Did you ever play “Telephone” when you were little? Remember what happened to that whispered message passed through 10 kids and how easily “Strawberry Jam” turned into “I am a banana”? It was funny then. Research findings, passed via content marketing and social media are a lot like “Telephone” because once a number is repeated often enough, small …
One thing that has always puzzled me in business is that once someone gets good at something, they probably stop doing it. For instance, (while its not the best practice) successful sales people are often moved up to management where they don’t do any more selling. Great buyers get promoted so they don’t have to …
Are are tired of reading about how a typical B2B sale is 50 -60-70% complete before the prospect engages with a sales rep? I am. And that’s because that “finding” which might be true with some mature product/service categories does not apply to what I sell. It doesn’t apply to what most of my clients …
Have I ever told you how much I love telephone prospecting? I lied. Yes. It’s good when I make a connection and open the door to an interesting and potentially lucrative new business opportunity and I like to talk to new people. But, let’s be honest. Not a lot of dials end that way. But …
Managing a potential customers expectations is only important if you want to make more than a single sale. Buyers beware. The company that promises more than you have a reasonable right to expect might not be looking at anything more than this month’s revenue. The biggest problem with managing expectations with integrity is that it …
Expectations – A Painful Wake-Up in a Tough Market Read More »
I’ve had to cold call through too many recessions not to recognize that while it might be irreplaceable, it’s terribly inefficient. I resent how it wastes my precious time and I suspect that anyone who shares at least part of the responsibility to generate their own leads knows exactly how I feel. I’m calling into …
I think you need to be living under a rock not to be familiar with Marketo and so I expect a great number of people will be delighted to hear that they have just released their Definitive Guide to Lead Generation. I haven’t read the entire report yet. At a hefty 160 pages that might …
Cold call – definition for this post -“I’ve never heard of you or your company. I have no idea what you do, why I should value it or why I should listen to you now or talk to you later” Now, that’s cold. I’ve made thousands of calls just like that and they used to …
Yes! You Need to Close. You’ve done all you can to provide the best possible customer experience. You have a terrific customer success team and you regularly communicate with all of your customers to offer help and suggestions – without being too sales or spammy. Throughout the year, you’ve kept your customer success and your …
It would be nice to believe that your customers are loyal; that their relationship with you is valued, and they will give you a chance to respond to any claims or promises made by your competitors. Yes, it would be nice to believe that but not too bright. Even though you can assume that a …
Want Renewals? Step 2- Customer Nurturing – Think Negative Churn Read More »
