Jim Hopes, on September 19, 2017
We all know how powerful testimonials and success stories are as a tool to open doors with prospects who don’t know you yet. But, capturing such information has traditionally been time consuming and difficult. How many times has a client promised to write a testimonial letter for you and then never did it? It's usually not because your client is insincere; more likely they just got too busy with other things that were a higher priority. Besides, who writes letters today anyway?
LeadG2, on September 15, 2017
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.
Here are eight unexpected (and counterintuitive) ways to squeeze more out of your workday.
Guest Contributor, on September 11, 2017
Slide presentations are supposed to help salespeople make sales. However, if they are poorly designed, slide presentations can drive sales away. A slow-moving, confusing, lackluster and lengthy PowerPoint is hard to endure — buyers will assume if they buy anything from you, they’ll be in for more of the same as long as the relationship continues.
On the other hand, an engaging and enlightening PowerPoint establishes you as efficient, expert, and tuned in to the customer’s needs. In other words, it will bring you closer to a sale. Here are 10 ways to make your presentations stand above the competition.
LeadG2, on September 7, 2017
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.
Kurt Sima, on September 7, 2017
The best B2B salespeople follow a sales strategy that includes the use of a needs analysis meeting with new business prospects or existing customers. Do you?
Without a needs analysis the sales process breaks down transforming salespeople into peddlers—pitching, hoping and praying… pitching, hoping and praying… pitching hoping and praying!
A better approach involves a conversation with customers and new business prospects to uncover business problems or opportunities.
Jim Hopes, on September 6, 2017
In today’s sales world, it’s apparent that most companies have mastered PowerPoint or Prezi to compose absolutely gorgeous proposals. In fact, many companies have dedicated teams or specialists to create seemingly-compelling, graphically-rich proposal pages that go onto a shared drive, making it much easier for salespeople or the support people they work with to simply grab some of those pages and assemble them with a minimal amount of customization necessary. One could argue this approach saves countless hours for the sales operation and puts presentation elements in the hands of those who build such things every day. On the surface, this appears to be a breakthrough akin to Henry Ford’s assembly line. But there is problem, and I bet you know what it is.
I have read about 300 proposals in the last year in my consulting practice, and nearly all of them were, indeed, beautiful. And nearly all I read looked alike – a reference to mostly generic needs that most prospects could have, pages and pages of product information (more than anyone would read), and some boilerplate information about the company offering the proposal. Just imagine you are a professional buyer or business owner who sees multiple proposals of this type every week. It would be an effective organic cure to insomnia, for sure. The number one complaint I hear from salespeople is that they put out a proposal to their prospect and then never hear anything again. Is it any wonder?
LeadG2, on September 1, 2017
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.
The ability to negotiate successfully can bring you and your business tremendous advantages. Imagine you could increase the values of your company’s contracts an additional 15% by negotiating higher rates. That’s an immediate increase in revenue for your business that comes as a direct result of your negotiation skills. This article shows you how to get better at negotiating.
Jim Hopes, on August 29, 2017
Like buried treasure, salespeople have been looking for a short list of magic needs analysis questions forever. So where is that list, and what are the questions on it? Not sure where the list is, but here is an insight into which questions can really get the prospect talking and revealing the trouble or growth opportunities that you might be able to address: Ask questions early on that are relevant to their unique situation today. You can build these questions easily with just a little research. For example…
LeadG2, on August 25, 2017
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.
When someone asks, "What do you do?", you need a short, snappy, easy-to-grasp explanation of your company and its products. The person you’re speaking with might turn out to be a perfect fit or know someone who is. If you’re looking for some inspiration, these elevator pitch examples illustrate six different ways to describe what you can offer.
LeadG2, on August 18, 2017
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.
The problem with discussing price is that it puts the buyer and the seller on opposing sides. At least, that is how we are programmed to engage in such discussions. When price is mentioned, sellers automatically go on the defensive, build their trenches, and hunker down, hoping the assault will pass if we evade the questions long enough. And buyers keep sending over pricing grenades. hoping that one will explode and open up a breach in the trench. Here's how to change that dynamic.
