Top salespeople cite sales tools and technology as ‘critical’ to their ability to accelerate the sales process and close deals. These posts can help.
“Hey, just checking in.”
Arghhh … that’s one of the worst things a salesperson can utter to a buyer.
It doesn’t add value to conversations, relationships or the deal.
It’s practically useless.
Of course, this doesn’t mean salespeople should stop following up with unresponsive buyers. It just means you want to follow up with something more valuable than “just checking in.”
Mention sales productivity and nearly everyone in sales has the same thought: Let’s increase it!
But that’s clearly a struggle: Nearly half of sales executives say boosting sales productivity is a top challenge, according to ongoing research from The Bridge Group. Sales pros constantly want to maximize sales results while keeping tabs on cost, time and effort.
The challenge is real. Consider all the things that can – and do – get in the way of salespeople actually selling:
Your prospect didn’t respond. Or a hot prospect went cold. You’ve followed up with email – and still nothing.
There’s a chance you didn’t get through to the people you needed to reach. But there’s a bigger chance you didn’t build enough intrigue in your first contact.
Don’t give up. Send another email. Send several follow-up e-mails.
Your competitors aren’t waiting for you to screw up. They’re ready (and likely trying) to steal your customers right now.
Competition can be ugly, especially if you’re on the losing end. But it’s part of sales. The best way to win is to stay ahead of the competition’s attempts to poach your customers.
Knowing how they’ll try to steal your customers is your best defense.
Here’s what they’re doing when you aren’t looking:
Take this like the thick-skinned sales pro you are: Prospects and customers don’t like your email.
But take solace in the fact that it’s not just you.
Most sales emails are flawed to a point that customers don’t even open them – much less act on them. Average email click-through rates are below 5%, according to a benchmark report by SignUp.to,
People are overwhelmed with email. They read just a few and act on even fewer. So it’s no surprise that writing an email that gets read is hard. Writing email that gets action is even harder.
Rise above the average sales pro by knowing what makes email suck – and tweaking yours so they don’t.
Here are the 16 worst mistakes in email prospecting, plus tips to be better:
Your next best networking event is very likely right at your fingertips – social media networking.
Networking using social media could be more powerful than any approach you’ve ever taken.
Consider this: More than 90% of executives admit they won’t even respond to cold calls, according to research from HubSpot. On the flip side, 75% of them use social media to help make buying decisions.
You want to be where trigger-ready prospects are. That’s social media.
TV ads once ruled. A new statistic could change the thinking on that.
A recent Nielsen ratings survey finds TV ownership is on the decline for the first time in 20 years.
The ratings giant, which takes television ownership rates into account when producing the statistics that drive advertising rates, recently announced the amount of households that own a television has decreased from 98.9% to 96.7%, the result of high poverty and more consumers opting to watch their favorite television programs online.
Driving high-probability prospects to your company’s website doesn’t have to be expensive, provided you use these five tactics: Engage customers as often as possible: Social media sites, message boards and consumer info sites are great places to network with prospects on a regular basis. Responding to questions and providing valuable info promotes your brand, but…
Despite all the buzz surrounding social media’s business potential, one national study puts its influence in perspective.
The study, conducted by Goldman Sachs, found social media has an overall “5% impact” on customers’ buying decisions. In other words, when customers were asked to rank several online resources, in terms of how much they influence final decisions, social media came in dead last.
Which marketing channels get the most bang for your buck these days?
The Eight Annual Alterian Customer Engagement Study, which includes responses from more than 1,400 sales, marketing & IT execs, reveals the percentage of companies that implement strategy based on each specific marketing channel.
Here are the top five, along with some commentary about why each one is so popular with modern-day sales and marketing pros:
