Understanding the Sales Force

OCTOBER 30, 2013

First, I received a cold call that went like this: " Hi Mr. Kurlan, this is [name withheld] from [huge company name withheld]. having a hard time telling if the prospect is interested (26%). And companies wonder why their sales cycles are so long, their closing percentages are so low and their margins are slip sliding away.

Decision Maker 271

Decision Maker Survey Follow-up Margin 271

The Pipeline

MARCH 6, 2012

In these times of shrinking margins and diminishing returns, Mark’s insights will change the way you think about discounting, price, negotiating, and, above all, the all-important concept of value. Cold calling. Prospecting. 3 R’s of Prospecting Success. Cold Calling Now. Appointments.

Pipeline 212

Pipeline Hiring Top of Funnel Cold Calling 212

The Sales Hunter

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

And it can be the difference between selling at a low margin short-term and selling at a high-margin long-term. Too many salespeople are what I refer to as tactical salespeople. Opportunity, however, lies in being a strategic salesperson. I believe the difference is huge!

Margin 249

Margin Motivation Objections Competition 249

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 27, 2017

revenue, pipeline, margin, growth, trends, etc.) They know the value your company delivers and can offer referrals to prospects who want to talk to your team. Asking for referrals is the fastest way to score every meeting in one call, ensure qualified lead generation , and achieve a conversion rate of well more than 50 percent.

Account 185

Account Lead Rank Lead Scoring Decision Maker 185

Sales Gravy

MARCH 11, 2025

Suddenly, she finds herself making all her own cold calls no marketing team, no pre-existing territory full of warm leads. And unlike her old deskbound clients, these new prospects are likely to be on a roof or at a job site when she calls. If you sound insecure or rushed, your prospects sense it. The lesson?

Objections 58

Objections Cold Calling Advertising Advertising 58

The Sales Hunter

DECEMBER 9, 2011

Mark’s Insights on PROSPECTING. Mark’s Insights on PROSPECTING. Check out the articles and begin closing more sales at a higher margin. cold calling. prospecting. Client List. Testimonials. Mark’s Insights on SALES MOTIVATION. Mark’s Insights on PRICING. FREE Resources. Negotiation.

Negotiation 190

Negotiation Motivation Hiring Ideal Customer Profile 190

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 3, 2012

One approach that intrepid leaders can look to is too shrink the size of territories, based on a number of factors driven by deal size, length of cycle, nature of the offering (new or mature), is the focus margin or market share, is there opportunity for organic growth, or strictly competitive account growth, and others. Cold calling.

Pipeline 212

Pipeline Territories Harvest Cold Calling 212

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 7, 2016

Don’t miss your chance to cash in on my No More Cold Calling book anniversary! One week from today—April 14, 2016—marks the 10-year anniversary of my first book, No More Cold Calling ™. What Readers Have Said About No More Cold Calling. One of the sales phases we wanted to reduce was the prospecting phase.

Cold Calling 120

Cold Calling Referrals Margin Competition 120

The Pipeline

MARCH 2, 2012

Much easier to show value to a customer than to a prospect. As a sales person you should be able to take what you know from existing clients, and apply them to new prospects. Cold calling. Prospecting. 3 R’s of Prospecting Success. Cold Calling Now. Cheers, Marc. Reply to this comment.

Pipeline 237

Pipeline Twitter Lead Rank Lead Scoring 237

The Pipeline

APRIL 8, 2011

Similarly in the market world, you have to entice a clientele base by promoting heavily without really striving for a high profit margin. Cold calling. Prospecting. 3 R’s of Prospecting Success. Cold Calling Now. Promote sales, throw out freebies, offer free shipping for certain orders.

Pipeline 216

Pipeline Meeting Webinar Metrics Strategy 216

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 2, 2016

You see the warning signs a mile away—prospects who push you on price, threaten to take their business to your competitors, make unreasonable demands, don’t return phone calls, masquerade as decision-makers when they have no real buying authority. These are the “pain in the ass” (PITA) prospects in your sales pipeline.

Pipeline 120

Pipeline Ideal Customer Profile Referrals How To 120

No More Cold Calling

JULY 9, 2015

Lose your company: If you continue to play the price game, your margins will be squeezed so tightly that you’ll have to compromise on quality, cut expenditures such as personnel, or close your doors. And our prospects know it too. Stand Your Ground It’s our buyers’ job to get the best deal possible. You just avoided a PITA client.

