August, 2015

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Don’t Confuse Recommendations with Referral Leads

No More Cold Calling

Just because clients are willing to refer you doesn’t mean they will. “Turn 70 percent of your prospects into customers.” That statement got my attention—not just because it sounded too easy, but because I wasn’t sure where the data came from or how accurate it was. Sure, referral leads are top-notch, but they don’t just appear.

Referrals 253
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Do Great Salespeople Make Great Managers?

Sales and Marketing Management

Issue Date: 2015-08-03. Author: Gregg Schwartz. Teaser: Finding great managerial talent is always a tricky and uncertain proposition, but your team will often be better served if you look beyond the top sales performers. Finding great managerial talent is always a tricky and uncertain proposition, but your team will often be better served if you look beyond the top sales performers.

Sales 253
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What to do With a Nice Rep Who Just Can’t Sell?

Steven Rosen

I love sales managers. They are great people who are dedicated to helping salespeople succeed and drive sales performance/sales in organizations. One thing that drives me crazy is when I work with a sales managers who are reluctant to fire reps who are not performing and will never be good at sales because they a good at admin and responsive to their manager.

Hiring 252
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Qualifying Budget Too Early – Sales eXecution 308

The Pipeline

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca . I was watching a pundit wax poetic about how to qualify prospects on an initial prospecting call. I give him credit for acknowledging that the phone and cold calling is still a viable means of reaching real buyers, but I had issues with some other points he was trying to make, namely, qualifying for budget.

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The Trends You Need to Succeed This Holiday Season

October Prime Day is usually an early sign of how consumer spending trends ahead of the holidays. This one was no exception. Our October Prime Day Report breaks down what’s working: the products flying off the shelves, the categories winning big, big brands, and the search terms defining demand. All brought to you via Similarweb’s Shopper Intelligence platform.

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8 Traits That Will Transform You From Salesperson To Trusted Consultant

MTD Sales Training

Most salespeople we see on our courses like to consider themselves as consultants rather than salespeople. They tend to think that salespeople get tarred with the same brush and like to think they. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]].

Course 231

More Trending

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Why the Best Sales Techniques Won’t Win You Clients (Here’s What Will)

No More Cold Calling

Without strong relationships, your sales career is DOA. Salespeople are asking the wrong questions: What are the best sales techniques? What tech tools will help me generate hot leads and land new clients? It’s not what will help you win clients; it’s who. The answer is you. Yes, you are the very best tool in your sales toolkit. You know how to have conversations and build relationships—the most important ingredients for sales success.

Referrals 246
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4 Things Your Sales Proposal Would Tell You If It Could Talk

Sales and Marketing Management

Issue Date: 2015-08-31. Author: Jesse Kurth, Director of Client Success, TinderBox. Teaser: The sales proposal is one of the most underappreciated assets in the sales process, yet it has more influence over closing a deal than all other sales materials combined. A neglected proposal is like a dull blade – entirely ineffective, but when “sharpened,” a proposal can cut through the competitive noise and distinguish your offer from others.

Proposal 234
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Top 10 Reasons Why New Sales Managers Fail

Steven Rosen

Welcome to Steven’s Top 10. I will be publishing a new top 10 list every week. Feel free to add additional points to the list and if you have any lists you are interested in please let me know. Of course my focus is on sales, sales leadership, executives and business. Your firm is growing and needs a competent, energetic sales manager to increase revenue and direct sales operations on the frontline.

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Turn Your Proactive Prospecting Calls Upside-down – Sales eXecution 307

The Pipeline

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca . The primary, and one can argue the only purpose of a prospecting call is to gain engagement. It is not, as some pundits will tell you, to build rapport or start the relationship, or set yourself up for the future. These latter outcomes are things we sometimes have to settle for, but there is no doubt these are a distant second place to the primary goal; the singular objective and measure of success is to schedule a meeting, (live, phone, web, wh

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AI Strategies for Sales Managers: How to Cut Down on Tedious Admin Work

What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.

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Why Salespeople Fail

The Sales Hunter

Recently I was on the phone with the president of a large company in their particular industry. The reason for the call was to discuss why salespeople fail and ultimately what can be done to minimize it. We don’t go out and hire a new salesperson expecting them to fail, but in the end, […].

