Emily Estey, on December 15, 2016
I frequently meet with salespeople who are working on creative ways to approach prospects that they're having difficulty getting in front of. One salesperson had a particularly difficult challenge, as she had been trying to get an appointment with a key prospect for over eight months with no success, and all of the traditional methods had been exhausted.
Tirzah Thornburg, on December 14, 2016
Every sales manager has been there. You spend time and effort selecting just the right candidate. You get your “perfect” AE hired and trained, and they’re doing well. But then you get their two-week notice. Your heart sinks. You have invested time, energy, and most importantly money into this person, only to have them take their talent to another company. What happened?!
We have all heard the phrase, an employee joins a company but leaves a manager. So how can you keep your top talent? How can you become a manager whose people stay?
LeadG2, on December 9, 2016
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.
Every time a salesperson contacts a potential lead, the salesperson is at an automatic disadvantage. The prospect always starts out on the defense. It’s not because they hate being sold to. They’re defensive because, in their experience, it’s going to take an enormous effort to make the salesperson accept a simple “No.” Here are five reasons why the best response is to actually take "no" for an answer.
Greg Giersch, on December 7, 2016
A leader’s success or failure is dependent on the actions of those they lead. Good sales mangers understand that actions begin with attitude and motivate their team to direct their talents to selling and delivering effective solutions for their clients. The insights of military leaders often apply in business, which is why Sun Tzu’s Art of War is popular reading within the ranks of management.
Success or failure is a result of what people think, feel, and then do. Xenophon was an ancient Greek warrior and philosopher who observed that what soldiers think and feel will affect their actions.
Let’s look closer at three observations he made and how they apply to sales management:
John Henley, on December 5, 2016
You may have heard it said that the best way to approach selling is to make buying easier for the buyer. That saying has been around a long time. But a new twist on that is the notion of helping buyers navigate their journey. The journey in B2B buying has greatly changed over the last several years.
Smart salespeople think about the “things” along the buyer journey—and consider how they can help the buyer navigate that journey.
LeadG2, on December 2, 2016
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.
Most salespeople spend hours in their inbox every day: Writing emails, scheduling them, reading them, and organizing them. If you could save just 10% of this time, you’d have more time for actual selling. To shrink your email investment by 10% (or more), try these five effective email time management hacks.
Kim Alexandre, on December 1, 2016
‘Tis the Season! The Walmart countdown displays in the seasonal section of their stores were up and counting down before Halloween was over. That irks me for a number of reasons, but it also motivates me. I need to finalize my growth plans for next year… and so do you!
Loretta Lage, on November 29, 2016
Sometimes the most revelatory meanings come from parables. Storytelling is an art and has been a part of the human experience since cave men started drawing pictures on cave walls, since troubadours roamed the countryside telling stories through their songs. Storytelling helps us make sense of the world.
One of the most effective ways of telling a story is through a parable. It’s a short, allegorical piece meant to teach a lesson. It’s told in words that convey images people can easily understand and often include animals and nature like "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Grasshopper and the Ant."
LeadG2, on November 25, 2016
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 more you can personalize your conversation to a prospect and their business, the greater the chance that you’ll capture their interest—and hopefully their business. To do that, you'll need to research the prospect. Here are 14 places that will help you.
Beth Sunshine, on November 21, 2016
Great coaching is hard to find.
Most people aren’t born to coach, but those that are, the ones who are great at growing and developing people, can forever change the lives of those around them.
I talk about coaching in sales and management all the time, but the same lessons can be drawn from and applied to sports, education, really everything. People do not grow in a vacuum. They only grow in relationship to another person.
