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Joanne Black

Do Words Make a Difference for Women in Sales?

1 December 2018 by Joanne Black

Watch what you say, and do what you say.  “I want you to know it hasn’t gone unnoticed that there are no women on our sales team.” That comment came from the CEO of a fast-growing software company. Not only were there no women, but the sales team was all white men of a certain… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Women in Sales

Do You Believe Everything You Hear? Challenging the 57% Myth

6 November 2014 by Joanne Black

Don’t buy into the hype. Your clients still need you. Between 57 and 87 percent of the buying process is complete before a buyer ever contacts a company—at least that’s the case if you believe the widely quoted but ill-advised statistics floating around sales circles. Busting a Bad Myth Bob Apollo gives us the facts… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Tools, Sales Trends

Do You Have Technology Tunnel Vision?

5 June 2014 by Joanne Black

If you’re always looking at a screen, you’re missing out on your life. How many friends do you have? Not online “friends.” I mean real friends—people you truly care about and who are actually part of your life, not just your social networks. Technology addiction is running rampant in today’s society. We spend more time… Read More

Filed Under: General Sales

Do Your Leads Suck?

22 September 2014 by Joanne Black

Are you looking for the right prospects in all the wrong places? Sales is like dating. It’s all about relationships. You have to decide what you’re looking for in the perfect mate (or prospect), and then figure out the best way to meet that person. Imagine you’re single and looking for a long-term relationship. You’re… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Lead Generation, Referral Selling, Sales Prospecting

Do Your Leads Suck?

22 June 2014 by Joanne Black

You’re looking for a sales qualified lead in all the wrong places. Sales is like dating. It’s all about relationships. You have to decide what you’re looking for in the perfect mate (or prospect), and then figure out the best way to meet that person (or sales qualified lead). Imagine you’re single and looking for… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

Does “Call Reluctance” Prevent You from Asking for Referrals?

22 September 2015 by Joanne Black

What are salespeople so afraid of? “I think I’ve told you before that I have a mild-to-moderate case of call reluctance.  Even warm opportunities I’m following up on create anxiety.” I was a little surprised to receive this email from Sam, a sales and marketing pro with years of experience. In theory, someone who talks… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling, Sales Prospecting

Don’t Be One of “Those” People

25 September 2014 by Joanne Black

Nurture your network or lose it. We all know “those” people—the ones who only reach out when they want something. The people who drop off the face of the earth until they need a referral or want an introduction to someone in your network. After a while, don’t you find yourself thinking, “What have you… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Networking, Referral Selling, Sales Tools, Social Selling

Don’t Confuse “Target Market” with “Ideal Client”

22 October 2015 by Joanne Black

Sales and marketing play different roles in lead generation. It’s not marketing’s job to identify and nurture your ideal clients, or to convert them into qualified prospects. Your marketing colleagues can certainly help. They have already identified the company’s target markets, which is half the battle. But within that targeted group is a smaller, much… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Prospecting

Every Sale Should Be THIS Easy

18 August 2014 by Joanne Black

With referral selling, the hard part is over before you ever speak to prospects. “How can you help me?” asked Jim, my prospect. He’d been explaining an exciting referral initiative he was rolling out around the country. While it seemed to be working great, he still wanted to know how I could contribute. At first… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

Forget Practice Makes Perfect—Practice Makes Sense

14 June 2018 by Joanne Black

I always look forward to the Olympics. It gives me the perfect excuse to remind sales leaders and their teams what it takes to excel—in sports, in life, and certainly in sales. Olympic athletes come from all over the world to compete in a myriad of events, but they all have one thing in common:… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Leadership, Professional & Self-Development, Self-Improvement

Generation Z Refuses to Be Defined by Generational Stereotypes

20 October 2020 by Joanne Black

Stop thinking of people in terms of generations, and start thinking about them as individuals. My generation does not define me any more than my gender, race, nationality, or sexual orientation—and neither does yours. Generation Z has only been in the workforce for a few years, and we’ve already slapped them with a plethora of… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Relationship Selling

How to Get Past the Gatekeeper

29 August 2022 by Joanne Black

The gatekeeper is not your enemy. Cold calling is. Much has been written about how to get past the gatekeeper, and many salespeople believe that gatekeepers are the source of all their prospecting  woes. Apparently, receptionists and executive assistants are all that stand between cold callers and would-be clients, and salespeople have been convinced that… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Cold Calling, Referral Selling, Sales Prospecting

