The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

From the time of the first salesperson, sales leaders have been trying to figure out how to get their teams to prospect. In a recent survey, 42% of sales and corporate leaders identified prospecting as a skills gap in their organizations. But while prospecting part/start of the sales cycle. By Tibor Shanto.

System 316

System Prospecting Quota Decision Maker 316

No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2021

This broken link is to blame for sales teams’ biggest closing mistakes. “My This is the frustrated lament I hear regularly from sales leaders. But not closing sales is never the real problem. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during earlier stages of the sales process. It’s just a symptom.

Closing 409

Closing Sales Qualified Lead Lead Scoring Lead Rank 409

Zoominfo

JANUARY 23, 2021

If your sales pipeline is colder than a Siberian spigot in January, it’s time to rethink your sales prospecting techniques. Here’s the thing though, reps need actionable techniques and tips to make their prospecting systematic, smooth, and, of course, profitable. What are Prospecting Techniques? Let’s jump in.

Ideal Customer Profile 264

Ideal Customer Profile Prospecting Cold Calling Decision Maker 264

Zoominfo

MARCH 12, 2025

Sales leaders need to make sure that every interaction counts and that means understanding which accounts are the best fit, when to reach out, and how to solve customer challenges. 70% reduction in data inaccuracy , saving time and effort for reps 1,100+ hours saved from manual data enrichment, allowing sales reps to focus on closing deals.

Pipeline 130

Pipeline Ideal Customer Profile Marketing Sales Qualified Lead 130

Sales and Marketing Management

JULY 7, 2022

When selling enterprise software and software as a service (SaaS), a proof-of-value exercise (POV) can be an accelerator for the decision maker, especially when working with a prospect that has complex requirements.

Software 334

Software Software Sales Process Decision Maker 334

The Center for Sales Strategy

JUNE 12, 2024

You’ve researched to identify the key decision-makers of your target prospects. You can’t sell anything until you first talk to a decision-maker. But you can’t get a decision-maker to pick up the phone or even open your emails. How do you break through to seemingly unresponsive decision-makers?

Decision Maker 120

Decision Maker Ideal Customer Profile Strategy Up-Sell 120

Understanding the Sales Force

JANUARY 9, 2025

If you play your cards right, follow the sales process and use a consultative approach, they may not need to talk with anyone else! You’ll never do anything to change the timing on the two ends of the timing spectrum, but for those prospects in the middle, you can create perfect timing!

Airlines 173

Airlines Decision Maker Call-back Vendor 173

Mr. Inside Sales

JULY 20, 2021

Top pros are using this time to sharpen their sales skills so they can make a killing in the fourth quarter. For a proven way to make more money, with less rejection, and a way to become more confident and make more sales, take advantage of our Summer Sale! Connect with decision makers easier. Summer kind of slow?

Gatekeeper 315

Gatekeeper Decision Maker Face-to-face Licensing 315

Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 25, 2021

If you know someone that runs a business with a sales team, or they lead the charge themselves, have them take a look at the areas below for ways they can increase their sales. Improving even one of these areas could take their sales to the next level. Sales process efficiency. Sales time sucks.

Territories 396

Territories Compensation Scale Decision Maker 396

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 1, 2021

I’m embarrassed by the bad sales behavior that blasts us every day. Obviously, I’ve never been a fan of cold calling, but now the uninvited sales pitches are multichannel. LinkedIn invitations to connect from people who immediately send you a sales pitch. Rude, rude, rude sales behavior. Sales Reps Not Closing Sales?

Referrals 316

Referrals Decision Maker Cold Calling Social Media 316

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

How important are prospecting insights to your sales strategy? Of course, your sales strategy’s success, including reaching your revenue goals, depends on the sales team hitting their numbers. It could be that their sales reps know how to prospect effectively. What are prospecting insights?

Data 246

Data Prospecting Strategy Cold Calling 246

Mr. Inside Sales

MAY 12, 2024

Who do you think knows why your prospect buys? Who do you think knows when your prospect is going to buy? The answer, of course, is your prospect! The problem for many sales reps, is that they prefer to pitch and talk at prospects more than they actually ask questions and listen. Or who they like to buy from?

Prospecting 212

Prospecting Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker 212

Understanding the Sales Force

JULY 21, 2021

In that article I shared a top/bottom analysis where the top performers were 100% more effective reaching decision makers than the bottoms. In an article last week we discussed how data can help you hire the ideal salespeople. Below I've shared another top/bottom analysis with different findings.

