October, 2024

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Cross-Functional Collaboration: The Key Account Manager’s Secret Weapon

Account Manager Tips

The post Cross-Functional Collaboration: The Key Account Manager’s Secret Weapon first appeared on The KAM Coach Learn how Key Account Managers can leverage cross-functional collaboration to boost client satisfaction, drive revenue growth, and become a strategic leader within their organizations.

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Beyond the Inbox: How AI Enhances Email Marketing’s Relevance and Impact

Customer Think

Despite the emergence of many new and exciting consumer-facing channels over the years, email still sits at the top of the channel food chain for marketers. And while not the most dynamic concept, email marketing – when done right – still has the proven ability to make an impact.

Marketing 125
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Spotting Coaching Abilities in Your Sales Management Candidates

The Center for Sales Strategy

Think for a moment about a manager in your career who made you a better professional. What was it about them that helped you grow and uplevel? While they surely had some expertise to share, no doubt it was their ability and commitment to give you their attention and coaching.

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How to Build an Effective Sales Meeting Agenda

RAIN Group

Ask your sellers if they enjoy attending sales team meetings and you may hear things like, “They’re a waste of time,” “The meetings are monotonous,” “I’m sick of being talked at,” and “I don’t understand why I have to attend.” Most sales team meetings miss the mark.

Meetings 104
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AI Strategies for Sales Managers: How to Cut Down on Tedious Admin Work

What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.

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The Top 20%: Lessons on Scaling in the B2B SaaS Market

Force Management

A recent piece by McKinsey notes that 80% of startups who landed Series A funding failed within eight years (n=3164). Using interviews with B2B SaaS leaders who beat those odds by scaling from startup to over $100MM in ARR, McKinsey's recent playbook examines how these companies set up their organizations, common challenges they overcame and the actions leaders can use to emulate these pathways to success.

B2B 100
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The Secret to Optimizing Your Generative AI Investment

Vantage Partners

Many leaders assume efficiencies achieved from generative AI investments involve the removal of the human element. And though generative AI can automate and streamline a wide range of tasks, that’s not quite right. In fact, successful efforts very much require human collaboration — stakeholders aligning to set strategic goals, define deliverables and determine performance metrics and KPIs.

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How to Plan a Sales Enablement Strategy for Sustainable Revenue Growth

Brooks Group

B2B buyers are changing, and the skills your sellers need are changing too. If you don’t have a sales enablement strategy to keep your team up to date, you simply won’t be equipped to succeed with today’s buyers. According to Gartner’s Leadership Vision for 2024 report , 83% of sales leaders report their sellers struggle to adapt to changing customer needs and expectations.

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How to Master Social Listening in Sales

The Center for Sales Strategy

Social listening is a powerful tool that can provide crucial insights to help guide decision-making. Most businesses know this and may already have some social listening tactics. But does your current social listening strategy drive sales? Keep reading as we explore how social listening is linked to sales and offer some tips to help you grow your sales by improving your social listening.

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Shifting Gears: Transforming Traditional Automotive Software Delivery in the Digital Age

Planview

The automotive sector is undergoing a paradigm shift, transitioning from its traditional hardware focus to a software-centric industry. To remain relevant and competitive, automotive companies must embrace digital transformation across their operations. Adapting to technological innovations and making strategic decisions is key to thriving in this rapidly evolving environment.

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SKO Advice for Leaders from John Kaplan and John McMahon

Force Management

Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan and five-time CRO John McMahon recently had an in-depth discussion on the Revenue Builders Podcast about sales kickoffs. Combining their years of experience, they hashed out what works and what doesn't when it comes to planning and leading a kickoff event as a revenue leader. Listen to the full podcast conversation here.

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2024, The Year of the Customer

2023's struggles fueled a shift: companies are ditching wasteful strategies in favor of data and AI-powered growth. Enter 2024, the year GTC takes center stage. Discover 5 ways a customer-centric approach unlocks new revenue and delivers lasting success.

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Change Is the Only Constant

Vantage Partners

British statesman and former Prime Minister Harold Wilson once famously said amidst the social and political turbulence in '60s and '70s Great Britain, “He who rejects change is the architect of decay.

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The Four Corners Analysis

Flevy

Strategic Analysis remains at the heart of any successful organizational effort, providing a comprehensive view of both internal capabilities and external market conditions. It informs critical decisions on resource allocation, market opportunities, and risk mitigation, ensuring organizations remain agile and forward-thinking. Within this, competitor analysis takes center stage.

