Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Closing : Closing cycles that fail 80% of the time are the norm (where 1 in 5 deals in the pipeline closes.) One of the main reasons for this low close rate is that sales people miss decisionmakers in the prospect company. This is usually because an unidentified decisionmaker has vetoed the deal. Sales time sucks.

Territories 396

Territories Compensation Scale Decision Maker 396

Zoominfo

MAY 7, 2021

The nickname was his team’s way of both cheering him on and also playfully acknowledging the elephant in the room: He wasn’t closing any deals (or, in other words, he — despite his last name — “was not yet a lion”). Fast forward seven years later, and Lyon has just closed the biggest deal in ZoomInfo history: an eight figure deal.

Closing 246

Closing Commission Licensing Hiring 246

Sales 2.0

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

In my last post I was ranting about how I hate proposals. My preferred solution to this is not developing proposals at all. I highly recommend not spending your time generating beautiful documents for every person that says, “send me a proposal”. There are various ways to get ChatGPT to write a part of any proposal.

Proposal 150

Proposal Hiring Decision Maker Case Study 150

Sales and Marketing Management

OCTOBER 14, 2019

Ask the Right Questions Before You Make Your Proposal. That means you need to listen and understand what makes them one of a kind before you make your proposal, even if your offer won’t change that much based on what they tell you. . Of course, clients will have questions for you, and you must be prepared to give them good answers.

Customer 239

Customer Closing Proposal Decision Maker 239

Zoominfo

AUGUST 11, 2021

It’s what keeps your sales team organized and focused on managing opportunities to close deals. The outcome is always the same, too: low close-won rates and slow growth. It shows where leads and opportunities are in the sales cycle, from prospecting and first approach to discovery and (hopefully) closed-won. The Proposal.

Pipeline 217

Pipeline Closing Sales Qualified Lead Top of Funnel 217

The Pipeline

MARCH 19, 2019

As detailed in my recent piece about the must of consistently prospecting , it starts with a commitment to a life-long habit of starting enough deals to drive every stage of the pipeline, including the close. The required number of Closes per month or quarter? Number of Proposals you have to present to get on Close?

Prospecting 306

Prospecting Proposal Cold Calling Quota 306

The Pipeline

AUGUST 4, 2020

By this, I do not mean closing but finishing the plan for closing. Too many salespeople depend on momentum for closing rather than a solid plan for getting there. Try this, ask a rep, any rep, to select a deal they are involved in, early-stage, not near close. The journey needs to be completed. Not That Kind Of Book.

Proposal 427

Proposal Objections Quota Closing 427

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 6, 2025

Although we’ve attended for close to 23 years, this year I noticed something different and that experience will help you better understand the important role that sales process plays in the context of a modern sales methodology. As we do each season, my family attended the Boston Pops Holiday Concert at Symphony Hall in Boston.

Sales Process 334

Sales Process Benefit Sales Methodology Sales Cycle 334

The Center for Sales Strategy

APRIL 18, 2024

To close more opportunities, it's critical that we limit or completely remove as many objections during the presentation as possible. We're tackling a crucial aspect of sales that's as important as your morning coffee: sealing more deals. One way to do that is to remove the surprises.

Proposal 110

Proposal Closing Strategy Objections 110

The Pipeline

JUNE 17, 2021

I am proposing that you make it safe to miss a sales target. What hypothesis I am proposing is this: Ambition is key – investing energy in low balling targets will hurt you in the long run. Do you need to work with Product Management and Marketing to reduce your closed lost ratio with features and positioning fixes?

Top of Funnel 352

Top of Funnel Quota Proposal Lead Rank 352

Sales 2.0

MAY 6, 2020

Proposals : Do your sales people and support team spend hours developing proposals that don’t close? Do you manage the development of proposals as a joint process with your prospect, leading to a high close rate? Do you have a system for growing relationships with partners and influencers?

Hiring 269

Hiring Proposal Sales Qualified Lead System 269

Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 23, 2023

One of the areas of complex sales that I have seen soak up tons of time from entrepreneurs and senior salespeople over my years is writing proposals. And sad to say, not all these beautiful proposal documents ended up closing big deals. Now that we all have this new “intern” that can help with the proposal writing work.

