No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 5, 2014

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. A prospect is not a lead until you speak with that person and ask your qualifying questions. Ditch the sales pitch. Don’t Make It Hard to Refer You. Comment Here.

Referrals 286

Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Cold Calling Small Business 286

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Because a person visited a tradeshow booth, she’s a prospect. Because we did good work, our clients will refer us. Assuming is dangerous because it makes us lazy about increasing sales pipelines. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Salespeople Small Business' Assuming is the easy way out.

Sales Qualified Lead 275

Sales Qualified Lead Ideal Customer Profile Referrals Cold Calling 275

SBI Growth

JANUARY 27, 2014

As a sales manager, your team looks to you for coaching and strategic help. I am referring to the art of deal strategy. Most reps struggle with prioritizing their accounts and prospects. As the sales manager, broker a meeting with the internal resources required to close the business. ACCOUNT PLANNING.

Strategy 303

Strategy Decision Maker Face-to-face Influencer 303

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

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. If you’re sending sales offerings to strangers on social media, you’re pretty much cold calling. Click To Tweet - Powered By CoSchedule.

Cold Calling 281

Cold Calling Social Media Referrals Face-to-face 281

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 10, 2021

Fifty of the company’s best clients said they’d be glad to refer them! 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.

Referrals 385

Referrals Cold Calling Inbound Webinar Metrics 385

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 24, 2013

But while referrals are our biggest competitive differentiator, most companies have only a hit-and-miss process for referral prospecting. So sales teams miss out on the most powerful business-development tool that exists. Most people won’t refer you just because you’re a nice person. Comment Here.

Sales Process 266

Sales Process Referrals Small Business Small Business 266

Understanding the Sales Force

APRIL 17, 2013

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Last week I posted this article in reference to an Inc. This is known throughout the selling universe but sales people still suck at this. Non-Supportive Buy Cycle (the way that salespeople buy things doesn''t support ideal sales outcomes). How come?". Great question.

Decision Maker 269

Decision Maker Consultative Selling Buying Cycle Proposal 269

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Social selling is a ‘must have’ prospecting method to get reps into deals early. Social Prospecting – The ability to act on account and persona information. Sales Process Execution – The ability to sell the way a buyer wants to buy. Your sales managers must vet this out before offering candidates the job.

Hiring 316

Hiring Face-to-face Follow-up Buyer 316

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

You are the ultimate sales technology! The same is true for your prospects and clients. Many of them have contributed to the effectiveness of salespeople, but none of them has managed to replace us. What you don’t do is rely on it to make a sale. The next time you connect with a prospect , really connect.

Sales Technology 249

Sales Technology Small Business Small Business Enterprise 249

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

Most sales organizations struggle with two major business-development challenges: 1. Converting prospects into customers. As an executive or sales leader, when are you willing to take a meeting with a salesperson? When that person is referred by someone you know and trust. Your Sales Advantage. We like simple.

Referrals 227

Referrals Hiring Small Business Small Business 227

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.

Gatekeeper 303

Gatekeeper Cold Calling Telemarketing Referrals 303

Hubspot Sales

MAY 18, 2021

And it makes sense — tracking and pulling insight from sales calls manually is a frustrating, labor-intensive, often ineffective burden that can eat up sales managers' time without offering much return. Sales managers stand to gain a lot by incorporating this kind of tech into their teams' day-to-day and broader sales efforts.

Conversion 119

Conversion Sales Management Scale Call-back 119

Hubspot Sales

APRIL 12, 2021

As a sales manager, ensuring that your team's communication with prospects is tight and effective is in your best interest. That process — making sure your team's communications aren't erratic — is most commonly referred to as implementing consistent sales messaging. Keep it customer-centric and accessible.

Sales Management 134

Sales Management Hubspot How To Scale 134

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 28, 2014

Think you’re getting away with cold calling and pretending you’re best buddies with your prospect? The moral of the story: Referred prospects always make time to talk to salespeople who’ve been introduced by someone they know and trust. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business'

Gatekeeper 227

Gatekeeper Referrals Cold Calling Small Business 227

Hubspot Sales

JANUARY 12, 2021

Here, we'll review some common sales coaching challenges, go over how to approach them, and identify the key qualities of reps that are flat-out uncoachable. One of the most common, contentious issues sales managers run into with sales reps is lack of motivation. How to Handle Coaching Challenges.

