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'The obvious gut reaction answer is …both. However, if you HAD to choose, it would be a dilemma similar to the age old “Which came first - the chicken or the egg?” And, you know, I have never been able to answer that question. I honestly don’t know that there is a RIGHT answer to the question I’ve posed today, but if you held a gun to my head and demanded an answer – not that you would have to go to that extreme to get an answer from me – I would have to say start with the behaviors.
'Some time ago, I wrote, A Frightening Look At The “Cost Of Selling.” It has been one of the most widely read posts I’ve ever written, with 10’s of thousands of views and 100’s of tweets. The post generated lots of discussion and comments about the challenges of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, performance management, development planning.
'Mobile traffic is a significant part of most websites, and smooth navigation for mobile users is critical. Most websites use the hamburger navigation icon to display the menu as it’s become a default option for this. Is that a good idea? There’s a good chance that it’s not. . Lots of designers have made a compelling case against the hamburger.
'When’s the last time you read a book on sales? When’s the last time you found a new blog on sales or business? When’s the last time your refused to accept “no,” because you knew the other person was wrong? When’s the last time you helped out a fellow team member? When’s the last time you created a new process that helped you do your job better?
AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.
'Copyright: kchung / 123RF Stock Photo. Some news stories just don''t go away. Today those stories include Ferguson, Bill Cosby, ISIS and The NFL''s Domestic Abuse Problem. There is also Obamacare, Immigration and Ebola. They remain in the news more because the media continues to milk these stories than readers demand to know more. When we look at the sales stories of the recent past, the topics that sales experts continue writing about are Social Selling, Inbound Marketing, LinkedIn, Twitter, C
' Salespeople are always asking me for the closing techniques that work the best. Here the five I have found work the best time and time again. What’s even better is the first three are great for the new salesperson or the “non-salesperson” who suddenly finds themselves having to sell. 1. Pick a Date Close […].
'As I have written before, I grew up on a farm in Hammonton, NJ., the Blueberry Capital of the World. As a matter of fact, come this next Monday, I was born there 60 years ago at 7:14am on a Wednesday morning at the Esposito Home (A small, privately-run hospital). When growing up on a farm, it is beneficial to learn how to use certain tools. Learning what the tools are at an early age was extremely helpful especially when dad (Ray) was working underneath a pickup truck or in the middle of a trac
'As I have written before, I grew up on a farm in Hammonton, NJ., the Blueberry Capital of the World. As a matter of fact, come this next Monday, I was born there 60 years ago at 7:14am on a Wednesday morning at the Esposito Home (A small, privately-run hospital). When growing up on a farm, it is beneficial to learn how to use certain tools. Learning what the tools are at an early age was extremely helpful especially when dad (Ray) was working underneath a pickup truck or in the middle of a trac
'At one point, I wanted to get better at golf (it’s hard to be worse than I am). I started reading a lot of “How To” books, watching videos, and taking lessons. As I stood, club in hand, looking down at the ball, I struggled to remember: “Keep your head down, bend your knees, keep evenly balanced, keep your back straight, shoulders level, reach straight back, keep your arm straight, watch your elbow……” I’d always end up twisted like a pretzel,
'In an iconic scene from Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) , Alec Baldwin lectures a group of salesmen about the correct way of doing business. In his motivational (read: foul-mouthed) speech, he highlights a very important strategy that still rings true today – especially in the world of conversion rate optimization : “Always be testing.”. That’s how it went, right?
'Some sales people lie but don’t believe they do. They lie to make a sale. They lie to get you to buy what they want you to buy. They lie to promote their agenda, not yours. They don’t believe they lie because they don’t give you false information. They don’t blatantly tell you a lie. They don’t tell you something that is straight up not true and so because the don’t directly lie; they’ve convinced themselves they aren’t lying.
'Copyright: swingvoodoo / 123RF Stock Photo. I''m always amused when an email comes through with a message that says something like, "Maybe we should target candidates that aren''t recommended" or "Why do so many candidates lack Commitment?" or "Your assessments are only recommending 1 out of every 5 candidates!" or "The questions don''t fit the role!
Today’s buyers expect more than generic outreach–they want relevant, personalized interactions that address their specific needs. For sales teams managing hundreds or thousands of prospects, however, delivering this level of personalization without automation is nearly impossible. The key is integrating AI in a way that enhances customer engagement rather than making it feel robotic.
'As the year draws to a close, it can be challenging to find inspiration to be productive when there are so many distractions going on. Want to make the most of your days through the end of the year? Just think Beast Mode. Yesterday, Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks went “Beast Mode” on the Arizona Cardinals and ran for a 79 yard touchdown.
'My dad used to tell me, “Anthony, sometimes you have to pick up the dirty end of the stick.” Well, actually, my dad’s quote was “Sometimes you have to pick up the shi**y end of the stick.” For the life of me, I had no idea what he was talking about then…and I still didn’t know what he meant until many years later. Why would I ever want to pick up the shi**y end of the stick when there was a perfectly clean end to grab?
'I had a fascinating conversation with Gerald Vanderpuye today. He shared what many of us would think as the Nightmare To End All Nightmares. He was working a huge deal, it was important to the company’s ability to make their numbers for the quarter. Deals like that get a lot of visibility all the way to top management, so as expected, top management in his company wanted to do a deal review.
