Selling has always been more about the buyer than the seller. So any effective sales model must adapt to changing buying protocols not ignore or resist them. This is a big transition for firms whose marketing, sales-training and enablement tools, and wider organizational processes reflect outdated assumptions about purchasing in their markets. For a century,… Read More
Why Most Sales Professionals LinkedIn Profiles Are Worthless & How You Should Be Communicating Business Value to Prospects
I love to challenge common thoughts, ideas and practices that do not help business leaders and sales and marketing executives turn LinkedIn leads into revenue. Today, I’m challenging how LinkedIn profiles are being created for business leaders and sales and marketing executives (whether they are doing it themselves or hiring a social media firm.) As… Read More
Why Salespeople Need to Understand the Difference Between Data, Intelligence and Insights
Making a sale is a gradual process, especially in the B2B space. Salespeople work tirelessly to establish relationships with prospects, build trust and demonstrate their company’s ability to solve a problem with its products or services. The step-by-step approach isn’t quite an exact science. It takes time to nurture a lead and pinpoint the best… Read More
Why the Underdog is Better at Sales than the Market Leader
Back in the 1960’s the US car rental company Avis ran an advertising campaign with the strapline ‘We try harder’. The basis of the ads was that because they were not the market leader they had to try harder, paying greater attention to every detail and providing a better service all round. The campaign certainly… Read More
Why You Can’t Be a Leader
Self-proclaimed “leaders” are everywhere. You can hardly read a Twitter bio or article byline without meeting the phrase, “So-and-so is a leader in his industry.” If that’s the case, why haven’t I heard of them before? The more obscure the entrepreneur, the fiercer their apparent desire to be recognized as a leader; but talk alone… Read More
You Can’t Cut And Paste Your Way To Sales Success
Technology has made creating proposal documents quicker and easier, but has it made for better proposals? I fear it has not in many cases. Let me describe the problem as I see it and offer some solutions. You are not talking the customers language There are some horror stories about the misuse of cut and… Read More
Your 7-Step Recipe for 2016 Sales Success
Your sales team has the power to reshape your business and determine its success. When I say team, I mean the collective unit. Because while your top reps consistently out-perform, what sets your company apart is when your ‘core performers’ consistently hit or exceed their targets. So, this sales enablement recipe for success focuses on… Read More
Your Buyer Has All the Power. Here’s Why That’s Okay.
Let’s face it: Our quest for power is an innate part of being human. Most believe increased power leads to increased rewards and that being in a high power position leads to more successful outcomes. It’s no wonder then, that power has always played a significant role in sales negotiations—particularly in long, complex B2B sales… Read More