Search Engine Land

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Back to the brand future Nearly 10 years ago, Rand Fishkin was talking about brand mentions. Google knows people buy and sell links, so moving away from this would always be a good idea. It’s like a looming date in the future where every SEO feels like the Jedi when the Emperor unleashed Order 66. Let’s dive in.

Drivers/motivators 138

Drivers/motivators Sports Engineering Follow-up 138

Search Engine Land

APRIL 5, 2024

My comment got a lot of engagement, so the idea for this article was born: There are good arguments why you could say that audits are indeed a waste of time, but this cannot be generalized. It’s more an issue of both doing the audit and selling it the wrong way, which is the root cause of the perception that “SEO audits are a waste of time.”

Hospitality 102

Hospitality Consult Clients Construction 102

Search Engine Land

JANUARY 26, 2024

But with the right processes in place, you can smooth client transitions and maintain positive relationships no matter the outcome. Let’s tackle best practices for onboarding new clients and offboarding those who leave that will improve the client experience, get to work quickly, and enable future referrals. or before you go to sleep?

Clients 97

Clients Referrals Trust Pitch 97

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

As a visionary, you have to think about what a post-AI world looks like 5-10 years from now and imagine what the use case you’re solving for now looks like in that world. If the internet rolled out in 1997, then our current hype cycle is what it was like in 1998. Otherwise, you’re facing irrelevance.

GTM 112

GTM Technology Technology Up-sell 112

Salesforce

JANUARY 30, 2024

When forecasting your company’s financial future, the right calculations can make the difference between on-target projections and missed opportunities. You might think you know when your sales are up or down (and how that affects the bottom line), but are you using the right formula?

CRM 114

CRM B2C Commission Sales 114

Martech

APRIL 10, 2024

We need solutions that break new ground, push the boundaries of what’s possible and redefine industry standards. The spark before the flame: Building martech with a heart It all begins with a spark — a yearning to help businesses not merely sell but connect. But those days are over. Well, not anymore.

Pitch 112

Pitch Product Electricity Healthcare 112

Martech

JANUARY 25, 2024

They make clients (whether internal or agency clients) squirm with questions like: What’s the real reason you exist — not just what you sell? What’s your biggest fear about your brand? What’s your biggest fear about your brand? Absurd, right? Consider brands like Patagonia and Dove.

Strategize 124

Strategize Clients Campaign Trust 124

Search Engine Land

OCTOBER 12, 2023

Share of search: What it is and why it matters Share of search is an SEO metric developed by expert marketers Les Binet and James Hankins a few years ago. The concept of share of search is fairly simple – decide who you’re competing against, add the searches for all the brands and work out the percentage. But it has its issues.

Niche 121

Niche Growth Engineering Pitch 121

Search Engine Land

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

Of course, that requires you to approach it with a different mindset than Search and Shopping. Let me give you an example. Years ago, when working with retailers selling products from many different brands, you typically make a separate Shopping campaign for each brand. What is Performance Max? That includes: Text.

Campaign 141

Campaign Retail Lead generation Pharmaceutical 141

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 9, 2023

It’s for me to explore my thinking and to get greater clarity. Normally, I would not publish something so introspective, but I think I’m asking for help. At the same time, I write, perhaps too often about the rampant stupidity I see in so much of what we do in selling. This post is primarily written for me.

Consult 108

Consult Start-ups Conversion Up-sell 108

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 12, 2021

It’s become high fashion to declare the future of selling is “virtual.” That improved productivity data is always accompanied by cost of selling data. There’s a problem to our thinking on this. Just as the pandemic forced us to sell differently, it has forced the customer to buy differently.

Sell 120

Sell Sales Up-sell Sales Support 120

Martech

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Well, that was in 1996, and as you can imagine, a few years later, they could no longer fight it because the world had changed. And instead of being a fresh college graduate, I’m now one of those old people who’s a bit skeptical of what’s happening. I remember when the web was brand new, unknown and scary to many people.

X-functional 120

X-functional Cross-sell Territory Retail 120

Search Engine Land

APRIL 15, 2024

Then, you must create what Google calls “ helpful, reliable, people-first content.” In this article, I will outline a process that shows you exactly how to do that and provide a simple template you can fill out to take your content to the next level. Step 1: Goals What is your goal for this content?

