Trending Articles

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Four Trends That Matter to Customers and How Brands Can Resonate

Customer Think

We’re living in a time of transformation. As is such, it should come as no surprise people are critically evaluating what type of future they want to create and be a part of. While trend reports are a valuable tool for better understanding customers, business success relies on much more than recognizing the trends.

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How to Create a Sales Training Program to Nurture Superstars

The Center for Sales Strategy

Salespeople who have been around long enough have seen sales training in multiple forms. They are exposed to it when they begin their career and usually, anytime they switch companies or industries. While these training programs are always important, you cannot simply set it and forget it or try to make your offerings one size fits all. For your people (especially your best people) to grow, you need to be sure that your sales training is nurturing your Superstars.

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6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Email Marketing Strategy

Customer Think

Image source: Canva for free It’s no coincidence that the more knowledgeable you are about email marketing strategies, the better your results are. Below I’ll share some easy ways you can make your emails better. Sometimes, the smallest tweaks can get you spectacular results.

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How to Build Rapport in Sales With 3 Simple Techniques

Sales Readiness Group

Capturing the attention and trust of your potential customers is a crucial aspect of successful sales. When you establish a strong relationship, you gain their respect, the willingness to value your insights, and the potential for long-term business. But the question is, how can you build rapport effectively?

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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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For the Best Results Don’t Wing It. Follow A Process!

The Center for Sales Strategy

Have you ever tried to make chili by throwing all the ingredients together in a giant pot, stirring, and then slowly cooking all day? If you had, you’d know that is NOT the best way to cook chili! First, you brown the meat. And if you were an onion lover, then you’d add onions during this stage to get the most flavor. After the meat is browned and fully cooked, drain the fat (if healthy eating is important to you), and add the chili seasoning, followed by the rest of the ingredients, which could

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7 Things You Should Never Say in a Negotiation

Hubspot Sales

Negotiation is a delicate balancing act. As a sales rep, you straddle the space between helping your prospect find a solution that works for them and protecting your company’s interests. By the time you’ve reached the negotiation phase of the sales process, you and your prospect have a common goal: getting your company’s offering into their hands. It’s a joint effort, and you should be working — not fighting — with your buyer to reach an ideal solution.

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4 Ways Subscriptions Can Create Long-Term Customers

Customer Think

Businesses have finally learned what publications knew for years: The subscription model works. However, it takes more than a great idea to grow to the likes of a subscription-based company like Spotify or HelloFresh. It takes strategic planning, including putting an emphasis on initiatives that encourage subscribers to stick around.

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Price Conversation when Prospect Wants to Discuss Price Prematurely

Sales Readiness Group

In the sales world, pricing is crucial in determining whether or not a prospect will convert into a customer. However, discussing pricing prematurely with a prospect may not always be the best approach. Doing so can lead to a focus on cost rather than the value of the product or service. So, what should sales professionals do when faced with prospects who want to discuss price prematurely?

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Shut Up and Listen! 3 Reasons Why Salespeople Should Talk Less to Sell More

The Center for Sales Strategy

New business meetings are exciting. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of closing deals, showcasing your product, and convincing prospects that you have the perfect solution. You want to start selling, pitching your product, and showing off your brilliant product knowledge. DON'T DO IT! Just shut up and let your prospect talk. The secret to successful sales is not just about talking but also about mastering the art of listening.

Sales 106
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The Complete Guide to Closing Calls

Hubspot Sales

A closing call is like the finish line of a marathon. It’s nerve-wracking for you and your prospect. It’s a call steeped in emotion for everybody involved. As a salesperson, you’ve invested a lot of time in your prospect by the time a closing call rolls around. You’re under pressure to meet quota, and losing a deal at the buzzer indicates to your manager that you’re not in control of the sales process.

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Negotiate Larger Deals More Quickly

What if there was a better method of changing the conversation with your customer from delivering pricing to delivering value solutions? A method that would help keep you in control, manage the uncertainty, and close larger deals more quickly for you and your company? There is.

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The OODA Loop

Flevy

Decision Making is critical for every business. Military strategists apply their training and experience to devise battle plans and make quick decisions aimed at achieving specific objectives. Military strategies, concepts, and practices have found widespread application in businesses as well as everyday life. Writings, memoirs, and experiences of famous military historians and strategists—such as Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” Clausewitz’s “On War,” and Liddell Hart’s “Strategy”—have been well-

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Why Generative AI Can’t Create Real Thought Leadership Content. At Least Not Yet

Customer Think

Last November's release of ChatGPT set off a remarkable frenzy of activity in the AI space. Over the past several weeks, a host of technology companies, from start-ups to heavyweights like Microsoft and Google, have announced or rolled out appli.

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Why Your Sales Team Needs Deep Discovery and Multiple Champions to Win Right Now

Force Management

Recently, we’ve all been living in a constant state of economic uncertainty. 2023 market trends show a leveling off of growth and consumer confidence is steadily declining across global markets.

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How to Help Sales Leaders Improve Performance

The Center for Sales Strategy

Sales leadership plays a crucial role in the success of any organization's sales efforts. As the driving force behind a sales team, sales leaders are responsible for setting targets, providing guidance, and motivating their team members to achieve their goals. However, even the most skilled sales leaders can face challenges when it comes to improving performance and driving results.

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The B2B Sales Leader's Guide for Any Economic Environment

When economic headwinds pick up, sales leaders are the first to sound the alarm — and chart a new course. Longer sales cycles, larger buying committees, increased price pressure, and smaller teams can quickly combine to reduce your margin for error and increase the urgency to find a solution. To thrive in a challenging environment, sales teams need a rock-solid grasp of the fundamentals and the biggest force-multipliers they can get their hands on.

