The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Effective marketing and sales alignment doesn’t happen without the dedication of determined leaders. When you consider that a lack of alignment between marketing and sales can cost companies up to 10% of their revenue each year, it puts the severity of the issue front and center. However, the importance of collaboration between the units isn’t limited to financial performance. It impacts the way your employees work with each other, and the way they demonstrate your value proposition to customers. Marketing and sales leaders must make a commitment to come together to better serve their customers, their team members, and the company stakeholders.

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. 5 Tactics Smart Reps Use to Get Stalling Deals Over the Finish Line — HubSpot

It’s the end of the month or quarter, and you’re running out of time to hit quota. A deal you were counting on to close is stalling. What do you do? Pressuring your prospect to buy before they’re ready is never wise, unless you want to lose their trust and potentially their business. But there are several non-manipulative ways to increase the buyer’s urgency, like these five ideas.

In our consulting practice we often talk with salespeople who are frustrated because a proposal they have in front of a prospect seems to be going nowhere. Typically, the prospect has said positive things about the plans in the proposal and seems to indicate they have interest in implementing the plan at some point, but still the decision wallows and there’s no sale. So how does one best deal with this scenario?

Here are five ideas to help you activate lagging prospects:

We’re at in interesting time in professional branding. Few are questioning that they need to work on building a personal brand, but most still want to know how. How do you suddenly become a master storyteller about the one thing that is hardest to talk about—yourself?

Let’s look at building a brand from the perspective of sharing the things you love, the things you care about, or the things you enjoy. For example, let’s look at how building a brand can be like creating and sharing a playlist of your favorite songs. 

• Specific Tastes — Some of us have very specific tastes. We might only like rock, pop, or rap. We don’t venture far from our core tastes, but we know what we like, and we know it well. We’ve become sort of an expert on that genre, or favorite artist. We’ve identified the others that share our tastes. Seth Godin would say they are part of our “tribe.”
• Eclectic Tastes — Some of us have more eclectic tastes in music. You might jump from Classical to The Cure, or Count Basie to Coldplay. For you, there is something they all have in common, but most may not share your interest for this much variety.
• Casual Tastes — Some of you aren’t that into the details of music, but you still like to listen to music. You’re happy to let your others curate your mix. Your casual approach means you’re more likely to listen to what’s popular. You know what you like and there is often a channel or service to cater to you.

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. The Online Ad Industry Is Undergoing Self-Reflection. That’s Good News. — The New York Times

Traditional and digital media haven't always connected, but the future of the ad industry is a combination of both. Making the leap from traditional to digital doesn't have to be a difficult one, but the online ad industry is also going to have to learn how to work with traditional media. The New York Times explains how both industries are going to have to learn that they need each other, and the best way to build those relationships (and skills).

If a prospect asked to see your portfolio of work, what would you show? Information about your product? Data about how it’s better than the competition? A brochure that shows you are attractively priced? If this is your portfolio of work, then your role in the sales process is mostly to provide access to the product. That’s a problem. The reality is that most of the information a prospect needs about your product is readily available online these days. 

Let’s rethink this a bit. If you were hiring a…

• Graphic designer, would you look for a portfolio of the work they have done for other clients? Of course you would.
• How about a landscape contractor? You know that answer. Show me the pictures!
• How about an investment professional? Would you look for evidence that she or he has solved problems for other clients and produced better-than-average returns? Yes, you would.

The lone wolf salesperson doing their own marketing, lead generation, closing, and account management has been dying a slow death for years. Specialization, delegation, and outsourcing can help you increase your efficiency, but only if everyone is doing what they do best.

One of the best things about spending time in the field coaching my account managers is that I tend to come away with some great lessons myself! With Andrew’s permission, I’d like to share one of my takeaways from an appointment on his in-field day, and that is this: 

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. 3 Effective Ways Sales Managers Can Optimize Their Time — HubSpot

The typical sales manager arrives at the office at 8 a.m. with a prioritized list of tasks for the day. By 8:05 a.m., she’s checked her email and seen two urgent requests from salespeople, a message from the marketing department asking her to attend a 9 a.m. meeting, a note from the engineering team asking for feedback from customers, and a question from Sales Ops about the new incentive plan. The following three techniques will allow you to redirect your time toward the most productive tasks.