Ideal Customer Profile 120

Ideal Customer Profile Cold Calling Referrals Margin 120

Women Sales Pros

MARCH 1, 2019

Total sales, either revenue or margin based on how you compensate sales reps Net new clients Current account revenue Sales growth Client retention Sales Activity Metrics Set these metrics based on daily, weekly and monthly performance based on the sales role.

Marketing Qualified Lead 101

Marketing Qualified Lead Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Cold Calling 101

No More Cold Calling

JULY 2, 2015

Your profit margins will be squeezed. But with the right prospecting strategy, sales leaders can help their teams get only Ideal Clients into the sales pipeline. Consider the ideal industries, job titles, and locations of the prospects you most want to meet. They’ll challenge your expertise and question you on every move.

Referrals 120

Referrals Ideal Customer Profile Engineering Energy 120

Hubspot Sales

MAY 5, 2023

33% of sales reps say they average 2-4 interactions with prospects in the sales process. However, selling in a recession often entails more touchpoints, more objections, and slower decision-making from prospects. If you're feeling the pressure of a downturned economy, your prospects are too. Change up your pitch.

Consumer 130

Consumer Trends Strategy Data 130

Zoominfo

DECEMBER 5, 2017

Everything from the channel you select to the language you use impacts how your prospect will respond. Salespeople spend one-third of their day actually talking to prospects. Emailing (21%) Data Entry (17%) Prospecting & researching leads (17%) Internal meetings (12%) Scheduling calls (12%) 3. phone calls, 15.3

Follow-up 100

Follow-up Marketing Qualified Lead Lead Rank Cold Calling 100

Anthony Iannarino

JUNE 12, 2019

Cold calling no longer works (Your cold calling may not work, but mine works perfectly). It will seek answers that are more empowering when you ask how, making it a better question by the widest of wide margins. One single call each quarter does not effective prospecting make).

Cold Calling 103

Cold Calling Intent Call-back Margin 103

Salesmate

JUNE 23, 2020

SaaS businesses that have just started out in the market have to make their resources last for a longer time for maximizing the profit margin. SaaS business owners rely on various channels for lead generation such as: Meetups Websites Social media Email campaigns Cold calls Referrals Online advertisements.

CRM 126

CRM Hiring Software Software 126

Hubspot Sales

OCTOBER 27, 2020

They're not particularly inclined to uncover needs, but if the prospect knows what they want, the shopkeeper can find it for them. They’re the masters of smooth, soft selling and are not afraid to ask for a prospect's business. They often feel they must be liked and respected by their prospects. Shopkeeper.

Telemarketing 133

Telemarketing Top of Funnel Territories Engineering 133

Zoominfo

OCTOBER 22, 2021

At its most basic level, business development involves prospecting and lead generation. Business development concerns everything your company does to expand its operations, from the collection of newly qualified leads (prospecting) to networking at scale. The confusion is understandable — both involve growing your business.

Hiring 130

Hiring Buyer Persona Sales Qualified Lead Scale 130

Janek Performance Group

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Alabama went 13-0, won the SEC and the National Championship with an average margin of victory of 30 points. Sales tactics that worked in the past like cold calling may become less effective and require change. This level of detail creates value in your team that your prospects will recognize.

Lead Rank 118

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Cold Calling Coaching 118

Cincom Smart Selling

APRIL 22, 2025

This often involves cold emailing, cold calling, and targeted outreach on professional networking platforms. Reps quote faster, errors decrease, and you protect margins while delivering a tailored experience at scale. It’s a classic strategy for entering new markets or accelerating pipeline growth.

Revenue 48

Revenue Scale Strategy Lead Rank 48

Zoominfo

AUGUST 26, 2021

At its most basic level, business development involves prospecting and lead generation. Business development concerns everything your company does to expand its operations, from the collection of newly qualified leads (prospecting) to networking at scale. This can be particularly ruinous to early-stage startups.

Hiring 130

Hiring Buyer Persona Sales Qualified Lead Scale 130

Marc Wayshak

JULY 8, 2021

Your IPP stands for your ideal prospect profile. For most salespeople, half the people they get on the phone with aren’t even marginally a fit for what they do. To avoid this, make sure you’re only going after people who fit your ideal prospect profile. At least 20 touches per prospect.

Lead Generation 115

Lead Generation Lead Rank Lead Scoring Marketing Qualified Lead 115

Zoominfo

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the right CRM system, your reps can track their goals with ease, and maintain clear awareness of the status of current prospects. Increase Units Sold and Boost Profit Margins If your company doesn’t use recurring revenue, some of the most effective sales goal examples are also the simplest: units and margins.

