The Pipeline

MAY 9, 2012

No where is that more evident than in prospecting. Letting up on your prospecting to look after other “more important things”has an immediate negative impact, in the form of a light pipeline. Discount means lesser margins, less reinvestment opportunity for your company, and more.

Top of Funnel 282

Top of Funnel Discount Funnel Energy 282

The Pipeline

JANUARY 25, 2022

In a world of monthly subscriptions and the battle for new clients/revenue, the victim is often margin. To be frank, it is no different in a purchase cycle , bringing on clients without margin is, well, costly. Sometimes the best hunting is in your own pond, growing your margin requires replacing, and upgrading current accounts.

Margin 188

Margin Commission Territories Negotiation 188

SBI Growth

MARCH 11, 2013

He brought case studies, a company history, and press releases as back-up. Turns out, the prospect included Bill late in the process. Bill’s company was added as a last minute option. Based on our research, B2B companies and their Sales Reps see the following benefits: Close 1/3 more deals. The Benefits of Alignment.

Buyer 333

Buyer B2B Lead Rank Lead Scoring 333

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 10, 2014

The best customer: Well, Acme Oil Company has been really good to us. He even knew the probability of closing a prospect based on this criteria match. It will get you started on identifying and prioritizing your best customers and prospects. This was due to a lower sales margin and an increased cost to serve.

Customer 308

Customer Retail Segment Exercises 308

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Increasingly, companies are missing the number because they lack a formal sales strategy. Examples here are wide ranges in either revenue/deal or margin/deal. Benefit – Gives you the ability to prioritize your customer/prospect base. Success Metrics – higher win rates, higher average deal size/margin.

Strategy 317

Strategy Hiring Top of Funnel Margin 317

SBI Growth

JULY 23, 2013

The top of the funnel is filling with highly qualified prospects. You can avoid commoditization and grow your margins. The problem is the rest of the company doesn’t get it. Angry customers and prospects identify themselves as in the market. Reps can use event to get an appointment with prospects.

Social Selling 323

Social Selling Benefit Top of Funnel Guidelines 323

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Are your sales reps wasting time prospecting? You’re a sales leader accountable for increasing revenue, while at the same time managing your profit margins. If you’re fairly new to your company, your sales reps are a mixed bag of talent. Arrive pre-sold: Prospects know the business reason for meeting.

Referrals 279

Referrals Lead Rank Sales Qualified Lead Lead Scoring 279

The Pipeline

APRIL 6, 2021

Most salespeople are way over reliant on their product while prospecting or selling, continuing to lead with and hype features/benefits. But as Mike Tyson said, the best made plans are laid out by the first punch or prospect objection. How many times have you watched a rep vigorously negotiate with their company, rather than the buyer?

SME 299

SME Lead Rank Lead Scoring Discount 299

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 21, 2013

Based on a discussion I had recently with two experienced sales people who were trying to persuade me (sell me), on the fact that what they do is much more “mediate” between the buyer and their company. Mediate, really? What’s in Your Pipeline? Tibor Shanto.

Negotiation 280

Negotiation Margin Buyer Objections 280

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

This is ideal for emerging companies in the $10M - $100M range. Company Size. "51-100" Company Name. "GE" This is where your buyer persona can be leveraged to create an irresistible offer to your ideal targeted prospect. This approach also allows marketers to control costs by setting a budget. What has changed?

LinkedIn 296

LinkedIn Sales Qualified Lead Top of Funnel Marketing Qualified Lead 296

Sales and Marketing Management

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

It left me wondering whether that sentiment rings true now that inside and outside sales reps are spending more time connecting with prospects and customers remotely versus face-to-face. Participants (800 in total) were divided randomly into the four conditions and instructed to imagine themselves as executives at a food processing company.

Meeting 250

Meeting Sales Meeting Face-to-face Margin 250

The Pipeline

JULY 28, 2014

This is especially fatal early in the process, when they start they prospecting, be that a call, an e-mail, or a social outlet, leading with the How, then wondering why they are not having the traction they seek. Engage with them based on these, and the How will follow.

