Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 25, 2024

In this post, I’m going to make the argument, that based on what I see in too many selling initiatives, is that we, as a community, have migrated from focusing on helping customers solve their problems to just beating the competition. While we claim to want to help the customer solve their problems, we aren’t.

Customers 117

Customers Objectives and Key Results Growth Objection handling 117

Martech

MARCH 13, 2024

AI: A driver of creativity and efficiency AI isn’t just a tool; it’s a transformative force for creativity, augmenting human ingenuity rather than replacing it. However, I firmly believe AI will be an integral part of jobs going forward, and those who don’t use it will be replaced by those who do.

Drivers/motivators 111

Drivers/motivators Technology Technology Launch 111

SaaStr

MAY 16, 2024

His number one reason is that before March 2020, when people were distributed, they had one job. His number one reason is that before March 2020, when people were distributed, they had one job. He is a top VC in the industry and runs SaaStr, the largest SaaS event in the world. Zapier was last valued at over $5B. Is that true today?

B2B 79

B2B Angle X-functional Trust 79

Veloxy

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

60% of customers will shake their head NO to a sale up to 4 times before they actually say YES to it. Sadly, many sales reps miss their opportunity to get the YES when 48% of them don’t do the necessary follow-up. What is a salesperson to do? Often there is so much data they don’t know what to do with it.

Inside sales 162

Inside sales Sales Outside Sales Cross-sell 162

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 1, 2023

How are they doing it? Kyle Norton ( VP Revenue at Owner ) has been a force at the helm of the sales team, from layering in data through stages of iteration. They chose to hone in on their highest-likelihood customer with the biggest potential payoff. The discipline to do the little things that are not super exciting.

GTM 89

GTM Contract Represent CRM 89

Search Engine Land

JANUARY 12, 2024

Google Ads customer service has plummeted to an unacceptable all-time low, according to search marketers. ” “I’ve called in over a dozen times – they tell me someone will call back, but they never do. To do this, they would need to talk to their rep. And the problem only seems to be getting worse.

Engineering 137

Engineering Clients Networking Represent 137

Partners in Excellence

JUNE 7, 2020

About 6 months ago, he and I discussed a new job he was considering. It was a dream job, he accepted it. ” Think about it, one of the key ways we learn, grow, and develop is to do things that challenge us. That stretch us, force us to learn, to consider new things, to grow. Just got a note from a good friend.

Customers 144

Customers Sales 144

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 2, 2024

I suspect much is based on our love of really bad puns. And I started my career with a chemical company doing the things you would expect a chemical engineer to do…research, development, manufacturing, operations and beyond. Preface: Maria Boulden is one of my closest friends. As a trained problem solver, I had to learn more.

Sell 73

Sell Manufacturing Technical Sales Engineering 73

Iannarino

AUGUST 7, 2021

Recently, I saw a sales job advertised on LinkedIn promising that employees would not have to cold call any prospective clients. If you really want to stunt your sales force’s growth, allowing them to prevent conversations—not to mention avoid the best synchronous medium for scheduling meetings—will certainly do the trick.

Cold Call 256

Cold Call Clients Sales Pitch 256

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Or possibly our problems are that too many sales people just don’t want to prospect? Or possibly our problems are that too many sales people just don’t want to prospect? Or possibly we just do a terrible job at prospecting, making it much more difficult than it should be?

Prospecting 165

Prospecting Pipeline Sales Contact 165

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

I believe shifting our vocabularies from Buyer/Seller to Buying/Selling is much more than wordsmithing. It forces us to change our perspectives about how our customers buy—or drive their problem solving/change initiatives. And it forces us to rethink how we engage these customers in selling.

Sell 126

Sell Presentation Process Customers 126

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Sometimes, task forces to address these challenges. We see them leading team meetings, but usually these are fairly one way discussions, “You aren’t hitting the numbers, you need to do more!” One on one’s are irregular, and easily pushed off when something the manager prefers to do.

Pipeline 111

Pipeline Meeting Technology Technology 111

Veloxy

JUNE 1, 2022

5 Tips for Diversity Recruiting 1: Audit and Edit your Job Ads Words matter. That’s why doing an audit of your recruitment ads and job descriptions is one of the best ways to recruit diverse candidates. What you should do is go hunting at the very source where diverse candidates hang out.

