July, 2012

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2 Things about Sales Success and/or Success in General

Anthony Cole Training

I am currently conducting a poll on Linkedin. I'd like to gather some data from those in sales executive positions as to "why" people fail to meet expectations. Here is the link: Linkedin Poll. The other thing I wanted to share about sales success is my informal polling over the last 20 years of conducting sales training and sales management development classes and workshops.

Sales 182
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The Most Important Thing To Know About Account Management

A Sales Guy

The single most important element of account management and one of the most critical sales skills is proactivity. This seems rather obvious. Yet, unfortunately, far too many farmers or account managers leave too much to reaction or reactivity. The great advantage to account management is your access to data. You should know almost everything there is to know about the account, what the culture is, what’s been budgeted, who the decision makers are, who the competition is, what the pitfalls are,

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Top 5 Sales Management Best Practices

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan The first problem with today's title is the "5" in "Top 5.". They are not the 5 that most sales managers spend their time on, so let's begin with the sales management practices that most sales managers actually spend their time on. By the way, that's how so many "best practices" (that aren't) actually get published.

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7 Mistakes That Hurt Your Email Relationship Building Efforts

ConversionXL

People will not buy your stuff on their first visit. The more expensive and/or complicated the product, the more time they need to think and decide. People like to buy from people and businesses they know and like. This is why it’s a good idea to capture emails and build a relationship before you even ask them to buy anything. This post is about getting the most out of your relationship building efforts with your email list.

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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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Technology Is No Substitute For Thinking

Partners in Excellence

There are a lot of great technologies that can become indispensable to sales professionals. Great sites to research things going on in our markets and with our customers, CRM tools, playbooks, and all sorts of other sales aids. Each of these can help magnify our impact and effectiveness with customers. They can help make us much more productive and accomplish a lot more each day, week, month.

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Improve as a Sales Professional – 3 Tips for Better Listening

Score More Sales

Last week we talked about how a focus on improving your speaking can grow your sales revenues – the same, if not more holds true with being an effective listener. Listening – and really hearing – what buyers are looking to do, what problems they are trying to solve, and what the pulse of the market is – it’s critical for success.

Retail 84

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Pipeline Movement – [Shitty Sales Management]

A Sales Guy

Yup, I said it. Shitty sales management can kill pipeline movement. As sales leaders, we spend so much of our time evaluating our teams and the individuals on them, we often forget that our s**t can stink too. We can be the reason deals are getting stuck. After all, it is our job to help keep deals moving. This is especially true with first line managers.

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3 Types of Salespeople - Which Can Expand Your Sales?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday, we were in a small seaside village and in a nautical gift shop, I read this sailing quote: "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sails.". Translated for selling: "The pessimist complains about the prospect. The optimist expects him to buy.

Sales 103
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The Key To Customer Loyalty

ConversionXL

If you want to double your results, you can either double the number of visitors (very expensive), double the conversion rate (possible, but increasingly harder as there’s a max limit to your conversion rate) or double repeat purchases – loyalty. Jakob Nielsen has mentioned that 2010–2020 will be the loyalty decade. Investing in loyalty is as important as investing in usability and conversion optimization.

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Reading The Buyers’ Minds

Partners in Excellence

As sales people, we always are trying to get into our Buyers’ minds. We want to understand what they are thinking, what drives them, how we can position ourselves and our solutions most favorably. We constantly search for some insight about how to connect more effectively. I’m always fascinated by the machinations we go through to understand what’s going on in our Buyers’ minds.

Price 97
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Prepare Now: 2025s Must-Know Trends For Product And Data Leaders

Speaker: Jay Allardyce, Deepak Vittal, and Terrence Sheflin

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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How to Bounce Back From Sales Rejection

Score More Sales

If there is one thing true it is this – no one likes to deal with personal rejection. Those of us who are or have been professional, long time sales representatives, business development managers, and sales evangelists have typically learned the secret to success: You don’t take rejection personally. Even athletes miss some balls – sometimes lots of balls – or they miss the net and the game is lost.

Sports 83
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Poll Question about Sales Success

Anthony Cole Training

The results are in for my poll question on Linkedin. The question I asked was: When you are asked about someone on your team not meeting expectations your response is? The possible answers where: They are failing to execute. They lack effort. They need more training. They are making progress. I have failed to develop them. The results in a nutshell: 50% blamed the performer, 50% took responsibility for the failure of the team member.

Sales 163
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Sales Revenue is a One Trick Pony

A Sales Guy

Revenue, just about EVERY sales organization runs on it. Everyone has a revenue quota. Sales reps are measured on it. Sales leaders are hired or fired on their ability to make it. Sales teams are managed to it. Revenue is the king of sales metrics and thats why many sales organizations fail. Pulling the revenue lever is a big lever. It’s a big lever because revenue can come from a number of different places; increased deal sizes, more deals, conversion or win/loss ratios etc.

Quota 114
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3 Types of Salespeople - Which are Best at Growing Sales?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday, we were in a small seaside village and in a nautical gift shop, I read this sailing quote: "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sails.". Translated for selling: "The pessimist complains about the prospect. The optimist expects him to buy.

Sales 100
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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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Which is better in B2B Lead Generation? A $1,000 inbound lead or a $1,000 outbound lead?

