August, 2016

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Sales Management When "Life Happens" - Failure is NOT an Option

Anthony Cole Training

A year ago tomorrow, I was released from University Hospital here in Cincinnati. Doctors Augsburger and Correa had performed radioactive plaque surgery on my right eye. The plaque stayed attached to my right eye for 5 days with a lead eye patch covering it. I was confined to a lead lined room. On the 25 th , they removed the plaque (disc), sutured the eye and then sent me home for recovery.

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Don’t Coach Top Performers?

Engage Selling

They’re hitting and exceeding their targets with no signs of slowing down. Should you even bother to coach your top sales performers? I’ve been working with executives for the last few years on sales coaching practices.

Sales 101
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Trending Sources

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It’s Not About You – Washing Off the Slimy Feeling of Sales

A Sales Guy

Sales isn’t something you do to someone. It’s something you do for someone. Everything changes when we put the customer first. When their problems, issues, challenges become our primary focus, we stop doing something to our prospects and start doing something for them. That something. Is fixing a broken system, it’s finding more money for capital improvements, that something is helping them compete better, that something is helping them deliver more for less, that something is

Quota 81
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3 Ways to Increase Conversions by Increasing Contextual Relevance

ConversionXL

When trying to boost conversions, whether it’s on a signup screen or a landing page, it’s a default for many optimizers to generate hypotheses based on best practices and what’s generally “known” to be a problem. A landing page that doesn’t display well on mobile is a perfect example. Someone might shout “it’s not responsive” and then resize the page properly for mobile use.

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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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Are Millennials Who Enter Sales Better or Worse Than the Rest of the Sales Population?

Understanding the Sales Force

Image Copyright: kchung / 123RF Stock Photo. Millennials are more independent, more spoiled, have a shorter attention span, tend to be more into their technology than into people, don't like working traditional hours, and don't enjoy working in traditional ways. That said, would you expect them to be better or worse suited for selling than the generations who came before them?

Sales 74
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Sales Motivation Video: Three GREATEST Sales Tools

The Sales Hunter

It’s really no secret that the three GREATEST sales tools are your MIND, TIME and NETWORK. But how well are you managing these? That is key to your success. My guess is that if you look closely at these three sales tools, you will find areas where you can improve. Don’t delay! Your success depends […].

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The Surprising Morale Boosting Tool

Engage Selling

Want to boost your sales team’s morale? I don’t blame you. Let’s face it, the top sales teams have no shortage of morale on their side.

Sales 89
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Sales Leaders, Listen to Your Sales People

A Sales Guy

Too often sales leaders dismiss the rumblings from their sales people are whining and complaining and as excuses for not being able to sell. In Spazz Out 7, I rant on why that’s a big mistake and what can happen if they do. Sales people are on the front lines, they know what’s going one. Ignore them at our own peril. Do you have a Spazz Out topic you want me to hit?

Sales 74
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Intelligent Agents: An A.I. View of Optimization

ConversionXL

As a digital analyst or marketer, you know the importance of analytical decision making. Go to any industry conference, blog, meet up, or even just read the popular press, and you will hear and see topics like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics everywhere. Because many of us don’t come from a technical/statistical background, this can be both a little confusing and intimidating.

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HBR or OMG - Whose Criteria Really Differentiate the Top and Bottom 10% of Salespeople?

Understanding the Sales Force

Image owned by or licensed to CartoonStock ®. The Harvard Business Review is at it again. I honestly can't believe that a publication like HBR continues to publish and push junk science about sales. Nearly every time they publish an article on sales or selling, they are usually as wrong as the mainstream media is with their attempts to manipulate readers and viewers to vote for their preferred candidates.

Sell 69
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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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3 Top Sales Tips That Will Help Keep Your Sales Focus

Score More Sales

Paying attention to growing sales and revenues is a challenge for many sales reps and leaders. It takes amazing, ongoing focus on the activities that lead to new revenues in order to grow business and ultimately succeed as a professional seller. Here are three ideas you can implement.

