Sat.Nov 21, 2020 - Fri.Nov 27, 2020

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A brief history of sales opportunity qualification

Membrain

The quality and accuracy of opportunity qualification is widely acknowledged to be a key predictor of future sales success - and a critical differentiator between the best salespeople and the rest.

Sales 169
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Action Plans, The Well Structured “To-Do”

Partners in Excellence

My life seems to be spent in one meeting after another. Reviews of all types, planning sessions, problem solving sessions, training—you name it, I go from meeting to meeting. In most of those meetings, we are trying to address some issue–how to win a deal, how to address performance issues, how to address organizational/structural issues, how to address new opportunities or problems.

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The 5 x Key Areas Of Sales Professionalism

The 5% Institute

Sales can be won or lost based on how you present and carry yourself – which is why sales professionalism is key to your success. But what exactly is sales professionalism? And what ingredients are needed to carry and present yourself as a true sales professional? In this article, we’ll explore what sales professionalism is, as well as the five key factors you need to position yourself as the easy choice for your potential clients.

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How to Succeed as a First-Time VP of Sales. Or Just a First-Time VP in General.

SaaStr

We’ve talked a lot on SaaStr about how to hire a Great VP of Sales. And we’ll keep talking about it — so long as 70% of first-time VPs of Sales don’t make it 1 year. I wanted to take a moment to explore the flip-side … a guide to why first-time VPs of Sales that finally get their shot — fail. I’ve seen so many fail, and almost always, for avoidable reasons.

Quota 143
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Welcome to the Future of Hospitality: Smart Rooms Start Here

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

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How to supercharge your account growth - 10 articles to read

Membrain

If you’ve been following me this year, you may have noticed how much I have been talking about account planning–or, rather, account GROWTH.

Growth 151
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Lisa’s App of the Week: 6sense

Heinz Marketing

By Lisa Heay , Marketing Planning Manager at Heinz Marketing. If you’re running an account-based marketing initiative in your organization but not using an account engagement tool, you’re missing out. 6sense is one of the best in the biz—their Account Engagement platform has the power to elevate any sales team, showing them exactly which companies are in the consideration and decision phases of their buying cycle. .

Follow-up 139

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All Your VPs Really Need to Do is Tilt the Curve

SaaStr

We’ve written a lot on SaaStr on how to increase the odds your first management team is a success. How to hire a great VP of Sales (tons on that here ). What a great VP of sales really does. What a great VP of marketing really does (tons on that here ). When to hire her (more here ). How to manage customer success. How to hire a great VP of product.

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5 Ways to Influence Virtual Relationships with Buyers

RAIN Group

The in-person buying and selling experience usually goes something like this: You show up to your buyer's office, where they greet you and offer you coffee. You accept, and walk together to the kitchen, discussing your trip in and how the day's going. You chat around the coffee pot for a few minutes about the local restaurant you visited last night.

Sports 137
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Gratitude and Thankfulness

Heinz Marketing

By Brenna Lofquist , Senior Marketing Consultant at Heinz Marketing. We’re going to taking a break from our regularly scheduled sales and marketing content…. It’s the day before Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays! If you’re working this week like me, I hope you’re signing off early today to spend time with loved ones or just taking some time for yourself!

Education 135
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How To Use The Alternate Choice Close

The 5% Institute

The alternate choice close is a popular sales closing technique , because put simply – when used correctly it works! It doesn’t matter if you’re working in retail selling low to medium priced products or selling high ticket consulting services ; the alternate choice close when learnt correctly can do you and your sales wonders. In this article, we’ll break down what the alternate choice close is, as well as share some examples of how to use it.

Closing 140
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Automation, Evolved: Your New Playbook for Smarter Knowledge Work

Speaker: Frank Taliano

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.

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When Should You Add a Second Product?

SaaStr

A few years back at SaaStr Annual, we put back-to-back a seemingly very different set of speakers, Jeff Lawson CEO of Twilio (transcript here ) and Peter Gassner of Veeva (transcript here ). Both are two of the most impressive and inspiring public SaaS CEOs — but their products and companies couldn’t be more different. Veeva sells eight figure deals to a very small number of very sophisticated customers, while Twilio has a huge long tail and starts at $0.0085 a minute.

