April, 2012

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Market Research - Time Spent and Sales Success

Anthony Cole Training

Thank you in advance. Over the last several years our team at Anthony Cole Training Group has worked closely with David Kurlan in our attempt to help sales companies build and execute more successful sales team. We work with Dave because his company, Objective Management Group, provides the best analytics to determine the root cause of performance for sales team.

Sales 175
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It Takes Guts to be a Sales Person

A Sales Guy

Selling is a pretty cool gig. Sales people can make a lot of money. Sales people get to manage their own schedule and aren’t stuck behind a desk all day. Sales people have the luxury of controlling their income. There is no limit to what they can make, when they sell more, they make more. Sales people go to cool customer events, get to play golf (although this is changing a bit), sporting events and nice dinners.

Sports 137
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3 Smart Ways to Close Deals in Your Sales Pipeline

Score More Sales

A corporate salesperson was telling me about his pipeline, and explaining all of the opportunities that were stalled. Nearly every one had what he thought were insurmountable problems. He was perplexed, frustrated, and in his mind, his career at a new company would be short-lived. We sat down and talked through every sales opportunity he had listed.

Pipeline 119
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What Really Matters For Promo Videos (3 Great Examples)

ConversionXL

Planning to use video to increase conversions ? Good idea. . What’s the most important part? It has to be damn good. Like interesting to watch. Compelling. Quality = Attention span. Your promo video only does you any good if people actually watch it. And like it. As Seinfeld said , ” There is no such thing as an attention span. There is only the quality of what you are viewing.” This captures the essence of a great promo video.

Pitch 117
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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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Should You Restage Your Sales Pipeline?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan As part of its sales force evaluation process, Objective Management Group (OMG) conducts a pipeline analysis and determines both the quality of the pipeline and the quantity of the pipeline. We ask each salesperson to submit 4 proposal-ready opportunities and then we run the analysis. If we were reviewing a full pipeline instead of just 4 proposal-ready opportunities for each salesperson, an ideal sales pipeline would look like this: Because we are on

Pipeline 104
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7 Sales Coaching Tips You Need for Success

The Sales Hunter

One of the biggest issues the sales community is dealing with is the lack of effective sales coaching. We can discuss as to why this is but instead let’s just cut to the chase. I want to give you what I see as 7 sales coaching tips you can use right now. Regardless of your sales position, these are 7 you need to know. 1. Consistently follow-up.

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Why You Want to be a Teaching Organization Not a Sales Organization

A Sales Guy

Do you want to know where the biggest opportunity for sales growth is today? Are you looking for a new, sure fire sales strategy that will increase sales, get you more leads, accelerate sales cycles, reduce cost of sales and improve close rates? Do you want to know what is the one thing you can do to blow out your number and crush the competition? It is to turn your sales organization into a teaching organization.

Education 131
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3 Smart Ways to Close Deals in Your Sales Pipeline

Score More Sales

A corporate salesperson was telling me about his pipeline, and explaining all of the opportunities that were stalled. Nearly every one had what he thought were insurmountable problems. He was perplexed, frustrated, and in his mind, his career at a new company would be short-lived. We sat down and talked through every sales opportunity he had listed.

Pipeline 119
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Click Fear and How to Avoid It

ConversionXL

No, it’s not a modern day phobia. It’s when people are not sure what will happen after they click. So in most cases they won’t. If you want to get people to click on your buttons, make them feel in control. It’s the uncertainty that kills the clicks. People like to feel in control. People feel much more comfortable when they know exactly what’s going to happen.

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Bashing The Competition!

Partners in Excellence

The other day, Charlie Green , Anthony Iannarino , and I had a discussion on handling the competition. Charlie posed the question, “Is it ever appropriate to bash the competition.” It was an interesting discussion, and I thought it worthwhile to share some ideas here. We all want to compete as aggressively as possible, OutPerforming the competition.

