Sat.Nov 28, 2020 - Fri.Dec 04, 2020

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Why Prospects Are Like Fruit: Targeting Your Ideal Client

Anthony Cole Training

Years ago, while attending the Objective Management Group International Sales Conference, Dave Kurlan, president of OMG, talked about how to effectively manage opportunities through the pipeline. He made the analogy that prospects are like fruit and vegetables in the produce section of your local grocery – they are all perishable.

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Forecasts are about the deals, not the number!

Membrain

This is one of those topics I wish I could just put to bed and ignore–yet it keeps rearing it’s ugly head. We continue to get forecasting wrong, at least for complex B2B sales.

B2B 165
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Trending Sources

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The Should-How Fallacy (Or Why “Correct” Isn’t “Useful”)

ConversionXL

Get a chicken. Cook it until it’s perfectly done. Reduce the jus to a nice pan sauce. Then finish it with some butter until it has the right balance of flavors. Enjoy. This is a useless recipe, but it’s not wrong. It assumes, however, that accurate advice on what you should do is as valuable as advice on how to do it—the “Should-How Fallacy.” But being right doesn’t create value; empowering others to succeed does.

Niche 161
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Templates, Scripts, Context, and Variability

Partners in Excellence

I read a fascinating discussion led by Jeff Molander on the Copy Culture. Much of the discussion revolved around how we look at best practice, finding things to copy or emulate to improve the ability for others to achieve higher levels of performance. We develop scripts and templates, that help us leverage those practices and experiences that have worked, minimizing those that don’t work.

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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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B2B Reads: Career Paths, Blog Fails, and Prospecting Mistakes

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. How to Build a Career Path in 3 Steps. It’s important to forge a career path rather than let yourself get too comfortable and complacent.

B2B 132
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Are you frustrated with your technology Frankenstack?

Membrain

Is this you or someone you know? Somewhere on your smartphone lurks at least one… two… maybe three little apps you haven’t used in six months. At least some of those apps… maybe dozens of them… are work tools you never log into.

More Trending

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Found! The Caliper vs OMG Comparison: Which Sales Candidate Assessment is More Predictive?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday, I received two assessments for the same candidate: one from Objective Management Group (OMG) and one from Caliper. Not being one to pass up opportunities like this, I conducted the following comparison: First, it's important to know that OMG's assessment is sales specific - built for sales. Caliper's is a personality test adapted for sales.

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“We Will Never Revert Back….”

Partners in Excellence

The pandemic and associated economic disruption has forced all of us to reinvent how we work. Whether it’s within our own organizations, with customers, partners, or suppliers, everything has come up for grabs. We have had to rethink everything we do. What’s really intriguing is the pandemic has provided a forcing function, driving us to make changes or rethink ours strategies and approaches–but they are things we should have done years ago, independent of the pandemic.

Up-sell 135
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On Your Next Big Deal? Double Your Pricing.

SaaStr

There’s a fun — and very lucrative and rewarding — exercise I like to go through with most of the startups I work with. It’s goes like this: First, who’s your largest customer? OK. Now, do you have a prospect in the pipeline that’s somewhat similar? You do? Great. Now … On that deal … go quote twice your highest price ever.

Price 122
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Ways To Motivate A Team When Sales Are Down

Salesmate

As a manager, you wouldn’t like to see poor sales results. However, declining sales graphs isn’t a pleasant sight for your sales team too. Constant failure leads to demotivation. They aren’t able to think clearly due to low morale. Demotivated sales reps find even the simplest of tasks challenging. Being the head of the team, you need to empower your sales team and boost their morale.

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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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5 Ways Difference Makers Make a Difference During Times of Upheaval

Heinz Marketing

By Maria Geokezas , VP of Client Services. It is a simple concept. Difference Makers make a difference. In times of upheaval, such as the current health scare, social justice and political situations, the difference between teams that emerge as victors and others that seem stuck comes down to the Difference Maker. What, Exactly is a Difference Maker?