Product 142
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5 Sales Attributes We’re Thankful For

Force Management

The team at Force Management loves sales. We love salespeople. We know good salespeople when we see them. We are thankful for the ones who get it. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are sharing a little gratitude on The Command Center blog.

Sales 132
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B2B Reads: Groupthink, Pandemic Productivity, and Spam Trigger Words

Heinz Marketing

In addition to our Sunday App of the Week feature, we also summarize some of our favorite B2B sales & marketing posts from around the Web each week. We’ll miss a ton of great stuff, so if you found something you think is worth sharing please add it to the comments below. Your brand is probably missing out on the true value of influencers. Social media continues to be a powerful medium and has only grown over the years, but are you getting the best value out of your influencers?

B2B 133
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4 Deal Review Tips to Close More Deals & End an Unprecedented Year Strong

Sales Hacker

It’s easy to get complacent at the end of the year. Teams are tired. Deadlines loom. Customers are distracted trying to close out their own year. And It can be tempting not to be quite as thorough in these final few months. How do you keep teams engaged and provide the support they need? Finish strong with deal reviews. Holding effective deal reviews is one way you can play an active role in helping your team achieve a strong finish to the year.

Closing 131
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Get Higher-Quality B2B Leads That Convert!

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.

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Why You Might Not Actually Enjoy Being a VC

SaaStr

Why would you not work in a VC fund? There may be times, maybe even many times, in the earlier days when you look at VCs and Venture Capital and think — that’s the easy way. They drop into a few board meetings, and take 10%, 15%, 20% or more of the start-up for seemingly relatively little work. They get to make multiple bets each year, and in each fund.

Teamwork 141
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YouTube Strategy Lessons from a Channel with 1.6 Million Subscribers

ConversionXL

YouTube continues to be one of the best places to see organic growth, and the barrier to entry can be an advantage for companies and brands willing to put in the work. Whereas a blog post needs just a computer to type, a video requires an understanding of lighting, audio, storytelling, editing, and community building. So, if you’re willing to fight through the learning curve and are patient enough to suffer through low viewership, you can generate significant exposure.

CTR 129
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Reliable Sales Hacks To Close More Deals In Less Time

Salesmate

Another quarter ends with the same disappointing sales results. It is undoubtedly disheartening when you fail to achieve your sales quota at the end of the month or quarter, isn’t it? To break out of this vicious cycle of failure, you’ll have to change your approach and try different things. When basketball players or soccer players fail, they do not give up.

Closing 128
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Client Gift Giving Ideas

Engage Selling

We’re approaching that time of year. And while this year will likely look much different than any year in recent memory, here are some client gift giving ideas to keep in touch with your customer base.

Clients 125
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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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What’s a Good Net Retention Rate in SaaS?

SaaStr

At least 100% net negative churn (i.e., upsell/account growth + renewals – churn) for very small businesses. 130%+ in the enterprise, and for top B2D products. Let’s look at some of the top public SaaS companies: Shopify — very SMB: 100%. Hubspot — mostly SMB: 100%. Surverymonkey — fairly SMB, but going more enterprise: 100%. Zendesk — 116%, mix of SMB and enterprise.

Growth 139
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How to Land a Successful Virtual Sales Kickoff in 2021

Highspot

??Not only are they key to landing your go-to-market strategy for the upcoming year, but one of the few times your entire sales team will be together, making them valuable opportunities for camaraderie and connection. Though an in-person SKOs may no longer be possible, that doesn’t mean you can’t deliver a show-stopping virtual event. The key is to focus on educating and inspiring your team at three critical points – pre-, during-, and post-SKO – so they have the training and motivat

Education 122
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What’s Next? How Are You Moving This Forward?

Partners in Excellence

I have to apologize to Dave (not me). Dave’s a good sales person, we were doing a deal review on a hugely important opportunity for his company. He’s been working the deal pretty well, it’s very complex with several people from his company supporting him, a partner and at least the 11.7 buyers we are told are involved in complex B2B buying.