Coaching 141

Coaching Sales Management Sage Policies 141

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

An Aussie reaches out to confirm his understanding of American prospecting practices. After all, you’ll only refer people who’ve paid you attention, who’ve nurtured and built relationships with you, and who’ve earned your trust. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Salespeople Small Business'

Social Media 264

Social Media Skype Referrals Twitter 264

No More Cold Calling

MAY 7, 2015

I know that feeling first-hand, and so does anyone who prospects through referrals. Our job gets even better with referral introductions from people our prospects know and trust. That’s the hard part of relationship-building, and referred salespeople nail it. Think about the last time you contacted a referred prospect.

Prospecting 120

Prospecting Referrals Ideal Customer Profile Decision Maker 120

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 5, 2017

Even after all the advancements in tools and other aids, many managers, especially those new to the role, look at these gathering from the wrong angle. On the other hand, if you look at opportunities based on actual things the prospect has said and done; your ability to speak to specific elements of the decision you need them to make.

Pipeline 281

Pipeline Lead Rank Groups Opportunity 281

SBI Growth

MAY 11, 2013

Sales VPs need to make the number this quarter. Sales Managers want more new business. Sales Reps need more leads. Prospecting for leads is being replaced by Social Selling. Connect your customer to one of their dream prospects. Have your sales rep find out who his customer’s Sales VP wants to sell.

Hiring 300

Hiring Referrals Decision Maker Ideal Customer Profile 300

Hubspot Sales

OCTOBER 5, 2017

In this growing sales landscape, we’ll outline the various processes and key strategies for prospecting -- the phase of selling that often consumes the most time and energy (and is the most crucial to get right). What Is Prospecting? What's the difference between leads and prospects? Sales Prospecting Techniques.

Prospecting 145

Prospecting Tools Top of Funnel Lead Scoring 145

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 14, 2013

With referral introductions from people your buyers know and trust, you walk straight into meetings with your ideal prospects. Because you’ve been referred, you arrive with credibility and trust already built. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business' You’ll have the inside track. Comment Here.

Competition 218

Competition Referrals Gatekeeper Social Media 218

SBI Growth

AUGUST 22, 2013

Résumés, interviews and reference checks only reveal what the candidate has done in the past. Questions - after studying the package, the candidate is allowed to ask 5 clarifying questions about the sales opportunity. Analysis - the candidate studies the data provided, does independent research and determines the prospect''s needs.

Hiring 300

Hiring Proposal Exercises Lead Scoring 300

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 1, 2015

He referred me to his Global VP, who has been more than willing to help me make connections within the company. Earn trust and credibility with your prospects, who are pre-sold on your ability to deliver results. Earn trust and credibility with your prospects, who are pre-sold on your ability to deliver results.

Referrals 120

Referrals Lead Scoring Lead Rank Prospecting 120

Zoominfo

JULY 13, 2021

Nearly every business function can benefit from the insights surfaced during front line conversations with prospects and customers. So much of what a seller does happens digitally now, but getting visibility into that activity has been incredibly cumbersome for sales managers. Coaching and Training Superpowers.

Conversion 70

Conversion Top of Funnel Marketing Lead Rank 70

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 16, 2014

Now is the time to kick your prospecting efforts into overdrive, build a strong pipeline for 2014, and determine if you’re really getting the most traction out of each and every day. Most salespeople only spend about 10 percent of their workdays actively selling, and another 10 percent on prospecting, according to Augusoft.

Referrals 224

Referrals Cold Calling eBook Small Business 224

criteria for success

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

If you’ve been a sales manager for a while, it's inevitable that one or more people – or even your entire sales team – will get into a prospecting or selling slump. 7 Sales & Prospecting Slump-Busters. Have everyone set an individual weekly goal for how many prospecting activities they will perform.

