Sat.Apr 29, 2023 - Fri.May 05, 2023

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Account Planning Template – Five Components for Success

Upland

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” -Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe knew the value of not launching head-first into something without a considered plan of attack. How are sales teams meant to grow revenue in key accounts without a well-thought-out account planning strategy ? Do they need an account planning template in order to properly “attack” the revenue waiting within potential accounts?

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What is Strategic Planning Facilitation? (& How it Will Help You Have a Great Strategy Meeting)

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

Are you preparing for an upcoming strategy meeting? Discover the benefits of strategic planning facilitation in our comprehensive guide. Whether you're organizing a virtual or in-person meeting and whether you prefer a DIY approach or professional assistance, we've got you covered. If you're seeking a facilitator with a proven process, we invite you to explore our services.

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Internal & External Analysis

OnStrategyHQ

What is an Internal and External Analysis? An internal and external analysis is simply looking at your organization’s current performance from an internal and external perspective. The output of completing an internal and external analysis – also known as a strategic analysis – is to have a clear picture of your organization’s current state. How does a strategic analysis fit into strategic planning?

Suppliers 105
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Liddell Hart’s 8 Maxims of Strategy

Flevy

Sir Basil Henry Liddell-Hart (October 31, 1895 – January 29, 1970) was a British strategist, historian, and one of the world’s foremost military thinkers. B. H. Liddell-Hart was a prolific writer and wrote extensively on military strategy and tactics. Liddell-Hart’s work titled “ Strategy ” is considered one of the most important works on military strategy of the 20th century.

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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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Business Transformation Strategy: Breakthrough Ahead

Kainexus

Business transformation strategy is the comprehensive process of changing an organization's core operations, processes, culture, and capabilities to achieve specific goals or outcomes. The strategy aims to restructure an organization's fundamental approach to its business, often in response to new opportunities or challenges. Business transformation involves more than incremental improvements; it requires fundamental changes to an organization's operations, culture, and technology infrastructure

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Sales Velocity Equation – 4 Levers to Success

Upland

Velocity is the speed of something moving in any given direction. At Upland Altify, we think about velocity a lot. So much so that we created this sales velocity equation to get sales teams moving in the right direction. That direction is revenue. How fast you get there depends on four key levers. Sales velocity vs deal velocity – what’s the difference?

Sales 356

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How Consumer Spending Trends Impact Your Recession Sales Strategy [Data + Insights]

Hubspot Sales

Sales is a tough job under normal circumstances, but throw in a recession and things get even more complicated. As whispers (or shouts) of an economic downturn persist, salespeople need to shift from defense to offense. This means retiring the old playbook and getting creative with your sales strategies. Here, we cover the top consumer spending trends in 2023, along with five key strategies for selling during an economic downturn.

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Stakeholder engagement and buy-in: Influence and persuasion skills with Aristotle and Knights and Dinosaurs

Red Star Kim

At the recent PM Forum workshop on stakeholder engagement and buy-in there was an interesting mix of delegates from law, accountancy and actuarial firms from across the UK and Ireland and even China. Work roles varied across marketing, business development, PR, internal communications, events, digital and graphic design. We focused on the influencing and persuasion skills advocated by Aristotle’s model and covered tools and techniques harnessing credibility, rationality and emotions.

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Forget the Ferrari: “Trusted Advisor” as a Status Symbol

Upland

Sales is all about kicking butt and taking names. The best sellers get in, get out, land the big deal and move on to the next one. It’s all about putting your strategy for an account first, and everything else will fall in place. Right? Wrong! What if we told you that becoming the best seller in the world had nothing to do with antiquated, lone wolf –run-and-gun tactics and everything to do with – drum roll…becoming a trusted advisor to your client?

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Why building a custom CRM is almost always a bad idea

Nutshell

If your company has a unique sales process or sells a variety of products and services, it can be tempting to build a CRM from scratch. Theoretically, a custom CRM would include all the features your organization needs, none that you don’t, and would be tailored to your specific business in everything from the in-product terminology to workflows reflecting how your team sells.

