Sales ArticlesFrom building a strong lead generation effort to evaluating your sales channels, we have something for everyone. Whether you are just starting out or trying to get to the next level the Smarketing CONNECT has the best resources for startups and small businesses.
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Getting Stuck in the Middle
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-by Ken Cheo - Our Sales Coach
Here is a situation I encounter a lot with clients. I debrief with the client regarding a first meeting with a prospect. They tell me that the meeting went very well. They were able to generate good rapport and there was good discussion on the prospects needs which are a good fit for their products or services. The prospect said something encouraging like “I would like to do business with you” or “It sounds like you have just what we need”
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The Right Fit
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Ceri Ruenheck - It’s Your Call
Most businesses can only succeed if they have a consistent flow of new customers buying their product. There are so many ways to spark interest, but some methods are better than others. B2B telemarketing allows you to reach out to people and speak with them directly in order to spread the word about your company. While this is an excellent strategy for any good marketing department, like anything else in life, there is a right and a wrong way to use it.
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Sales Prospecting Phone Calls - To Script or not to Script the Call…that’s the Question!
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Recently, I received a sales call from a tech company that prompted me to dive into the question:
What is the role of sales scripts in prospecting? |
Likable Profile Picture - Why it Matters
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-by Kevin Willett - New England B2B Networking
Kevin Willett says a picture is worth a thousand words and one of the most important of those words is likability. Last week I was viewing some social media profiles and I came across perhaps the angriest looking profile picture I have ever seen. Now this person would be perfect for my networking events, but I was hesitant to reach out to him because of his picture.
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Sales Enablement…is it out of reach for small business?
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- by Susan McKenney - Diversified Sales Solutions, Inc.
Sales enablement or if you prefer the old-fashioned term “Lead Nurturing” is the structured organization of sales content best practices, research capabilities, tools, training and coaching. When I talk about small, I mean a sales staff of 1 - 20! Sales enablement processes can be simple or complex and small businesses can create a repeatable process even if it’s simple!
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What Comes Next? How to Perfect the Follow-Up Call
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-by Ceri Ruenheck - It's Your Call
You always know who you're calling and what you need to say. B2B telemarketing is all about how you explain yourself to the person on the other end of the line. When you know everything there is to know about your product, all you want to do is get the other person to listen. Sometimes they do, and many other times they simply don't have time for your sales pitch. While this can be frustrating, it comes with the territory. For a good portion of the calls you make, your next move is the most important. Following up with potential clients is where you will end up making most of your sales and appointments. Take the time to go over your strategy to get the most out of your follow-up calls.
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Refine Your Process for Business Development!-by Eric Warner - Praxis Growth Advisors, Inc. |Sandler Training
Have you developed an efficient selling system? Does this system enable the team to consistently achieve a desired outcomes while saving time, energy and money? Are you training them on the system, holding them accountable to it and coaching them on how to improve their gaps?
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Are You Working On it or In it?
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-by Paul Donehue, Paul Charles & Associates
The most important business decisions we make each day are what we choose to work on and how we choose to accomplish that work, says Conway Management Company, continuous process improvement specialists. We couldn’t agree more!
For example, many of us—including small business owners, professional service providers, sales managers, and sales professionals—consistently struggle with the never-ending challenge of simultaneously juggling three critically-important components of our work: |
Goal Setting Why We Do Not Do It Effectively
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-by Ken Cheo - Our Sales Coach
Do you have written goals? If you are reading this at your desk can you put your finger on them right now? If you answered no to these questions, you are not alone. 90% of people do not have written goals. Writing down your goals does a number of things for you:
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Out of Sorts or Outsource
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-by Ceri Ruenheck - It's Your Call
Prospecting leads is an essential part of growing your potential customer base and turning leads into sales in B2B marketing. Often, potential leads don’t respond to the first few B2B telemarketing or email marketing attempts. With a large list of prospective customers, it can be difficult to have the time to continue lead qualification on all of these contacts (making one feel a little out of sorts) though they are still valuable, marketing-ready leads.
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Understanding Your Team and Their Skills
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-by Kathy Yenke, Sales Catalyst Solutions
It’s always tough to lose your star player – let alone some outstanding teammates who are out on injured reserve or traded. Remember the Fall of 2016? That didn’t faze the Patriots! Why? A great coach can make a team great. Bill Belichick once again proved this, and in February 2017 the Patriots were once again Super Bowl Champions! The same is true in sales … Great Sales Leadership Makes Great Sales Teams!
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How I Got Started In The Training Business
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-by Susan Rooks, Grammar Goddess
How did I get started in the training business? Partly pure dumb luck and partly three total strangers who helped me become the Grammar Goddess.
