September, 2014

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Do You Have a Recipe for Sales Management Success?

Anthony Cole Training

'I’ve been trying to find a way to tie cooking to sales management. I love to cook (and eat) and I love selling and coaching sales management. I often tie sports stories, analogies and themes to sales and sales management, and I generally have at least one in the crowd that doesn’t/cannot relate because they have not played sports or are just simply not into sports.

Sports 197
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The Costs Of Doing Nothing

Partners in Excellence

'I suspect the biggest costs both we (individually and within our organizations) and our customers incur is not the spending on new programs, solutions, methods, or change; but rather the costs of doing nothing. Yet we very seldom analyze and quantify these issues. Sometimes, mistakenly we treat them as sunk, even though we keep paying and paying and paying.

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A Step By Step Guide To Building Customer Journey Maps

ConversionXL

'“How do you get your customers to do what you want them to do on your website?”. Optimizers get asked this question all the time. Without realizing it, the businesses who want the secret sauce, the quick fix to more “conversions” are asking the wrong question. What they really should be asking is, “How do I help my customers achieve their goals on my website while still achieving mine?”.

Customers 127
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Can You Sell Yourself?

A Sales Guy

'I know you know you’re good at selling. But HOW do you know? What makes you so good? What is it specifically about how you sell that makes you so good? What is your sales philosophy ? What is your sales approach? What are your sales liabilities? What makes your prospecting so good? What makes your engagement skills so good? What is about how you sell that makes you good, I mean really good?

Sell 125
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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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Taking Your Prospecting to the Next Level

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan. Do you ever wonder how selling evolved to where it is today? Do you ever think about how salespeople sold in the old, old days? All sales calls were face-to-face (no phones) and the sellers traveled by horse, canoe, boat and later, ship. That doesn''t sound like it was efficient - or fun. Over time, selling and our options for connecting with potential customers, moved to a new level.

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Change? Can You Handle It?

The Sales Hunter

'Does change drive you or do you drive it? I’ve always been one who loves change and embraces it. A good friend of mine, Micah Yost (www.MicahYost.com), sent me copy of his new book, Rhythm, and I’m excited to recommend it to you. As I read the book, two things kept getting pounded into […].

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Never Apologize For Selling Or Being A Sales Professional!

Partners in Excellence

'I have to admit I get just rip roaring pissed off with a lot of the rhetoric–some from very smart people about selling and sales people. “We should stop selling and start serving… ” “We need to stop selling and be helpful…” “We’re not trying to sell you something, we’re trying to solve your problems… ” The madness goes on to what we call ourselves or refuse to call ourselves.

Sell 127
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Statistical Significance Does Not Equal Validity (or Why You Get Imaginary Lifts)

ConversionXL

'A very common scenario: a business runs tens and tens of A/B tests over the course of a year, and many of them “win” Some tests get you 25% uplift in revenue, or even higher. Yet – when you roll out the change, the revenue does not increase 25%. And 12 months after running all those tests, the conversion rate is still pretty much the same.

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Don’t Ever Trust This Sales Person

A Sales Guy

'When I ask a waitperson what they think about a dish, if they say it’s excellent, I say great and I then ask about another menu item. If they say that one is good too, I then ask about another. If the waiter also says that one is good, I switch my approach and ask, what’s not good. If they say everything is good, I get pissed inside and dismiss them and their responses.

Trust 123
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Building an Inside Sales Lab: 10 Essential Tips for Success

Pointclear

'Why build an Inside Sales Lab in your own office? Testing is an excellent way to grow sales. Most firms with significant inside sales already test alternative scripts, lists, and/or prices, but they do so casually as part of day-to-day activities. A lab concentrates this function into a small, well-disciplined group with the right tools to capture subtle improvements.

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Prepare Now: 2025s Must-Know Trends For Product And Data Leaders

Speaker: Jay Allardyce, Deepak Vittal, Terrence Sheflin, and Mahyar Ghasemali

As we look ahead to 2025, business intelligence and data analytics are set to play pivotal roles in shaping success. Organizations are already starting to face a host of transformative trends as the year comes to a close, including the integration of AI in data analytics, an increased emphasis on real-time data insights, and the growing importance of user experience in BI solutions.

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10 Tips for Successful Selling

The Sales Hunter

'Here are the 10 best tips for successful selling. I based these tips on my 30+ years of selling and working with hundreds of organizations and thousands of salespeople. In the end, it comes down to these 10: 1. Be consistent. Nothing will create more success than consistently taking one step forward each day. […].

Sell 106
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Is Your Sales Customer Experience Twice As Good?

