October, 2012

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The Politics of Sales and Selling

Anthony Cole Training

For years we - Anthony Cole Training Group - have taught and instructed our clients about sales and selling. One of the things that makes us just a little different is that we start our engagement with a new client talking, discussing and sharing the pyscholgy and dynamics of the buying and selling engagement. What makes it so hard to qualify or disqualify a new prospect?

Sell 194
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4 Cases Where Short Home Pages Outperformed Long Home Pages

ConversionXL

Which is better? Having a long home page with lots of copy, or a short one? The correct answer is of course ‘it depends’, but I’m going to show you 4 cases where short home page kicked long home page butt. Case #1: Moto Message. We initially built a long home page for Moto Message , addressing all the key issues that came out from our user research.

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Social Networking, Reciprocity, and Hypocrisy

Partners in Excellence

I’ve always approached networking and social networking from the point of view of trying to build genuine relationships, trying to create value for people without a condition of reciprocity. . For example, I tweet things I think are really interesting and may be interesting to my followers. I don’t do it with the expectation that someone might tweet my stuff.

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Stop Hiring People Who Can Sell [How to Hire Your Next Sales Manager]

A Sales Guy

How many times have you heard this: “Just because he or she is your best sales person doesn’t mean they should be promoted to sales management.” In spite of the truth to this, I watch people do it all the time. A sales person is killing it. They are the top performer for years and when a sales management position opens up, BOOM! they get the job.

Sell 120
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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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6 Reasons Why Selling on Price Does Not Work

The Sales Hunter

For some reason salespeople always think if they can just lower their price, they can increase their number of sales. In theory it sounds great. Sure seems like a basic economic equation. The problem is that in the vast majority of situations, it simply does not work. Here are 6 reasons why: 1. Somebody will come along and offer what you’re offering for a slightly lower price than your price.

Price 110
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Sales Assessment Findings and Cultural Differences

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan I was in Istanbul this week, speaking to nearly 250 sales and business leaders. I learned that Turkey didn't participate in the global economic crisis as they're simply growing all the time. My audience wondered how cultural differences affect our assessment findings and seemed quite satisfied with the explanation.

Sales 107

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Great user experience (UX) leads to conversions

ConversionXL

What’s user experience got to do with conversions? Everything. Great user experience is a means to an end. You don’t create awesome user experiences just to make somebody happy. You want it to lead to something – be it sticking around on your social networking site or buying your stuff. Whenever users land on your website, they’re having an experience.

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It’s Supposed To Be A Pipeline, Not a Pipe Dream!

Partners in Excellence

Every sales professional knows the importance of keeping a full pipeline. If they don’t, their managers remind them of it every pipeline review. But if we are keeping full pipelines, why do only 53% of sales people make their quotas? Something’s wrong. I get to see the pipelines of dozens of organizations and hundreds of sales people every year.

Pipeline 124
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5 Ways Social is Changing Selling

A Sales Guy

If you follow me on Twitter then you know I’m at the Sales 2.0 conference in San Francisco. I like to come to the conference at least once a year. This event went BOOM! right out of the gate. The most compelling presentation so far was by Lareina Yee of McKinsey and Company. Lareina brought some good energy to the stage with her presentation on the Social Enterprise.

Sell 118
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Is Your Price Attracting the Customers You Want?

The Sales Hunter

What is the objective of lowering your price to try and get more sales? Anyone can get more business if they lower their price. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Here’s the question you have to ask: What is the objective of lowering your price? Too many times companies lower their price all for the sake of building the business, but all they wind up doing is attracting customers who don’t appreciate or value the full price.

Price 94
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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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Caliper versus OMG - Which Sales Candidate Assessment Wins?

Understanding the Sales Force

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. Not being one to ever pass up opportunities like this I, conducted the following comparison. First, it's important to know that OMG's assessment is sales specific - built for sales.

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Success and Risk Taking - Are Your People Failing Enough?

Anthony Cole Training

Barbara Nowak - Rowe as a member of the Harvard Business Revue group in Linkedin asked the question: Do you agree that "one that never fails is not trying hard enough"? What do you think about above question? Can we always be right? Isn't failure a necessary price for education and getting better and better? I made the following comment to her question: "I don't believe that it isn't about trying hard enough but rather more about taking enough risk".

Clients 176
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How to Generate More Sales From Your Email Marketing Campaigns

ConversionXL

Compared to social media and content marketing, email is a mature channel for engaging online consumers. Its longevity is a testament to its ability to convert leads into buyers and buyers into repeat customers. In fact, according to a Forrester report put out on September 24, 2012 email continues to be the top factor in influencing repeat purchases: Forrester Research report showing email’s positive influence on repeat customers.

Campaign 111
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Our People Are Not Commodities, They Are Our Differentiation!

Partners in Excellence

Unfortunately, too often the people in organizations are treated as commodities. People are swapped out, new one’s are swapped in, they are ignored and not recognized. In reality, people are the most sustainable differentiators in any organization. See, people can’t be copied or duplicated. It’s easy to copy or mimic a business strategy (though it’s impossible to be a leader by doing so).

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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 Two Things the Head of Sales Must Do in Q4 [Hey SVP, VP Sales Don't Screw This Up]

A Sales Guy

The 4th quarter is the most critical quarter for sales. S**t, I’d argue it’s the most critical quarter for business in general. The 4th quarter is the last chance to make the number and ensure success. Like sports, fail in the fourth quarter and that’s it, you’re done. There are no more chances. In addition to being the last chance to make the number, it’s also the last chance to get prepared for the new year.