'Your conversion rate is not what it could be – and you know you need to do something about it. Should you redesign the whole website? Maybe. Probably not though. It depends. But if you are going to do it, you need to tread very lightly. Website redesigns only work if they are carefully managed and data-driven. Careful – radical website redesigns often backfire.
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.
'You may not like it. It may not seem fair at times, but at the end of the day, production is the name of the game. Production is what we bring to the table, it’s our contribution to the business pot-luck. Production is our input, it’s our way of adding to the bigger picture, it’s our way of making a difference. But when we stop producing, not only are we not adding to the pie, we’re taking away.
'Copyright: 123RF Stock Photo. You’ve made your New Years resolutions to exercise, lay off the carbs, lose weight, be kind, leave the cell phone in another room at night, close the laptop by 7PM, and be an all around better person. You may have even set your goals for 2015. But what can you do to kick-off the New Year so that 2015 is your best sales year ever?
'Here are two things you must know to kickstart the New Year: If you think you’re good, it may prevent you from becoming great! Failure can be a foundation for becoming great. You may have had a very good year. If so, congratulations! But at the same time, don’t think for a moment 2014′s performance […].
'Occasionally, maybe 3 or 4 times since I started blogging, I write about something that is bigger than managing sales people, sales growth, sales coaching or selling. Something happens that is meaningful to me and I feel compelled to write about it. Maybe it’s my way of dealing with the event. Often, the event is when someone in my life (or our lives) is lost.
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.
'Bear with me on my word play in the title. I was just doing some deal reviews with a very frustrated sales person. He had a deal that was very important to him. He’d been working it for a long time, he needed it to make his numbers, he was in the closing stage of the process. Apparently, he was winning the deal, but he couldn’t get the PO.
'A/B testing tools like Optimizely or VWO make testing easy, and that’s about it. They’re tools to run tests, and not exactly designed for post-test analysis. Most testing tools have gotten better at it over the years, but still lack what you can do with Google Analytics – which is like everything. When you run a test until you’ve reached validity ( not the same as significance ), you have to do post-test analysis to decide on the way forward.
'The title of this post is a double entendre. Dang, my s**t is good. 1) The first part of the double entendre “Hey look at me.” I’m on Social Sales Hour #sshour with @rachelloumiller and Brian Fanzo ( @isocialfanz ) we’re breaking down personal branding and why it’s important. 2) And the other half of the double entendre, “hey look at me” is regarding personal brand and the importance of standing out.
'Copyright: zimmytws / 123RF Stock Photo. As we approach the end of the year, do you pass judgement on the personal contributions you made to your wallet, family, friends, co-workers, customers, community, industry, religion, and the world during the past year? How did you do? If you''re like me, you did really well in some areas, and in others, not very good.
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!
'You may have thought you asked for the order, but did your customer know you were asking for it? Surprisingly, there are quite a few times when the customer doesn’t even know the salesperson is trying to close. The situation usually happens like this: Either the salesperson is so timid and scared of hearing […].
'Well…I already blew my goal to blog every day that I work in December. That happened when I failed to do so yesterday, December 1 st. But, I didn’t blow my commitment to making phone calls to prospects every day I work in December. As a rainmaker for Anthony Cole Training Group , I have a responsibility to keep an active pipeline of prospects. I made a choice.
'Often, in talking about deals with sales people, there are things that just don’t make sense. The customer is doing things that don’t make sense–they are very far off our normal experience in similar sales situations. They may be responding in a very unusual manner. They may be asking things that are really wrong–perhaps missing critical issues they should be looking at, demonstrating real misunderstanding of the issues they should be considering for a solution, or foc
'Another one bites the dust. Here are our most read articles for 2014. Make sure you didn’t miss any. . 10#: The Science of Storytelling & Memory and Their Impact on CRO. If your website isn’t converting well, it’s likely the story you’re telling your customer’s journey through the marketing funnel isn’t resonating on some emotional level.
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!
'There is only one first impression you need to make as a sales person. It’s the impression you can deliver value. Any other impression is immaterial. The next time you meet a buyer for the first time, you’re only goal should be to get the buyer to say, Man that person was impressive, they could make a serious impact on my organization. You can make other impressions.
'Copyright mreco99 / 123RF Stock Photo. It''s hard to believe that it''s December already. It seems like only yesterday that I made my annual reposting of one of my most popular articles of all time - a terrific holiday article that is worth a read even if you read it each of the previous 4 Decembers. Top 3 Lessons from Tchaikovsky''s The Nutcracker.
'So you say you’re a good salesperson because you’ve got pricing that is hot and you have the flexibility to make it hotter when necessary. What it comes down to is you’re selling on price. Here are 8 reasons why selling on price never works: 1. Your current price (which you think is so […].
'How are B2B sales leaders planning for their teams in 2015? Top 20 sales experts weigh in on this, including me. I was pleased to be a part of this e-book (download here) created by Velocify which addresses a number of issues that are on the minds of sales leaders everywhere. (note: there is a form to fill out on the Velocify website.). In addition to my prediction (below), you can read predictions from my colleagues: Jill Konrath , Bestselling author of Agile Selling , SNAP Selling & Sel
ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!
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