The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

This is no more true when selling technology to business – software, hardware, telecommunications, infrastructure, etc. We’ll use enterprise software as an example to make our points. We’ll use enterprise software as an example to make our points. In software sales, so much of a focus is on education.

Telecommunications 312

Telecommunications Real Estate ROI Enterprise 312

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Has 2013 planning kept you from selling? To get ahead next quarter, focus on these 2 areas: Simplify the forecasting process: 2013 planning is necessary but time consuming. Tell them to build forecasting into your Sales force automation software (such as Salesforce.com). A Sales Rep friend of mine, Kevin, described it best.

Maximizer 306

Maximizer Lead Rank Forecasting Sales Operations 306

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 20, 2012

HR leaders, get ready for the 2013 Sales Kickoff by fixing the flaws in your compensation plan today. And get your hands on a Competency Grader for compensation assesement providers as part of SBI's "Make The Number 2013.". Software Firm: The annual Employee survey is overflowing with negative comments about the incentive plan.

Compensation 267

Compensation Incentives Incentive Lead Rank 267

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

The title is “ Make the Number in 2013 ” and he comes unglued: “The number. This year I bought marketing automation software. Six vendors are going to get 90% of the dollars in 2013. The software product was being launched into a replacement market. A prospect will buy this software to replace a system they already have.

Banking 288

Banking Software Software Competition 288

SBI

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Do you want to accomplish more in 2013? If you want 2013 to be better–in whatever way you define that to be–you will need to take charge of change. I guarantee you’ll walk away with one or more tools you can implement immediately to start you down the path toward higher achievement in 2013. Do you want to do more?

Webinar Metrics 125

Webinar Metrics Guarantee Referrals Vendor 125

Sales and Marketing Management

FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Issue Date: 2013-01-01. Author: By Peter Mollins, Vice President of Marketing, KnowledgeTree. Teaser: Successful marketing increasingly depends on well-timed, relevant and proven content being delivered to prospects. The trend of buyers researching products well before they engage with a representative is only going to increase.

Software 176

Software Software Marketing Trends 176

SBI Growth

JANUARY 17, 2014

According the “Year-End CEO Report” conducted by Challenger, Grey & Christmas, CEO turnover rose in 2013. There were “1,246 CEO changes in 2013, 2.6 This is split between software, systems, and the stored data. Your plan must be aligned with their expectations. Ask Yourself Two Questions. Technology.

Remedy 281

Remedy Hiring Margin Guarantee 281

SBI Growth

MAY 5, 2013

Kathy is the CMO of an emerging software company. In 2013, it’s not just that “the customer is always right”; according to inbound marketing principles, the customer is the beginning and the end of the equation. 48% of marketers plan to increase inbound marketing spending in 2013. Kathy always has great insights to share.

Cost per Lead 323

Cost per Lead Inbound Buyer Persona Cost per Acquisition 323

SBI

DECEMBER 18, 2012

We’ve been very fortunate this year to work with many wonderful sales software clients who are each striving in their own way to improve the way sales organizations operate and the success they experience. And we have big plans for 2013. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time, as I’m sure you have, thinking about next year.

Vendor 128

Vendor Sales Cycle Software Software 128

SBI

DECEMBER 18, 2013

In all, there were 16 categories that honored thought-leaders; books, blogs and articles; software tools; and useful resources. For me personally, I was honored to get a Silver award for best Sales Blog Post of 2013. Why Your Focus on Quota is Killing Revenue Growth (Silver medal winner for best Sales Blog Post of 2013).

Quota 135

Quota CRM SAP Forecasting 135

Sales and Marketing Management

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Issue Date: 2013-11-01. Teaser: As the blathering bozos in Congress say (when they’re not reading from Dr. Seuss books), I yield my column this month to the distinguished gentleman Michael Chasen, who helped build the education software startup Blackboard into a booming business that sold for $1.64 billion in 2011. read more'

B2B 214

B2B Education Software Software 214

Sales and Marketing Management

JULY 4, 2013

Issue Date: 2013-07-05. Author: Atri Chatterjee, CMO, Act-On Software. Teaser: Whose job is it to send an email? In a company that has well-aligned sales and marketing departments with the common goal of revenue, the answer is: It depends on where the buyer is on the journey. Whose job is it to send an email? read more'

Marketing 205

Marketing ACT Software Software 205

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 15, 2013

The software industry is notorious for having demo-crazy and technically savvy, but weak, salespeople who hunt for new business, generate binders full of proposals and convert a small percentage of them. Software industry executives want help, need to improve, must improve their conversion ratios and increase sales. Not really.

