It was almost in the bag…a 2-year effort. She thought she had done it all right — building key relationships,  nurturing her prospect by the book. She knew their business; she knew their special needs. A strong  proposal was in their hands. Her primary contact recommended a green light. No doubt, she was in the ... Read Post

Typing Too Much Is the New Talking Too Much Stop Typing, Start Listening One of the hardest lessons you, as the manager of a social sales team, will have to teach your salespeople (and perhaps even reteach yourself) is the seemingly dying art of listening. Why? Well because we have allowed ourselves to evolve into ... Read Post

How important is hiring for B2B sales? According to the just-released CSO Insights 2015 Sales Performance Optimization Report—a survey of some 4,000 sales organizations—sales hiring is a critical, even mandatory activity. But of equal interest the report shows that, for a majority of organizations, it is also a total crapshoot. The Slippery Slope Let’s look ... Read Post

If you’ve got an important sales opportunity in the works, you can improve your chance of success by preparing in advance, and visualizing the steps that will lead your prospect to make a purchase decision in your favor. During a buying cycle, there are very few opportunities to interact with your prospect in a meaningful ... Read Post

These 10 sales tips can help you better manage your selling time, write more effective emails, improve your sales conversations, and much more: Successful salespeople are always looking to optimize their productivity and improve their selling efforts. Here are 10 practical sales tips that can help you and your sales team boost productivity and have ... Read Post

There’s a powerful secret that successful organizations apply to get higher performance from their people. And it stands in contrast to the low performance generated by managers who filter their teams’ efforts, rather than acting as catalysts to drive productivity and results. Let me tell you a personal story. Second-Lieutenant Lessons I remember the moment ... Read Post

Relevancy. This one word describes what Apple has done for us. iPhones, iPads, iTunes…me, me, me. Whether it’s music or a marketing message, we live in a world where we expect and demand a personalized and relevant experience. Does everyone in our sales pipeline and our customer base deserve the same monthly newsletter? Logically, we ... Read Post

When do you know a shift is occurring that will significantly alter the competitive landscape and terms of play? How can you spot the signs? Some people lead a shift and determine its direction. Steve Jobs is a good example. He engineered a series of discontinuities that not only changed the world of communication and ... Read Post