Process 121

Process Objectives and Key Results Angle Follow-up 121

Partners in Excellence

JUNE 5, 2023

“Tough times demand tougher selling!” ” That seems to be a mantra many people discuss about selling in a difficult economy. And tougher selling is, sometimes, interpreted of higher activity levels, more outreaches, higher volumes, more and more frequent touches. Some of it focuses on more aggressive messaging.

Sell 88

Sell Government Pitch Clients 88

Spiro Technologies

JUNE 16, 2022

Just think about how much different selling was even ten years ago, back before LinkedIn was public and when Zoom was just a twinkle in its founder eye. Much has changed since then, and we can expect much to change in the future too. Here are some predictions for what salespeople won’t be doing five years from now: 1.

Cold Call 105

Cold Call Relationship Management Technology Technology 105

Sales Pop!

APRIL 11, 2024

It’s a goal we strive for in selling. And certainly you can make a case that it’s very important to all clients. Imagine that in your travels last week you stayed at a chain hotel. But on the night of your stay, you were in a room across the hall from the elevator and next to the ice machine room. You didn’t sleep a wink.

B2C 52

B2C Clients Contract Account management 52

Search Engine Land

MARCH 6, 2024

Synergy Team synergy goes a long way in everything you do, especially when trying to speak to a brand’s intended audience. Make it a critical objective to meet with your social media or SEO team counterparts to ensure you maximize everything from your image to messaging. But it’s easier said than done sometimes.

Objectives and Key Results 117

Objectives and Key Results Cold Call Cross-sell Engineering 117

Martech

JULY 10, 2023

While such rapid change can cause us to fear the unknown, it can also fill us with wonder and awe as we imagine a future where many of our biggest challenges have been solved. Almost overnight, tools have been created to do most of what I teach my communications students. There will be an AI for that! AI advances are astounding.

Entertainment 135

Entertainment Education Launch Presentation 135

Salesforce

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

Channel sales — or selling through partners — represents 75% of the world’s commerce, according to Forrester. In it, you’ll learn the basics of channel sales and how it can work for you. For those already well-versed in working with partners, feel free to skip ahead to the sections most helpful to you.

Manufacturing 111

Manufacturing Retail Territory Sales 111

Salesforce

JANUARY 3, 2024

I’m grateful to have found a better way to sell — one that builds mutually beneficial long-term relationships. As a sales professional, you don’t have to coerce or pressure. Instead, you need to be a curious problem solver who uses your emotional intelligence to be of service. What are the types of sales pitches?

Pitch 109

Pitch Sales Prospecting Clients 109

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 18, 2020

I wrote, The Future Of Selling Isn’t What You Think It Is. Basically, it was a retort to those who think the future of selling is about the technology and tools we leverage. Technology is part of our future, but it misses the core of what selling is really about.

Sell 151

Sell Trust Technology Technology 151

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 5, 2023

I just listened to an outstanding webcast on the future of selling, conducted by four close friends. I am a student of their work, they are among the smartest thinkers about selling I’ve ever met. It seemed, unconsciously, the conversation around selling gravitates to SaaS selling.

Conversion 68

Conversion Sell Manufacturing Healthcare 68

Search Engine Land

MARCH 6, 2024

Fellow Search Engine Land contributor and paid search expert Menachem Ani posted a poll on X on how the paid search community feels about the change in the past few years, and the overwhelming response is to “embrace the future.” However, both tweets reflect Gavin’s view that human involvement and critical thinking remain central.

A/B testing 123

A/B testing Campaign Networking Engineering 123

SaaStr

JUNE 30, 2023

But how do you find that opportunity when there’s a lot of pressure from venture and the market? Braze was founded in 2011 when the most exciting mobile apps were a compass, a flashlight, and a game where you could feed fish. They were building for a market that didn’t exist so they could sell to job titles that also didn’t exist.

Objectives and Key Results 86

Objectives and Key Results Finance Gaming Growth 86

The 5% Institute

OCTOBER 20, 2022

Selling finance products can sometimes feel a bit harder than selling other product types. Generally, when selling finance products, you’re selling the invisible; an intangible outcome products and results that’ll benefit them financially. Selling Finance Products – 5 x Effective Tips. BANT stands for: Budget.

