2017

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10 of the Best Ads from November: Elves, Llamas, and a Business Cat

Hubspot

If you think November is too early to be dreaming of sugarplum fairies and hanging the stockings with care, then consider this your official warning: this post is heavy on the holiday cheer. To everyone else, hello. November brought us a delightful crop of festive ads, including the much-anticipated annual Christmas spot from UK retailer John Lewis -- which dependably goes viral every year.

Retail 156
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6 Things Good Lead Generation Vendors Do Right (That You May Be Doing Wrong)

Pointclear

There’s plenty of mediocrity in lead generation—both in-house and outsourced. However, there are a lot of things good insourced operations and lead generation companies do well. While lead generation (or teleprospecting) is not rocket science, there are a lot of moving parts in a well-run lead generation machine. Failure to execute and coordinate all of the moving parts leads to poor results.

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Increasing Lead Generation to Opportunity Ratio -  Several Steps Required!

Anthony Cole Training

We’ve been doing a fair amount of research into lead generation through our primary source, Hubspot. We’ve had a long business relationship with them because they provide a great platform for all things that are digital marketing and associated data. One thing we will begin to take better advantage of is their CRM application. This will allow us to tie our marketing efforts directly to a client management AND pipeline management system.

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We Analyzed 1,000 Emails & Voicemails to Understand How the Top SaaS Companies Chase Enterprise Deals.

Openview

A new study from Process Street in partnership with sales email tool PersistIQ reveals the inside sales outreach of the world’s 281 top SaaS companies, and how they respond when a high-ticket lead (in this case, we used Vodafone) signs up for a free trial or demo. Using the details of a fictional Vodafone employee to sign up for SaaS products , Process Street automatically collected all incoming outreach including sales emails, marketing emails, and voicemail transcripts.

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Smart Tools & Strong Teams: A People-First Approach to AI in Sales

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.

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11 Analytics Experts Share Their Favorite New Features of GA and GTM

ConversionXL

Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are tools that most marketers use on a daily basis. New stuff is added to both of them all the time. What’s something new and useful that was added in 2017 the top experts love? In no particular order. #1: Krista Seiden, Google. My favorite GTM release of the year is hands down the two new triggers released in October 2017: Scroll Tracking & Element Visibility.

GTM 133
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Why Should I Talk to You?

A Sales Guy

Before any sale can begin, the target of your efforts has to talk to you. They have to engage. I know, this is the most remedial concept in theory, but in practice, it’s a b h. Making it worse, even though theoretically it’s simple, sales people continue to forget. They make this mistake over and over again, by not offering their target any reason to talk to them.

Pitch 129

More Trending

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How Your Salespeople Measure Up in the 21 Most Crucial Sales Competencies for Modern Selling

Understanding the Sales Force

Image Copyright BrianAJackson. Over the years I've debunked a number of articles that cited nothing but junk science. The authors often relied on observation, anecdotal evidence and personal opinion while proclaiming traits, competencies, skills and differentiators between top salespeople and everyone else. Today those articles would qualify as fake news.

Up-sell 125
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Selling to C-Level Executives: 8 Tips for Unlocking Access to the Busiest Buyers on Earth

Sales Hacker

Selling to c-level executives is a different ball game. You have to be concise, respectful of their time, and really think about how to differentiate yourself in order to break through the clutter and earn the right to ask for something. Here is a message to sellers from a real c-level buyer: Outbound tactics without strategy are sheer lunacy. We must lead with an insight-driven value narrative (‘hypothesis of value’), otherwise hammering away in blended channels is worthless.

Sell 111
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Why Discounting Your Price is a Bad Idea

The Sales Hunter

The customer is not refusing your price because it’s too high. They’re refusing it because the value is too low. The real reason you had to cut your price is because you failed to match the value you offer to the outcome the customer was desiring. I just bought a new suitcase and I paid […].

Price 111
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Uses of Cement

InsightSquared

There are different uses of cement such as to make cement mortar, cement concrete which are used in various types of masonry and concrete structures.

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How to Coach Reps on Overcoming Sales Objections with Confidence

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.

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Snapchat Use Among Influencers Is Down 33% [New Data]

Hubspot

We've been following the competition heating up between Snapchat and Instagram since Instagram launched Stories last August. And in the year since, we've been keeping track of the changing tides of disappearing messages and stories -- and Instagram is the one to beat. The number of Instagram Stories users exploded to 250 million users in just a year, far outpacing Snapchat's 173 million users.

Launch 148
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Chairs are Dead—and Other B2B Marketing Hogwash

Pointclear

In 2015, I wrote this blog for Sales & Marketing Magazine: Dead is Dead (in Sales & Marketing). It seemed like, suddenly, a lot of things were dying: cold calling was dead; telephone prospecting was dead; outbound marketing was dead … many said that even marketing was dead. Maybe I was just sensitive. I mean, I grew up at a time when Paul McCartney was supposedly dead (he, thankfully, lives on).

B2B 156
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What is Your Sales Team's Motivation?

Anthony Cole Training

QUESTIONS THAT COMPANIES NEED TO ANSWER.

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Data from 1 Million Sales Calls Explains the Difference Between Top Reps and Everyone Else

Openview

The most decisive factor separating your superstar reps from everyone else on your team comes down to their sales conversations. The sooner you understand this, the sooner you can begin closing the quota attainment gap between the two groups. Gong’s data science team has used our conversation intelligence platform to analyze almost one million conversations between B2B salespeople and buyers.

Quota 138
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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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7 Easy and Effective Customer Segments to Target in Facebook Ads

ConversionXL

Facebook ads, when utilized properly, are among the most effective targeted marketing efforts in the industry. However, it’s often the case that companies are leaving money on the table when it comes to Facebook ads. Often, there are simple customer segments (that you already have access to) that you can target with Facebook Ads very effectively.

Customers 133
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How to Sell Better: Lesson 6 – Use The CRM

A Sales Guy

Yeah, I get it. Most of you think the CRM is a waste of time. Most of you think the CRM just slows you down and that it’s a pain in the ass. You see it as something that benefits management, and you get sick and tired of the sales manager asking, is it in the CRM? I feel you. The problem, however, isn’t the CRM. It’s you and how you use it.

CRM 125
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Conversations vs. Combat

Engage Selling

Does your sales team know the difference between conversation and combat? Far too often, salespeople will get into verbal hostilities with their potential buyers. They hear a question or an objection and automatically go on the defensive!

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Sales Effectiveness - How to Win Every RFP That You Respond To

Understanding the Sales Force

Image Copyright Gustavofrazao. I am amazed by the sheer number of salespeople who believe they must respond to an RFP, RFQ or RFI. The resources, including people, time and money, required to respond to the specs from just one of these requests is daunting. Some companies have so many requests coming in that they spend all of their time responding to them.

Sales 112
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Breaking The Commerce Bottleneck: Your SAP Exit Plan Starts Now

Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar

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.

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How to Build an Army of Virtual Sales Assistants to Help Grow Your Business

Sales Hacker

Ever since the 4-Hour Workweek where Tim Ferriss wrote about using virtual assistants (VAs) as a way to outsource your inbox – hiring virtual sales assistants has hit the mainstream. What is a Virtual Sales Assistant? A Virtual Sales Assistant is a remote contractor that you hire as a means of outsourcing a specific task or set of tasks in order to build a more efficient sales process.

Sales 110
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Is the Sales Stack Destroying Your Effectiveness?

Membrain

Technology was supposed to make our lives easier, and our teams more effective. Somehow, however, most sales teams are still caught in the same old traps as ever, just with new toys.

Sales 109
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It’s Not the Number of Leads You Have. It’s the Quality that Counts!

The Sales Hunter

What does your sales funnel look like? Is it full of junk? What is the % of leads at the top of your funnel that actually become customers? I see way too much time being spent on keeping names in a sales funnel just for the sake of keeping a sales manager happy. It’s time […].

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12 of the Sassiest Brands on Social Media

Hubspot

Brands use social media for a lot of things: to distribute content, to share news, to provide customer service. And sometimes, brands use social media for jokes, burns, and unmitigated sass. When brand accounts share personality and humor on social media, it's delightful -- and it captivates the collective internet. It's funny when brand accounts use social media like the real people behind the copy, and it breaks up the monotony of the negativity and mistrust that characterizes a lot of people'

Niche 117
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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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Cadence—Multi-touch, Multi-media, Multi-cycle Marketing Multiplies Results

Pointclear

For one client, it takes 9.82 touches to engage with a prospect. The result of these touches is what we call a disposition: PointClear's term for completing contact with a decision maker or company (some programs lend themselves to dispositioning by contact and some by company). This approach yields a 5% lead rate. Our leads are equivalent to what SiriusDecisions calls a Level 4 or 5 lead—well-qualified leads.

Contact 106
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Motivating Salespeople Involves Knowing Them

Anthony Cole Training

How well can you relate to the following situations: producers not meeting sales expectations, there aren't enough opportunities in the pipeline, too few of the people are carrying the sales production load for the entire team? In almost every sales organization, these three situations exist no matter how many sales meetings are held, what CRM system is used or how closely the sales team is managed- these problems persist.

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34 Million Data Points Show What Type of Sales Content Performs Best

Openview

At the top of the funnel, marketers obsess over attracting, capturing, and handing off qualified leads. At the bottom of the funnel, sellers fixate over deals won and revenue attained. But what about the middle of the funnel? It’s easily the most ignored – but, arguably, the most important – stage in any sales pipeline. The middle of the funnel is where relationships with prospects are built, and where reps learn what obstacles need to be overcome.

Pipeline 115
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5 Questions to Ask When Approaching Digital Analytics Data

ConversionXL

It’s all about asking the right digital analytics questions. Sure, in the right context, you can probably get by doing what Avinash Kaushik refers to as “data puking,” but you won’t excel as an analyst or marketer that way. In addition, you’ll consistently come up short on bringing true business value to your company. In any field, it’s important to be critical.

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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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How to Sell Better: Lesson 8 – Learn to Ask Why

A Sales Guy

Why? Kids are great at asking why? They accept the fact they don’t know very much, so they just move through life, like an information sponge asking why about everything. It’s kinda liberating if you think about it, if you accept that you don’t know anything. If you’re OK with the fact that you don’t know, then asking why is the natural thing to do.

Sell 121
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Sales Advice You Need to Ignore Today

Engage Selling

Selling has changed. Markets have changed. Buyers have changed. Therefore, advice to sellers must change. Sadly, too many training programs have been slow to adapt, and are still teaching skills from “days of yore.

Sales 126
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The Fastest and Easiest Way to Reach Sales Greatness

Understanding the Sales Force

One of the things I hear an awful lot is, "Dave, how do you write so many articles?". 1,600 articles in 10 years equates to an average of about 3 articles each of the 48 weeks that I work. The secret behind that kind of prolific writing can actually help you too - to find and close more business , sell more consultatively , qualify more thoroughly , and earn more money.

Consult 110
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The SaaS Metrics Blueprint: How to Define, Measure and Display What Actually Matters

Sales Hacker

This is part of the Winning By Design Blueprint Series in which we analyze and provide practical advice for SaaS sales organizations. In this blueprint, we’ll breakdown how to structure your SaaS metrics, and measure the right data for your business. Many organizations are excited about the amount of data that is flowing into their platform. However, with the explosion of data, they soon are lost on how to interpret it.

SQL 108
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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.