How to Get Prospects to Call You Back

1 September 2014 by Joanne Black

If no one’s returning your calls, you must be cold calling. I see you. I know who’s calling. If I don’t recognize the name or number on my screen, I won’t answer. I’ll wait for you to leave a message, but you won’t. No one leaves a message when they’re just cold calling a list. They’re… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

How to Get Referrals and Finally Conquer Your Fear

3 March 2023 by Joanne Black

Asking for referrals feels riskier than cold calling. “I’m not sure why, but I have never been comfortable asking for referrals.” That comment was from a 20-year sales veteran, the kind of seasoned pro who should know how to get referrals, and given this person’s track record, should feel confident about asking. I wasn’t surprised…. Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

How to Hit Your Numbers and Become a Sales Superstar

8 July 2012 by Joanne Black

Up your hitting average through referrals, and up your sales game for a winning season. Batter up! Baseball season is in full swing here in the United States. It’s time to get your sales prospects on base. Baseball is a long season with 162 games per team over approximately 30 weeks. It’s probably the only… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling, Sales Prospecting

How to Lose Clients and Alienate People

15 October 2014 by Joanne Black

Stop the cold calling madness. Why are you still cold calling? Even if you’re not actually using the phone, when you send cold emails and automated requests to connect on LinkedIn, your outreach is still ice cold. Wake up: Cold calling success rates are dismal! Break Free from Failed Selling Strategies It’s common sense that… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Cold Calling, Referral Selling, Social Selling

How to Score More Sales Leads: Don’t Believe the Buyer 2.0 Myths

26 September 2016 by Joanne Black

Do your sales reps really prospect based on fairy tales? A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away … Well, you know the ending to that famous story. You also know it’s just a myth, a fable, a legend. It’s entertaining, but not real. Fictional stories belong in books, movies, or in the… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Prospecting

How to Send an Unforgettable LinkedIn Invitation

15 July 2014 by Joanne Black

Read this before starting a conversation on LinkedIn. George runs a social media company. He is tech savvy and up-to-date on the do’s and don’ts of social media. He even launched a contest to get traction for his new company, and it quickly went viral. So I was eager to learn more about George when… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Social Selling

How to Win New Clients from Lost Deals

3 January 2018 by Joanne Black

Referrals might be the silver lining for account-based sales reps when good clients walk away. I have been in B2B sales so long that I’ve probably forgotten more deals than I remember. I know how to win new clients. Just as importantly, I’ve learned how to turn a loss into a win, either by reflecting… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

I Don’t Know You, so Don’t Ask Me for a Referral

25 August 2014 by Joanne Black

People only refer people they know and trust. If you’re asking strangers on social media for referrals, you’re like the guy at a networking event who shoves his card in people’s face and asks for theirs in return. I never give my card to that guy, because he’s all about himself. He probably just wants to win… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

I Don’t Want Your Deck

7 August 2014 by Joanne Black

Don’t overwhelm your customers with too much information. I met Charles on LinkedIn. I liked his profile—and the fact he sent me a personal invitation—so I accepted the connection, and we started a conversation. I was intrigued by his offering and wanted to learn more, so we spoke on the phone. By the end of… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

If You Aren’t Building Relationships Your Perfect Pitch Will Always Be Wild.

27 October 2014 by Joanne Black

Apologies for the baseball metaphor. In San Francisco we’re a little pre-occupied at the moment (Go Giants!) If you missed Dreamforce 2014, don’t make the same mistake next year. This was my third year attending Salesforce’s annual technology tradeshow, and I can’t understand how anyone in sales would miss it. Yet salespeople still ask me… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Lead Generation, Networking, Sales Prospecting

Introductions All Around: It’s Time for Online to Meet Offline

9 October 2014 by Joanne Black

Social networking isn’t social enough. As Woody Allen famously said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Showing up counts—in life and in sales. So does being present and contributing. We show up in many different ways—online, offline, at work, with family, with friends, and when volunteering. Showing up means you become involved. You contribute, you… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Networking, Sales Prospecting

Is Asking for Referrals on Social Media Rude?

4 September 2015 by Joanne Black

LinkedIn is a place to build relationships, not ask for referrals. Far too many sales teams get social selling all wrong. Reps click buttons to invite people to connect, spam them with sales pitches, and even start asking for referrals. (Where’s the “hello”? Where’s the conversation?) Invite me to connect on LinkedIn without a personal… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Referral Selling

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