Industry 243

Industry Retail Software Software 243

Pointclear

MARCH 20, 2014

Which is relevant when you''re selling social media management software. Think about who uses social media management software? Founded in 2013, the Senator Club is designed to educate members on modern day sales strategies and technologies. The leads came from a webinar. The webinar was called, "The Future of Social Media."

Inbound 262

Inbound Marketing Qualified Lead Leads Webinar Metrics 262

Sales and Marketing Management

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Issue Date: 2013-01-01. 5 post titled “Ridiculous ramblings about the marketing automation market,” Rosenberg talked about the changes this new software platform has already experienced. In his Jan. In his Jan. In his Jan. read more In his Jan. read more

Software 185

Software Software B2B Research 185

Understanding the Sales Force

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Mark Roberge, Sales VP at Hubspot , is responsible for building one of those kick-ass sales forces and he contributed a guest post to Software Advice on Building a Sales Team the Hubspot Way. c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan' However, some of the greatest successes occur when we help companies that are already kicking ass.

Lead Scoring 287

Lead Scoring Lead Rank Hiring Hubspot 287

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 17, 2014

The salesperson was from Oracle and wanted to know if I was aware of and had seen their CRM software demonstrated. Image Credit: Foto4u 123RF.com (c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan' Not only was it a cold call, but it was one I could write about - the best kind! It''s a must read.

Inside Sales 273

Inside Sales Oracle Examples Top of Funnel 273

The Sales Hunter

JULY 16, 2013

An example might be if you’re selling software with multiple year service upgrades. Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” When a customer comes at you with their belief your price is too high, a strategy you can use is the power of contrast. Perception is just that — perception.

Discount 234

Discount Comparison Objections Examples 234

SBI Growth

AUGUST 28, 2012

In your next board meeting, they will ask what you will do differently to make the number in 2013. If your next sales leader candidate has 15 years of software sales experience, does it really matter if he was able to sell an on premise enterprise system to a customer in 2002? Blockbuster declared bankruptcy.

Hiring 267

Hiring Buyer Persona Solutions Selling Buyer 267

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 16, 2012

And Sales Leaders are handed their 2013 goals by the CEO. Consider one catastrophic scenario we witnessed: Jeff was the newly appointed CSO at a rapidly growing Software firm. It’s that time of year again. Last minute deals are being pushed through with discounts. Prospects aren’t responding to phone calls. Jeff thought it was a joke.

Quota 282

Quota How To Territories Guidelines 282

Velocify

DECEMBER 3, 2012

The Ultimate Contact Strategy provides a ready-to-use road map to rev up your sales process in 2013. And if history repeats, Sales leaders are undoubtedly spending a significant amount of time strategizing on how they’ll hit a bigger number in 2013. For many, December means finalizing plans and forecasts for the New Year.

Leads360 90

Leads360 Sales Process Inside Sales Study 90

Score More Sales

AUGUST 21, 2013

The annual HubSpot INBOUND conference started as a great get-together for fans of the inbound marketing software platform a few years back and has grown now to being one of the biggest and best marketing conferences out there. What will you do with that thought – take action?

Marketing 195

Marketing Hubspot Conference Inbound 195

Hubspot Sales

AUGUST 20, 2024

How to Avoid Choice Paralysis Whether you’re buying enterprise software or deciding which car to buy, complex choices aren’t going anywhere. In the case of something like buying B2B software, consider your budget, the business objective you’re trying to fulfill, integration needs, etc. Break larger decisions into steps.

Examples 111

Examples Conversion Customer Licensing 111

The Sales Hunter

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Sure, let’s put the whole reason why sales aren’t made all on a piece of paper or some stupid software. Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sure, let’s do it, because that’s the excuse from idiots who are trying to pass themselves off as salespeople. I’m being blunt for one reason.

Discount 238

Discount Cold Calling Consultative Selling Follow-up 238

SBI Growth

JULY 13, 2013

They stacked hands that 2013 was going to be the year of the Americas. Paul went on to lead worldwide sales at a global software company. Dave did put a lot of foundation in place. The EVP of WW Sales was disappointed. He was expecting a faster impact. Dave assured him that all the indicators were in place. He was distraught.