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Advice for New Sales Managers: 10 Tips

Brooks Group

Congratulations! You’ve just been promoted to sales management. As you start this new chapter in your career, you’re likely experiencing a lot of emotions. You’ve worked hard for this opportunity, and now you have the chance to coach and mentor others and lead your team to new heights. Yet, alongside the thrill, there’s an undercurrent of nervous energy.

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From Search to Sale: Aligning Your SEO Strategy with Your Sales Funnel

The Center for Sales Strategy

In marketing, businesses often struggle to align their SEO efforts and sales objectives, leading to missed opportunities. However, by integrating SEO strategies with the sales funnel through a thoughtful content strategy, companies can attract high-quality leads and improve conversion rates. This alignment enhances online visibility and streamlines the sales process.

Sales 109
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How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

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Business Strategy How-to Guide: Develop, Implement, Evaluate

CMOE

In today’s perpetually shifting and disruptive business climate, having a formalized business strategy is essential for long-term success. A well-crafted strategy not only helps navigate challenges but also seizes opportunities for growth and innovation. In this comprehensive guide, CMOE delves into the multifaceted nature of business strategy, from its foundational principles to its practical implementation.

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Boosting Sales with Pipeline Velocity feat. Amy Franko

Sales Gravy

On this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, JBJ sits down with Amy Franko, a sales expert specializing in the mid-market, to discuss pipeline velocity, qualifying deals, and the importance of asking the right questions in sales. Amy shares her insights on how to overcome common sales obstacles and provides practical advice for improving sales performance.

Sales 91
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The Art of the (Internal) Deal: Building Cross-Functional Alignment

Vantage Partners

A great way to start soft skills programs is with a simple question: What is more challenging? Is it building alignment with external stakeholders (such as customers, suppliers, healthcare professionals) or building alignment with internal stakeholders (like leadership, learners, team members)? About 70% of participants share that it is more difficult to gain agreement from their internal stakeholders.

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Blueprints for Success: A Football Coach's Perspectives on Leadership

Force Management

Scot Loeffler knows a thing or two about leadership. He knows about leading a change initiative, getting the most out of high performers, and what it takes to be elite. Scot has worked with some of the most recognizable names in college and pro football as a quarterbacks coach or coordinator. In 2018, he became Head Coach at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and began the task of turning their football program around.

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1st, 2nd, and 3rd Party Intent Data: Which Is Right for You?

How do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party intent data compare? 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party data each have specific advantages and disadvantages. It comes down to four factors: accuracy, cost, control and quantity. This infographic explains the pros and cons of each and helps you understand which one is best for meeting your business objectives. Intent data can be a great way to fill your pipeline and close more deals.

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7 of the Most Effective Ways to Build Credibility With Prospects, According to Sales Leaders

Hubspot Sales

Sales is, in large part, the art of developing trust in a tight window — making credibility one of the most valuable assets you can have when engaging with prospects. With that said, cultivating and projecting credibility can be extremely tricky in a sales engagement. To help you out on that front, we connected with some sales leaders for the strategies they leverage to establish themselves as credible, consultative resources for prospects.

Sales 93
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Cultivating Coaching Skills in Your Sales Leaders

The Center for Sales Strategy

Successful leaders coach. Period. It’s a skill that is absolutely necessary to succeed in sales and sales leadership. Sellers who don’t receive coaching and feedback get off track, pursuing the wrong leads, prioritizing the wrong activities, and focusing on the wrong goals. In contrast, sellers who receive good coaching tend to stay on track, finding and connecting with strong prospects, focusing on potential, and realized key accounts, meeting and exceeding their goals.

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Track Marketing Performance With the Nutshell Marketing Dashboard

Nutshell

Understanding how your company’s marketing efforts translate into sales is critical for fostering business growth. Introducing Nutshell’s new marketing dashboard , your hub for viewing the performance of all your Nutshell marketing efforts. Whether you’re monitoring email campaigns, tracking website analytics, or viewing form submissions, the marketing dashboard reveals what’s working so you can refine and optimize your strategies.

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How to Sell When No One is Buying: Strategies for B2B Sales Leaders

FinListics Solutions

When it feels like no one’s buying, it can be downright frustrating. All B2B sales leaders have faced this uphill battle: budgets are slashed, decisions are delayed, and deals seem impossible to close.