Proposal 221

Proposal Social Media Media Decision Maker 221

Sales 2.0

MARCH 12, 2020

Do not be surprised if deals in your pipeline don’t close. Don’t be surprised if more of your proposals go to “Neverland”. It’s time for business owners and sales leaders to take action to make sure you can sell effectively if we enter a downtown. Stalled deals and radio silence. Things may be about to get weird.

Top of Funnel 378

Top of Funnel Pipeline Follow-up Proposal 378

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 29, 2019

That might mean writing a proposal, researching prospects, following up with potential clients, attending networking events, or asking for referrals. Well, it’s not—not even close. The post How Close Are You to Cash? It’s so darn easy today to veer from our priorities. The point is to focus on lead gen. Here’s the problem.

Referrals 166

Referrals Closing Lead Gen Social Media 166

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 12, 2017

Here are some thoughts about managing to each salesperson's number as they close the year and prepare for a new one. Be realistic about stale proposals. In projecting forward, take a realistic look at proposals that are more than 60 days old. In my experience proposals, unlike fine red wines, don’t improve with age.

Top of Funnel 224

Top of Funnel Proposal Quota Pipeline 224

The Pipeline

JANUARY 26, 2021

Companies close, get acquired, and a range of reasons beyond fault. The less proposals you need to generate, or people going through Discovery, the more time you have to focus on improvement initiatives. The familiar expression “measure twice, cut once”, has validity in B2B sales as well. Churn Is Not All Bad.

Churn 310

Churn Quota Margin Exercises 310

Hubspot Sales

JULY 30, 2024

Then, the game changed when I leveled up my sales email writing game with curiosity-provoking subject lines, strong body text, and compelling closing statements. Closing statements are your best chance to impress upon the reader that they should contact your sales team, register for your event, or take advantage of a promotional offer.

Closing 113

Closing Quota How To Webinar Metrics 113

Sales and Marketing Management

MARCH 30, 2020

And, when they see it, they often use hypothetical offers to test for interest in different aspects of your ‘offer’ in order to progress toward a close. Are their proposals value based? Good negotiators move slowly and are always exchanging value during the back and forth phase of the proposal exchange. .

Negotiation 279

Negotiation Margin Proposal Maximizer 279

Hubspot Sales

MAY 24, 2023

A closing call is like the finish line of a marathon. As a salesperson, you’ve invested a lot of time in your prospect by the time a closing call rolls around. The closing call is all about controlling the controllable. In this article: What is a closing call? Why is the closing call so important?

Closing 115

Closing Proposal Call-back Vendor 115

SalesFuel

APRIL 11, 2024

Zoom became a lifeline for millions working from home and a savior of reps competing for a remote sales closing. More Channels Provide More Personalized Choices for Sales Closing Finding a comfortable way to communicate with key clients is essential. To fail a sales closing is costly. Researching the media options.

Closing 115

Closing Face-to-face Tourism Hiring 115

Sales and Marketing Management

JANUARY 31, 2019

The number of ‘no surprise’ proposals presented each week. Proposals are a critical measurement. If salespeople aren’t presenting proposals, they’re certainly not closing deals. But simply tracking the number of proposals leaving your office will be misleading. Not all proposals were created equal.

Sales Management 184

Sales Management Proposal Top of Funnel Banking 184

Sales and Marketing Management

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

A big gap needed to be closed and that’s where we entered. Develop and propose your response. However you do it, setting a timetable (and even revising it in real-time together) can prevent the window from closing due to unnecessary delays. Sacrifices are often made for the sake of closing a deal. Closing Strong.

Negotiation 270

Negotiation Exercises Discount Proposal 270

Jeffrey Gitomer

MARCH 19, 2019

In order for you to get the maximum benefit from this concept, you must make (and execute) a plan to convert your office or place of business into a closing machine. The deal – What will you propose and when will you propose it? The close – When is the best time to seal the deal, and how will you seal it? There are 10.5

Sports 250

Sports Scale Proposal Call-back 250

The Pipeline

JULY 20, 2017

Proposal to close – While this one sounds simple, it is not, usually because there are different ways of improving this ratio, and usually people are overwhelmed by choices, and just resort back to what they always do, and end up with the conversion rate they always do.

