How do you create sales and marketing alignment? How do you get the sales team and marketing team to actually work together? There’s a lot of talk about the increasing need to align sales and marketing functions within organizations. More and more, customers are expecting a seamless experience. And it’s getting harder and harder to split the different parts of the customer life cycle between the sales team over there, and the marketing team over here. Instead of keeping the two separate and distinct, it’s clear that the new buyer’s journey requires them to merge. And at the same time, both marketing and sales professionals are … [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...]
5 Ways to Stop Wasting Your Work Time On Social Media
Like most things in life, the rise of social media platforms has been both a blessing and a curse for professionals. There is a host of new opportunities to create meaningful engagement...and lose hours of productivity. Our approach to these platforms goes a long way to determining whether they really help us in our professional lives. For example, my wife surfs Facebook after a long day to connect with her friends and see what people have posted. I play video games. Both are totally valid forms of relaxation. But I don't play video games in the middle of the day. And you shouldn't mindlessly surf social media and pretend that … [Read more...]
2 Simple Guidelines that Boost Your LinkedIn Messaging Game
I got an interesting question from my ex-intern’s younger brother who is also a student at my alma mater (try following that chain). It was a simple question, and he was asking because he thought that he was too inexperienced to know the right answer. But I would guess that it’s a question that many, if not most, professionals have about messaging on LinkedIn. He asked: What is the right tone to take? I do not know if I am supposed to be formal like on an email or more casual like I am talking with my friends on Facebook. What’s appropriate? It’s an interesting question because digital communication is actually a pretty new thing. … [Read more...]
How to be Your Own Sales Manager in the Hyper-Connected World
A version of this article originally appeared on the Salesforce Sales Blog. When you think “sales manager”, do you think of Alec Baldwin in Glengarry, Glenross or Ben Affleck in Boiler Room. Do you think of someone pushing you and exhorting you to sell more and more? It’s time to take the power back. Be Your Own Sales Manager The best sales manager you are ever going to have is yourself. No one is going to care about your career success as much as you will. And the one person who you can’t lie to, or inflate your numbers for, is you. But it can be challenging to decide how to manage your activities in a sales world that’s in … [Read more...]