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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Should Journalism Worry About Content Marketing?

working-remotelyThis was another great week in terms of content. We found a lot to love.

Here are the five articles that piqued our interest:

1. Should Journalism Worry About Content Marketing? {CJR}

Corporations are getting into the news business. Is this something journalists should worry about? Or can companies like Chevron and Coca Cola be trusted to create unbiased content?

2. Do You Really Understand How Your Customers Buy? {McKinsey}

This is a great in-depth article about the buyer's journey, and how it has changed over the last several years.

3. 7 Habits of Highly Successful Startup Entrepreneurs {Inc.}

Topics: Wrap-up

How to Conduct a Nearly Perfect Interview

job-interviewFinding the right person for the job often takes time—time you don’t have—so you may find yourself dreading to make that next hire. 

No need to drag your feet any longer! These interview tips and questions will help you uncover the information you need to determine whether a candidate might fit the bill. Follow them consistently and you will find that you speed up the selection process and make it much less painful.

Topics: hiring salespeople

5 Ways to Position Yourself as a Thought Leader

thought-leadershipWe've talked a lot about thought leadership, and what it means for you and your business. Positioning yourself as a thought leader will not only bring more people to your website, but it'll present you with new business opportunities, invitations to speak at conferences, and more.

Topics: thought leadership Inbound Marketing

The Key Steps to Reduce Account Attrition Now

Reduce-Account-Attrition-1Can you have too much emphasis on new business?

I submit that’s not a crazy question. There’s a scenario, more common than you think, where an excessive emphasis on finding new clients can mask a significant problem growing inside your organization. Ask yourself: What role is that new business playing? Is it fueling your sharp growth curve? If so, congratulations.

Too often, the answer is that new business is playing a very different role—that new clients are coming in the front door just fast enough to replace those who are leaving by the back door. The emphasis on new business development in your organization might be coming at a high cost—not placing sufficient emphasis on satisfying, retaining, and growing your existing accounts.

Or you might not even be breaking even: You could be working harder than ever to find new revenue that is failing even to cover the losses you’re experiencing due to attrition. It reminds me of the classic line from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”

Topics: Sales sales process

Leaders: Are You Hearing Problems? Are You Seeing Problems?

Great leaders don’t spend all their time-solving problems, but they’re smart about how to find problems and how to fix them. I see the best managers position themselves to hear problems and to see problems.

Hearing Problems

leaders-hearing-problems

Hearing problems means being open to the problems your people bring you. If your people aren’t bringing you problems, that’s your meta- problem, or should I say your mega-problem! There are two explanations, and they’re both ugly: They think you cant help or you dont care. The can’t help scenario isn’t easily remedied, but the don’t care explanation is fixable. 

Topics: Leadership

The Best Tools for Growing a Smart Business

freelance-writers-help-with-contentThis was another great week in terms of content. We found a lot to love.

Here are the five articles that piqued our interest:

1. The Best Tech Tools for Growing a Smart Business in 2015 {Inc.}

There are some great tips here. Note: item #4 is only available for Google Calendar as of right now, but you can go to their website and enter your email address, and they'll let you know when an Outlook calendar version becomes available. We love #5 (of course!), and if you're interested in one of HubSpot's free tools, check out Marketing Grader.

2. This NYC Startup Just Raised Another $3M in Record Time {Alley Watch}

PuzzleSocial is a daily digital celebrity crossword. It's clearly something consumers enjoy. How can you use the celebrity crossword concept in your campaigns?

3. Quotes For Entrepreneurs {IMG}

Topics: Wrap-up

Is the Road Too Narrow or Are You Too Fat? Leadership from Twitter

road-too-narrowArjun Basu writes (very) short stories on Twitter. He calls them “Twisters.” You should follow him at @arjunbasu. Here’s one: 

The road narrowed. I said, Im too fat for this road. My wife laughed, but I was serious. I was not happy with my weight. Or the road itself. 

The road keeps changing, doesn’t it? In business, it seems as if at least half our roads are under construction or subject to detours—all at the same time. Has your road to success narrowed? Or are you just too fat to fit? Those are entirely different questions. Or should I say, those are entirely different ways of defining the problem or even of looking at the world. If you see the road as the problem, you let yourself off the hook—but you also condemn yourself to whatever the road has in store for travelers who are too fat for the new road. If you see yourself as the problem, even grudgingly (because you don’t have to love that new road to recognize it, acknowledge it, and deal with it), then success opens up for you.

Leadership Lessons from This Quote

Topics: Leadership

5 Words That Drive Revenue

words-that-drive-revenueAs a B2B sales consultant, I’m always looking for simple ways to help my customers get their heads around driving revenue. Here are five words I’ve been talking about a great deal lately:

  1. Talent
  2. Structure
  3. Concentration
  4. Activity
  5. Integration

Here are some simple tips tied to each word that will help sales organizations improve revenue in the upcoming year. Feel free to add this list to your sales consultant resources:

Topics: Partner Marketing

The Proven 7-Step Process to Recruiting Top Salespeople

best-way-to-recruit-salespeopleWhen it comes to recruiting superstars, some people just seem to have the magic touch! I have the pleasure of working with quite a few sales managers who have this gift, but one, in particular, stands out of the crowd. She rarely misses!

Topics: hiring salespeople

How to Protect Yourself From a Not-So-Great Valid Business Reason

How_to_Protect_Yourself_From_an_Idea_That’s_Just_Not_That_GoodThe other day, I was writing what seemed like a pretty smart piece for The Marketing Mind blog. That’s the site where we capture a wide variety of consumer and industry trends.

Our goal is to convert topical issues into valid business reasons to help sellers get appointments, and needs analysis questions that lead to meaningful challenges they can help their clients solve.

Topics: valid business reason sales process