B2B 86
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How to Leverage Intent Data for Better Outcomes

Speaker: Susan Spencer, Principal of Spencer Communications

Intent signal data can go a long way toward shortening sales cycles and closing more deals. The challenge is deciding which is the best type of intent data to help your company meet its sales and marketing goals. In this webinar, Susan Spencer, fractional CMO and principal of Spencer Communications, will unpack the differences between contact-level and company-level intent signals.

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How to Negotiate Professional Fees

Vantage Partners

Despite all the expertise professional services firms demonstrate when negotiating on behalf of their clients, they struggle to negotiate their own fees with these same clients. Why is this?

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Latest Podcasts: Leading Teams to Success

Force Management

Last month, the Revenue Builders Podcast shared stories from the sales world and beyond of leaders who built, coached and motivated elite teams. From Bowling Green University football coach Brian White to accomplished Human Resources expert Hollie Castro, these leaders have some wisdom to impart on building great relationships and coaching greatness out of the individual.

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10 Common Cold Calling Blunders You Need to Avoid at All Costs, According to Experts

Hubspot Sales

Cold calls are awful. They're inherently intrusive, naturally uncomfortable, and — according to a study from Cognism — unsuccessful roughly 95.2% of the time. With that said, that same study found that 49% of buyers actually prefer to be contacted through a cold call. That‘s why they’re still central to many orgs' sales processes. If they‘re already a staple of your day-to-day, you can’t bank on them becoming obsolete anytime soon.

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Recruiting for a High-Performing Sales Team: Roles and Key Competencies

The Center for Sales Strategy

Let’s cut to the chase—there’s no magic formula to building a successful sales team. Unless, of course, you consider “hiring the right people” a kind of magic. The foundation of any high-performing sales structure starts with one thing: talent. You can have the latest CRM, a killer product, and the best marketing team behind you, but you're spinning your wheels without the right people in the right roles.

CRM 99
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The 2023 Supply Chain Crystal Ball: Challenges and Solutions

Speaker: Olivia Montgomery, Associate Principal Supply Chain Analyst

Curious to know how your peers are navigating ongoing disruption? The supply chain management techniques that dominated the last 30 years are no longer supporting consumer behavior or logistics and manufacturing capabilities. So what’s working now? What should your plans for 2023 include? By researching the supply chain challenges and solutions that businesses – especially small and midsize businesses – are currently experiencing, we’ve learned what’s working and what’s not.

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Increase Lead Engagement With Nutshell SMS

Nutshell

Leveraging text messaging is a great way to stay better connected with leads throughout the sales process. And with native texting in your CRM, you get the full picture of how text conversations are driving revenue and strengthening relationships. Now introducing Nutshell SMS—no integration needed! With SMS, your team can have text conversations with your Nutshell contacts, track text history in your timelines, and use texts in your sales automation process to engage your leads.

CRM 77
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The 7-Step Framework That Turns Value Propositions Into Deal-Closers for B2B Sales Leaders

FinListics Solutions

Here’s a hard truth all B2B sales leaders need to hear: 86% of sales messages fail to resonate. They don’t inspire action, don’t move deals forward, and ultimately waste time and resources. If you’ve ever watched a promising deal stall or go cold after delivering what you thought was a great pitch, you’re not alone. The culprit? Your value proposition isn’t landing where it matters most.

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Old Habits Die Hard

Vantage Partners

Some providers are stuck in old habits of spending most of their time, emphasis and focus on price. Explore the strategic implications, and learn how to adapt.

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Outbound Strategies for Authentic Sales Success feat. Mark Hunter

Sales Gravy

Join host Jeb Blount Jr. as he welcomes legendary sales expert, Mark Hunter, to The Sales Gravy Podcast! In this episode they dive into actionable Outbound strategies, discuss the latest AI trends, and reveal why authentic relationships are the cornerstone of every successful sale. Key Takeaways – Success in outbound selling relies on maintaining strict discipline, consistent activity, and following a structured process to keep momentum and drive results. – Results in prospecting don’t happen ov

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How to Prove Marketing Value: Demonstrate Content ROI and Contribution to Sales

Every marketer knows how important it is to prove their efforts drive sales opportunities, but that’s easier said than done. When problems like sales and marketing misalignment, lack of data, and wasted efforts persist, marketers can’t measure, prove, or increase their impact on revenue at a time when demonstrating marketing value is critical. Using analyst and expert data, this guide to marketing impact and content attribution explains: How B2B buyers use content The most common types of conten