Sales 68
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What the Numbers Tell Us about Salesperson Readiness

Anthony Cole Training

We recently delivered a webinar specifically for one of our clients – BISA (Bank Insurance and Securities Association). The topic was The Customer-First Advisor: How to Help Your Salespeople Survive and Sell in the Coming DOL Environment – regarding the recent Department of Labor ruling outlining the fiduciary responsibilities of financial advisors giving advice to prospects or clients.

Clients 120
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Use This Simple and Powerful Referral Strategy

Engage Selling

Are you actively seeking referrals from your current client base? According to recent studies, 78% of happy clients want to give out referrals. Yet only 8% of salespeople actually ask for them. Can you see the disconnect?

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Keenan’s First 7 Jobs #firstsevenjobs

A Sales Guy

I’m sure most of you have already seen this meme #firstsevenjobs going around on Twitter and Facebook. I hate these types of memes. Prolly because I didn’t come up with the original idea, and I hate feeling like a copycat, or a sheep. I know, I’ve got issues. After reading a few, including my friend Fred Wilson’s list, it got me thinking.

Pitch 67
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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

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9 Different Types of Lead Magnets You Can Create Using Blogs You Already Have

Hubspot

Lead magnets are an effective technique for gaining a prospect's contact information. The problem is that these magnets can take a lot of time and energy to produce. Podcasts, e-learning courses, video series, and contests all sound great but seriously, who has time for that? In this article, I want to show you nine different lead magnets that you can create today by recycling content that you already have.Every blog post in your archive has the potential to generate new leads for your business

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The Craziest, Most Unusual Sales Selection Criteria and What Really Works

Understanding the Sales Force

It was just last month that I wrote this hugely popular article about the tech buyer who hated salespeople. In the first paragraph I mentioned that I had a crazy case of poison ivy. At about the one-week point, I started searching Google to find anything that might help ease the itching and discomfort. As you might guess, the remedies I found included some very crazy things that common sense would tell you to stay away from.

Consult 69
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10 Ways to Be Seen as a Sales Leader by Your Customers

The Sales Hunter

A sales leader is one who helps their customers see and achieve things they didn’t think were possible. If your customer doesn’t see you as a sales leader, don’t go thinking you’re not about to be replaced. Remember it’s not what you sell; it’s how you help the customer that makes the difference. Here’s my list of 10 […].

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Sales Management Tools: The Performance Formula

Anthony Cole Training

Performance management is a major component of our Sales Management Certification program. When we graphically represent a sales managed environment, the pyramid below is how we communicate the components, how the environment is built and the order of importance.

Represent 120
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1st, 2nd, and 3rd Party Intent Data: Which Is Right for You?

How do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party intent data compare? 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party data each have specific advantages and disadvantages. It comes down to four factors: accuracy, cost, control and quantity. This infographic explains the pros and cons of each and helps you understand which one is best for meeting your business objectives. Intent data can be a great way to fill your pipeline and close more deals.

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The Great Divide Between BS and Intelligent Optimization

ConversionXL

You can divide SEO tactics into two general categories: the black hat and the white hat. I believe we can do a similar classification with conversion optimization. If we had two categories worth distinction they would be: BS CRO. Intelligent CRO. Perhaps using the same concept of Black Hat and White Hat for conversion optimization is a step too far.

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The Truth About Being Defensive and Failure

A Sales Guy

What are your “blind-spots?” Do you have any? How do you know? In personal development, a blind spot is, when people see things in you, you don’t see in you. The only way to avoid blind spots is to embrace feedback. Being defensive dismisses feedback and is the fastest path to failure. You have to be open to feedback. What are your blind spots?

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8 Time Management Tips to Help You Hit Your Long-Term Deadlines

Hubspot

While intended to make life easier, sometimes putting together a to-do list can feel like a bigger undertaking than accomplishing the actual tasks at hand. This concept is referred to as the procrastination "doom loop" -- a cycle of putting off tasks, feeling anxiety and guilt, and consequently working with lower productivity and efficiency due to these negative feelings.

