Hubspot Sales

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

Successfully executing a sales process is a lot like growing a flower, and in the context of this half-baked analogy, prospecting is like finding seeds. Anyway, this week's edition of The Pipeline covers some key mistakes experts say you need to avoid when prospecting. 7 Fatal Sales Prospecting Mistakes You Might Be Making 1.

Ideal Customer Profile 98

Ideal Customer Profile Prospecting Hiring Lead Scoring 98

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 6, 2017

That’s why referral selling is the only prospecting strategy that ensures qualified lead generation. And it only works if you have a referral system in place to ensure sales reps ask for referrals every day. Spend more time with customers and less time prospecting. What does it take to guarantee referral prospecting success?

Guarantee 233

Guarantee Referrals Prospecting Sales Qualified Lead 233

Vengreso

MARCH 2, 2021

Prospecting to generate sales leads is one of the most important jobs of the modern sales professional. In fact, if you ask any sales leader what their teams struggle with the most (and I have), they would say it’s prospecting, especially now that virtual selling is the norm. What is Prospecting?

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Pipeline Prospecting Ideal Customer Profile Sales Qualified Lead 145

Hubspot Sales

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Luckily, some major companies, like LinkedIn, have discovered a way to improve sales relationships, customer trust, and — ultimately — sales numbers. Recently, HubSpot sat down with Kwesi Graves , Regional Sales Manager at LinkedIn, to learn more about how he centers his team's sales approach completely around the ideal buyer.

Buyer 140

Buyer LinkedIn Sales Management Sales Qualified Lead 140

Sales 2.0

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Sales process efficiency. Sales processes have room for improvement in nearly all companies. Prospecting : Companies routinely run cold calling prospecting processes that fail 99% of the time, with 1 in 100 calls getting a meeting. Smarter approaches to prospecting are needed. Sales management.

Territories 396

Territories Compensation Scale Decision Maker 396

No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2021

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. Unless you address the broken links in your prospecting system, your sales reps will continue to struggle with closing the deal. It’s just a symptom.

Closing 409

Closing Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring 409

No More Cold Calling

MAY 24, 2018

If you’re researching the latest and greatest sales trends, you just might fall victim to the bright-shiny-object syndrome. Just because certain sales prospecting techniques are all the rage, doesn’t mean they’re right for you or for your buyer. Sales productivity tools are everywhere, but do they really enhance productivity?

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Prospecting Social Media Trends Face-to-face 196

Hubspot Sales

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

A solid social selling strategy falls somewhere between “nice-to-have” and “need-to-have” in the modern sales landscape. Activities like prospect outreach, cultivating brand awareness, and online relationship building are all enhanced by social media — so having a solid presence on these platforms can really help your case.

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Social Selling Social Media Media Networking 108

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

You bet, and it’s critical to increasing B2B sales effectiveness. By sharing information, ideas, solutions, and even referrals with our clients and prospects, we become trusted resources. Message to Management]: 14 Things Top Sales Managers Do. Sales execs tell me they don’t have time to coach their teams.

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Social Selling Cold Calling Social Media Ideal Customer Profile 296

No More Cold Calling

JULY 13, 2017

Can sales managers influence the buying process? You can’t manage revenue. If sales close, you win. Calls with their sales managers become about justifying why prospects should be in their pipelines in the first place, and discussing ways these account based sales reps can accelerate the buying process.

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Account Referrals Cold Calling Ideal Customer Profile 287

No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2014

So when and where is the best time to make a sales pitch? Save it for when your prospects genuinely like and trust you, because strangers on social media couldn’t care less. Sales is still about people buying from people. To increase sales effectiveness, we must make connections that matter. Getting Traction on LinkedIn.

Social Selling 272

Social Selling Social Media Webinar Metrics Media 272

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 5, 2014

I met Charles on LinkedIn. By the end of the call, I felt confident enough in his sales ability and product to offer him a referral to one of my contacts. Software salespeople, in particular, love to give demos, thinking if someone agrees to a demo, the prospect is qualified and can go into the CRM as a lead. Comment Here.

Referrals 286

Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Cold Calling Small Business 286

SalesFuel

FEBRUARY 16, 2025

With over 15 years in sales and marketing divisions of three Fortune 200 companies, Mark has led significant projects, including the creation of a new 200-member sales force. He is the author of several influential books, including 'High-Profit Prospecting,' 'High-Profit Selling,' and 'A Mind for Sales.'