Territory 117
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50 Ideas that Grow Front line Revenues

Score More Sales

Being “on” every day when you have a front-line role in selling is a tough thing. Gaining access, having intelligent conversations, and working toward closing business EVERY day is also tough. Unlike some other jobs where you may not face customers, let alone make contact with people you hope will become customers, there is no time to be down or “off” Whether you’re selling technology, services, or are a distributor of products, coming up with one new way to put a

CRM 90
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Marketing’s Wish List to the Sales Department

Pointclear

James Obermayer, Executive Director and CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association and President of Sales Leakage Consulting is a regular guest blogger with ViewPoint. "So what do you want from your salespeople?” I asked the marketing manager. Little did I know that she would launch into a stream-of-consciousness, pre-Christmas/New Year’s/birthday gift list that she had apparently been holding back to regurgitate at just the right moment.

Quota 86
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On - Boarding - 5 Keys to Sales Success for New Hires

Anthony Cole Training

I just returned from a sales development program. Over a 2.5 day period I delivered, taught and coached the participants the importance of understanding the psychology of the sales process, the importance of having structure in the sales process, more effective ways to engage prospects in conversations, how to more effectively prioritize their time so that they completed their prospecting activity and executing to a more effective selling approach.

Sales 165
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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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Writing Home Page Headlines For The Modern World (3 Formulas That Work)

ConversionXL

Read any copywriting manual or article and you will learn that the headline is the most important thing in your sales copy. And it’s true. The sad thing is that the advice that follows is often severely outdated and originates from the snail mail sales letter people from the 1950s and beyond. I researched 500 headlines of successful online businesses and figured out which formulas work today. .

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Forensic Prospecting

Partners in Excellence

Forensic Prospecting—I wish I could claim inventing this term, but the words popped out of the mouth of a client as we were discussing prospecting approaches. There’s an untapped gold mine of prospects that sales people overlook or take for granted. These are customers that have done business with us in the past—as far back as we can possibly imagine.

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How to Know if Your Sales Team is Running at Optimal Capacity

A Sales Guy

A client and I were talking about 2013 the other day. He told me he his growth strategy for 2013 was going to be through improved sales productivity. His thought process made sense, considering this year we spent a lot of time growing headcount. He is headed into the last part of a wildly successful year of 165% bookings growth. Looking into 2013 my client sees tremendous opportunity to grow through productivity.

Growth 115
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Keep Your Focus and Sell More

Score More Sales

The times they are distracting. If it isn’t hurricanes, flooding, or snow, it is elections…… and pretty soon it will be holiday planning here in North America. These make for potent, distracting combinations if you are supposed to be making calls and contacts to grow sales for the company you work for. Unlike other jobs, you can’t just mentally “check out” Instead you need ideas, tips, strategies and inspiration to keep your focus.

Sell 88
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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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10 Keys to Solving the Sales Performance Issue

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Your kids won't eat their vegetables, your parents won't listen to you, your suppliers won't provide customer service excellence, the President (as of 10-22-2012) of the United States can't get the economy going, your football team isn't winning enough games, and the majority of your salespeople are under-performing.

Sales 86
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Are Your Sales People Failing Enough?

Anthony Cole Training

Do you agree that "one that never fails is not trying hard enough" ? I have found, over the last 20 years in sales coaching and in my career as a collegiate coach, that not failing has more to do with not taking risk. As I thought about this question, I started to think specifically about the sales people that I have known who are highly successful and how failing contributed to their success.

Sales 133
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7 Underused Email Campaigns That Will Help You Nail Your Conversions

ConversionXL

This is guest post by Chris Hexton from Vero. Every business sends emails, but not everyone does so successfully. Mastering some savvy automated campaigns is an easy way to permanently get ahead of your competition. These seven email remarketing tactics are based on proven campaigns that increase your conversions. By tracking what your customers do you can send them the right email at the right time.

Campaign 104
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Teaching Our Customers

Partners in Excellence

There’s a lot of talk about the role of the sales person as a “Teacher.” It’s an important concept, but one that’s always been a key element of the sales person’s role. But I think there is a lot of misunderstanding of what effective teaching really is. So much of the literature seems to focus on Teaching As An Event.

Customers 115
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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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Find The Gap, Measure the Gap

A Sales Guy

I often hear sales people and sales leaders express their frustration with not getting deals closed or their inability to get prospects to move through the sales cycle. The “gone silent,” stuck deals drive them crazy. It’s one of the most common discussions I have with sales organizations. Deals get stuck for lots of reasons, one of the big ones is because no one is finding the gap or measuring the gap.

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Don’t Roll Over and Play Dead When the Customer Asks for a Discount

The Sales Hunter

Why do customers ask for a discounts or a better deal? It’s simple. The reason they ask is because typically they get it. This blows me away and this is why it’s now time for us to frame this question as something similar to the old question, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” Customers aren’t stupid, but I hate to admit I think in the sales profession there are a lot of stupid salespeople.

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Solving the CRM Problem

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday I wrote about solving the Sales Performance Problem and today I'll write about solving the CRM problem. CRM is very much a problem, not because there aren't choices, but more because companies make bad decisions. Just a few of the problems with CRM can be listed right here: Company has no CRM. Company has archaic CRM.

CRM 86
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The Rush to Get Inside

Pointclear

Jonathan Farrington is a globally recognized business coach, mentor, author, consultant and sales thought leader, who has guided hundreds of companies and more than one hundred thousand frontline salespeople and sales leaders towards optimum performance levels. He is the Senior Partner at Jonathan Farrington & Associates , Chairman of The JF Corporation and CEO of Top Sales Associates , based in London & Paris.

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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