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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

The Most Important Post on Digital Advertising Metrics You’ll Read This Month

click through rateMarketers love digital because it’s measurable, but there seems to be a lot of unwarranted hype about the importance of the click-through-rate (CTR). While the CTR is one form of measurement, research tells us focusing solely on the CTR is an expensive mistake. Here’s why:

Topics: setting expectations Digital selling digital advertising

Location, Location, Location! [Digital Advertising Strategy]

mobile marketingWhen you look at emerging trends in the digital space right now, location-based marketing is rarely missing from the conversation. The discussion surrounding the effectiveness of local advertising, the power of social media and the growth of mobile add color to the conversation.

Topics: Social Media Digital selling digital advertising

They Said YES Before My Proposal [Sales Strategy]

investmentOur company’s reason for being is to help our clients turn talent into performance, and I spend most of my time making sure we have everything operating in such a way that we can delight customers. I don’t get to sell that often, but recently I found myself in conversations with a friend who runs his own business. After a few conversations and a meeting with a few key managers, I presented the owner with a pre-proposal and asked him to review it with his management team. 

Topics: Proposal sales strategy Sales

The Top 5- Top 10 Lists

Top 10 ListsIf you’re like me, you can't help yourself when it comes to a Top 10 List. I don't know what it is about a list—let alone a Top 10 List—but every time I see one, I feel compelled to pay attention. The following  will link you to five Top 10 Lists that are worth your time.

 1. The Top 10 Marketing Infographics of 2011

Topics: Social Media selling digital advertising sales performance Sales

Show them you Care: 4 Keys to Client Satisfaction [Sales Development]

client care

Topics: setting expectations sales performance Sales

Social Media Explained—in Plain English

social mediaHave you ever found yourself trying to explain the difference between Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? How about trying to articulate the draw of a FourSquare, Instagram or newer site like Pinterest? Better yet, how about the reasons why you would want to be actively engaged with multiple social media sites?

Topics: Social Media Digital selling digital advertising sales strategy branding

Will You Sink or Swim? The Power of Sales Coaching

Sales coachingI recently started taking swimming lessons. I love telling people about it because the response is priceless. First there is a confused look. Then, a gasp, followed by, “You don’t know how to swim?!”

Topics: Sales

Refuse To Make Cold Calls, Enhance Your Sales Strategy!

networkingCan you imagine what would happen if you told your sales manager that you absolutely refuse to make cold calls? Thinking back to my days as a sales account executive, I know that my boss would have thought I was being insubordinate if I walked into his office and boldly made the proclamation, “I refuse to make cold calls ever again!” He is a great guy and an incredible sales manager, so I’m sure he would have given me a short window of opportunity to explain my proclamation and then an even shorter window to “prove” my new lead generation tactic successful. 

Topics: Social Media Sales

Why Doesn't Everyone Own a Honda Fit? [Sales Development]

sales strategyMy wife and I subscribe to Consumer Reports and recently I was leafing through the pages when I came across an interesting article outlining the best and worst values among cars. They calculated the cost of ownership over a five-year period taking into account factors like cost of acquisition, reliability, maintenance cost, fuel efficiency, depreciation, etc. Turns out the Honda Fit is THE best value on the market at a cost-per-mile of 44 cents. That's pretty impressive considering a Mercedes S550 costs $1.70 a mile to own and the vehicle I drive, the Acura RDX, costs 84 cents a mile to own, nearly twice the cost of the Honda Fit.

So, why doesn't everyone own a Honda Fit? On a cost-per-mile basis, it's clearly the least expensive vehicle to own and operate. The reality is people most often don't choose the lowest priced car because myriad other vehicles satisfy other objective and subjective needs within their lives affecting their value perception. And, so it is with the products and services you sell.

It's your job to uncover the needs truly unique to your particular prospect and to understand the subjective personal wins that might help drive their choice. Are you doing that? Well enough? What could you commit to this year to get better at that? It would be a good investment on your part.

Jim Hopes is CEO at The Center for Sales Strategy. 

Topics: sales strategy Sales

Should You Have an App for That? [Integrated Marketing Solutions]

should you have an appThere’s been a lot of talk over the last few weeks on the growth of revenue derived from apps; whether it is the adoption of subscription based apps or the in-app purchases consumers have become comfortable making. So comfortable that some say in-app purchases (a.k.a. clicking ‘buy’ in a gaming app) could reach over $4 billion in 2012- double that of 2011! 

Topics: Digital selling digital advertising integrated media solution