Hiring 52

Hiring Prospecting Face-to-face Twitter 52

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 19, 2014

Selling by referral is the most personal prospecting strategy that exists. That’s why I resonated with Tom Scearce’s LinkedIn article, “ Social Media—Don’t Be THAT Guy.” LinkedIn and other social media channels are fantastic tools for beginning conversations and new relationships. That''s my. Begin a Conversation.

Referrals 292

Referrals Webinar Metrics Social Media Face-to-face 292

SBI Growth

JUNE 2, 2013

She does great work in recruiting and hiring of Sales Reps. She even ensures Sales Managers are getting the new hires onboarded effectively. Any virtual benches that the Sales Managers had have long ago been used up. Or, Sales Managers are too busy onboarding new hires to build the bench.

Hiring 312

Hiring Ideal Customer Profile Margin Commission 312

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 14, 2014

Even if you’re not actually using the phone, when you send cold emails and automated requests to connect on LinkedIn, your outreach is still ice cold. Break Free from Failed Selling Strategies It’s common sense that annoying strangers who never expressed any interest in hearing your sales pitch is a waste of time. Hear, hear!

Cold Calling 265

Cold Calling How To Referrals Small Business 265

SBI Growth

JANUARY 10, 2014

Top sales leaders know how to communicate and roll out a sales plan. Get your sales managers involved early in the process. The sales management team needs to have a clear understanding of the new quota. Sales can’t rely on marketing alone. Ensure your sales managers take this seriously.

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Quota Top of Funnel Territories Marketing Qualified Lead 316

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

End the year with a bang using the only prospecting strategy that converts prospects into clients more than 50 percent of the time. Referral selling is by far the most effective sales strategy out there. You can collect LinkedIn connections like baseball cards and get nowhere. Click through to my LinkedIn profile.

Referrals 285

Referrals Cold Calling Webinar Metrics Networking 285

Sales 2.0

MARCH 8, 2014

So how could this sales person call me and include nothing about me. Was it just too much effort to look at my Linkedin profile and know who I am? I mean if you look at my Linkedin profile or Google me you would know in about 10 microseconds that I have spent the better part of a decade going on about social selling and Sales 2.0.

Social Selling 281

Social Selling Ideal Customer Profile Software Software 281

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

Please don’t invite me to connect on LinkedIn if you just want to sell me something. Social media is a great tool for researching prospects and Referral Sources, and for positioning yourself as a thought leader. But it is not the place for a sales pitch. And never, ever ask me for a referral introduction on LinkedIn.

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Cold Calling Social Media Referrals Face-to-face 281

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 9, 2014

One quick look at his CEO’s connections on LinkedIn , and he would have seen that we’re a first connection. It’s our job as smart, strategic sales pros to deliver value—real value—and we can only do that if we’ve invested time in researching our prospects. Because Buyer 2.0 is very good at homework.

Cold Calling 280

Cold Calling Call-back Small Business Small Business 280

Hubspot Sales

MAY 3, 2021

LinkedIn's some 722 million members make for a massive pool of data that could provide sales organizations with invaluable guidance about potential opportunities and ideal prospects. What is LinkedIn Sales Insights? What can you do with LinkedIn Sales Insights?

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LinkedIn Buyer Persona Microsoft Analytics 135

Janek Performance Group

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Is your LinkedIn social selling strategy based on FOMO (the fear of missing out)? Especially if we are talking about social selling on LinkedIn. We all agree exposure on LinkedIn is important, but there can be a negative impact without a clear social selling strategy. Updated data is critical for sales success.

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Social Selling LinkedIn Guidelines Ideal Customer Profile 117

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Was just reading yet another post with “market data” declaring prospecting the most difficult aspect of sales. Thousands of blog posts about both the difficulty and importance of prospecting have been published in the past 5-7 years. We know prospecting is important, but we don’t do it on a regular basis.

Ideal Customer Profile 166

Ideal Customer Profile Prospecting Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face 166

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 10, 2021

My entire career had been sales and sales management, and my best business had always come from referrals. I asked salespeople and sales leaders I knew if they liked to get referral introductions. Get meetings with prime prospects in one call. Decrease the cost of sales. That got me thinking.

