Hiring Sales People: Big Money or Moneyball?
Every VP of Sales and Sales Manager will tell you that the most important thing they can do to achieve forecast is to “hire right.” The question is why so many struggle with this process?
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The Value of Outside Sales and Marketing Expertise
I recently had a meeting with the CEO of a small $3M company. He wanted to increase sales. When I asked him what was keeping him from increasing his sales he mentioned that he was limited by his inventory, or rather matching the right inventory to the right customer. I was able to give him a simple solution, and it didn’t cost him a thing.
Read MoreThe False Challenge
Challenging your team requires that you do things smarter and not just harder. There are some goals where working smarter is difficult.
One common case of the “false challenge” can occur in sales forecasting. It stems from the belief that sales people are lazy and will sandbag their numbers. So management might add 20% to their numbers regardless of history or latitude.
The Tragedy of Political Emails
Because this is election season, and because I am an advocate of 1:1 marketing, I masochistically thought I would sign up for the campaigns of both parties to see how they are using email marketing to reach their constituents. I now receive over forty emails a day asking for money. How stupid of me.
Read MoreWhat is Value?
In Cost, Quality, and Value – The Buyer’s Side, I defined value as quality divided by cost. And quality was loosely defined as the degree to which customer or prospects needs are met. But that’s not the end of the story. The problem with this definition is… what happens when the prospect doesn’t know what they need?
Read MoreSpeed to Lead
There is a 2007 study by James Oldroyd, PhD Professor Sloan School of Management at MIT and David Elkington of InsideSales.com that I think is worth looking at.
Read MoreCost, Quality and Value – The Seller’s Side
I once had a telemarketer keep me on the phone for over a minute. My usual average was less than 15 seconds, depending on how long it took them to take a breath. I’m polite because I like to hear their approaches. He asked me a key question; “Was I earning 20+% on my investments?” I said, no.
Read MoreWhat George Lucas and My Grandson Can Teach You About Your Marketing Videos. Try White Boarding.
In a recent post, People Don’t Read…What Are You Going to Do About It? I advocated the use of video to get your messages across. But by extension, if no one watches your video, you’re still stuck. Try this White Board Video technique next time. They won’t be able to look away.
Read MoreClarity in Sales and Marketing
Clarity is your most powerful tool in sales and marketing. It confers sincerity, and sincerity, along with competence, builds trust.
Read MoreSEO, it’s snot.
How many people say to their children, we hope you grow up to do SEO? Snot many.
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