Without These Four Collaborations, Your Customer Experience (And Your Pipeline) is D.O.A.
In today’s B2B sales environment, the customer experience is everything. Buy-side professionals have been trained by their personal experiences to expect an... Read More
Blending the Old and New Schools of B2B Sales
Over the last few years within the B2B sales world, the notion that tech-powered new school strategies and techniques are here to... Read More
Let’s Talk About the Fisherman Sales Persona
The fisherman sales persona is the future of B2B sales, especially for sales teams embracing account-based selling. Here’s a high-level rundown on their key traits...
What’s the Difference Between Account-Based Marketing and Account-Based Selling?
In the account-based marketing and account-based selling worlds, we often gloss over (or skip entirely) the differences between the two. That likely happens for one of two reasons. Either the person talking about account-based selling and account-based marketing doesn’t fully know the difference between the two or they’re assuming that their audience already knows the difference—and we all know what assuming does…
Want to Sell More in 2017? Start Fast and Go Easy on the Selling.
With just handful of weeks left on the 2016 calendar, B2B sales pros the world over are in one of three mindsets. Either they’re sitting pretty, relatively relaxed knowing that they’ve hit or exceeded their numbers or they’re feeling confident knowing that an all-but-signed deal is about to close, nudging them past their finish line, or they’re in that state of nervous-almost-panic because they know they’re going to come up short this year. Whatever the mindset, one thing is certain: the calendar will turn and 2017 will arrive. And given most reps aren’t in that upper echelon of a relaxed December, it’s worth laying out a few ideas on how folks call sell more in the new year.
Sales is Like Dating: You Can’t Trick Someone into Liking You
Vague introductory language like “I was doing some research on your company…” Auto-dialers. Calling from a “local” area code. Calling before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. Requests to participate in “a survey.” These are just a few of the most widely used tricks B2B sales teams have implemented over the years in attempts to engage customers. The thing is, though, sales is like dating: you can't trick someone into liking you. These tricks do the exact opposite of what you would expect. Instead of engaging, customers react negatively and it hurts your reputation and the company's brand. And in the rare instance that they do work in landing a meeting, a relationships that starts with a trick is not primed for long-term success and mutual benefit.
Why You Need Account-Based Marketing and Account-Based Selling
Account-Based Marketing and Account-Based Sales work best when they work together. Here's some insight on why your organization needs both and how you can get them to do right for each other...
Relationships Aren’t Going Anywhere
Ask any successful sales rep what makes them great and they’ll likely tell you that it’s all about relationships. They’re good at what they do because they earn the trust of their customers. Sure, they utilize a handful of apps and tools to do what they do but at the end of the day they hit their numbers because they work hard at developing mutually beneficial, transparent relationships with their customers. These are the soft skills; the intangibles. And they aren’t going anywhere.