Decision Maker 310

Decision Maker Objections Margin Vendor 310

SBI Growth

JULY 15, 2013

With every account or prospect, follow these 4 steps to be successful: 1. You may have one or two initial contacts at the company. For instance, marginalize or convert the anti-sponsor in several ways: - Address objections if possible. Good Reps foster partnerships with the top influencers. Any level in any group is preferred.

Account 308

Account Influencer How To Margin 308

Sales and Marketing Management

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Many small businesses were operating with extremely low margins before the crisis began, some operating at a loss or only breaking even. Following the 2008 recession, it took larger companies an average of four years to recover their pre-recession level of GDP , while smaller companies took six years.

Small Business 317

Small Business Small Business Lead Rank Sales Qualified Lead 317

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]. We''re a company that.oh The same day, I was asked about a salesperson at a client''s company. having a hard time telling if the prospect is interested (26%). Okay, so that''s the first incident.

Decision Maker 271

Decision Maker Survey Follow-up Margin 271

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 19, 2013

One is the result of the type of prospects you pursue; if you are selling stuff measured in units, the larger the target company, the more units they will require. A variation on this is a recent example from a company I worked with. You can always go down stream once you have sold the ideal size first.

Scale 296

Scale Fashion Margin Sales Cycle 296

Anthony Cole Training

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Despite the obvious confusion of how many “secrets” there really are to any kind of success, today I bring you THE ONE secret to getting your sales people to sell more, more quickly at higher margins. That your prospect has committed in advance to spend money to fix the problem. I have come to this realization based on my last 4 sales.

Hiring 198

Hiring Insurance Insurance Margin 198

The Pipeline

AUGUST 14, 2013

I see this in all aspects of sales, those who just make ten calls to ten sequential names on a list, and call it prospecting; versus those who initiate contact and engagement with ten 10 prequalified, researched, planned and targeted viable potential buyers, using all the tools available to them, from traditional to social and everything between.

Scale 293

Scale Forecasting Call-back Account 293

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 5, 2013

You know if the company will make or miss the number. If company goals weren’t reached this year, what might you have done differently? Having a clear understanding of your ideal customers and prospects is essential to success. Without that, virtually all else below is drastically marginalized.

Top of Funnel 296

Top of Funnel Territories Scale Segment 296

The Pipeline

AUGUST 6, 2019

When the prospect tics enough of the boxes, their qualified. The current approach tends to set the bar somewhat low, taking away valuable time that can be spent with real prospects. So will the number of time reps can spend time developing their skills and territories when they stop chasing marginal things.

Sales Qualified Lead 242

Sales Qualified Lead Buyer Segment Quota 242

Pointclear

JANUARY 4, 2018

For example: “The average cost per lead across all the companies surveyed is almost $200 ($198.44).Admittedly, Admittedly, that’s a useless statistic, as these figures vary quite dramatically depending on industry, company size, etc.” (see You can’t cost effectively buy quality leads for low price and low margin offers.

Cost per Lead 170

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Lead PointClear Lead Rank 170

The Sales Hunter

OCTOBER 11, 2012

The lower profit margin you’re making selling at the lower price is not going to give you or your company the level of profit you need to operate. Why do anything that would attract difficult customers? A smarter move would be to encourage them to buy from a competitor.

Discount 276

Discount Margin Motivation Groups 276

Bernadette McClelland

JANUARY 27, 2014

Contrast that with my favourite sales team that I work with in Atlanta, Georgia – ‘Northwest Pest Control Company’ who have positioned themselves as the leading company in their industry – and it is not hard to see why. Whose salespeople will sell more?

Margin 247

Margin Lead Rank Lead Scoring Discount 247

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 22, 2012

You figure on $100,000 deal, say 8% commission, going to $95,000 will only impact you by $400, but could be the margin for your company. When you come up to the next resistance, you hesitantly try one more point, then another, and you are at 5%. What’s in Your Pipeline?

Discount 303

Discount Margin Commission Pipeline 303

Bernadette McClelland

JANUARY 20, 2018

5. Know your prospects. Know your company story. Find the problem, discover solution, present why solution is best for prospect. Make your key objective to help the customer, not to close a sale. 6. Know your competition. Solve their problems. Build rapport. Understand the buyers needs and KPIs. Networking. Storytelling.