Teamwork 147

Teamwork Construction Promote Trust 147

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 1, 2021

The most startling thing was his statement about how that carries over when we leave work, we tend not to force ourselves to think, engaging in mindless things. The most startling thing was his statement about how that carries over when we leave work, we tend not to force ourselves to think, engaging in mindless things.

Manufacturing 118

Manufacturing Technology Technology Sell 118

Understanding the Sales Force

MARCH 25, 2024

College baseball is in full swing and my wife and I watched our son and his college team play eight games over the past 10 days as they traveled from Orlando, FL, to Saratoga Springs, NY. I took the picture above of our son (catching) and a former teammate of his (hitting).

Sell 73

Sell Relationship building Sales Gaming 73

Search Engine Land

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

As advertisers, we want to maximize our PPC budgets for our clients But how do we do that? If you aren’t already doing these things – there’s time to start testing before we get into the throes of holiday planning and execution. That was immediately reversed when we returned spend.

Profit margin 108

Profit margin Non-Profits Campaign Clients 108

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

The most startling thing was his statement about how that carries over when we leave work, we tend not to force ourselves to think, engaging in mindless things. The most startling thing was his statement about how that carries over when we leave work, we tend not to force ourselves to think, engaging in mindless things.

Manufacturing 115

Manufacturing Technology Technology Sell 115

Martech

JANUARY 30, 2024

Advancements in data and technology are meant to make our lives easier. Data security is essential for building and preserving customer trust. Tech or not, businesses use technology for payments, data storage, and customer info. So, how do you create this stronghold?

Trust 100

Trust Customers Healthcare Government 100

Veloxy

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Did you know that asking questions makes it more likely for customers to approve of you? They allow salespeople such as yourself to better understand the customer’s needs, goals, and challenges. This is why open ended questions are great for gathering information and understanding the needs, wants, and pain points of a customer.

Objectives and Key Results 246

Objectives and Key Results Sales Objection handling Follow-up 246

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 1, 2021

It’s that time of year where it’s fashionable to make predictions about the big issues for sales, marketing, and customer experience. We’ve gone through things like voicemail, PCs, email, mobile phones, the web, CRM, search, social, … up do AI/ML. Wish #1: Do the work! But we don’t seem to be.

Technology 98

Technology Technology Quota Pitch 98

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Sales teams understand the pains and needs of the customer. Russell Scherwin , Director, Facilitation at Force Management expresses that this is the worst thing you can do, as it dilutes brand value. After three weeks, today is the day. We finally have the whole team in the office together. Anyway, let’s get into it.

GTM 106

GTM Education Sales B2B 106

Partners in Excellence

JULY 9, 2021

” From a customer point of view, things would be much simpler. No more wondering, “If they are offering this now, that might mean I could get something better later… ” The customer would be clear that they and everyone else is getting the same deal. How do we show that doing nothing is not a viable alternative?

X-functional 105

X-functional Price Sell Promote 105

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

A spotlight falls on customer loyalty, an influential force on the revenue secured during contract renewals. While the obvious and important way to build and cultivate customer loyalty is to build a product that people love, the reality is that it takes time. Contract renewal dates.

GTM 94

GTM Intrinsic Customers Contract 94

Veloxy

APRIL 25, 2022

Don’t do that. While there are statistics that share voicemail’s decline in the business world , we can’t avoid the fact that 80% of all cold calls will reach the decision maker’s voicemail inbox. As we’ve shared in past blog posts on cold calling , saying that something is ‘dead’ is becoming a catchy headline and a trend.

Cold Call 214

Cold Call Commission Construction Contact 214

SaaStr

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Q: How do you stand out in terms of customer acquisition against large competitors who aren’t incorporating AI? There’s no question that AI at the vendor level is a force of nature,” Jason says. Before, humans graded the outcome of customer support. Before, humans graded the outcome of customer support.

