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The "key of all keys" when maximizing sales with existing accounts is expanding the value you offer. It goes further than your value positioning statement, however. Listen as John Doerr explains the other things high-performing firms do to expand the value they offer and grow business with accounts.
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For many businesses, the danger is that customers make buying decisions based solely on price and they end up in commodity hell. To prevent that from happening, you need to create products that are experiential and cause people to have an emotional reaction to them. You need the secret sauce: empathy, says Jon Kolko, author of Well Designed.
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Whether you are a sales leader or customer service manager, all business leaders face four common challenges: innovation, talent management, communication, and globalization. Listen as Alan Cutler, author of Leadership Psychology, explains those challenges, discusses challenges unique for sales managers, and offers advice for motivating employees.
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When you know how to use LinkedIn, it becomes a powerful sales and lead generation tool. Listen as social selling Kevin Knebl explains how to use the social media network to prospect for new customers, as well as attract buyers to you.
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When you are a widely known expert on a topic, your and your firm's opportunities increase. What was once a passion of yours becomes highly sought-after expertise that people are willing to pay high fees for. To get to that level, though, you have to increase your visibility. Listen as Lee Frederiksen, co-author of The Visible Expert, explains the qualities of visible experts and the process to become a visible expert.
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Government contracts: it's great work if you can get it, many contracting firms say. It's the getting it that can be challenging, for often agencies stick with their preferred vendors. Listen as David Frazier, author of A Survival Guide for Government Contractors, discusses how to get initial government contracts and the pros and cons of doing contract work for the government.
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Thanks to the Internet, buyers are more informed than ever when they go to make a purchase. It's tempting, therefore, for salespeople to go for the quick sale when customers call. After all, they've already done the research and they're ready to buy. There are repercussions to going after the quick sale, though. Listen as Mark Hunter, co-author of Advisor Selling, explains what they are and why B2B salespeople should consider following an advisory selling approach.
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Making sure sales teams receive qualified leads can be a challenge. The problem can be alleviated if marketing teams take these three steps in their online marketing campaigns: focus on measurable objectives, focus on the customer, and monetize engagement with prospects. Listen as Scott Armstrong discusses each of those, as well as explains what to include in an online marketing program.
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Salespeople are often taught to offer buyers rational-sounding reasons for them to buy something. The reality is decisions are made on an emotional and unconscious level. And sellers can use language patterns to affect buyers' decisions. Listen as Peter McLaughlin, author of Becoming the Customer, discusses how to use language patterns alongside sales techniques to persuade customers.
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Lack of confidence can be a huge detriment when negotiating deals with buyers. But even if you have all of the confidence in the world, you might still make a mistake that negatively affects the outcome. Listen as Mike Schultz discusses the two most common mistake sellers make during negotiations, as well as offers advice to improve your ability to negotiate deals.
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People often mistakenly think that by providing a lot of information, buyers will make a decision based on that information. The truth is you could have really impactful information, but if you don't direct people to take action, that information has no influence. Listen as Juliet Huck, author of The Equation of Persuasion, discusses the difference between informing and persuading and explains how to be more persuasive in your presentations and conversations with buyers.
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For a business to grow, it must have a strategy and that strategy must be aligned with sales. The problem is often companies don't have a strategy, or if they do, there's a gap between that strategy and what their sales teams are doing. Listen as Frank Cespedes, author of Aligning Strategy and Sales, discusses what make a good strategy, how to reduce the gap between strategy and sales, and how to improve financial performance.
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You can't assume because you do good work that clients are going to find you and hire you. You need a marketing system that will work for you seven days a week, consistently generating new leads and nurturing those leads. Listen as Mark Satterfield, author of The One Week Marketing Plan, discusses how to create a system in just five days that does that, as well as builds trust and credibility.
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People incorrectly assume content, thanks to the prevalent use of the term "content marketing," is the marketing department's sole responsibility. What they don't realize is salespeople can use content at every stage of the sales cycle to help buyers through the sales journey and ultimately buy. If salespeople share content that adds value and helps prospects do their jobs better, they'll speed up sales process and increase conversions.
