2020

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3 Smart, Sustainable Ways to Monitor Your Organic Search Rankings

ConversionXL

“Why don’t we rank first for [keyword]”? Every SEO analyst gets this question. And every business investing in SEO uses keyword rankings to judge performance. Despite the flood of “organic rankings are dead” articles in recent years, I have yet to see a single business or agency that has given up on tracking keywords. So are all those articles wrong?

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If You’re Going to Do a SaaS Start-Up … You Have to Give it 24 Months

SaaStr

It took us 2 years just to figure out our ultimate business model. What you think you do on day 1 may look very different by day 365. [link]. — Aaron Levie (@levie) September 11, 2020. It seems like everyone wants to be a SaaS founder these days. I meet with great VPs of Sales and Product in particular who are Ready. It’s time. To go out on their own.

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The 5 x Key Areas Of Sales Professionalism

The 5% Institute

Sales can be won or lost based on how you present and carry yourself – which is why sales professionalism is key to your success. But what exactly is sales professionalism? And what ingredients are needed to carry and present yourself as a true sales professional? In this article, we’ll explore what sales professionalism is, as well as the five key factors you need to position yourself as the easy choice for your potential clients.

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17 Common Virtual Selling Mistakes to Avoid

RAIN Group

There are many mistakes to avoid when it comes to virtual selling. Although we all make—and learn from—our mistakes, they're often magnified in a virtual environment, which makes awareness and preparation paramount to success.

Sell 145
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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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Blogger Outreach: 5 Ways to Help People See Your Content

G2

Blogger outreach is an effective way to tap a relevant audience and introduce your brand to a whole new set of readers.

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The Best Free Graphic Design Software for Marketers and Beginners

Hubspot

When it comes to website success, what you see is what you get. While compelling text, blog, and social media content can help set your brand apart from the competition, the visual appeal of your site is the first thing users see when they follow backlinks or click through on search engine results. Recent research found that it takes just 2.6 seconds for users’ eyes to focus on a specific area of your website.

Campaign 101

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Google Will Soon Rank “Passages.” Does It Matter?

ConversionXL

On October 15, Google announced that it will integrate more artificial intelligence into its search algorithm, improve visual search, and work on 3D search functionality. When it comes to organic results, the biggest news is Google’s new focus on “passages”: By better understanding the relevancy of specific passages, not just the overall page, we can find that needle-in-a-haystack information you’re looking for.

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What Order Should You Hire Your Management Team In?

SaaStr

IME, rough order to make hires in: VPM: $0.2m ARR VPS: $1-$1.5m ARR VPCS: $2m ARR VPP: $3m-$4m ARR VPE: $5m-$6m ARR CFO: $10m ARR COO: $20m ARR. More here: [link]. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 21, 2019. The other day I was meeting with a great CEO who had raised a modest seed round. Enough to invest, but not enough to go crazy with. He’d found several good First VP candidates, in particular, a strong first head of marketing and a strong first head of product.

Quota 145
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How To Use The Intent Statement For Sales Success

The 5% Institute

Something we teach Sales Professionals and Business Owners that make their sales conversations a lot more successful, is an intent statement – also known as a pre-frame. An intent statement is a game changer. It positions you as a trusted advisor , builds trust, gets you the information you need to close the sale, and even eliminates some objections.

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What Is Warm Calling & How To Do It Right

The 5% Institute

Warm calling is an effective prospecting activity when done correctly; so, what is warm calling, and how can you do it effectively? In this article, you’ll learn what is warm calling, as well as how to make your cold calls into warm calls. What Is Warm Calling? So, what is warm calling exactly? Put simply; warm calling is a call to a prospective client when they already know you exist, and you’ve already made contact with them in some way.

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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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Sales Mastery Tips – 8 x To Succeed

The 5% Institute

In this article, we’ll explore eight tips to help you on your way towards sales mastery; which are used by the top five percent of sales performers all around the world. Many people think that what they’re able to achieve is from pure luck. We’ll explore how this isn’t the case, and what you can do to improve your sales process , as well as your closing rate.

Sales 145
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How To Be Successful At Sales

The 5% Institute

In this article, we’ll detail exactly how to be successful at sales, by following an eight step sales process. Learning, implementing and following a sales process is one of the most important things you can learn in sales. A sales process will give you consistency and will simple to use framework to guide your potential clients towards the sale. Read on to learn how to be successful at sales, by following a proven and simple step by step framework.

Consult 145
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The Top 10 Mistakes First Time SaaS Founders Make

SaaStr

Second-timers know the playbook and can execute against it faster. But often times, they also have a bit of healthy skepticism, a bit of baggage, from the last time. First-timers often know very little, but are baggage free. That can be very powerful. I’ve had a chance to watch a whole cohort of SaaS first-time founders go from $1m to $10m ARR in 5 quarters or less (more on that here ) and just been awestruck by how much better than me they are as founders, and how much better they̵

Quota 145
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Selling Real Estate – A Step By Step Guide

The 5% Institute

Selling real estate the correct way, can make the difference between remaining a mediocre Real Estate Agent or Realtor, and reaching the top 5% of your industry. The contacts you make and the people you serve can potentially help you for many years to come; not to mention, may have some terrific referrals for you too. So; what’s the correct way to go about selling real estate?

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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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Online Classes For Sales Success – Yours For Free

The 5% Institute

To help you close easier, become more consistent at selling, and serve more clients – we’ve created online classes for sales success – absolutely free! Our mission at The 5% Institute , is serve Sales Professionals, Business Owners and Entrepreneurs so that they can serve more people, and make a bigger impact. Sales doesn’t need to be hard. What can make it difficult though, is following outdated methods, or scripts that actually repel your potential clients.