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Hiring for Sales Success

Engage Selling

How can you ensure that you’re hiring the right people to join your sales team? Many sales leaders have been asking me how to hire new sales reps and build a profitable team.

Sales 65
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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

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10 Ways to Deal With a Customer Complaint

The Sales Hunter

Give me a customer complaint any day over a customer not being happy and not complaining. I can’t deal with what I don’t know. Below are 10 ways to deal with a complaining customer and a couple of bonus ideas: 1. Don’t run from it. Deal with it immediately regardless of the situation 2. Thank […].

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Onboarding: One Key to Successful Hiring

Anthony Cole Training

In January, we launched Hire Better Salespeople. It is the recruiting business solution to help companies profile, attract, screen, evaluate, hire and on –board “A” sales talent. We specialize in financial services, banking and insurance. There are actually three differentiators in our approach, but now I only want to talk about one of the three – Onboarding.

Launch 120
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Do You Know if Your Sales Organization is Digital or Analog?

Understanding the Sales Force

During our very first conversation with a CEO, our talking path is determined by whether their company is analog or digital. Digital companies are typically on the cutting edge in their thinking and actions, their CEO's read content like this, are active on LinkedIn and Twitter, they know that selling has changed dramatically, they already have inside sales teams, playbooks, demo decks, sales enablement, online tools beyond CRM and in true digital fashion, they live by their KPI's which count th

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What It Means to Have Hustle and Grind [Meet Angela Duckworth]

A Sales Guy

Hustle and grit are thrown around a lot in the sales world but what does it really mean? I know personally, it’s a trait I look for when hiring sales people. Sales requires a little extra tenacity and hustle than many other jobs. Salespeople are constantly being told NO! We’re confronted with gatekeepers, non-believers, objections, competitors, and more.

Meeting 66
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How to Leverage Intent Data for Better Outcomes

Speaker: Susan Spencer, Principal of Spencer Communications

Intent signal data can go a long way toward shortening sales cycles and closing more deals. The challenge is deciding which is the best type of intent data to help your company meet its sales and marketing goals. In this webinar, Susan Spencer, fractional CMO and principal of Spencer Communications, will unpack the differences between contact-level and company-level intent signals.

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15 Creative Examples of Branded Pop-Up Shops

Hubspot

Marketers spend a lot of time trying to nail down abstract concepts. They're tasked with turning brainstorming sessions and comments sourced during focus groups into campaigns that sum up everything about a brand's identity in a neat, tidy, and most importantly, interesting way. But what if a consumer could walk into a room and fully experience your brand with all their senses?

Retail 77
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The Experiment Canvas: A Better Way to Plan Tests

ConversionXL

I have been part of some the best conversion optimization teams in the world, and they seem to have an intuitive sense on how to run the best experiments. People that are involved in these teams share a similar mindset. I wanted to try to make this a process, one that could teach any organization how to run better experiments. I wanted to try to make this mindset more explicit in a way that is fun to use.

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Should Women in B2B Sales Sound Overly-Friendly to Succeed

Score More Sales

Recently, my good friend and sales prospecting expert to SaaS companies, John Barrows looped me in on a conversation he had with a woman who attended one of his recent sales prospecting sessions. I’ve changed some of the Q&A a bit, but wanted to share the main points of the conversation around how successful women need to “be” in order to be a successful BDR, AE, SDR, or other sales position.

B2B 63
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Upgrading Your Sales Team Military Style

Anthony Cole Training

I assure you that the military academies are all about performance management. IF it moves, it gets measured.

Sales 120
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5 Inspiring B2B Marketing Campaigns to Take Yours to the Next Level

Your next big B2B marketing idea starts here. Get inspired with these five successful B2B marketing campaigns. Ready to generate more leads, interest, and revenue with your B2B marketing? In this comprehensive eBook, you’ll get: In-depth studies of five successful B2B marketing campaigns spanning a wide range of industries Key takeaways and lessons from each story to implement in your own strategy Resources to help your own B2B marketing thrive By submitting this form, you agree to have your con