Finance 138

Finance Product Sell Objectives and Key Results 138

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 1, 2021

I watched a fascinating short film, “Work, I Think It Numbs You, Somehow.” ” It got me reflecting on much of what I see when working with executives and sales people. He talks about how so much of work causes you to stop thinking, we go through the motions and don’t have to make decisions.

Manufacturing 118

Manufacturing Technology Technology Sell 118

Sales Pop!

JANUARY 13, 2024

For all of us in selling, while we may not strike fear in the hearts of those we deal with as dragons clearly do, we depend daily on our courage, creativity and innovation. You experienced much change in 2023 but more importantly, so did your customers. But the real survival skill in selling is our ability to KARE.

Healthcare 59

Healthcare Represent Manufacturing Clients 59

Sales Hacker

APRIL 25, 2023

If you’re a salesperson, you have to learn about your buyer. You might call this discovery , but it’s actually more like scoping — that is, determining the scope of the eventual job. You might call this discovery , but it’s actually more like scoping — that is, determining the scope of the eventual job. You know what I mean.

Technique 78

Technique Sales Follow-up Start-ups 78

SaaStr

OCTOBER 16, 2023

But being told what to do, especially when it’s not clearly “right”? The balance here is super tricky, but you have to at least try. Even if you are left alone, and have some economic incentive to stay, it can be hard to be told you have to totally change the way you do some things. And it can’t be 100% punitive.

Consult 105

Consult Sell Product Sales 105

Partners in Excellence

JUNE 16, 2023

” I’ve gotten some questions, “Dave, how do we change, what should we do? What if we fail?” As we finish the week and are going into the weekend, take some time to think about what you are going to do next week I’d like you to think of one (possibly two) things that are new.

Conversion 98

Conversion Follow-up Prospecting Start-ups 98

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 3, 2022

The topic was, “What kind of career path options do we want to develop for our people? It seems that selling jobs, at all levels, are viewed as “temp” jobs. It seems that selling jobs, at all levels, are viewed as “temp” jobs. How do we challenge and retain our people longer?

Sell 106

Sell Growth Engineering Account management 106

SaaStr

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Catch up on the first half here if you missed it. Q: How do you stand out in terms of customer acquisition against large competitors who aren’t incorporating AI? There’s no answer to the question above, except you have to be in the game today. There’s no answer to the question above, except you have to be in the game today.

Customers 101

Customers Price Growth Construction 101

Sales Pop!

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

As the selling year draws to a close, we’re captivated by Q4 activities focused on closing the year strong in terms of winning business and, hopefully, also delivering as much value as possible to our clients. I love the Clement Stone quote – “You are a product of your environment. But what about your environment?

Real Estate 97

Real Estate Healthcare Government Objectives and Key Results 97

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2024

Getting Outbound off the Ground in the Early Days Whatever stage your company is in, you can map wherever you are to outbound and use this article to either create, scale up or improve your outbound SaaS sales. Start with who you are targeting in your own network. Instead, they approached it more strategically.

Quota 109

Quota Commission Networking Drivers/motivators 109

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Regular readers know that I tend to write and talk a lot about the future of selling. There’s just a lot of organizations who tend to do the “safe” thing–what they’ve always done and what everyone else is doing. And, despite these approaches failing, the mantra is to do more.

Sell 62

Sell Up-sell Education Conversion 62

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

I watched a fascinating short film, “Work, I Think It Numbs You, Somehow.” ” It got me reflecting on much of what I see when working with executives and sales people. He talks about how so much of work causes you to stop thinking, we go through the motions and don’t have to make decisions.

Manufacturing 109

Manufacturing Technology Technology Sell 109

Highspot

MAY 9, 2023

I had the future in my hand. The bad news is today’s sales professionals face arguably the hardest selling environment in a decade. The bad news is today’s sales professionals face arguably the hardest selling environment in a decade. It was an ordinary Tuesday afternoon in the 2000s when I first picked up an iPhone.

Cross-sell 98

Cross-sell Strategize Sales Entertainment 98