CRM 127
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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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How to Motivate the Quiet Quitters on Your Sales Team

Sales Readiness Group

The current phenomenon of “quiet quitting” has been gaining attention recently. It refers to the growing trend of employees who leave their jobs without making a formal announcement or creating a scene. Unlike traditional resignations, where an employee might submit a letter of resignation and have an exit interview, a quiet quitting involves simply leaving without any fanfare or explanation.

Sales 126
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How Sales Reps Can Adapt to the Hybrid Selling Environment

RAIN Group

Have you met Morgan? A terrific sales rep. Except recently, Morgan has slipped out of the top tier of the leaderboard and I think I know why: she struggles to adapt to the new selling environment.

Sales 124
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Sales Win Rate: How to Calculate Yours

Upland

As you are developing your sales strategy for 2023, one of the critical elements in determining your sales velocity is your Win Rate. If you don’t know how many opportunities to need to pursue to make your number, your vision for the future will be cloudy. It is hard to build a sales strategy or know what marketing needs to deliver into the funnel.

Sales 195
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The Power of Personalization: Strengthening Customer Loyalty

Customer Think

The recent pullback in headcount and spending at technology companies has put a big dent in marketing team budgets. We’re seeing this impact spread beyond the tech sector, squeezing marketing spend across industries. At the same time, consumers are demanding more personalized experiences, which requires investment in better marketing approaches.

Marketing 122
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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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Selling Skills vs. Sales Methodology: Understanding the Difference

Sales Readiness Group

Sales success requires salespeople to have both selling skills and a sales methodology. Selling skills are crucial for effective sales conversations, while a sales methodology provides a structured approach to the sales process. Sales leaders must balance these two approaches to help their team close deals and increase revenue. Dive in to learn more about the differences between these approaches and how to balance them for revenue growth.

Sales 125
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How CRM Software Impacts Customer Engagement

Nutshell

It’s easy to assume that once you’ve turned someone into a customer, your work is done. But that’s simply not the case. To keep them a customer, you must continue to engage them. If you don’t, there’s a good chance they’ll eventually leave. For that reason, you’ll want to measure customer engagement continuously. You’ll want to monitor the impact on customer engagement that your customer relationship management (CRM) platform has by: Tracking customer interactions Analyzing customer data Measuri

CRM 115
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The Secret to Selling SaaS – Value vs. Product

Upland

When it comes to selling SaaS, conversations with customers often begin with this question: “So what is it that you sell, exactly?” If you sell a technology product, or anything that lives in the cloud, the answer to this question can be a little elusive. Nowadays, the most valuable technology companies don’t just sell products, they sell something more.

CRM 195
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Going Green: How Mobile Applications are Helping the Environment

Customer Think

Technology is getting more incorporated into our daily lives in today’s environment. With this comes the ability to not only make our lives easier but also to make a beneficial impact on the environment.

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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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Unlocking The Hidden Pipeline With Dave Irwin

The SAMA Podcast

Strategic accounts represent a market of one — in and of themselves — with a wealth of opportunity far beyond what most account teams realize. But how can strategic sellers unlock this door, and step into a world of co-discovery with their most essential customers? Dave Irwin, Founder & CEO of Polaris I/O joins SAMA President & CEO Denise Freier.

Marketing 104
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8 sales qualifying questions you need to know

Nutshell

Tactful qualifying questions can save you the hassle of potentially going through the entire pipeline with a non-starter. It doesn’t matter how good a salesperson you are, you can’t convert every single lead that comes your way—mostly because a handful of your leads won’t be a good fit for the products or services you sell. This is why sales qualifying questions are so important.

Sales 115
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Research update on the most in-demand soft skills

Red Star Kim

Following my past research (some of which was published in my 2020 book Essential soft skills for lawyers (kimtasso.com) ) I keep an eye out for the latest information relating to the soft skills (particularly leadership skills) most in demand and how these relate to the professional services sector. So here is a research update on the most in-demand soft and social skills.

