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Virtual relationships aren’t new and neither are virtual business relationships. What is new are the expectations and the tools. Instead of in-person meetings, we are now expected to meet via Zoom, GoToMeeting, Facebook Live. Technology is consistently providing us with more and better ways to connect.
Early in my selling career, I realized that there was a fundamental problem with the way most sellers approach the work of growing business within established accounts. I talked a little about this last week in my piece about outside-in account growth.
Prospecting during these uncertain times has been a popular topic. This is because prospecting in person—whether at a networking event, an association meeting, or through old-fashioned door-knocking—is just not happening anymore.
So much of our training and our engagement strategies involve our talking. We’re taught how to pitch our solutions. We’re given scripts outlining what we should say to our customers. As managers, we too often get into “tell” mode. Even when we ask questions, they are carefully constructed to elicit the answers we want. Alternatively, we listen for triggers to talk more.
Speaker: Matt Sunshine, CEO at The Center for Sales Strategy
AI isn’t replacing salespeople—it’s empowering them. The most forward-thinking sales organizations are using AI to enhance human performance rather than eliminate it. From coaching and messaging to prospecting and pipeline accountability, artificial intelligence is giving managers and SDRs the new tools they need to work smarter, sell better, and close more.
Now is the time when organizations need problem-solvers who can help them overcome unforeseen challenges, putting sellers in a position to engage with customers on a deeper level than ever before. Our research shows that more than 70% of buyers wait until after they have already defined their needs to engage sellers. They see sellers as product representatives rather than problem-solvers, and often see little to differentiate one seller from another.
This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Follow me to read upcoming research. Two months ago, I bought some software. I needed a solution to help my team move faster towards a strategic goal.
Within 10 years, Hispanics will account for over 21% of the population in the United States. There is a valuable opportunity to understand and proactively adjust to this coming shift in demographics.
Within 10 years, Hispanics will account for over 21% of the population in the United States. There is a valuable opportunity to understand and proactively adjust to this coming shift in demographics.
Recently, I had the honor of participating in a webcast on coaching, with Lori Richardson, Jason Jordan, and Mike Kunkle. A question that rarely comes up was, “What do you do if a person is uncoachable?”.
Although it’s crucial to be technically competent with video calls during these uncertain times, it’s also imperative that you don’t neglect the personal aspect of video calls.
Had an update lately? I get an Office 365 update on Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote at least every week. Yawn. It seems half of them are to fix something that broke in the previous release. Apple updates the operating systems of their various devices on a fairly regular basis. The software for my Apple watch was updated twice in the past month.
With any strategic change initiative, there’s always the question of whether or not it will stick. Anyone who’s been involved in a sales transformation knows, going from point A to point B, the desired future state, is no simple feat. The key to ensuring your change initiative’s success is to understand what it takes from the sales reps, managers and yourself as the leader to drive lasting outcomes.
Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Global Sales and David Phelan, Account Executive
In a world where buyers are more informed and objections are more nuanced, confidence isn't optional—it’s a competitive advantage. In high-stakes conversations, knowing how to handle pushback can make or break the deal. Join industry experts Brendan Sweeney and David Phelan for a behind-the-scenes look at how teams are transforming sales coaching with real-time feedback, objection-handling role plays, and pre-call preparation that actually sticks.
90% of my evaluation of any leader that works for me is the quality of people they can get to work for them. This could be wrong… Maybe it should be 95%. — Todd McKinnon (@toddmckinnon) September 13, 2020. Recruiting is tough. I certainly don’t do it well enough. But to be a great CEO, you need to find a way to force yourself to be a great recruiter.
Being successful in sales requires continuous growth and learning from day-to-day experiences. Identifying those buyer's you can actually help by doing great research and keeping detailed prospect notes, it part of that success.
Account planning is a critical element of complex b2b sales. Traditionally, this process begins with an assessment of where the sales team might win “more wallet share” or how many additional products they might be able to sell into each account.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in shiny new prospecting methods or techniques. But, let’s not forget about the basics in sales! The sales landscape has (obviously) changed over the past few months.
Speaker: Jady West, VP of Hospitality & Chris Bennett, Head of Sales & Engineering
The modern hotel room is no longer just a place to stay—it’s an experience to remember. Today’s guests expect seamless 5G connectivity, personalized comfort, and high-tech convenience. From AI-powered smart room controls to in-room entertainment and app-based services, technology is redefining hospitality from the inside out. In this new session featuring industry pros Jady West and Chris Bennett, we’ll explore how high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity powers the innovations that are enabling
Do you hate meetings as much as I do? They're the worst. But I have one weekly meeting that'a always uplifting and productive. I'm talking about my weekly meeting with John Pattison , COO of Objective Management Group (OMG). He happened to mention a report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) pointing to the correlation between people who recently dined at a restaurant and later tested positive for Covid-19.
The goal of this month's episodes was to share how your sales organization can pivot in their mindset and their daily sales activities to drive results — even during challenging times. Each episode covers timely tactics sales leaders, managers and reps can use to move and close high-value deals. Review our rundown of episodes below. Share these insights with your sales team to improve execution and their ability to hit their numbers.