Anthony Cole Training

'I don’t remember how old I was. I couldn’t have been more than 9 or so, but I remember I asked my dad for a quarter to buy some candy. He gave me the quarter. We were at my brother Ray’s football game and so I went to the concession stand, looked at the prices of candy and bought 5 – yes, count them – 5 Three Musketeers candy bars. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same!

Customers 188
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Can You Show Me Your Plan For This Interview?

Partners in Excellence

'Recently I was asked to my views on the best interview questions for sales hires. It was published in a great ebook from Openview Ventures. Be sure to take a look at it, there are some great questions from some very smart people. One of my favorite questions for an interview is, “Can you show me your plan for this interview?” The reason I like it is that we know research and preparation for a sales call is critical to our effectiveness.

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3 Things Beginning Conversion Optimizers Completely Miss The Mark On

ConversionXL

'When most beginners start with conversion rate optimization, they get carried away by the rosy picture of A/B testing. Let’s test button colors? Or maybe call to action text ? That should get us a win of at least 30-50%… I think. Unless you’re a giant like Amazon, you need to go beyond the random let-us-change-button-color-today kind of tests to move the needle through A/B testing.

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Don't Let AI Pass You By: The New Era of Personalized Sales Coaching & Development

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Sales & Devyn Blume, Sr. Account Executive

Are you curious about how artificial intelligence is reshaping sales coaching, learning, and development? Join Brendan Sweeney and Devyn Blume of Allego for an engaging new webinar exploring AI's transformative role in sales coaching and performance improvement! Brendan and Devyn will share actionable insights and strategies for integrating AI into coaching and development - ensuring personalized, effective, and scalable training!

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The Best Infographic In The World For Sales People Who Struggle With Price

A Sales Guy

'If you’re someone who struggles with price, check out this info graphic. Pay close attention to the iPhone’s price in relationship to all the other phones over time. What do you see? The iPhone is by far the most expensive smartphone on the market. It gets more expensive every year in comparison to the competition. And, There are almost NO lower price options in the iPhone product line, yet Apple sells more smart phones than anyone else in the world, except Samsung.

Price 122
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7 Steps to Gain the Market Share You Deserve (& Sometimes Don't!)

Pointclear

'Similar to De Tocqueville’s famous comment, “People get the government they deserve,” I think companies get the market share they deserve based on their ability to market. We can agree that without marketing (the ability to create demand and sell) no company succeeds, and yet so many companies fail to succeed as marketers. They may create a terrific product and learn how to manufacture it efficiently, and yet they approach marketing as an afterthought.

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Average Salespeople Sell Features. Great Salespeople Sell Themselves.

The Sales Hunter

'Recently I was having a conversation with a VP of Sales and the top two salespeople for their company. The objective of the call was to discuss the attributes of what they do and how we could take those items and get the rest of the organization to implement them too. What became very […].

Sell 105
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The Selling Process – Do We Have It Right?

Anthony Cole Training

'I just finished reading a chapter from the book – Harvard Business Review on Strategic Sales Management. The chapter is “Understanding What Your Sales Manager Is Up Against” by Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie. I enjoy reading HBR publications even though some of the research findings they provide are way over my head. The various contributors always get me thinking and re-thinking about what I think I know about sales and sales management.

Process 177
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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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Relationships Are Rooted In Action

Partners in Excellence

'Relationships are important in selling. However, I think too many are have the wrong idea about what relationships are. Too many think relationships are rooted in the pleasant manner of a sales person, the quick smile, great conversation, quick wit, a slap on the back, supported by the occasional lunch or golf game. But relationships are really different, they are rooted in action.

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Why Keyword Themes +Modified Broad Match = Winning PPC Strategy

ConversionXL

'Cutting out noise and creating a PPC strategy that drives business: It’s the goal of SEM professionals everywhere. So let’s talk about how to do that for real, shall we. By combining Ad Group theming and Modified Broad keywords, you can create targeting that rewards you with qualified traffic right away, and a structure that rewards you again and again by delivering even stronger target keyword sets.

CTR 114
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Switching From The Competition

A Sales Guy

'I’m a RedBull drinker. I don’t do Monster or 5 Hour Energy. I’m a Mac (Apple) guy, not much of a fan of Microsoft or Android. I’m on my second Audi and have never had a BMW or a Mercedes. I’ve been with AT&T for 15 of the last 17 years. I fly United 99% of the time. I’m pretty happy with the choices I make and I’m a fairly loyal customer, but in spite of my loyalty, there is always a little fire inside me that is open to something else.