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Many firms experience boom/bust sales cycle. They go through periods of high sales followed by no sales. But those cycles don't have to exist. They are completely self-inflicted, and companies can easily get themselves out of them, says Colleen Francis, author of Nonstop Sales Boom. Listen as Francis explains what companies can do to break those cycles and ensure consistent sales.
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If you're involved in sales, getting a meeting with a prospect is one of the hardest things to do. And if it involves cold calling, people hate it so much they will do what they can to get out of having to do it. Fortunately, there are ways to turn cold calls into warm calls and improve your chances of getting a meeting. Listen as Tim Hurson, co-author of Never Be Closing, explains what you can do.
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Traditional marketing and sales approaches that focus on pushing out a campaign or pushing a particular service no longer work. Instead you need a more direct approach in which you educate prospects, have interesting conversations with them, and solve problems. Robert Rosenthal, author of Optimarketing: Marketing Optimization to Electrify Your Business, explains why the indirect approach is better and why firms can't be afraid to try imaginative marketing ideas.
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Most businesses don't to online lead generation well. Their websites have bounce rates higher than 80%. And sometimes they have response rates lower than 5%. They fail to convert visitors into buyers because the websites don't fulfill their need—they don't help solve the problem that sent them to the search engine in the first place. Listen as Helen Overland discusses what successful lead generation websites do that convert visitors into customers.
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You can take classes about business and read about how to succeed in business, but it isn't until you hear from business owners about their experiences that you get the whole picture. Their stories bring to life challenges they're dealing with and provide ideas for how similar businesses can address those same issues. In this podcast, Michael Mazzeo, co-author of Roadside MBA, talks about the 100-plus small businesses he and his co-authors met with as research for the book and shares the stories of B2B service firms dealing with the perennial challenge of getting new clients.
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The entire sales process is a series of discomforts, such as prospecting, follow-up, and negotiation. Successful salespeople and professionals involved in business development know how to handle those discomforts, though. When they identify them, prepare for them, and work through them they have much greater success than those who refuse to break out of their comfort zone. Listen as Jeff Shore, author of Be Bold and Win the Sale, discusses how to break your comfort addictions and win more sales.
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When the average person hears a "no" from a buyer, their automatic response is to think they're not the buyer isn't interested and to end the conversation. The reality is a no is an opportunity to continue the discussion, uncover the buyer's concerns, and possibly turn the no into a yes. Listen as Tom Hopkins, author of When Buyers Say No, explains how to respond to buyer objections and keep the sale moving forward.
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You know all of those conferences, trade shows, and industry events where you're supposed to network and meet potential new clients? You should probably skip those and instead create your own "un-networking" group where you connect clients and become an extension of your clients' business development team. Not only will you help your clients, but you will get more business in return, says Derek Coburn, author of Networking Is Not Working.
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Many companies do not sound exciting on the surface. When you think of an accounting or insurance firm, for example, you probably picture something rather boring. Chances are, however, those firms are doing some unique and interesting things. It's those things—told through stories—that will help them stand out from others in their industry and draw buyers to them.
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The advent of smartphones and tablets has led to a new type of sales force. New mobile technology gives sales reps fast and easy access to marketing and sales materials, while also enabling them to answer prospects' questions and fulfill requests faster. The end result is more deals are closed faster.
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The fortune is in the follow-up, but sometimes it might feel like the follow-up is a waste of time—especially if your prospect goes silent. Don't be put off by that silence, says Nancy Fox. Chances are they're busy or aren't ready to move forward. So, until the person says "stop contacting me," continue to reach out to them.
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For the most part, professionals still enter a field expecting to do just client work only to eventually discover they also have to bring in new business. College did not prepare them for how to do it, and the idea of selling scares them. With some guidance and practice, however, they can become successful business developers.
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You might think that because buyers have access to so much information about services and providers that they don't want or need sellers to provide insight and ideas. And you would be mistaken. According to research included in Insight Selling, providing insight is the number one thing sales winners do that separates them from second-place finishers. Listen as John Doerr, co-author of the book, explains how providing insight and collaborating with buyers helps you sell more.