Customers 92

Customers Price Growth Construction 92

Veloxy

AUGUST 25, 2022

Meditation and Exercise Eat a Healthy Diet Listen to Sales Podcasts Focus on 3 Tasks a Day Find a Balance Between Prospects, Leads & Customers Trust Your Sales Process Take Small Breaks Don’t Take Things Too Seriously Eliminate Non-Selling Activity Take a Vacation! When you do go to the gym, work with a trainer to set fitness goals.

Sales 182

Sales Quota Contact Clients 182

SaaStr

DECEMBER 29, 2022

The Best in SaaS are still growing at incredible rates, but the overhang from the crazy multiples and VC funding run of late 2020-early 2022 will hang over our heads for the rest of the year. And the combo of inflation and CFO-level scrutiny for deals is wreaking havoc with all our plans. Stop doing it all yourself.

E-commerce 93

E-commerce Healthcare Launch Promote 93

Veloxy

JUNE 8, 2022

Research shows that top performing companies and sales teams do extremely well when it comes to managing their pipeline. However, over 60% of sales teams say their companies are doing a bad job of managing the sales pipeline. So, how do you improve your pipeline and sales processes as well? But first…. 2: Automation.

Pipeline 195

Pipeline Technology Technology Cross-sell 195

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 4, 2024

Our relationship didn’t start that way, in fact it was contentious. Fortunately, we saw past our differences. At that time the banking industry was very heavily regulated, so we didn’t have to compete too hard for customers. But I still saw selling as a necessary evil, something I had to do to keep my job.

Sell 73

Sell Appointment Finance Pitch 73

SaaStr

MARCH 30, 2021

How did they do it? And what do we do with a funnel, in sales and marketing? We invest outsized amounts in “customer success” — in our existing customers to get the best referrals and other customers from them. In fact, force yourself to take 1 VC Zoom a week. Same as 1.

Quota 145

Quota Meeting Referrals Up-sell 145

Cerebral Selling

DECEMBER 2, 2022

He told me he got a voicemail from a customer saying that he didn’t want to work with the female sales rep responsible for his account and requested that we assign a man to help him. What do you think we should do, David?”, On one hand, he really wanted to call the customer back and tell him off!

Growth 130

Growth Teamwork Sales Meeting 130

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

I see so many SaaS startups hire someone likeable, who can talk the talk on sales hiring and processes — but never really understands what you do. I see so many SaaS startups hire someone likeable, who can talk the talk on sales hiring and processes — but never really understands what you do. Don’t make this hire.

Process 92

Process Sales Up-sell Quota 92

Martech

MARCH 11, 2024

While this approach works well for roughly 5% of actively in-market buyers, it creates a poor experience for the remaining 95% of future customers who aren’t yet ready to buy. However, this ignores the majority of potential customers. Only 5% of our market , is ready, willing and able to consider buying our product.

Pipeline 83

Pipeline Contact Prospecting B2B 83

Partners in Excellence

JULY 21, 2023

Do we leverage thought leaders and influencers? Do we personalize or not? Yet we seem to be using AI to do more of the same, at greater volumes and velocity. And, at least the early signs, don’t show any improvement, but we can do orders of magnitude more of what doesn’t work. Customers are and need to buy!

Prospecting 81

Prospecting Customers Cold Call Commission 81

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 23, 2020

I’ve written a lot about how we should be selling and engaging our customers through the current crisis. Let me shift my attention to taking care of our own teams through the crisis. Like our customers, each of us and our people are facing things we may have never experienced before. So what do we do?

Trust 110

Trust Represent Start-ups Meeting 110

Spiro Technologies

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Positions that offer a base pay aren’t “real” sales jobs. There’s something to be said for the sink or swim world of commission-only sales jobs, and it takes a certain kind of drive and self-belief to enter a role without any safety net. If you don’t do well in one sales job, then sales isn’t for you.

Commission 111

Commission Inside sales Outside Sales Up-sell 111

Martech

MAY 18, 2023

Customers overwhelmingly rely on a company’s content for purchasing decisions. Key takeaways: Promoting customer engagement is a better long-term content marketing strategy but requires patience and consistency. Your business needs a steady program of valuable content to attract high-value customers that engage with your brand.

Promote 128

Promote Entertainment Clients Campaign 128