Promotion 310

Promotion Fashion Trends B2B 310

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

Discover insights and market trends from SBI’s research in 2013. One is using software tools to gather comments & keywords from social outlets such as LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. Get started on buyer insights by downloading the Buyer Research Guide. Buyer Process Maps. Social Listening. Buyer Personas. Social Listening.

Buyer Persona 310

Buyer Persona Marketing How To Lead Rank 310

Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

I am not familiar with the software company that was the subject of the study sited by Dan Pink. 10 AM Eastern Time (New York) (c) Copyright 2013 Dave Kurlan However, introverts who don't need to be liked, generally have better listening and questioning skills and when they do speak, it's usually to state something quite important.

Scale 261

Scale Study Research Webinar Metrics 261

Score More Sales

AUGUST 12, 2013

Make it a good one – like: How one of your clients now has piece of mind for the first time in years since they started using your security software. Just try it and see how it goes. The three other customers in the aviation space using the tools your company sells and why they won’t ever give them up.

Inside Sales 213

Inside Sales Lead Scoring Lead Rank Cold Calling 213

SBI Growth

APRIL 30, 2013

Agile was born in software development. Anthony''s Key Activities for 2013. This post will explore ideas sales managers can implement to increase their speed. One key technique we’ve found success with is taking an agile approach. It is a group of methods based on iterative and incremental improvement.

Quota 308

Quota Promotion Social Media Territories 308

SBI Growth

JANUARY 1, 2013

And it is not for 2013. More recently, he pegged the failure rate of marketing automation software at 50%. There’s optimism, and there’s Drapeau optimism. 75% quota attainment is positive enough. But Drapeau goes further. He takes the historical 60% quota attainment rate and ups it to 75%. At least I do. I think you should.

B2B 308

B2B Hiring Quota Social Selling 308

The Sales Hunter

MAY 31, 2013

In the age of technology, there is not one process that can’t be monitored and tracked by way of a computer and a software program. Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Let me share with you 5 reasons why you don’t want to be a sales manager. Sales managers manage processes. Guess what?

Sales Management 237

Sales Management Consultative Selling Policies Selling Skills 237

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Here is their success story and an invitation to learn more best practices from SBI's “ Make the Number 2013 Tour.”. a provider of software to simplify and improve business operations and customer communications. Last week I talked with two Steves who faced this challenge and developed a sustainable solution.

Hiring 306

Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Face-to-face Oracle 306

The Sales Hunter

JANUARY 8, 2013

An example of how it works is you might be selling B2B in the software industry. Prospects you’re trying to reach are end users of software and typically work for either an IT company or in the IT department of a company. Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” ” Sales Motivation Blog.

Cold Calling 181

Cold Calling Prospecting Customer Software 181

Pointclear

APRIL 24, 2013

He began his career with IBM and Sterling Software and then went on to launch two successful software companies. After completing his company''s 19th annual Sales Performance Optimization Study , Jim said it revealed that 94 percent of the companies surveyed increased their revenue target for 2013.

Customer 240

Customer Sales Qualified Lead Lead Generation Trends 240

Score More Sales

MAY 11, 2012

Ashley Furness, CRM Market Analyst at Software Advice recently wrote about this very issue – teams of salespeople have received or will received tablets but do not have clear deployment plans. While 78% of businesses plan to deploy tablets by the end of 2013, more than half lack an articulate deployment plan.

Marketo 214

Marketo Lead Scoring Lead Rank Outbound 214

Pointclear

JULY 17, 2013

The increased sophistication of translation software will enable computers to quickly translate languages, reducing the need to hire reps who speak the native language. As many as 100 million people are expected to telecommute to work by the year 2013. Virtual interactions will replace face-to-face field visits.

Field Sales 245

Field Sales Inside Sales Hiring Face-to-face 245

SBI Growth

AUGUST 20, 2012

From software to business services, the message is clear: re-evaluate your Sales Force Structure by piloting, expanding, or reconsidering your commitment to Inside Sales. Reach out to me if you’d like to talk more about how to be sure you are listening to your Customers in a way that allows you to drive revenue in 2013.

Inside Sales 276

Inside Sales Face-to-face Sales Qualified Lead Customer 276