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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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Sell the Outcome, Not the Activity

The Sales Hunter

In my post 5 Sales Tips to Maximize Your Price , I promised to break down the individual tips even further. Here goes on the first sales tip: Sell the Outcome, Not the Activity. Anyone can sell features. Your objective is to focus on the outcomes the customer will gain in buying from you. You aren’t going to know what the expected outcomes are until you engage the customer in a conversation. .

Sell 94
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Start with 'no', then get on with yes to sales success

Anthony Cole Training

I am terrible with keeping up with other blogs. There are 3, that when I read them, I really enjoy and benefit from; Dave Kurlan - The sales assessment expert. Seth Godin - The purple cow autho r. Bill Ecstrom - The data and sales management piller guru. Here is Seth's recent post: The coalition of "NO". There are a million reasons to say no, but few reasons to stand up and say yes.

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Changing Your Sales Structure Could be All it Takes

A Sales Guy

How have you built your sales organization? How have you deployed your sales resources? What method have you used to make sure you have the best resources focused on the right things? How you structure your sales organization can be the difference between a successful strategy and a failed one. A brilliant sales strategy won’t amount to a hill of beans if you don’t build the best underlying sales structure to support it.

Sales 130
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4 Sales Tips for Reaching Prospects by Phone

Score More Sales

In an inbound marketing world, is there still need to call people? This is the current question on many sellers minds and one that deserves some ongoing discussion. Of all the ways we have seen people actually talking to prospects, it most often is in a combination of the following: 1) Simple web research. 2) LinkedIn or other warm connection. 3 )Have data and knowledge of your prospect’s world. 4) Use of the telephone.

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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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The Cost-Per-Lead Fallacy in Measuring B2B Lead Generation Investments (Pt 1 of 3)

Pointclear

As much as marketing and sales best practices—not to mention just plain common sense—dictate that cost-per-lead not play a prominent role in managing and measuring B2B lead generation investments, the metric continues to prevail. I included the following in a blog on the cost-per-lead metric I wrote in the summer of 2010: “I continue to marvel at the high number of companies that only use cost-per-lead as a basis for lead generation buying decisions.

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Interruption Based Selling!

Partners in Excellence

I’ve been following a discussion on cold calling. The topic of “Interruption Based Selling” came up, with several people taking strong stands against this. Frankly, I think it’s our obligation to “Interrupt”–particularly if we want to create real value for our customers. Waiting for the customer to reach out, waiting for the customer to recognize a need is often too late–both for the customer and most of the time for sales.

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7 Secrets to Improve Your Negotiating Skills

The Sales Hunter

Here are 7 secrets you can use right now to improve your negotiating skills. 1. Sell first, negotiate second. Never go into a sales call expecting to negotiate, rather go in committed to sell and close the deal without making any concessions. It’s during the selling phase when you have the best opportunity to learn the most about what it is the customer needs and wants. 2.

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Sales Progress Requires Change

Anthony Cole Training

When I was 42, my eyesight began to change. I was coming back from Manchester, New Hampshire where I had just spent 2.5 days working with a sales team to help them improve their cross selling process. It had been a long trip as I actually started in New York City on Monday and today was Friday. So, when the words in my document appeared to be blury, I just thought it was due to fatique.

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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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5 Reasons We Fail

A Sales Guy

This mornings Keynote at the Sales 2.0 Conference was by Jeff Hayzlett. Jeff is a dynamic, ball of energy on stage. He’s a killer presenter. He had me laughing through the entire thing. In his presentation Jeff talked about why we fail. I thought it was powerful because failure is what we all spend everyday trying to avoid. Knowing why we fail allows us to avoid the barriers and then we can hit change head on.

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4 Sales Tips for Reaching Prospects by Phone

Score More Sales

In an inbound marketing world, is there still need to call people? This is the current question on many sellers minds and one that deserves some ongoing discussion. Of all the ways we have seen people actually talking to prospects, it most often is in a combination of the following: 1) Simple web research. 2) LinkedIn or other warm connection. 3 )Have data and knowledge of your prospect’s world. 4) Use of the telephone.