Decision Maker 314

Decision Maker Hiring Analysis Data 314

Mr. Inside Sales

MARCH 17, 2023

So many sales reps are anxious when they speak with a prospect. And, if they are an influencer collecting information, then: “What is the timeline of the (decision maker) to put something like this to work for them?” And, to qualify the influencer: “How do you get involved in the decision process?”

Decision Maker 261

Decision Maker Face-to-face Gatekeeper Licensing 261

No More Cold Calling

JULY 12, 2024

Sales leaders complain that reps don’t get enough qualified leads, their pipelines are fluff, and it takes them way too long to reach their prospects. A disciplined referral system can help your company scale by increasing deal size, converting prospects to clients, and penetrating prime accounts. Big problem!

Scale 317

Scale Referrals Penetration Sales Qualified Lead 317

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Want prospects to respond with lightning speed? It’s time to activate the triple touch sales tactic. What is the Triple Touch in Sales? The triple touch is a tactic that salespeople use to engage prospects. Here’s the thing, if you’re in sales, you know that getting B2B prospects’ attention is tough.

Prospecting 237

Prospecting Top of Funnel Decision Maker Sales Qualified Lead 237

Mr. Inside Sales

JUNE 11, 2021

Sales people like to talk; if you don’t believe me, just listen to a recording of one of your reps (or of yourself!). And when your ears are closed, you learn nothing about your prospect’s buying motives, their possible objections, or whether or not they are buying into your pitch. Ask questions frequently of your prospect.

Face-to-face 317

Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 317

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Daily, sales reps (mostly SDRs) face the daunting task of turning cold calls into warm calls. Sales reps look to increase conversion rates by upping their cold call game. Along with actionable intelligence, guidelines for cold calls allow both sales managers and SDRs to tailor their sales processes. Reason for Calling.

Cold Calling 264

Cold Calling Guidelines Prospecting Face-to-face 264

Mr. Inside Sales

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Influencers are key to both getting through to decision makers, and to eventually making a sale. The question is: How do you properly qualify them and get them to influence the sale in your favor? To avoid that, always both assume the influencer has a voice in the decision, and then qualify her/him for that.

Influencer 288

Influencer Decision Maker Face-to-face Gatekeeper 288

Mr. Inside Sales

DECEMBER 12, 2020

In case you missed this, I received the following email last week: Dear Mike: The people have spoken and your article, “3 Keys to Dealing with Difficult Prospects,” has won 2nd place in our 2020 Sales Pro Central MVP Awards Social Selling category!” Here’s what I teach: Prospects have all the answers.

Decision Maker 291

Decision Maker Face-to-face Call-back Gatekeeper 291

Mr. Inside Sales

APRIL 23, 2021

First, remember: Most objections are smokescreens hiding the real reason a prospect isn’t moving forward. Here’s one way I have successfully dealt with this and gotten the prospect to reveal what was really holding them back. And then hit MUTE and listen to what your prospect reveals. ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

Face-to-face 334

Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 334

Mr. Inside Sales

MARCH 6, 2021

This may sound elemental, but I rarely hear sales reps use it when speaking with gatekeepers. ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS! The post Two Simple Words to Open More Doors—and Close More Sales appeared first on Mr. Inside Sales. The first word is “please.”. Or they just say they’re trying to reach so-and-so.

Gatekeeper 316

Gatekeeper Closing Face-to-face Decision Maker 316

Anthony Cole Training

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Thou shout never present without making sure your prospect is committed to making a decision. Are you certain you're getting the decision-maker to a point of clarity? This video is a part of our new series with Mark Trinkle: The 10 Commandments of Sales Success. Watch Commandment #5 now!

Decision Maker 250

Decision Maker Video Sales Prospecting 250

Sales and Marketing Management

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Author: Shawn Finder Ask sales and marketing leaders what digital channels they leverage to generate leads and help their teams hit quota and you’ll likely get the same answer over and over: cold calls and emails. It’s capable of including other mediums, both visual and auditory, which means you can engage your prospects on a deeper level.

Quota 296

Quota Channels Decision Maker Cold Calling 296

Zoominfo

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

In short, ABM treats individual high-value accounts or collections of good-fit prospect accounts as mini-campaigns, surrounding their buying committees and key influencers with targeted, value-driven marketing assets. Account-based marketing (ABM) is not a new discipline, but the tools that help fuel successful ABM are constantly evolving.