Selling Skills 317

Selling Skills Negotiation Sales Leadership Margin 317

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 21, 2014

There are many uses for benchmarking in sales, and while the approach taken by most assessment companies helps them, it doesn''t really help you. Let''s say that you''re speaking with a company that provides a personality assessment or a behavioral styles assessment. We have done this nearly 750,000 times!

Hiring 263

Hiring Groups Exact Face-to-face 263

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 8, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan I have been teaching and writing for years that buyer-focused selling, a consultative approach to sales, is the best approach for differentiating, adding and being the value, maintaining and increasing margins and winning a larger percentage of opportunities.

Consultative Selling 259

Consultative Selling Margin Sports Sales Methodology 259

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 24, 2012

Activity Metrics - For each framework component, capture the activity metrics, both impressions and prospect click and response interactions. You track the Lead Source to capture the first contact a prospect makes with your company. The projection ROI is based on the average sales price and gross margin.

Demand Generation Agencies 293

Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Demand Generation Demand Generation Targets 293

Pointclear

AUGUST 2, 2017

Market definition : We once did work for a company that had two different views of the market. Sales was focused on $1 million opportunities in big companies. Marketing focused on $10,000 deals in small-to-medium sized companies. Establishing the right prospect experience substantially increases close rates. Lead Rate.

Sales Qualified Lead 160

Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring Closing 160

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

You know I have never read an article or a post that was written by an advocate of cold calling, suggesting that social selling is bad, ridiculing people who use the practice to engage with prospects, suggest that it is inadequate, or about to die. Step back you don’t wanna get any on your shoes). . Why do Socialites? Kumbaya Time.

Cold Calling 292

Cold Calling Social Media Decision Maker Lead Rank 292

Sales and Marketing Management

JUNE 22, 2020

Under normal circumstances, you may have been able to set a competitive but fair price for your company’s goods or services and stick with it. Forrester SiriusDecisions research has shown that previous experience with a company is by far the biggest driver for purchasing one offering over another. Does it ever make sense to cut prices?

Margin 194

Margin Discount Airlines Incentives 194

SBI

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Customer-Specific Prices: The Silent Source of Margin Leakage. In fact, it’s not uncommon in Zilliant’s conversations with prospects and conversations, to see a high percentage of customer-specific price agreements with an end date of 2099 and a fixed unit price! Arm Sales with Relevant Customer Price Guidance.

Margin 139

Margin Customer System Vendor 139

The Pipeline

APRIL 17, 2013

I remember when I first started working for a company back in the early 1990’s (before we had web mail), the company had two main product lines, and had the usual territories across the continent, primarily driven by geography. By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca.

Demand Generation Agencies 296

Demand Generation Agencies Top of Funnel Territories Demand Generation 296

SBI Growth

SEPTEMBER 3, 2012

The prospect of tracking your critical activities may sound like having teeth pulled, but it’s an insightful exercise for sales reps. It’s common to see sales reps to get caught up in a flurry of busy work which doesn’t add to their bottom line or the revenue of the company. The first strategy - get clear on where you spend your time.

Segment 288

Segment Maximizer Margin Banking 288

Hubspot Sales

JUNE 6, 2022

Prospect research is a challenge that's every bit as frustrating as it is essential — so to help you out, we've put together a list of 18 of the best places to research buyers before sales conversations. If you decide to leverage LinkedIn to guide or support your prospect research efforts, there are some key steps you should follow.

Research 128

Research Prospecting Face-to-face Twitter 128

Understanding the Sales Force

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

Practically speaking, most companies do not increase the number of vendors they decide to speak with. It''s too much work to look at 10 and most companies are attempting to create less, not more work for themselves and their staffs. If they usually select from among 5, they are still selecting from 5. The Internet. Free trials.

Travel 251

Travel Decision Maker Insurance Insurance 251

Zoominfo

MAY 12, 2020

They’re attending networking events, following your company on social media, and applying for your open positions. However, if your active candidates are not the right candidate, recruiters have to go beyond those seeking employment now to strengthen their company’s workforce—by building a pipeline of passive candidates.

Hiring 278

Hiring How To Networking Salary 278