To maintain authority, keep the buyer’s attention, and find out what they’re really thinking, ask questions they’re not expecting. 

OK, seriously, what is pre-boarding?! For most of us, pre-boarding has always been the handshake you get from the hiring manager with the words, “Welcome aboard.” And then, a few weeks later, you start work. That’s it. Nothing fancy, just, "You’re hired." But as most of us are well aware, the job market is changing with lightning speed. Blame it on technology, the Internet or millennials, but we all see the need to change with it. So, what is pre-boarding, and why is pre-boarding so important?

Storytelling is a vital part of the fabric of human interaction, and it has been since long before written language. Whether in the form of cave paintings or blockbuster films, stories transport the audience to constructed worlds and deliver powerful messages with startling accuracy.

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.