Account Based Marketing 130

Account Based Marketing Account Software Software 130

Mr. Inside Sales

JULY 30, 2021

Wouldn’t it be convenient to have a list of 5 questions you could use to get your prospect talking, to get them to open up about how they’re feeling and what you might need to concentrate on? If you’re a manager, this is a great exercise for a sales meeting. You could do two: one for prospecting and one for the close.

Closing 334

Closing Gatekeeper Face-to-face Decision Maker 334

Understanding the Sales Force

AUGUST 16, 2023

If they were anything like the bottom 56% of all salespeople, who don’t effectively follow a sales process, they would begin with step 4 so that they could quickly get to steps 7-9. The post How Building a Stone Walkway Makes the Case for Sales Process appeared first on Kurlan & Associates, Inc.

Sales Process 227

Sales Process Decision Maker Proposal Follow-up 227

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Message to cold callers: Pestering strangers is NOT the way to prospect. Cold calling is a duplicitous, disingenuous sales tactic. If you make 100 calls, you’ll talk to about 20 people, schedule 10 sales appointments, and if you’re lucky, close one new deal. Why would you bother with a sales system that gets such dismal results?

Cold Calling 365

Cold Calling Social Media Telemarketing Referrals 365

Mr. Inside Sales

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

Question for you: How often do you take notes while you’re on Mute and your prospect is revealing their buying motives? Make a much better connection with your prospect or client because they will feel listened to and heard. Like so many solid techniques in sales, this one is simple—but it will only work if you commit to trying it.

Motivation 332

Motivation Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker 332

Zoominfo

AUGUST 8, 2024

To be successful, sales professionals need to be experts in many different areas at once: their product’s strengths and weaknesses, their prospects’ pain points and needs, and the broader economic and competitive landscapes. To give sellers a fighting chance, sales leaders need to build an effective, flexible sales enablement program.

Sales Enablement 130

Sales Enablement Strategy Scale Hiring 130

Sales Gravy

MARCH 25, 2025

Hes already tried a variety of channels, including inside sales, social media, and email, but is struggling to ramp up both volume and quality. In B2B lead gen often requires multiple touch points before prospects even see why they need to talk to you. In B2B sales randomness is the enemy of effectiveness.

Ideal Customer Profile 88

Ideal Customer Profile Sales Qualified Lead B2B Top of Funnel 88

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 20, 2024

Although this is an article about sales process, the first two paragraphs have more to do with religion than sales. I’m sure by now you’re thinking, but Dave, what the heck does that have to do with sales process? Similarly, many prospects are also non-believers in your product or service.

Sales Process 341

Sales Process Sales Methodology Decision Maker Pipeline 341

Mr. Inside Sales

JULY 6, 2021

Rookie mistake: You’ve got several products or services you can offer a prospect, and you start by offering the first, or main one, then hear an opening for another one so pivot to that one, and describe another—and then another. Stalled sale. Not only will the prospect be confused, but you will be, too. Sound familiar?

Face-to-face 317

Face-to-face How To Pivotal Call-back 317

Zoominfo

MARCH 4, 2021

On the other hand, a faster sales cycle keeps your buyer’s attention on your offering. Understanding the sales cycle in separate stages helps predict buyer behavior and selling outcomes. Sales reps can also pinpoint specific obstacles and make improvements with a stage-focused sales strategy. Prospecting.

Sales Cycle 246

Sales Cycle Ideal Customer Profile Lead Scoring Lead Rank 246

Allego

JANUARY 21, 2025

Sales prospecting has transformed from its traditional roots of cold calls and door-to-door pitches into a dynamic discipline that blends strategy, psychology, and technology. This shift has turned prospecting into a strategic effort. What Is Sales Prospecting? In addition, buyer behavior has changed.

Prospecting 62

Prospecting Ideal Customer Profile Handbook Decision Maker 62

Understanding the Sales Force

DECEMBER 1, 2020

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday, I received two assessments for the same candidate: one from Objective Management Group (OMG) and one from Caliper. Caliper's is a personality test adapted for sales. Caliper's is a personality test adapted for sales. The candidate scored 60% on Caliper and 92 on OMG.

Comparison 313

Comparison Lead Scoring Lead Rank Hiring 313

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Sales, and the corner my fellow pundits and I occupy is no different. People often talk about changes we face in sales but continue to try to deal with theses changes using old schtick. While that may have made sense in more traditional organizations, in 2020, there is a better way to chart sales success. Going High.

Decision Maker 293

Decision Maker Face-to-face Buyer Sales 293