Hiring 211
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Why Inbound and Inside Sales Experts Think Sales Process is Dead Too

Understanding the Sales Force

Sales Process isn't even the only thing that inbound marketers say is dead. They'll have you believing that salespeople are no longer needed, selling is dead, and a consultative approach is dead too. They are basically ready to proclaim that anything selling related, that they don't really understand or find it necessary to do, is not needed and dead.

Inbound 224
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[Note to the Sales Manager] Why Your Sales Reps Can’t Close

No More Cold Calling

Think your team has a “closing” problem? Think again. How often have you heard leaders say, “My salespeople can’t close”? If you’re a sales manager, you’ve probably even said it. But failing to close is never the real problem. Never. That’s just the symptom. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during early stages of the sales process.

Closing 243
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The Best Stories Sell

Sales and Marketing Management

Issue Date: 2015-08-14. Author: Ruth Sherman. Teaser: Telling stories and using quotes and quips to spice up your presentation are wonderful ways to plug into your audience and have them plug right back into you. There is magic in the art of storytelling. Practice that art, and you’ll have the ability to have the audience[link] eating out of your hand whenever you want.

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Buyer’s Guide: 5 Tough Questions To Ask a Salesforce Managed Services Provider

This guide is for leaders who recognize the importance of Salesforce but would rather trust a team of external experts to do the heavy lifting. Choosing the right managed services provider is a significant decision that impacts your business's efficiency and success. In this 10-minute read, you'll find 5 essential questions to ask any potential provider.

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Top 10 Sales Coaching Quotes

Steven Rosen

Sales is a team sport and like in any sport, a sales team without a great coach is a team that will never win, regardless of the talent and skill of its individual members. Effective sales coaching is about helping your sales people get better at what they do. Below you will find 10 Sales Coaching Quotes that I find insightful and inspirational. Many come from sports coaches who understand the power of great coaching.

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Learning What You Don’t Know to Win Deals – Sales eXecution 306

The Pipeline

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca . We all have deals we know we should have won, they had our name practically written on them, all we had to do was complete, yet in the end, the commission went to a rep from another company. First you need to do is dig in and understand why you won, much like you would when you win, or when the prospect takes no decision.

Margin 240
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5 Critical “HOW TOs” to Increase Sales Results for Sales Leaders

The Sales Hunter

It’s time to cut to the chase and do what needs to be done if we’re going to get sales to where we know they can be. Few organizations come close to getting all of the sales possible. Breakdowns occur for any number of reasons. Cut through everything, and it almost always comes down to […].

Sales 211
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How the Right Questions Can Make up for Lack of Sales Experience

Understanding the Sales Force

Last week, for the second year in a row, our son played in a 12U baseball tournament in Cooperstown, NY. Last year he played with boys a year older than him and the tournament inspired this very popular article on the Top 5 Mistakes Salespeople Make. This year's tournament was special, it was exciting to be there, and a privilege for him to be on such a talented team.

Up-Sell 222
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Beyond the Basics: How to Develop and Retain a Top-Performing Sales Team

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Sales at Allego

Maximizing sales rep performance is no easy task. 📈 Traditional sales training methods focus heavily on the first few weeks in the sales role. Companies dedicate time, resources, and budget to onboarding new hires, only for them to forget what was learned in those first few weeks, lose motivation, and struggle to come to grips with their role.

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Does “Call Reluctance” Prevent You from Asking for Referrals?

No More Cold Calling

What are salespeople so afraid of? “I think I’ve told you before that I have a mild-to-moderate case of call reluctance. Even warm opportunities I’m following up on create anxiety.” I was a little surprised to receive this email from Sam, a sales and marketing pro with years of experience. In theory, someone who talks to people for a living should be accustomed to it.

Referrals 234
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How B2B Startups Can Build a Successful Sales Team with Accountability and Coaching

Sales and Marketing Management

Issue Date: 2015-08-20. Author: Joe Curtis. Teaser: In the fall of 2014, Unishippers Global Logistics, LLC, the nation’s first and one of the largest small package and freight resellers, launched a new subsidiary named Launch Logistics and I was named the President and Chief Sales Officer. I knew that building a high-performing and energetic B2B sales team was critical to the company’s overall success.

