I came up in a sales world that exalted individual effort. You lived and died based on your personal work and initiative. The more you could hustle and get in front of people, the better. But that sales world is evolving quickly. Prospects have access to more information than ever before because of technology. The buyer's journey is becoming more complex. It can be harder to get our prospects' attention when they are being bombarded by social media posts, emails, and every other form of digital communication. Adapting to this new world of selling requires a different approach, and it's one that I learned from the marketing world. … [Read more...]
Want Sales Success in 2019: Here Are the 7 Surefire Skills of the Sales Sherpa
The sales profession has a problem. Prospects and clients are stuck thinking of salespeople as single-minded hustlers, whose only job is to harass them by calling or emailing over and over until they can weasel into a sales call and then use their killer "close" to get the business. That's not the problem. The real problem: sales professionals still view themselves as single-minded hustlers, whose only job is to harass prospects by calling or emailing over and over until they can weasel their way into a sales call and then use their killer "close" to get the business. That's not going to work anymore. The world has … [Read more...]
Stop the Sniping and Start the Loving: The Simple Steps to Sales and Marketing Collaboration
"He doesn't understand how hard I work on this!" "Her expectations are impossible to meet!" Have you noticed that the complaints that sales and marketing teams have about each other sound just like two partners in a dysfunctional marriage (or at least a pretty strained one)? When Sales and Marketing Argue, the Customer Loses This contentious relationship between sales and marketing is not a new thing. It's been common for sales teams to complain that marketing doesn't provide good leads, or that they aren't held accountable for results. The marketing crew snipes right back that sales people don't understand the challenge of getting … [Read more...]
Podcast Round-Up
Are you looking to harness the power of digital influence and human connection, but don't have the bandwidth to add another book to your "to-read" list? Don't worry, I've got your back: Just check out a podcast about it. I am a huge podcast fan. I love listening to them, I love making my own (check out Beer, Beats, & Business), and I love joining other hosts on theirs. With the release of Networking in the 21st Century and Hyper-Connected Selling, I've had a lot of great conversations with podcasters about how professionals can leverage relationships to find professional success. While they can't replace the depth and nuance … [Read more...]
Using Video for Selling? You Need to Avoid 5 Basic Miscues
According to the song, video killed the radio star. But the recent explosion of easy-to-use video tools has also made video a killer opportunity for salespeople to create content and share with prospects and customers. It captures all of the nuance of in-person communication with the ease of on-demand access. You don’t need to go through the hassle of uploading videos to YouTube anymore (although you still can). Facebook Live and the new embedded Linked video app make it easy to put video on social platforms. And new services like Vidyard and Bombbomb let you easily send personalized videos right to contacts, prospects, and … [Read more...]
Are You a Salesperson Who Hates Writing? Here’s How to Still Create Powerful Content
We live in an information-soaked world right now. It used to be that articles were only found in magazines and newspapers, but now anyone (and any company) can start a blog and start writing. "Content marketing" has become a key tool for companies trying to capture shares on social media and better Google rankings through their articles. And professionals trying to share their personal brands have also jumped on the bandwagon. But what about content marketing for people who aren't writers or marketers? In talking with many salespeople and entrepreneurs, I hear a lot of push back against creating content. They say that it takes too … [Read more...]
5 Basic Principles Entrepreneurs Should Follow to be a Sales Sherpa™
When looking at how to sell their services, most entrepreneurs and business owners think that they either have to pound relentlessly or wait patiently. Either they send out tons of emails, spend lots of marketing dollars, and attend every networking event in their area in an attempt to find business, or they "work by word of mouth" and take a passive approach, hoping that an existing client will email with a hot lead for them. And in both cases, they find themselves struggling. Guiding Prospects These days the sales process has changed. Access to online content has put most of the buying process firmly in the hands of prospects and … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 7
- Next Page »