Sales

The art of persuasion is actually a science and anybody can be successful in convincing others to do something as long as they use the right techniques.When someone does something or gives something to that person, then it is natural that the person feels obliged to return the favour. In business, it is the same.[read more]

Let’s face it, sales is not an easy profession. If it was, there would be more people doing it and those that do it would be getting paid far less. However, there are ways that you can make sales easier. One of the best ways is through lead nurturing.[read more]

Getting the attention of prospects is an age-old challenge. With contacts busier than ever before, you can't rely just on cold calling or email. Rather, it's essential to take a multifaceted approach to get through to them.[read more]

One strategy many businesses use is to try to obtain repeat business from former or existing customers. It’s far easier to get a sale from someone who has already purchased from you, especially if they had a great experience[read more]

Do you think you have control of your brand? If you answered yes, you might want to think again. That's one of the biggest status quo beliefs around.[read more]

Before QR codes, the only way for business owners to encourage customers to go to their website or print out their coupons was to provide a link. While links are easy to follow for customers already online, they are less likely to be used by those not at a computer.[read more]

Internet research, connections, and referrals are just three ways it’s impacted our daily sales activities. And while you may use Facebook and have your LinkedIn profile set up, are you really maximizing the Internet for your lead generation?[read more]

Is it impossible to convert social media contacts into sales? A seasoned management consultant says not so fast and shows a case of how a software client did just that.[read more]

Looking to start a business? Take advantage of the consumers who spend most of their day online, switching between their PC, mobile device, tablet and TV. Connection speeds have increased sharply and businesses as well as consumers are doing more and more things online.[read more]

For the past decade, we’ve been talking about experiential marketing. It’s not enough to create an awareness of your product — you need to, when you can, connect with your consumers (B2B or B2C) in as tangible and memorable a way as possible.[read more]

There's no doubt that the buying cycle has changed dramatically thanks to the availability of information and opinions on the web. The impacts on sales and marketing are significant, yet the changes seem to be slow in coming.[read more]

The outcome of marketing misalignment is that we get out of step with our customers. I've worked with companies where each marketing organization has a different perspective on who their customers are and what they care about.[read more]

Do you still believe the negative and contracting assumptions that have been our guidance system for the past few years? You're not alone. Yet those assumptions won't drive growth in 2013. Here are 3 simple mind shifts to get yourself thinking out of the box and your business growing.[read more]

The problem with most of the opportunities that seem to be stuck at the bottom of the sales funnel isn’t that the sales person isn’t closing them right, it’s that the sales person never opened them right to start with.[read more]

If your small business offers more mobility in 2013, you could see it pay off with more customers and better sales.[read more]

What is Google Attribution Modeling? Do you need it? Let's start with the definition of Attribution Modeling for those who are new to this concept: Attribution Modeling is the science of determining the value of each customer touch point leading to a conversion.  It helps you understand the customer journey and justify your...[read more]

Selling is fundamentally a question of the influence of mind over mind. If you as a salesperson exercise no influence whatsoever upon the mind of your customer, but the customer does all the deciding, you are not a real salesperson. You are an order taker. (Please read my article: Are You an Order Taker or an Order Maker?) There is a...[read more]

With all the hype around content marketing and with the development of great new tools like marketing automation, many companies have lost track of some of the basics that drive revenue growth.  Probably the one I see most in many content marketing campaigns is a lack of call to action, or such a weak call to action that it does a...[read more]

There are two social media networks that I have found to be very helpful in building my direct sales business.  The first is of course, Facebook which many of you may already be using on some level.  The second is Pinterest.  I hope to do another guest post on Pinterest but for now let’s focus on Facebook. I’ve found...[read more]

These days, if you aren’t offering a discount of some kind (or at least the appearance of one), you might not be selling much of anything. Pervasive discounting by businesses both big and small has caused buyers to demand deals on anything and everything.[read more]