B2B 218
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One Simple Trick to Improve Your Sales Presentations

The Sales Heretic

View image | gettyimages.com Do your sales presentations cause prospects to buy immediately? Or do they result in yawns, glassy stares and fidgeting? If it’s the former, great! But if it’s the latter, there’s a simple way to make them far more powerful. What is this tactic? And how can you incorporate it into your [.].

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Simple Strategies to Help Your Business Succeed

The Pipeline

The Pipeline Guest Post – Megan Totka. Whether you are an entrepreneur in the midst of launching your business, or a successful business owner who wants to continue to prosper, there are always strategies you can implement to maximize your success rate. Keep in mind, sometimes it is critical for both startups and mature businesses to say no – and doing so doesn’t mean your business won’t be successful.

Strategy 240
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How to Optimize Call Monitoring: Automate QA and Elevate Customer Experience

Speaker: Laura Noonan, Chief Revenue Officer at CallFinder + Angie Kronlage, Director of Program Success at Working Solutions + April Wiita, Vice President of Program Success at Working Solutions

Are you still manually reviewing calls? 🤔 It's time for a change! The traditional method of manual call monitoring is no longer cutting it in today's fast-paced call center environment. Industry experts Angie Kronlage and April Wiita from Working Solutions are here to explore the power of innovative automation to revolutionize outdated call review processes!

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A Great Sales Lesson That Will Make You Memorable To Your Customers

MTD Sales Training

There was a story going around the internet that was probably apocryphal, but I like to think it was true, as it gives a valuable lesson in sales, if not in life generally. A university student at a. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]].

Customer 205
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Sales Hacks and How to Improve Your Lead Follow Up Conversions

Understanding the Sales Force

I just returned to the office to find around 900 emails waiting for me While purging my Inbox, I found some interesting and useful items that I am sure you would want to know about. I have previously written about how important it is to quickly and consistently follow up on inbound leads. This article from September of 2013 included two great infographics that demonstrate lead conversion statistics.

Follow-up 210
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[Message to Management]: What a Winning Sales Team Does Differently

No More Cold Calling

To attract and retain talented salespeople, build an environment where winners can thrive. I hung up the phone and barged into my manager’s office. Without any explanation, I announced, “Get out the suntan lotion.” He looked puzzled for a minute, and then a huge smile spread across his face. He got up from his desk, shook my hand, and congratulated me for making Club.

Hiring 228
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B2B Sales Still Needs A Human Touch

Sales and Marketing Management

Issue Date: 2015-07-01. Author: Barry C. Collin. Teaser: As new tech grabs much of the news regarding game-changing tactics in sales today, we’re letting ourselves become so focused on the digital side that we’ve forgotten it’s only part of the equation. As new tech grabs much of the news regarding game-changing tactics in sales today, we’re letting ourselves become so focused on the digital side that we’ve forgotten it’s only part of the equation.

B2B 214
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Secrets of a Successful Sale: Optimizing Your Checkout Process

Speaker: David Nisbet, Everett Zufelt, and Michaela Weber

Once upon a time, in the vast realm of online commerce, there lived a humble checkout button overlooked by many. Yet, within its humble click lay the power to transform a mere visitor into a loyal customer. 🧐 💡 Getting checkout right can mark the difference between a successful sale and an abandoned cart, yet many businesses fail to make payments a part of their commerce strategy even when it has a direct impact on revenue.

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I Don’t Sell. I Help People With Their Problems.

The Sales Hunter

Listening to a successful small business person being interviewed a few weeks ago, I was struck by a comment he made about his success. He was asked if he saw himself as a salesperson. His response was, “No, that’s the last thing I would want to be, I don’t sell at all. What I […].

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Their Only Pain is You

The Pipeline

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca . Ask a group of sales people what they want to know about their prospect, and the majority respond “I want to know about their pain or needs” In theory a good concept, in practice highly over rated and ineffective. As discussed before, at any given time, only a small percentage of your total potential market is in play.

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Here’s A Sales Challenge That Guarantees Results…

MTD Sales Training

Occasionally, I set a challenge to my sales team and they enjoy it as much as I do, as it stretches them but it also challenges them to do something they should be doing on a regular basis anyway. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]].

Guarantee 196