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Big Companies Don’t Churn. They Quit You.

SaaStr

“Churn” is a term we all use in SaaS as a core metric, but its roots, as near as I remember and can tell, come from our B2C colleagues. Folks churn out of their Verizon plan, their Netflix subscription, etc. In a low-end subscription model for a tool, not a solution (e.g., semi-commodity storage, semi-commodity hosting, etc. etc.), the dynamics are similar.

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What Vs How – Does It Make A Difference?

The 5% Institute

Using what vs how during your sales conversations, is a perfect example of how certain words and nuances could make a big difference. In this article, we’ll explore the difference between what vs how; and how the small word difference between the two could impact your closing rate, as well as your mindset. What Vs How – Does It Make A Difference? The Difference Between What Vs How.

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Sell The Sizzle, Not The Steak – It’s Meaning

The 5% Institute

A common phrase you may have heard in sales and business, is sell the sizzle, not the steak. So, what does sell the sizzle, not the steak mean? In this article, we’ll break down what sell the sizzle, not the steak means, and what you can do to increase your overall sales and win more customers and clients. Sell The Sizzle, Not The Steak – It’s Meaning.

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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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Your Sales Growth Formula

The 5% Institute

Your sales growth formula (also known as a sales targeting strategy ), is one of the most important parts of your marketing and sales efforts. The reason it’s so important is because it’s crucial to get your product in service in front of the right prospects and potential clients. In this article we’ll look at what sales growth formula is, the types of targets to set up and keep track of, and how to find your ideal clients.

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How To Build Rapport With Customers

The 5% Institute

Building rapport with customers is absolutely crucial if you want to make an initial sale, as well as build on that to create an everlasting relationship. Zig Ziglar famously said , “If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you” ; and that couldn’t be more spot on. So how do you begin building rapport with customers?

Customers 145
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By The Time You Give Them a Raise, They’re Already Out The Door

SaaStr

If someone is looking for another job in Year 1, Even if they don’t take it … You’ve already basically lost them. Do more 1-on-1s Get more 360 feedback Talk more. I know you don’t have time. Make it. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) October 11, 2020. There’s an endless amount written on the internet about hiring “Rockstars” Finding them, not settling, and all that.

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15+ of The Top Sales & Marketing Mistakes SaaS Startups Make

SaaStr

A little while back we put together some of the top sales & marketing mistakes SaaS companies and founders make, especially in the early days. I thought it would be worth a quick update of the post. We’ve all made many of these mistakes ourselves, myself included ?? I’m even making a few myself again. But if you see yourself making any of the mistakes below, it’s fairly easy to make a course correction.

Quota 145
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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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A Framework For Your First SaaS Sales Comp Plan

SaaStr

I’m not ashamed to admit that when I set up our first SaaS sales comp plan, I had no idea what I was doing. In my first start-up, yes I sold to the enterprise. I sold $6m our first year (man, that sounds good looking back on it). But I did all the sales myself, and stupidly, had no sales comp plan at all ??. Then at Adobe Sign / EchoSign I had some good — and painful — learnings.

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When You Fall Out of Product-Market Fit

SaaStr

I’ve been investing just long enough now to see start-ups fall out of product-market fit. When I started blogging on SaaStr.com back in 2012 (!), I didn’t really think this happened. I thought folks got out-sold, lost to the competition, and even failed to evolve. But I didn’t get that apps with happy customers, and some real traction, could fall out of product-market fit.

Product 145
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5 Things No One Tells You About VC Firms

SaaStr

Q: What don’t they tell you about venture capital firms? A few things that aren’t obvious when you raise venture capital: Your VC partner may leave. There has been much more transition in VC firms in the past 5+ years. Partners leave to found their own firms in particular all the time now. Non-partners leave to join hot firms. You are stuck with the fund as an investor forever.

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The “Covid Boost” for SaaS Will Last Years

SaaStr

Q: What impact will the effects of covid have on the SaaS industry? Many of us in SaaS are really struggling now. Restaurants, events, recruiting, and so many other industries are in deep trouble. But on balance, Covid-19 is dramatically accelerating SaaS: During “Shelter Plus” times, in the end, we’ve worked more in the Cloud: More Zooms. You know this, but also.

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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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How To Perfect Your Sales Pitch – A Step by Step Guide

The 5% Institute

The sales pitch is a crucial part of the sales process , and one that you need to get right! Making a mistake while delivering your sales pitch can mean the difference between closing the sale – and breaking rapport and starting all over again. In this article, we’ll explore why so many Sales Professionals and Business Owners make mistakes when delivering their sales pitch, and what steps you need to include prior to delivering yours.

Pitch 145
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Want To Be A Sales Closer? Do This To Learn How

The 5% Institute

Do you want to be a sales closer? Meaning – do you want the framework to consistently close more sales, without being pushy or having to rely on outdated scripts? In this article, we’ll give you 8 x solid tips for selling more effectively, so that you can close more consistently and effectively. These tips for selling are centred around consultative selling.

Consult 144
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Fill Your Pipeline in 4 Easy Steps

RAIN Group

To succeed in sales, you need a steady stream of new opportunities entering the pipeline, whether it's with new clients or existing accounts. That's not as easy as it used to be, given that people are now working, buying, and selling virtually, and many organic opportunities to create sales opportunities have disappeared.

Pipeline 144
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Turns Out, 85% of the World Likes “Contact Me”. Even Though You Don’t.

SaaStr

I know you are probably like me. You go to a web service. What do you do? Free trial. Sign Up Now. The very, very last thing I am going to click is “Contact Me.” The last thing I want, as a web-centric small customer/user, is some sales rep selling me on some product I just want to try for 20 minutes and see if it works for me. You and I are like that.

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How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr