Roadmap to Success For Your Strategic Accounts

Via Inside View on February 6, 2012 No Responses

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In a post for the Inside View, Koka Sexton explains how to choose and work with strategic accounts. “The important thing to remember and be disciplined about is that NOT every account is a strategic account,” he writes. Sexton says accounts that are identified to become strategic for the company must be working for a common goal that will bring growth to both organizations. (See How to Get Acquired, Not Sold) She says several things are essential for ensuring strategic accounts flourish: A cross functional team for communication Full executive endorsement A…

Secret to Better Sales: Believing in Your Price

Via The Sales Hunter on January 27, 2012 No Responses

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In a post for the Sales Hunter, Mark Hunter explains how salespeople destroy profits by not truly believing in their price. “Too many salespeople roll over and play dead when the customer even hints at not being willing to pay full-price,” he writes. He cites an example of a recent exchange between a customer and a salesperson where the salesperson — even before putting the offer on the table — told the customer they were going to give them a lower price. (See Sales: Here Are Some Myths) “As if offering a…

Guidelines for Establishing a Successful Team

Via Jonathan Farrington's Blog on January 26, 2012 No Responses

Image Credit: Kathleen and Matt

In a post for Jonathan Farrington’s Blog, Farrington breaks down the ingredients to a highly successful sales team. “All roads lead back to the leader” Farrington says. “The role of a sales leader is to translate the organization’s vision, mission and values into a meaningful context that sales teams can relate to and feel excited by.” (See Create a Healthier Team in 5 Steps) Farrington says if the right leader is in place, it transforms an ordinary sales team into a high performing one. He also lays out several questions you…

Research Shows Average B2B Deal Size in Decline

Via Sales Staff on January 25, 2012 No Responses

Research conducted by Marketing Sherpa has uncovered a drop in the size of the average B2B sales deal from 2010 to 2011.

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B2B sales will always be in a continual flux. Monitoring industry trends is part of the job. And the reported decline in deal sizes is certainly noteworthy from a sales perspective. Just consider the implications. Garrett Hollander of Sales Staff thinks that it could be indicative of companies’ willingness to drop prices and attempt to close more deals. Whatever the implications may be, Hollander believes that a more comprehensive sales pipeline…

Is It Ever Wise to “Blow Up” a Sales Relationship?

Via The Sales Blog on January 20, 2012 No Responses

In a post for the Sales Blog, S. Anthony Iannarino explains the reasoning behind “blowing up” a relationship to advance an opportunity.

Should Marketing REALLY Own Lead Generation?

Via Customer Collective on January 13, 2012 No Responses

In a post for the Customer Collective, Matt Smith offers a new (and in some ways, old) approach to managing lead gen processes in organizations.

Protecting Sensitive Customer Data — Are You Doing Enough?

Via Entrepreneur on January 6, 2012 No Responses

Beyond the legal requirements some businesses have when it comes to protecting sensitive customer data, there is a moral question at-hand, too.

Troubleshooting Your Key Account Management Problems

Via Sales Benchmark Index on January 4, 2012 No Responses

John Staples lists the most common reasons Key Account Management (KAM) programs fail.

Sales Prospecting and the Power of Personas

Via Inbound Sales Network on December 28, 2011 No Responses

In a post for Inbound Sales Network, Andrew Hunt offers some tips on how companies can improve their prospecting efforts.

Tackle These Lead Generation Problems NOW

Via Sales Benchmark Index on December 8, 2011 No Responses

In a recent post for Sales Benchmark Index, Vince Koehler runs through a few common themes that are often present in under-performing lead development efforts.

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