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[INFOGRAPHIC] Quick Takes From The Media Sales Report

The Center for Sales Strategy

If 2021 saw everyone still reeling from the “year that shall not be named,” then 2022 seems to be one of continued adjustment. For example, it’s clear that “hybrid work” means different things to different people. Nearly half of sales managers (49%) view their desired hybrid schedule as a 50/50 split between in-office and work-from-home. In this new Media Sales Report , you’ll see that salespeople don’t feel the same way.

Media 98
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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

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Getting Into The Head Of Decision Makers With Business Brainz

The SAMA Podcast

Every SAM dreams of having customized insights that identify, eliminate, and replace flaws in the delivery process with in-depth solutions. Finding the bandwidth to make that a reality — that’s a different story. However, that’s exactly what Prajwal Gadtaula, founder of Business Brainz, promises to deliver — a bespoke market research firm that does all the deep-dive analysis that your sales and marketing team wished they had time for.

Marketing 104
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Leading Your Sales Team In Uncertain Times – Feat. Graham Hooper

Sales Gravy

Leading In A Changing Sales Landscape On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount (Sales Gravy CEO and author of Sales EQ) and Graham Hooper (CEO of Ellison Technologies) discuss the keys to leading your sales team in uncertain times. You'll learn how to succeed in volatile economic times by effectively handling decision deferment objections and conducting thorough research during the discovery phase of the sales process.

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Reasons to get excited about Relate ‘23—here’s what you need to know

Zendesk

Zendesk Relate is happening in just a few days. I’m attending in person on May 10 in San Francisco, and I’m excited to learn more about where the customer experience is heading. The great news is that you don’t have to be in San Francisco to join me—the opening keynote will be broadcast across five different time zones, so you can register for the one that works best for you.

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What ChatGPT and Generative AI Mean for Digital Transformation

Customer Think

An arms race is raging in the AI industry — every organization is frantically investing in or investigating how the large language models (LLMs) that powers Generative AI can be applied to the enterprise. Generative AI will be on every organization’s digital transformation roadmap.

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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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Unlock Investigate: The 2nd Key Fundamental of IMPACT

Brooks Group

This article is part of our Key Fundamentals of IMPACT Selling ® series. Opening the Meeting Is More Important Than You Know Our culture seems to underemphasize the importance of starting off strong. So many “motivation quotes” essentially summarize the message as: it doesn’t matter how you start, as long as you finish strong. While that prevailing mentality sounds nice, it is often far from the truth.

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The Importance of Asking Quality Questions in B2B Sales

The Center for Sales Strategy

Have you ever experienced having to answer the same questions twice during a doctor's appointment? It’s frustrating, but it can also make us reflect on the questions we ask our prospects. Are we asking the right questions to make us think deeper if it were our own business? Even the most experienced salesperson can overlook the importance of being highly prepared for the initial needs analysis.

B2B 92
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What is Change Management and Why is It Important?

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

Contents: What is Change Management What Types of Change Occur in Organizations? When should change management be considered? What are the risks if change is not managed effectively? Change Resistance What are the steps needed to prepare for and implement successful change? Processes/Models for Managing Change Kotter’s 8-Step Model Prosci ADKAR Model Developing a Plan for the Change Most organizations, regardless of their size, industry or sector, experience change at some point.

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Remember Amara’s Law When Thinking About Generative AI

Customer Think

The outpouring of enthusiasm for ChatGPT, and the flurry of recent AI-related product announcements from tech companies indicate that generative artificial intelligence will soon play a much larger role in marketing. But the specific path forward for.

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ABM Evolution: How Top Marketers Are Using Account-Based Strategies

In times of economic uncertainty, account-based strategies are essential. According to several business analysts and practitioners, ABM is a necessity for creating more predictable revenue. Research shows that nearly three-quarters of marketers (74%) already have the resources needed to build successful ABM programs.