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7 New Ways to Motivate Salespeople Through 20 Old Hurdles

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan. Trust me when I say that this is a great article, but before we get to it, I have a few post-vacation links for you. This is important! We want you to be part of our next White Paper on Sales Force Effectiveness. Would you kindly take no more than 5 minutes to answer some questions about the sales force at your company?

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How to Improve Email Deliverability and Optimize Each Send

Learn how to optimize email deliverability and drive greater email ROI. What lands your email in the customer’s inbox? Understanding those factors, otherwise known as email deliverability, is critical to getting the most return on your campaign investments. But the “rules” around which factors land you in the spam folder aren’t always easy to keep up with.

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Why Businesses Really Fail

The Sales Hunter

'“Businesses fail not due to a lack of financial resources, but due to a lack of intellectual resources.” When a business fails, the first person that tends to get blamed is the banker. I’ve heard this far too often and I have to ask myself, “If the business was a good business with potential, […].

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Do Your Sales Contracts Have An "I Love Selling" Clause?

Anthony Cole Training

'This is an unusual sales management blog post from me because it will be short. It is short because, this morning, I’m short on time. I am scheduled for a meeting at the Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank at 8:00am. From there, I go to the airport to fly to Hershey, Pa., where I will be presenting 3 Keys to a More Productive Sales Force and then I’ll be on my way to NJ.

Contract 170
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Are You Creating Value In Every Customer Interaction?

Partners in Excellence

'In an outstanding post, Why Sales People Need To Create Value, Not Just Communicate, Bob Apollo cites a data point from Forrester: “Prospects say only 1 in 8 conversations with sales people are useful!” It’s a staggering number! 87.5% of the conversations customers are having with sales people are a waste of time! Think of the massive losses in productivity and costs that are incurred both on the part of customers and within our own sales organizations.

Customers 124
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How “Tag Management” Can Improve Site Performance

ConversionXL

'After the top notch article on migrating to Universal Analytics using Google Tag Manager , we got some feedback from you that some background on what tags and tag management are would be helpful. We heard you and we’re here to demystify site tags and how to keep them in order. What is a “Tag” Anyway? There are hundreds of services for tracking, advertising, site customization, and generally souping up your ability to measure, reach, and convert your visitors.

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Brick & Mortar Retail Relevance: How to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Speaker: Jay Black, Senior Account Executive

Let's set the record straight: in-store retail isn't dead - it's evolving! Faced with the digital age and the demands of omnichannel shopping, some retailers are thriving while others are struggling to adapt. Join Jay Black in this exclusive session as he explores the strategies that set successful stores apart, including: Crafting unique and unforgettable in-store experiences 🛍️ Mastering the art of retail demands 🛒 Navigating inventory challenges in today's climate 📦 an

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Funny How, Funny Like A Clown? Do I Amuse You?

A Sales Guy

'One of the best movie lines ever is Joe Pesci’s from Good Fellas. “Funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?” In my world, I don’t care how you’re funny, like a clown, like a comedian, like a comic, as long as you’re funny. When it comes to being funny, in the world of sales and business, Stu Heinecke amuses me.

Campaign 119
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Keys to Improved Sales Performance - Part 1 of 4

Understanding the Sales Force

'Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan. This is the first in a four-part series that will run this week. If you are like most folks, you were away for at least part of the summer, took as many long weekends as you could, and worked fewer hours on the days you actually did work. As part of getting the work done, you deleted as many emails as you could where a reply wasn''t required and visited fewer websites and Blogs.

Up-sell 100
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7 Tips for Fourth Quarter Sales Success

The Sales Hunter

'Fourth quarter. There is no quarter that poses more opportunities and, at the same time, more obstacles as this one. I’ve always felt you need to have one strategy for the year and another one for the 4th quarter, due to how different it is. Below are 7 tips to help make it successful: 1. […].

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Sales Managers - Are You Thinking Presidentially?

Anthony Cole Training

'Not the Obama, Bush, Lincoln, Washington kind of presidential. More like the presidential thinking of Larry Ellison, Alan Mulally, and Beth Mooney. All are or were chiefs, and, at one time, were also presidents. But, prior to that, at some time in their careers, they were managers of something. What separated them, I’m guessing, is that they thought presidentially - they looked at the role of manager through the eyes of a president.

Contract 163
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How to Prove Marketing Value: Demonstrate Content ROI and Contribution to Sales

Every marketer knows how important it is to prove their efforts drive sales opportunities, but that’s easier said than done. When problems like sales and marketing misalignment, lack of data, and wasted efforts persist, marketers can’t measure, prove, or increase their impact on revenue at a time when demonstrating marketing value is critical. Using analyst and expert data, this guide to marketing impact and content attribution explains: How B2B buyers use content The most common types of conten