Refining our customer’s value story

Regular readers will know that I have been evangelising the critical importance of customer-specific value stories for a long time. I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on my latest story framework, fuelled by a growing number of client projects in complex B2B sales environments...Let me start by explaining what I mean by a “customer-specific value story” Unlike value propositions generally, which tend to be targeted at ... by Bob Apollo

Tips for Hiring the Right Inside Sales Representative

Buyers are waiting longer and longer to interact with your company’s sales representatives. Are you hiring sales representatives that meet customer expectations?.. When they finally fill out the request for a demo or contact form, you want top-notch talent on the phone and sending emails to these prospects. You probably have some great performers on your team...Did you luck into those hires, or do you ... by Darryl Praill

Are Your Value Statements Stale?

Are you sharing the same messages today that you were sharing a year ago with your clients? Are you approaching them with the same value propositions, teaching them the same things, or providing them with the same insights today as you were a year ago?.. If so, I have news for you: you’re at risk of being, at worst, irrelevant and, at best commoditized...You need to change your value messages to meet ... by Colleen Francis

Women Sales Leaders: From Pioneers to Modern-Day Trailblazers

Picture yourself in 1900. You didn’t have the right to vote or run for office. Your job was to take care of your household, your children, and your husband. If you had to work, you only had a few options: nurse, housekeeper, cook, or factory worker. Much depended on your social status as a woman, and whatever you did, you would be paid far less than men for doing ... by Joanne Black

What psychology tells us about being a better sales leader

As sales professionals, it’s easy to think about our jobs in terms of numbers: Quotas, forecasts, and commissions leading the way. It’s easy to forget the human side of things, and when you operate in a complex b2b world, it’s even easier to get caught up in technical details...But at the end of the day, the numbers don’t happen without humans, and ... by George Brontén

Why I Believe We Should Blow up the Business Development Role in Sales

Did you ever notice how most supermarkets place the least capable cashiers in the Express Lane?  Drives me nuts!  The Market's perspective:  Small orders will be easier for them to handle.  My perspective:  Let's go!!!  They call it Express for a reason!.. Did you ever notice that companies that utilize the Business Development Rep (BDR) role put their youngest, most ... by Dave Kurlan

Strategies You Need To Open Door and Close More Sales

Yesterday morning on Sales Logic (a sales effectiveness podcast show Mark Hunter and I do every Saturday morning), a listener asked, “How do I  have a high-quality conversation with a brand-new prospect when I don’t know that much about the prospect or their company yet? Isn’t that the point of the sales call?” ... The answer – NO! Absolutely not. That is not the point of ... by Meridith Elliott Powell

Putting the ‘I’ into ‘AI’ may be the key to your sales success

It’s a confusing and frightening time for many salespeople right now. They’re grappling with the competing forces of automation and commoditisation in the industry, combined with the rapid disruption of the markets they serve, not to mention artificially intelligent technology that they need to grasp to succeed in this new world. Added to this mix are increasingly ... by Cian McLoughlin

Ahead of the surge: CEO optimism jumps [Q1 2021 CEO Confidence Index]

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter for small and midsize businesses. Fueled by radically increasing rates of vaccination, the passage of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package and rising revenues, The Vistage CEO Confidence Index jumped 14 points, reaching 102.4, the highest level since September 2018...Optimism increased in each of the ... by Joe Galvin

The Most Important Measurement In Business

This is the first of a number of lessons I’ll be sharing from my newest book, I’ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again. A few years back I wrote about the idea of measuring customer satisfaction versus customer behavior. We’re revisiting that topic with a fresh point of view...Today’s lesson is about the exciting topic of measurement and data. Okay, maybe not ... by Shep Hyken