Gaming 110
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Even Super-Heroes Take Some Time Off

Partners in Excellence

I’m a great fan of the Marvel Comics Super-Heroes. Particularly, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Jessica Jones, and the collection of heroes in the Avengers. They are, virtually, invincible, which is what makes the super-heroes. But they aren’t always on. They knew they had to take breaks, recovering from whatever their last world saving battle was, strategizing and thinking about the next.

Gaming 118
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How Long It Roughly Takes to Close a Deal in SaaS. And Why.

SaaStr

Q: How long does it usually take to close a deal in SaaS? Ok here’s a really rough set of timelines to how long it takes to close an Opportunity in SaaS: So: A $5k deal, or say $499 a month, can often be closed in a call or two. Certainly the buying decision that can be made in a day, a week, or at least the same month. A $20k-$50k deal often takes 2–3 months.

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How To Start A Sales Conversation That Captures The Interest

Salesmate

Potential buyer – Hello. Sales rep – Hello, I am Kelam, calling from Ace Interno; we are a B2B portal, holding six years of………. (Buyer hangs up the calls). Oops! This is what happens when sales conversations commence with a boring introduction. Nobody has time in this busy business world. People repel to uninteresting sales conversations; they find interruptive, infuriating, and a waste a time.

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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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3 Ways to Repel Your Clients

Engage Selling

As the pandemic continues, client retention is more important than ever before. Let’s discuss three ways you may be repelling your clients, so you can avoid this behavior and keep them! 1.

Clients 99
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Sales Prospecting Success: 4 Steps to Creating New Conversations

Highspot

If you’re just getting started with developing a prospection motion, you might be wondering how to get your buyer’s attention and create conversations with them. The answer lies in an organized sequence of outreach deployed across multiple media with a strong, value-based offer that will compel the buyer to act. In other words, you need an Attraction Campaign.

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When The Team Revolts

SaaStr

Start-ups aren’t democracies, no matter what some employees may think. The CEO is the CEO, and the founders are the founders. But start-ups also aren’t IBM or Cisco. Or even, anything like DropBox or Slack or Box or Hubspot, not organizationally at least. From 1-10 employees, it’s a family. After 150 or so, somewhere in there, it starts to become a traditional hierarchical structure.

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What Does Salesy Mean? (With Salesy Words and Phrases)

Salesmate

The other day I was speaking to one of my friends who’s a startup owner. She was infuriated speaking to people who sounded too salesy. As a startup owner, she was looking for a solution to streamline her business operations. Sadly not even one sales rep showed interest in understanding the problems she was facing. All she could hear was self-centric sales pitches.

Trust 112
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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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Our Latest Podcasts: Hit Your Numbers & Start Strong in 2021

Force Management

End this complex year on a high note and define your plan for next year. Our November episodes share tips and insights to consider as you make strategic decisions (for yourself or your sales team) heading into next year. Review our rundown of episodes below. Each episode is available on your favorite podcast player, so you can easily download, listen and share.

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26 CRM Techniques and Strategies for Customer Retention

Cience

Your customers are one of your company’s most important assets. That’s clear from the amount of time and money businesses spend to acquire new clients. Although new sales are important, smart companies also focus on retention. What Is Customer Retention? Customer retention means keeping the clients you already have. Pretty simple, right? You know how hard it is to get new customers.

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When It’s Worth It To Hire an Interim VP of Sales

SaaStr

We’ve talked a lot on SaaStr about the damage a bad VP of Sales can do. They often make things much worse than they were before — and burn a year and half of your capital doing it. More on that, and the line between Great, Good and Bad here : But what if you are struggling to just find a Good VP of Sales … should you hire an Interim one?

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Different Types Of Prospects And How To Sell To Them

Salesmate

Your sales success is dependent on your ability to handle and convert prospects into paying customers. Like all fingers of the hand aren’t the same, even the sales world is filled with different types of prospects. So, the sales tactics that helped persuade one potential buyer might be ineffective while dealing with a different prospect. A good understanding of different kinds of prospects can help in developing successful strategies.

