Let’s be honest, the world of selling is changing a lot right now. For those responsible for leading, managing, and coaching sales teams, there is always a new program or tool to adopt. But, as you might have found out, it is rarely an easy transition. Getting people to adopt new behaviors is hard. There is usually a lot of resistance and change is slow. Many factors impact that friction, but there’s a big one that escapes most people’s attention. Peer pressure. Peer Pressure Stymies New Programs On a recent podcast by author Malcolm Gladwell, he shared a story about the career of Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt, while one of the best … [Read more...]
How Salespeople Can Make Videos Quickly and Easily for Social
When I'm speaking to sales teams on the power of sharing content online, one of the most common responses I get is: "How am I going to find the time!" After diving in, it quickly becomes clear that it's not just a matter of minutes and hours, but of training and bandwidth. Creating relevant and insightful content isn't easy. That's why there are whole departments of people (called "Marketing") that do it. They spend their time and energy developing the skills, doing the research, and putting together the messaging. So salespeople are understandably frustrated when they feel they are being asked to become brand marketers as well as … [Read more...]
The Sales and Marketing Alignment Program You Need to Know: This is How You Get Them Working Together
When the topic of "sales and marketing alignment" comes up in a room there tends to be one of a few reactions by the sales and marketing leaders who are present. The "sure sure, yeah yeah" head bob. - "Of course creating alignment is important in this customer-first, connected environment! We must do everything we can to bring sales and marketing together"... and then they go back and things continue as usual "We're just not ready for making this kind of shift." There's agreement that a change needs to be made, but it's not a crisis so it gets no organizational attention. "This is just some BS that people talk about on that … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Share Professional LinkedIn Posts (Without Boring People About Your Company)
updated January 2022 One of the biggest mistakes that salespeople make when sharing content on social media - especially LinkedIn - is that they only talk about their company or what they are selling. At first blush this makes sense, but translate it to an offline experience: What do you think of salespeople who only talk about their company and give you a sales pitch every time you see them? At best you try to avoid them, and at worst you are actively annoyed by them. Should you share information about what you are selling on LinkedIn? Sure, but sparingly. Mix it up with other content. Topics that Engage Your Professional … [Read more...]
Smartphones Don’t Cause Evolution: How Misunderstanding Technology Can Hurt Your Professional Network
There's an awful lie that I see tossed around by social selling "gurus", technology ninjas, and futurists. They love to suggest that technology has caused humans to evolve. For them, technology is driving a fundamental and permanent shift in the way we communicate, engage, and even think. They think that Facebook and other social media platforms are changing how we relate to each other. Or the fact that we can look up that "one actor in that one movie" on Google (instead of putting brain power into remembering) demonstrates that our memories now work differently. The argument goes that changing technology leads to changing people. In … [Read more...]
5 Steps that Will Make You More Approachable On LinkedIn
We've all experienced the online narcissist. The person who is constantly sharing what they are working on, where they are going, who they are going there with, and what they are eating when they get there. And we think, "I'm so glad that I'm not like them!" I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are. It's not always as extreme, but when I look at how professionals use digital platforms for business purposes, I find they do the exact same thing. Salespeople brag about how good they are at hitting quota and the features of what they sell. Executives have lists of their companies' accomplishments and their rise through the … [Read more...]
The Simple Content Lesson that Quickly Super-Charged my Writing
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...]
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