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We all get so many emails that if the subject line doesn't capture our attention, it's gone. Or if the subject line does interest us but the message fails, it is deleted almost as quickly. There are things you can do to your emails, however, to prevent your prospecting emails from being instantly deleted. Listen as Kendra Lee explains what you should do—and not do—to get prospects to pay attention to your emails.
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Stories inspire, are easy to remember, are contagious, and everyone likes to hear them. Because of that, they're excellent tools for capturing buyers' attention and getting them to do something. The key is to tell the story correctly. Listen as Paul Smith, author of Lead with a Story, discusses why storytelling is effective in business, the components of a compelling business story, and how to best use stories in sales and marketing.
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Digital tools have helped make the sales process easier, but in some cases they also hurt it by dehumanizing the process. Salespeople should not hid behind those tools because they're hesitant to call prospects or use them as simply transactional items. Instead, they should use them to build connections and develop relationships. Listen as Adrian Davis, author of Human to Human Selling, discusses how to do that and how his five phase strategy for human-to-human selling can help.
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When giving a presentation to a prospect or client, the fastest way to turn them away is to talk just about you. You can't stand up and beat your chest and expect people to be impressed. The best way to capture and hold a buyer's attention is to first demonstrate an understanding of them and their situation. Once you do that, then you can talk about how your services can help them, says Sims Wyeth, author of The Essentials of Persuasive Public Speaking.
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It used to be marketing was a net cost to a business. You spent, for example, $10,000 on direct marketing piece and got $25,000 back in new business. That has changed. Marketing has now become an asset to a business, as well as a lead generation tool, says Grant Leboff, author Stickier Marketing. Listen as Leboff explains why marketing has become an asset and who your greatest marketers are today.
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Best practices can become old hat, resulting in lackluster client solutions that look and sound like everyone else's. To break from that and differentiate, you need to think creatively, says Mark Donnolo, author of The Innovative Sale. The key is to make creativity practical and functional. In this podcast, Donnolo explains four creative habits successful salespeople have that help them develop better client solutions.
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Education, wealth, race, and other factors do not determine your success. Who you are is the ultimate factor. Specifically successful people have four attitudes: they are extreme, are disciplined, are giving, and understand the human factor. All of those make you a better person, which in turn makes you a better salesperson, says Dan Waldschmidt, author Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Outrageous Success.
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Hiring a new salesperson is more than just adding headcount. It's an investment in revenue, and companies must treat it that way, says Lee Salz, author of the new book Hire Right, Higher Profits. If you want salespeople who succeed, you need a hiring process that matches the candidate to the role and an onboarding process that both protects the investment and ensures a high rate of return on it.
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The world is full of great products and services. That means quality alone will not set you apart from the competition. In addition to having a great service, you have to consider how buyers feel about your brand and give them emotional satisfaction. Buyers must perceive you to be a firm that provides value, says David Pearson, author of The 20 Ps of Marketing.
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If you're involved in sales, you have to be on social media today. That's because it's where your customers are, as well as your competitors, says Shannon Belew, author of The Art of Social Selling. Your buyers are using social media well before they're ready to buy to find information about your services and your company, and you need to have a presence there. Listen as Belew explains her 10 rules for online social interactions and offers advice for how to best use LinkedIn and Twitter to generate sales.
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When you think about some of the older sales approaches where they talk about overcoming a buyer's objections and wrestling them until they say yes, they sound rather combative. Instead Simon Hazeldine, author of Neuro-Sell, says sellers need a brain-friendly sales process, one that makes the customer's brain feel comfortable with you.
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Email is easy, and it's tempting to rely on it when you're afraid to address a person directly or are afraid of rejection. But it's the worst possible way to ask for a referral or a testimonial. Listen as marketing expert Alex Goldfayn explains why email is the worst way to ask for a referral and what you should use instead.
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Companies know they need a marketing planning system. However, 80% of organizations don't have an integrated and coordinated plan. Many barriers prevent them from implementing one, but the biggest is the lack of line management support, says Mike Meldrum, co-author of The Complete Marketer. Listen as he explains why this is a problem, how to eliminate it, as well as other challenges marketers face in organizations.