B2B 119
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A Quarantine Thanksgiving Cocktail Menu

Heinz Marketing

By Michelle Voznyuk , Marketing Consultant at Heinz Marketing. Due to the pandemic and new mandates in Washington, Thanksgiving looks a little different this year. But that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice good food and drinks! In honor of staying at home this year, I wanted to compile some fun Thanksgiving cocktails to try out. Grab a mask and run to the store, or place an Amazon Fresh order for ingredients!

Consult 114
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The Intersection of AI and Sales: Personalization Without Compromise

Speaker: Jesse Hunter and Brynn Chadwick

Today’s buyers expect more than generic outreach–they want relevant, personalized interactions that address their specific needs. For sales teams managing hundreds or thousands of prospects, however, delivering this level of personalization without automation is nearly impossible. The key is integrating AI in a way that enhances customer engagement rather than making it feel robotic.

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How to Ensure Your First 2 Sales Reps Actually Work Out

SaaStr

A long-time reader wrote in to ask a question that pretty much everyone asks some variant of: If you had to force rank these items in terms of what we should primarily be looking for in these first sales reps, how would you rank them? – has sold SaaS before (as opposed to selling media/ads, or some other product). – has sold something of a similar size ticket/ACV (ours is high.$150k-350k ACV). – has sold something to the same kinds of companies we are going after. – has w

Quota 138
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6 Effective B2B Sales Approaches You Must Incorporate Today

Salesmate

What do you do when a manager provides negative feedback about your sales performance? Do you give excuses, stay mum, and ignore their feedback or promise to work harder? Well, if you decide to work harder, how do you do it. Do you try to change your approach or just work a little extra? If you continue using your old sales approaches, you’ll keep getting the same disappointing results.

B2B 111
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Do You Know How to Generate MQLs Like a Pro?

G2

Are your leads sales-ready? Or are your conversion rates lacking?

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How to Forge a Stronger Relationship Between Sales and Content Marketing

Sales Hacker

In an ideal world, your company has a truly close alignment between sales and marketing, and communication flows like a river between these teams. In reality, however, there are going to be gaps in communication and collaboration. Despite those potential gaps in alignment, content marketing can help boost sales when deployed appropriately. It can lead to stronger client relationships, more engaged prospects, and sometimes just gives you an excuse to reach out again.

Sales 109
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Maximizing Profit and Productivity: The New Era of AI-Powered Accounting

Speaker: Yohan Lobo and Dennis Street

In the accounting world, staying ahead means embracing the tools that allow you to work smarter, not harder. Outdated processes and disconnected systems can hold your organization back, but the right technologies can help you streamline operations, boost productivity, and improve client delivery. Dive into the strategies and innovations transforming accounting practices.

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Four Steps to Scaling to $250M from Stack Overflow

SaaStr

Prashanth Chandrasekar, CEO @ Stack Overflow recently shared with our community the four key pillars he feels are necessary to propel a company to scale upward. The four key pillars he lays out are: Product market fit & expansion. Go to market approach & expansion. Competitive differentiation. Building a stage-specific team. #1 Product-Market Fit and Expansion.

Territory 129
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Chaos, Complexity, Predictable Revenue, Making “Big Moves”

Partners in Excellence

For the past decade, so many have sought to mechanize selling, creating predictable revenue. We developed methods and approaches, we’ve transactionalized the selling process, in spite of too many customers finding increased difficulty in navigating their buying processes. Even before the pandemic and collapse of the economy, how we sold became increasingly unpredictable.

Sell 107
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6 Ways to Support Black-Owned Businesses During the Holidays

Hubspot

2020 has presented unprecedented challenges for businesses. COVID-19 has forced most to pivot their strategies online and adapt to a growing digital landscape. While some have been able to stay afloat, others haven't been as successful and many have had to close their doors permanently as a result. Black-owned businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the global pandemic.

Referrals 101
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Prospecting with Video in 2021: Top Templates, Examples, and Ideas Worth Stealing

Sales Hacker

Adding personalized videos to your outbound messages can have a significant impact on response rates and meetings booked. But being successful – and efficient – with video content takes more than just a webcam and writing a name on a whiteboard. The post Prospecting with Video in 2021: Top Templates, Examples, and Ideas Worth Stealing appeared first on Sales Hacker.

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AI Strategies for Sales Managers: How to Cut Down on Tedious Admin Work

What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.