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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

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8 Ways Marketers Can Leverage Social Media to Meet Business Objectives

Hubspot

As marketers, we understand the importance of incorporating social media into our marketing mix. In fact, 74% of global marketers continue to invest in social media marketing. If you haven’t yet considered expanding your existing social media strategy, you may be missing out on valuable channels for advertising. In this post, we’ll give brief explanations of the importance of social media for business, as well as outline eight ways that marketers can leverage social media to meet business goals.

Meeting 101
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What’s The Difference Between Sales Enablement And School?

Partners in Excellence

I just had an outstanding discussion with a very bright sales enablement team. They had been developing and delivering some of the best programs I’ve ever seen. Some of the sales people were eating up the programs–but they were the consistent top performers. The team was trying to figure out, “How do we have a bigger impact on the rest of the organization?

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5 Interesting Learnings from Slack at $1B in ARR

SaaStr

So this 5 Interesting Learnings post is a bit bittersweet. We’ve recently checked in with a bunch of our Cloud and SaaS favorites as they cross $1B in ARR: 5 Interesting Learnings from Zendesk. As It Crosses $1B in ARR. 5 Interesting Learnings from HubSpot as It Approaches $1 Billion in ARR. 5 Interesting Learnings from RingCentral. As it Approaches $1B in ARR. 5 Interesting Learnings from Palantir at $1 Billion in ARR.

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Lessons Learned Sending A Million Emails

Predictable Revenue

CEO and Founder of Close, Steli Efti, explains some of the strategies that companies can implement to successfully traverse the crisis, while maintaining an effective sales team. The post Lessons Learned Sending A Million Emails appeared first on Predictable Revenue.

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2 Retail Sectors That Are Completely Changing the Game: FMCG & Q-Commerce

Speaker: Joe Heather, Deliverect GM (UK&I) & Noah Hayes, Deliverect GM (US&CA)

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Quick Commerce (Q-commerce) are two vibrant sectors that have undergone significant transformations with the advancements in digital technology. With growing internet penetration and the proliferation of smartphones, consumers' purchasing habits have unsurprisingly evolved. They now demand quick, convenient, and seamless shopping experiences, which both FMCG and Q-commerce sectors strive to provide.

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The Top 5 Reasons Brands Make Videos [New Research]

Hubspot

Video is fast-becoming the preferred tool for most marketers to connect with and reach new audiences. Video marketing is undeniably effective, too — in fact, including a video on a landing page is capable of increasing conversion rates by over 80% , and the mere mention of the word "video" in your email subject line increases open rates by 19%. But, even if you already know about the importance of video, I'm willing to bet you aren't completely aware of how other brand's are using video … or, mo

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Combining All Your Funnel Data into One Sheet

ConversionXL

Like many young SaaS startups, we had no shortage of marketing and sales data, but it wasn’t easy to comprehend. The information was there, but it was scattered all over the place. Some bits and pieces could be found in Google Analytics, while other data was stored in BigQuery and ProfitWell. This arrangement made it challenging to give a quick answer to basic questions on user conversions or to comment on traffic rates and MRR.

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Did You Ship At Least 3 Game-Changing Features This Year?

SaaStr

As the year starts to wind to a close, one exercise I go through with many CEOs I’ve invested in or am close to is this: Did you ship at least 3 truly game-changing features this year? Be honest. What were they, and how did they truly move the needle? You’d be surprised if CEOs are being honest how many fail this test. Not just at $0.1m ARR, or $1m ARR, but also at $10m, $20m. $50m ARR and later.

Gaming 88
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How to Deal With Difficult People in Your Sales Org – According to the Sales Hacker Community

Sales Hacker

Sales is a relatively high stress profession, with a fair amount (read: lots) of positive and negative swings. And with the industry being as competitive as it is, you’re bound to run into conflict. Dealing with difficult managers, coworkers, and even clients can add a lot of extra stress to your day-to-day work. Knowing how to deal with conflict in the workplace is a necessary skill every sales professional should master.

Sales 80
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ABM Evolution: How Top Marketers Are Using Account-Based Strategies

In times of economic uncertainty, account-based strategies are essential. According to several business analysts and practitioners, ABM is a necessity for creating more predictable revenue. Research shows that nearly three-quarters of marketers (74%) already have the resources needed to build successful ABM programs.