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Paul Gillin, co-author of Attack of the Customers, explains how negative online reviews are opportunities to turn unhappy customers into raving fans.
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Kendra Lee, author The Sales Magnet, explains the two keys for successful email prospecting: the glimpse factor and the delete barrier.
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Thanks to social media, word of mouth has been "massively amplified." Where once talk about favorite restaurants or companies were limited to the few people around the water cooler, now millions of people can hear about an experience you had with a business. That doesn't mean companies have to sit by while this happens. Listen as Rob Fuggetta explains how companies can tap this powerful source and use passionate customer as advocates and "virtual marketers."
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Search engines, once the number one tool buyers used to help find service providers, have lost their appeal. Buyers have changed their behavior and now turn to friends and social network communities to help them decide who to hire. Sellers and marketers need to acknowledge this or risk losing their business, says Kristin Zhivago, author of Roadmap to Revenue: How to Sell the Way Your Customers Want to Buy.
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The online world is continually evolving. Buyers' behaviors change, which means your lead generation and marketing strategies must also evolve. To help you, several tools are available to identify leads, target your messaging toward them, and develop relationships with them. Listen as Jeff Quipp, CEO of Search Engine People, discusses some of those tools, as well as online marketing strategies firms must focus on.
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One of the best ways to run yourself out of business is to discount your price. For once you do that, a discounting mindset takes hold and you will start to offer discounts to everyone and will end up not making any profit. Listen as Mark Hunter, author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale without Compromising on Price, explains how to win sales based on the value you offer—not the lowest price—and what to do when a buyer says your price is too high.
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Sales are not made financially; they're made emotionally. So, if you win the heart of the CEO, his emotional investment can temper any pessimistic financial opinions that might be brought to the table. The key is to be perceived as a peer to the chief executive and provide valuable guidance and advice, says Adrian Davis, CEO of Whetstone, Inc.
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The kiss of death when asking a referral or a testimonial is to ask an open-ended question. Asking, "Do you have any referrals for me?" or "Who else do you know?" will only make the client resent you. It will not lead to an introduction to a quality prospect because you're asking the client to do too much work. Listen as Colleen Francis explains the best way to ask for a referral.
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When firms are equally competent in the services they provide, two things compel a buyer to choose one firm over another: comfort and passion. When someone feels comfortable with you and sees you are passionate about what you do, they will want to work with you. Listen as Harry Beckwith, author of Selling the Invisible and Unthinking: The Surprising Forces Behind What We Buy, discusses how firms can use those forces to increase sales.
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Want people to notice your firm? Make sure your marketing not only informs but also provides a memorable experience. That's what the authors of Guerrilla Marketing for Dummies say. Jonathan Margolis and Patrick Garrigan, who also work at The Michael Alan Group, say you want to educate and entertain people. Do things that get you noticed—and get people talking.
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Providing sales proposals for prospective clients can be
challenging. You want to win the client, but it's often a lot of work with low
chance of success. And sometimes things can happen that can turn the process
into a horror story. These tips from
Michael McLaughlin, a Principal with MindShare Consulting, LLC and coauthor of Guerrilla
Marketing for Consultants, can help
prevent that from happening.
Listen as Mike discusses whether you should charge for a diagnostic, methods for establishing trust with a prospective client, steps for following up after the proposal has been submitted, and what to do when you're denied access to the decision makers.
(Time: 15:58)
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With more people turning to the Internet for information, you have a great opportunity to turn your marketing ideas into Internet sensations and create what David Meerman Scott calls World Wide Raves. It's all about creating good content that gets people blogging about it, Tweeting about it, and downloading it. Get people doing that, and you'll generate sales.
Scott, author of World Wide Rave, talks with Mike Schultz, Publisher of RainToday.com and President of Wellesley Hills Group, about what you need to do to create a World Wide Rave around your marketing ideas, how to treat this type of marketing effort, and how to measure results.
(Time: 15:04)
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