Prospecting 105

Prospecting eBook Lead Scoring Lead Rank 105

The Sales Hunter

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

That is what I see as the primary role of sales. I’m being nice here by saying salespeople can be spending 10% of their time on what I’ll refer to as customer baseline activities. Sales managers, what behavior are you rewarding? In fact, it should be occupying at least 90% of their time.

Customer Service 251

Customer Service Customer Discount Maximizer 251

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Blasting prospects with automated marketing messages doesn’t work. After talking to them, Jim learned they were telling those they referred that he understood the retirement plan, stock options, and benefits program at the company. Associations Enterprise Sales Management Small Business' What does work?

Referrals 234

Referrals Scale Insurance Insurance 234

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 5, 2017

No salesperson should ever have to cold call to generate sales leads. It’s an ineffective prospecting strategy and a nuisance to buyers, most of whom ignore cold calls. Current clients at a prospect company are the best source of new business within their organizations. Stop Fooling Yourself—Your Prospecting Is Cold.

Cold Calling 222

Cold Calling Account Decision Maker Referrals 222

DiscoverOrg Sales

OCTOBER 3, 2017

In essence, it’s taking the universe, or mountain of available information and packaging it into a concise, comprehensible summary that will unite your entire team toward a focused, effective sales campaign. To be clear, “strategic” customers are prospects designated to be “must-win” or otherwise crucial to a company’s sales efforts.

Account Based Marketing 159

Account Based Marketing Report Decision Maker Ideal Customer Profile 159

Zoominfo

MAY 13, 2018

What we’re about to say is going to contradict every point we’ve made thus far—but hear us out: Stress can be beneficial for sales people. There’s no way around it, stress drives activity and sales managers know this. Look into prospecting tools. So how do you do this correctly? Get the resources you need. Communicate.

Hiring 258

Hiring Sales Qualified Lead Lead Scoring Lead Rank 258

Sales and Marketing Management

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Author: Todd Handy Before we start, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the term “direct sales.” Often, the differentiator may come down to the sales rep, whose product knowledge, experience and ability to solve the customer’s problem end up being the deciding factor in turning a prospect into a customer.

Hiring 222

Hiring Decision Maker Ideal Customer Profile Sales Qualified Lead 222

Hubspot Sales

JUNE 8, 2020

Regardless if you are a grizzled sales veteran with decades of experience or brand new to the profession, here are some simple steps to delight your prospects. The happier you are, the more likely your customers will stay and refer a friend. This leads to subtle pushes like asking for a demo before the prospect is ready.

B2B 120

B2B Ideal Customer Profile Top of Funnel Prospecting 120

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 14, 2019

As I reflected on my career in sales and sales management, I realized my best business had come from referrals. I did my “feet on the street” research and interviewed sales leaders and salespeople. Prospects trust us. It’s changed how we prospect, but it hasn’t changed how deals get done. But I had to ask.).

Referrals 291

Referrals Cold Calling Survey Scale 291

Sales and Marketing Management

DECEMBER 14, 2020

In fact, Kavadellas, CEO of Georgia-based Orasi, a software developer, reseller and consulting firm, was scheduled to play a round with a client and a prospect the day after we spoke with him in November for this story. But Kavadellas recognizes the golf course doesn’t suit everyone as an effective setting for a sales meeting.

Outsourcing Services 279

Outsourcing Services Face-to-face Travel Lead Rank 279

Pointclear

MAY 15, 2013

As CEO of UK-based Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners , Bob works with the leadership teams of technology-based B2B-focused companies, enabling them to make the critical connections between their marketing messages, their sales conversations, their true differentiators, and their customer''s priorities. Seuss'' The Cat in the Hat”.

Top of Funnel 248

Top of Funnel Opportunity Closing Film 248

Zoominfo

DECEMBER 16, 2020

As adoption rates in Customer Relationship Management Software (CRMs) continue to rise, a (data-driven) gap in usefulness and effectiveness is very clear. Without question, the functionality within CRMs, particularly Salesforce, can create a 360 degree view of the prospects and customers alike. Think about it.

SalesForce 219

SalesForce Territories Intent Signal Buyer Persona 219