Pointclear

I asked this question on Focus.com a few weeks ago and got answers that surprised me. Knowing the B2B lead generation market like I do, here is what I expected to see : “The inbound lead is better because outbound is dead.” “Inbound rules. Stop interruption marketing.” I expected these types of responses because all you read these days are article after article and blog after blog saying that “70% of the buyer’s journey is done before a sales rep needs to get

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Lean Sales And Marketing — The Role Of The Manager

Partners in Excellence

Managers play a critical role in the lean sales and marketing organization. It’s different from we think in the traditional organization. In the traditional organization, there’s the belief we work for our managers. We all know the corporate hierarchy and pyramid. In too many organizations, managers spend too little time coaching. They are busy in meetings, they are busy with paperwork, they don’t have time or the skills to work with their people.

Sales 96
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Quit Talking About You. Your Customer Doesn’t Care.

The Sales Hunter

Recently I was doing a training session with some very capable salespeople. We were talking about how to engage the customer in a conversation. It was a good discussion, minus one thing. Too many in the group were talking about how they share with the customer results of things they’ve been able to do for other customers. Sharing what I refer to as testimonial information with a customer can be a great approach, if it’s done right.

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2 Simple Ways to Stand Out in Sales

Score More Sales

Recently I read a rant from one of my colleagues who was tired of people not responding to e-mail. I know exactly what he means. It happens so often that it seems now to be acceptable and perhaps even fashionable to not reply to an email – even between client and company, or family members, or friends. Before you get as mad as my colleague did, (which I don’t blame him for) – if you are a seller or other business professional making a living building relationships through comm

Sales 80
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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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Female Athletes. a Footnote in Olympic Promotion

A Sales Guy

I woke this morning to this story in the USA Today: Team USA Uniforms: Controversial choice? The article discussed the fact that the women’s uniform apparently had no pants and that the uniform was made in China and not the U.S. To me however, the real offense is the placement and depiction of the female athlete in the uniforms official promotional photo (above).

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The Unusual Case of Arturo - How He Sabotaged His Own Sales

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan One of my clients owns a Mexican company that provides phone, video conferencing and surveillance equipment to integrators and end-users. During the height of the violence in Mexico, Arturo was kidnapped and held, bound and gagged, at gun point. He was released - one of the few, fortunate survivors - but the emotional scars ran deep.

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Podcast Series: Investing In Your Sales Force – Part 1 of 2

Engage Selling

Today I discuss the importance of investing in resources in order to help your sales team succeed. This includes three considerations such as investing in new ideas, training for your sales team and investing in tools such as new technology and ideas. Today I discuss the importance of investing in resources in order to help your sales team succeed. This includes three considerations such as investing in new ideas, training for your sales team and investing in tools such as new technology and ide

Sales 75
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“The End Of Solutions Sales”

Partners in Excellence

In the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review, the folks at the Conference Board have declared “The End Of Solutions Sales.” Upon reading this, I immediately thought of Mark Twain’s quote, “Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.” While, I suppose, it stirs up the pot to declare the end of Solutions Selling and may sell more workshops or consulting services, in the end I think it is wordsmithing and positioning.

Pitch 96
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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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Are all Sales Prospects Worth Your Time?

The Sales Hunter

You’ve been chasing a sales prospect you think will turn into a great customer, but for one reason or another, the trail has gone cold. The prospect hasn’t provided you with any indication such as proprietary information or sense of time to lead you to believe they may buy from you. The question now becomes,”What do I do next?” There are two strategies you can use.

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3 Steps to a Solid Sales Opportunity

Score More Sales

You know that feeling when you have a sales opportunity in your pipeline and all is going so smoothly that you wonder if it is too good to be true? Often it is not a solid deal – meaning it is not qualified, or in other words, your buyer is either not really ready to move forward or they will not be moving forward with you. You or one of your sales colleagues may have one of these (or more) on the report that you turn in whenever the boss wants to know what deals are pending that you thin

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How to Set Quota

A Sales Guy

Community member Jeff Abbott commented on a recent post about how he’d like to better understand how quotas are set and by whom. I thought this could be a good topic, so here it goes. The first thing you need to know about quotas is there are a lot of different ways to set them. There are rules that deviating from can be costly, but outside of that there are a lot of roads to setting the right quota.

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When Should You Use a Telemarketing Firm to Schedule Sales Calls?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan If you have no desire to find a lot of new business from new accounts, you don't need telemarketing (and you can stop reading this article). If you would like to establish new accounts and generate a significant increase in revenue, there are several things you can do: You can hire hunters - salespeople who will find and close those new accounts.

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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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Sales Quiz – What Counts More?

Engage Selling

Many elements must come together for a successful sales strategy but not all are created equal! Which factors count most in your success? Take our sales quiz and find out!

Sales 75
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Managing Complexity

Partners in Excellence

It should come as no surprise to anyone that has been semi-conscious over the past decade, that our worlds are becoming increasingly complex. Our jobs, and those of our customers are more complex and difficult. Fewer people doing more. The rate of change is accelerating. We have too little time to accomplish even our “A” priorities. In a recent IBM CMO Study , 79% of the respondents expect high/very high level of complexity over the next 5 years, yet only 48% felt prepared to de

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Why Do Salespeople Talk Too Much?

The Sales Hunter

Yes, there is a punch line to this question. Why do salespeople talk too much? Because as long as they’re talking, the customer can’t tell them “no.” I hate to say it, but there is a lot more truth in that statement than a lot of people will want to admit. This is also why the number one part left out of a sales presentation is the close.

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6 Facts Prove a Need for Smarter CRM in Business

Score More Sales

Looking through a new infographic on “An Integrated Approach to CRM” and accompanying white paper there are some important statistics surrounding midmarket business that have surfaced. Some are obvious and have been talked about before – but together it paints a very visual view of the state of how business has changed, and as sellers we need to take notice and respond.

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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