Proposal 223

Proposal Quota Account Call-back 223

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

Responding to proposal requests is a slow process that adds time to the sales cycle. For many, the first step to answering an RFP is digging through old proposals to try and match the questions with questions that have been previously answered. Author: Beau Wysong RFPs are a pain. There’s really no way around it.

Benefit 217

Benefit Proposal Software Software 217

Hubspot Sales

AUGUST 14, 2023

Salespeople frequently undermine their chance of winning sales when they allow value leaks — instances where your email, proposal, word choice, presentation, or body language diminishes the perceived value of your solution — to creep into their sales processes. A tough question isn’t an obstacle to the close — it’s a strong buying sign.

Closing 128

Closing Proposal Negotiation Discount 128

Sales and Marketing Management

MARCH 18, 2019

That’s why our ideal B2B sales processes draw on our Three P’s – prepare, probe and propose. Think of it as an opportunity to uncover interests, issues, and insights that will fuel how you propose options to move the deal forward, rather than jumping directly to assumption-based solutions. What’s basic value proposition can you offer?

Negotiation 214

Negotiation B2B Proposal Ideal Customer Profile 214

The Pipeline

JANUARY 21, 2020

More importantly, if they can’t live with your proposed next step, again, you have time to plan an alternate. Agreement: Should say agreements, all those individual yeses that lead to a close. This involves having questions that allow you that are easy to consider and will enable you to introduce your world view.

Meeting 317

Meeting Proposal Positioning Pipeline 317

Smooth Sale

JUNE 27, 2024

Photo by Inverewe via Pixabay Attract the Right Job or Clientele: Proven Strategies for Closing More B2G SaaS Deals As the popularity of cloud services and applications continues to trend upward, the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) industry has grown tremendously. With over a decade in sales, his experience ranges from B2B, B2G, and B2C.

B2G 98

B2G Closing Government Strategy 98

The Pipeline

JUNE 8, 2017

Proposal to Close. Discovery to Proposal. I find four numbers give you the opportunity to continuously leverage them to improve your sales approach and execution, and by extension your success. Initial meeting (live or virtual) to Discovery.

Proposal 228

Proposal Quota Commission Territories 228

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 16, 2020

Close ratio of referred leads. Take a close look at your on-boarding process for all new hires, not just in sales. What I’m proposing requires true leadership. A proposed project or a new business relationship will either get you to your goal, or not. You can manage to these referral activities: Number of people asked.

Referrals 328

Referrals Sales Management Hiring Scale 328

Sales and Marketing Management

OCTOBER 6, 2019

Starting discussions early will provide some breathing room for you and your clients alike, and it allows you to propose a rough timeline of key dates that would work for you. Think back to the original scope you proposed to your client. In either case, the clarity around their goals should drive your proposed renewal.

Negotiation 184

Negotiation Proposal Forecasting Objections 184

Sales 2.0

DECEMBER 3, 2024

They had worked on a territory for over a year, but they did not meet the c-suite’s expectations for closed sales. Any proposals sent? Could there be any “low hanging fruit” here–where I can swoop in for a quick close? A common sales scenario The setup for this project is a classic. A salesperson just left.

Scale 195

Scale Territories Face-to-face Construction 195

The Pipeline

JULY 7, 2021

Simple questions, like of ten prospects who enter Discovery, how many will take a proposal. BTW, that small discount it took to close them, that’s a number, may not be your number, but a number. We use the Activity Calculator to help salespeople create their improvement plans based on their own performance.

Discount 361

Discount Quota Sports Objections 361

Understanding the Sales Force

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

You’ll keep trying but it won’t close. The three alternatives are: Nice to have and when it’s only nice to have, your opportunity will stall midway through the pipeline. Motivated buyer – something they want and need, but you still fall short of urgency, leading to a very long sales cycle.

Kana 194

Kana Benefit Margin Sales Qualified Lead 194