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Are Women in Sales Less Trainable?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Before I get into trouble for the title of this blog, let me 1.) explain from where it comes and 2.) direct you to another of my articles where I wrote that women make better salespeople than men. Objective Management Group recently evaluated a sales force of 24 women. While working on the analysis, one member of our staff remarked that it seemed that "women were far less trainable than men".

Sales 83
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Five Conditions Your Sales Process Must Satisfy

Partners in Excellence

A strong sales process is critical to our effectiveness as sales professionals. Without a strong process, it’s comparable to an aimless walk—we may reach our destination, but then again we may not. Or we may reach our destination after an overly long journey. As much as has been written about sales processes, I am constantly amazed by the number of organization that either have no process in place, their process is hopelessly outdated, or the sales people and managers don’t u

Process 92
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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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Cheap Prospects Equal Cheap Customers

The Sales Hunter

Have you ever stopped to wonder why some salespeople never seem to have to cut their price to close a deal and other salespeople offer discounts all the time? Yes, there are a lot of reasons why this can be the case, but one problem that gets overlooked too often is the source of the sales prospects. Doesn’t it make sense that cheap prospects would naturally become cheap customers?

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What we have is a failure to execute

Engage Selling

I have always been a fan of Air Canada. As an elite flier they treat us well. Yes… I know I buck the trend compared to many Canadians, but I really do prefer to fly Air Canada rather than any other North American carrier. And no, I’m not just fishing for a complimentary super elite upgrade… So, I was really happy to see their new service. “ We damage or wreck your bag.

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What the NFL Can Teach Sales Leaders About Finding Talent (Lesson for Sales Leaders)

A Sales Guy

Do you have a clear, defined, approach to identifying talent? How do you know when you have the killer candidate in front of you? What do you do to separate the good from the bad, the on paper superstar from the actual superstar? Do you have a talent identification process? The NFL draft is coming up soon and the talent identification process of NFL teams is unmatched.

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Ford Dealer Social Media Success Story – Lebanon Ford Podcast

Closing Bigger

'Social Media Podcast : Ford dealers across North America are executing some amazing social media strategies. While catching up on my reading and best-practices I stumbled across a great case study on how Lebanon Ford (Ohio) has had some incredible success. They don’t just have a great social media team, they have built a truly social culture in their dealership that has resulted in a 260% year-on-year increase in Internet sales of vehicles and a significant increase in walk-ins and revenu

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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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John Robinson's Secret to Overcoming All Sales Obstacles

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Objective Management Group just completed it's annual international conference for Partners. Normally, I wouldn't write about it, but this event was different. Not most of it, but one magical hour of it. We have had great, world-reknowned keynote speakers in past years like, Guy Kawasaki , Dan Millman , Robert Kriegel , and Verne Harnish.

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What The Numbers Mean, Hints For Coaching!

Partners in Excellence

As sales professionals, we’re all very goal directed and measurement oriented. Managers leverage numbers heavily in managing and coaching performance. But there’s a fine line in using the numbers appropriately in coaching. Too often, coaching becomes about the numbers and not about what they mean. The real secret to effective coaching is understanding is causing the results, getting underneath the numbers.

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10 Sales Prospecting Quotes to Boost Your Sales Motivation

The Sales Hunter

Sales prospecting is where the salesperson makes their money. Anyone can fulfill orders from customers who call. Yes, we love business like that, but our focus as a salesperson needs to be on generating sales and profit from customers who would not have found us otherwise. Here are 10 quotes of mine I use when I’m working with salespeople and companies on sales prospecting: Until you contact the customer, you haven’t done anything.

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Your turn to Play Sales Leader. What do you think and why?

Engage Selling

A client of ours – individual contributor – had a quota in 2011 of $7 million. She blew those numbers away hitting $12million by December 31. In 2012 her quota was set at $11.5 million. She manages 1 customer only, who completes multiple projects each year with her firm. What do you think of her 2012 target? Higher? Lower? and why? Cheers Colleen.

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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