Sales Goal 100

Sales Goal Examples Churn Top of Funnel 100

Crunchbase

OCTOBER 14, 2020

A good sales analyst will be able to create accurate forecasts within a 2 percent margin of error. As you’re identifying leads and cold-calling, data can provide some much-needed intel about the person or business on the other end. Why is a data-first approach so important?

Data 122

Data Churn Hiring Forecasting 122

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 4, 2020

For example, if every one of your prospects is in the contracting phase, that may overwhelm your legal team. It also shows whether you are creating more pipeline for your high-margin products or low-margin ones. This can be used to understand the health of a pipeline. This information can also be used as a coaching tool.

Data 136

Data Lead Rank Pipeline Lead Scoring 136

Hubspot Sales

AUGUST 23, 2022

Prospecting 34.75%. Pitching to prospects 35.50%. Following up cold prospects 33.25%. Companies that get this right typically see 5 to 10 percent revenue growth with the same or improved margins … often within a few months.". These included: Following up on sent contracts 35.92%. Product demos 33.50%.

Data 98

Data Lead Rank Top of Funnel Hubspot 98

Sales Hacker

JULY 16, 2020

Partnerships create very low marginal CAC, and they scale brilliantly — two properties that are rising in demand given current market conditions. Top of funnel: Stop cold calling, get a referral. If you’re like many salespeople I know, you may have even dusted off your rolodex and resorted to cold outbound tactics.

Top of Funnel 124

Top of Funnel Pipeline Scale Funnel 124

Vengreso

DECEMBER 19, 2016

During his 19 years in sales, he has witnessed a shift as the industry moved away from cold calls, spray and pray email blasting, direct mail pieces, and embraced social networking as a new additional way to engage potential customers clearer, faster, and better.

Social Selling 94

Social Selling Lead Scoring Lead Rank LinkedIn 94

SalesHandy

JULY 5, 2021

And this enables 78% of them to outsell their peers(as per Linkedin), which is quite a wide margin. When you approach leads and prospective customers on social networks – they’ll always first look into your profile before they decide to respond back. Start connecting with prospects early. Build an audience and credibility.

Social Media 98

Social Media Social Selling Media Sales Qualified Lead 98

Sales Hacker

JULY 26, 2023

This means savvy AEs are able to make more money , improve their margins, and work faster than ever before. Hyper-targeted prospecting: AI is a personal research assistant who never sleeps. Researching ICPs and pain points Need to know more about your prospects? Nurturing prospects is tough. And it happens a lot.

Ideal Customer Profile 95

Ideal Customer Profile Lead Rank Proposal Lead Scoring 95

Crunchbase

JUNE 21, 2022

If your mind jumped straight to old-school single-strategy methods like cold calling and email tactics, you can relax; it’s not that. The primary benefit of utilizing outside sales reps is that prospects receive a personalized sales experience with more detailed product information and demonstrations.

Outside Sales 97

Outside Sales Inside Sales Hiring Face-to-face 97

Close.io

JANUARY 7, 2020

If a company sells products or services with different profit margins, then this quota could also be based on the gross revenue generated from the performance of a sales organization. This is called profit quota. However, it incentivizes your sales staff to sell items with higher profit margins. Speak to more prospects.

Quota 92

Quota Meeting Forecasting Lead Rank 92

Adaptive Business Services

DECEMBER 20, 2017

For example, how many calls should you make to this one prospect and on what schedule? “In simple terms, a sales process is a systematic approach involving a series of steps that enables a sales force to close more deals, increase margins, and make more sales through referrals.”

Social Selling 54

Social Selling Referrals Proposal Margin 54

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

Lead generation falls into two key categories: Outbound lead generation: direct mail, email marketing, and cold calls. Use prospect search filters. Mailshake is a lead generation tool that lets brands automate their prospecting outreach via email, social, and phone. What is lead generation automation? Export to CSV.

Paid Content 127

Paid Content Lead Generation Lead Rank Lead Scoring 127

InsideSales.com

OCTOBER 23, 2019

Why are so many calls made and emails sent that don’t even attempt to connect with the absolute highest decision-maker ? Cold calling the CEO is difficult, but not impossible — if you know how to structure your pitch and how to get past gatekeepers. One way to do that is by prioritizing referrals over cold calls or emails.

Decision Maker 63

Decision Maker Cold Calling How To Gatekeeper 63