Referrals 385

Referrals Cold Calling Inbound Webinar Metrics 385

Hubspot Sales

JULY 9, 2019

Specifically, the managers who lead your sales teams — they oversee the reps who communicate directly with your prospects and customers daily. Think about it this way: If you're a sales manager and you help each of your 10 reps sell 20% more, you've essentially just "created” two new salespeople. Motivate Reps.

Sales Management 142

Sales Management Hiring Buyer Persona Compensation 142

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 18, 2014

Think you’re getting away with cold calling and pretending you’re best buddies with your prospect? When you receive referral introductions from people your prospects know and trust, they (and their gatekeepers) will happily take your call. Dump the Script We’ve all had to make calls from a script at some point in our sales career.

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Gatekeeper Cold Calling Telemarketing Referrals 303

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Or you can close the laptop and actually talk to colleagues, prospects, and clients. Get out there and actually get to know your prospects. Connect with No More Cold Calling Follow Joanne on Google+ or Twitter @ReferralSales , or connect on LinkedIn and Facebook. Relationships matter, and trust is the foundation. We all are.

Networking 294

Networking Cold Calling Small Business Small Business 294

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 4, 2014

What do you do when prospects aren’t ready to move forward? You connect with a hot prospect, have several conversations, forge a solid relationship, identify next steps, and even schedule a specific time to talk. Radio silence: You know, when a prospect doesn’t call you back or return your emails. Does this sound familiar?

Call-back 274

Call-back Cold Calling Small Business Small Business 274

Sales and Marketing Management

JUNE 25, 2018

I know, you fell into sales, and perhaps from there, sales management. How do I stay fired up when I prospect? I listen intently and try to figure out what makes each business model unique and each prospect like a snowflake. If hesitation, don't work there - that's an anti-sales culture.

B2B 319

B2B Banking Conference Decision Maker 319

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

We need to put the statistic into a broader context… If they have a clear sense of what they want to buy—for example if it is a simple or relatively inexpensive transactional purchase or the re-ordering of the same or similar solutions, then it’s hardly surprising that the prospect may conduct most of the buying process online.

Cold Calling 265

Cold Calling Small Business Small Business Vendor 265

Allego

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

Of all the social media platforms, LinkedIn has proven to be the best for reaching and engaging with business professionals. And in 2021, LinkedIn saw a 55% increase in conversations among connections. One group particularly prolific is sales professionals. Top 18 LinkedIn Newsletters for Sales Leaders.

LinkedIn 118

LinkedIn Hiring Sales Leadership B2B 118

SBI Growth

JANUARY 14, 2013

Last week, I received a phone call from an EVP of Sales. The board still hasn’t approved the sales plan. I need to take out another 3% on the expense line including sales management. Evolve Your Social Selling —being on LinkedIn is not enough. Sales forces have never had better access. Here is an example.

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Lead Rank Lead Scoring Social Selling Sales Methodology 324

Hubspot Sales

JULY 22, 2024

Your sales manager has given your team a big pep talk encouraging you to dial, dial, dial. I’ve found that cold calling is an excellent way to engage prospects one-on-one and move them to the next step in the buying process. Cold calling is most effective when paired with strategies such as prospecting and sales qualification.

Cold Calling 111

Cold Calling Top of Funnel Inbound Call-back 111

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 19, 2014

Think you’re getting away with cold calling and pretending you’re best buddies with your prospect? When you receive referral introductions from people these executives know and trust, your prospects (and their gatekeepers) will happily take your call. But I’m not connected with thousands of people on LinkedIn. Think again.

Gatekeeper 280

Gatekeeper Referrals Cold Calling B2C 280

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Yes, technology lets us do many things better and faster, but for some tasks, the old-school ways still work best, especially in sales. When it comes to communicating with clients and prospects, there’s simply no gadget, gizmo, or. Follow Joanne on Google+ or Twitter @ReferralSales , or connect on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Cold Calling 286

Cold Calling Small Business Small Business Enterprise 286

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 1, 2019

Sales has always gotten a bad rap, but it’s gotten much worse as sales channels have evolved. I regularly receive pitches in LinkedIn invitations and with InMail. The problem is with typical sales metrics. The trust the prospect has for the referral source is transferred to the salesperson. Trust should.

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Referrals System Cold Calling Social Media 289