It was 1994. I was unemployed (for the first time ever), looking in the Sunday want ads, and I noticed a really big ad from an international seminar company looking to hire the best and brightest speakers to lead seminars around the country. Paid speaking work. Auditions would be held in two weeks, and applicants were told to prepare an eight-minute business-oriented presentation. And we would be taped. |
The Show is Over But the Game is at Halftime: Aggressive Follow Up is Key to Trade Show Sales
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-by Ceri Ruenheck - It's Your Call
Focused, aggressive follow up is how the sales are made. But follow up is where many trade show exhibitors fall short. By the time the show ends, you and your team have collected contact information from prospects, and have engaged
them in meaningful conversations. Now is the time to think smart and to make the most of all the work you’ve put in. |
Best Tips Ever for an Attention Grabbing Elevator Speech
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-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
If you’re a small business owner, entrepreneur or professional, do you have a ready-to go, smart and savvy answer when someone asks, “What do you do?” You might be in a networking group and know what to say by heart, but there’s always room for improvement and improv. An elevator speech is a short, compelling statement about who you are, what problem you solve and why others should work with you.
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Sales Hiring = Purple Squirrel
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-by Marie Warner - Warner Professional Sales
A recurrent problem many companies are experiencing is the inability to find and recruit sales, sales trainers or sales enablement professionals. Their job advertisement for these important roles appear for 5 months running – What gives?
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Does your Sales Hiring Measure up?
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-by Marie Warner - Warner Professional Sales
I just heard from a candidate (Let’s call him ‘Tim’; that is not his real name) who was the finalist for a Senior Sales Representative role at a fast-growing media technology firm (We’ll call them ‘ABC Media’; also not the actual company name). To clarify, this was not my referral, my client nor my search engagement – which is some relief when you hear this cringe-worthy story. Tim, whom I knew from a past sales training workshop, called to ask for my advice and to let me know that his hunt for a new job was still ongoing.
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Body Language Secrets to Improve Sales
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-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
Ever walk into a meeting and sense that something just wasn’t right? All you needed was a quick glance around the room to feel the energy. Arms crossed, toes tapping and nose scratching.
If 90% of our communication is non-verbal – and we’re in sales – that’s more than enough evidence to check-in on how we show up. And, what clues we give our audience. You don’t have to be in marketing to wonder what message you’re conveying. You’re communicating on a daily basis to prospects, your team, customers and even your family. |
Boosting Microloan Sales Results Through Coaching
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-by Ken Cheo - Our Sales Coach
The Challenge: Banks operate in highly competitive and mature markets. This environment, combined with historically low interest rates, puts a lot of pressure on banks. They must produce sales with more profitable products and services, and expand into new markets while cutting expenses.
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Use Cold Calling for Lead Generation
5 Proven Sales Methods that Work
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-by Tom Libby - Diversified Sales Solutions, Inc.
Ready to learn more about sales methodology? Here are 5 proven methods that work! Lets chat about some of the methods used in sales. Whether you’ve been in sales for a long time or you’re new, you’ve probably heard of a sales method or two. The reality, there are way too many to discuss them all here. It seems that every time we turn around someone is coming up with a new one that spins off another. That being said a few come up more frequently than others. Here are the methods outlined in this article.
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Social Selling - Why Sales Needs Content
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-by Susan McKenney - Diversified Sales Solutions, Inc.
Over the last few years sales and marketing have become much closer in their relationship with the addition of technology and social media. The lines between sales and marketing continues to blur. One of the fine lines that sales and marketing will have to manage is the difference between them in an ever-changing environment of technology.
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How to Solve the 5 Biggest Sales Problems
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-by Tom Libby - Diversified Sales Solutions, Inc.
Common sales problems all sales people face and how to overcome them. Although most of what we consider the “biggest” problems in sales are opinions, or can be considered very specific to the person, product/service, industry, or many other factors. There are some that seem to pop up frequently among sales professionals. I’m sure if you check with some survey company or a larger marketing agency there may be some variations.
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How to Make a Successful Cold Call
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-by Ceri Ruenheck - It's Your Call
While there are plenty of ways to get sales leads, sometimes you end up having to call people you’ve never met. This process, known as “cold calling,” is actually easy–but only if you know how to do it.
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7 Common Rapport Building Mistakes
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-by Tom Libby - Diversified Sales Solutions, Inc.
Sales begins with building trust, don't let these common mistakes stop you before you even get started. Rapport building is essential in sales, and throughout life, but particularly important in the sales environment. Oddly, people make assumptions that just talking to another person and building a rapport are the same thing. Rapport building is a skill that you can work on, a skill that you can improve on and talking is well, just that, talking.
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