No one said sales was fair. Actually, it’s pretty darn unfair. . AND: it just got worse. Why? Because the questions sales leaders had all-but-written-off as impossible to answer. Well, they just became answer-able. And some sales leaders (1000 of them, give or take) are already getting ahead. Questions like: Which competitors are really coming up in my deals?
Sales negotiation is a critical part of the sales process. It moves the deal to a close, and it's where both parties come to agree on the terms of the initiative, including the price. However, many sellers and organizations struggle with negotiating successfully. Seventy-seven percent of sellers report that negotiating with buyers virtually is challenging, and only 27% of buyers say that sellers are very effective at negotiating with them (from our Virtual Selling Skills & Challenges report)
Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.
There are certain sales and marketing technology companies that have become practically household names over the past several years, and Hubspot is certainly one of those. With the release of a “free” CRM, integrating marketing and sales data has been promised to do wonders.
One of our top sessions from our recent Annual at Home event was from GitHub’s COO, Erica Brescia. For those unfamiliar with her background, Brescia started off as the founder and COO of Bitnami, a 75 person startup. Just over a year ago, she sold to VMware and the company has since doubled in size. In her session, Erica shares her hard-earned leadership lessons– from selling her company to what she’s learned at Github, we’ll share her most essential leadership principle
Smart selling; or selling smart, can have different meanings depending on who you speak to. In this article, we’ll explain what smart selling means to us, as well as the eight step process we recommend using so that you can consistently close more potential clients. Smart Selling – Your Ultimate Guide. What Is Smart Selling? Smart selling is the process in which you can help your potential clients sell themselves , rather than you do all the hard work and all the selling.
There is a “dangerous” sales number that you need to know about. It’s the number one. Let me explain. A client of mine recently emailed me and mentioned that they lost two of their biggest clients.
Documents are the backbone of enterprise operations, but they are also a common source of inefficiency. From buried insights to manual handoffs, document-based workflows can quietly stall decision-making and drain resources. For large, complex organizations, legacy systems and siloed processes create friction that AI is uniquely positioned to resolve.
By Josh Baez , Client Engagement Manager at Heinz Marketing. As we continue delving into the foundations of a modern B2B demand generation engine, the next thing we need to think about is the B2B buyer’s journey. (And if you missed the other blogs in this series, be sure to read those too: one on the ideal customer profile and another on addressing the buying committee.).
Recently, the NY Times had a fascinating article: “Faces Of Power, 80% Are White As The Country Gets More Diverse.” There were a couple of interesting data points, of the 25 highest value publicly traded companies in the US, only 6 were people of color, none were women. In the Fortune 500, there are only 4 black CEOs. We have long known that we have a diversity/inclusion problem in our country.
Not so long ago, before the Internet became a force of nature in the beginning of the 21st century, sales and marketing departments dictated the flow of information.
My Top 10 take-aways from talk with @benchestnut this morning: 1/ Yes, bootstrapping can take 3-4 years longer. 2/ You may not need a moat. Maybe let them go if they aren't happy. Happiness is a moat. 3/ Phase 2 might take 12 years to get to. It's OK. Talk to more customers. — Jason ?BeKind? Lemkin ?? (@jasonlk) September 2, 2020. So the recent SaaStr Annual 2020 at Home was a smashing success. 3 days, 100s of roundtables and sessions, and 1000s of 1-on-1s.
B2B marketers face a number of challenges, including: continuously generating great leads converting leads to active sales prospects finding vendors that deliver real results Aggregage has proven content syndication, webinar, online advertising and intent signal marketing programs that deliver higher-quality leads. More than 700 companies have already benefited from our programs.
Most companies don't understand that crappy customer service is really a sales issue. When a company's customer service is thoughtful, helpful, kind and thorough, that great customer service actually serves the sales organization. It becomes easier for salespeople to renew accounts, cross-sell, up-sell and succeed. When a company's customer service sucks, it has the opposite effect, creating objections, resistance, disdain and animosity.
Revenue Operations is at the forefront of a paradigm shift — to view the buyer’s journey as a seamless thread across multiple people, systems, and value propositions. This involves driving more new logo and renewal revenue, lowering customer acquisition cost, and increasing forecasting predictability. All while delighting customers along the way. Newly minted Chief Revenue Officers are what I like to call revenue architects.
By Win Salyards , Marketing Coordinator at Heinz Marketing. Within the Predictable Pipeline framework, we think about Messaging and Content in the Buyer’s Journey with respect to w hat Key Target Personas need, w hat they are challenged by, a nd how they make decisions. Y ou’ve built a comprehensive buying committee profile, buyer personas and their pain points, and you understand your buyer’s journey.
A great qualification approach matters in today’s changing environment. Every buyer is dealing with something they haven’t dealt with before. Because of this, their buying processes are changing. It's likely that new budget cuts, executive-level sign off requirements and solution requirements have caused customer buying processes to evolve. Elite companies are moving quickly to adapt their qualification methods and ensure their sales teams can effectively qualify the right opportunities and move
When culture isn’t consistently lived out across the organization, engagement suffers—and it often starts with a disconnect at the top. In this session, Beth Sunshine, SVP of Up Your Culture at The Center for Sales Strategy, will reveal how HR and executive leaders can close the gap between vision and execution by equipping frontline and mid-level managers to become culture carriers.
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