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How Sales Professionals Are Using Artificial Intelligence (New Data)

Hubspot Sales

On average, salespeople save two hours and 15 minutes a day using AI. Based on this stat alone, it's no surprise why so many sales teams are folding AI into their workflow — and saving time in the process. Here, we'll explore how salespeople are harnessing the power of AI in their day-to-day work with insights from our 2023 State of AI Report. Let's dive in.

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Understanding Lean Business Process Management Software | KaiNexus

Kainexus

Companies constantly seek ways to improve process efficiency and reduce waste in today's rapidly changing business landscape. One approach that has gained widespread popularity is Lean Business Process Management.

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CRM Value Chain Enablers: Data & Analytics and Marketing/Sales/Service Processes

Customer Think

By Francis Buttle[1], Julie Jones[2], Merlin Stone[3] The CRM Value Chain (CRM VC), shown in figure 1, aims to demystify, characterise, and conceptualise CRM. The CRM VC is made up of three Core Processes supported by five Enablers all of which contribute to CRM’s goal of driving up customer profitability.

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Software for Professional Services Companies: What’s in Your Tech Stack?

Nutshell

If your professional services company doesn’t yet have a tech stack, you definitely need one. A tech stack is a collection of business tools that work together to help you manage your company processes, and it helps companies work more efficiently. Of course, different types of businesses use different tech stacks. A professional services company tech stack should include certain tools, and you may not be aware of what those tools are.

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Contact vs. Company Intent Signal Data

Contact and company intent data both have their advantages. Contact-level intent leads can be acted on immediately to reach active buyers, while company-level leads improve outcomes for account-based marketing and other programs. This infographic unpacks the advantages of both contact and company data and gives details about how B2B marketers can benefit from both.

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What is an Outbound Call & How Do You Make Them Effectively?

Hubspot Sales

Your phone rings and you decide to pick this one up instead of letting it go to voicemail. You are greeted with a pitch from a pushy sales rep. Odds are, if you don’t want what they’re selling, you’ll hang up immediately. Even if you do, the pushiness is a turnoff and you might buy the product elsewhere or through a different sales rep. That’s why mastering an outbound call is so important.

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Want more sales? Start with your existing customers.

SBI Growth

Your best customers are right in front of you. Can you see them? Companies seeking new revenue often fall for the mistake of pouring their marketing and sales resources and efforts into new customer acquisition. But according to surveys recently conducted by SBI, the better option – very often – is to focus on existing customers.

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What To Do When Customer Advisory Board Members Ask To Send a Substitute

Customer Think

Occasionally, customer advisory board (CAB) managers will receive a request from a CAB member to substitute another representative from their company to take their place at an upcoming meeting.

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How to Manage a Sales Pipeline for a Professional Services Company

Nutshell

Every business has a sales pipeline. What’s a sales pipeline? In short, it’s the journey people take to become customers at your company. But while every business has a sales pipeline, not every business makes a point of tracking or managing it—something you should definitely do. Your professional services company can greatly benefit from working to track and streamline your pipeline.

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Sales Kickoff Beyond the Meeting: How to Plan & Execute a Successful SKO

Speaker: Gerhard Gschwandtner, CEO, Selling Power | Beverlie Heyman, Director of Sales Enablement, Bigtincan | Jared Hibbs, Sr. Sales Enablement Manager, Bigtincan

Sales kickoff (SKO) meetings are a critical time for sales enablement and management teams to drive learning and motivation that (they hope) will last the whole year. Unfortunately, those same meetings can also become long, tedious, repetitive days that cause reps to tune out and turn off. Over the past few years, sales kickoffs have looked very different.

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How Zendesk AI can start supporting your teams and customers today

Zendesk

Whatever tools we use to make our lives easier, more productive, or more profitable, the message coming out of Relate 2023 was clear: success depends entirely on whether your technology actually helps humans get the job done. Zendesk AI is the CX professional’s latest and greatest toolkit, designed with the support experience top of mind. It’s tailor-made for agents navigating lengthy ticket queues and chat windows, emotional days (we all have them), and more.

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LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index — Everything You Need to Know

Hubspot Sales

In its 20th year on the market, LinkedIn remains an undisputable world leader in social selling and online business networking. As of early 2023, it boasts over 900 million users , with approximately half visiting the platform monthly. In short, if you’re not active on LinkedIn, you’re missing a huge opportunity to grow your business. The question is — how do you know if your posts are resonating with your target audience?

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5 CRM Data Clean Up Tips

Insightly

In today’s world, companies rely on data to manage the end-to-end sales process, power marketing automation campaigns, deliver exceptional customer service, and so much more. In fact, the data in your CRM database is among your most valuable business assets. To keep these critical business functions running smoothly, you need CRM data that’s complete, accurate, well organized, and up to date — but that’s easier said than done.

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Failure to Localize Is Undermining Your Massive Personalization Investment

Customer Think

Read any marketing publication or forum, and you’ll see dozens of articles on personalization, the practice of customizing interactions with each customer to foster a stronger relationship with them, with the ultimate aim being to drive engagement and revenue.

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Mastering Intent Data: Understanding its Importance & Best Practices

Speaker: Joe Apfelbaum, CEO of Ajax Union

In this webinar, Joe Apfelbaum, CEO of Ajax Union and business strategist, will take you through the ABCs of intent data. You'll learn how to effectively use it to drive business results, with practical tips on how to leverage both company and contact intent data to maximize your marketing efforts. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just getting started, this webinar is a must-attend for anyone looking to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing.

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Should I Use a Professional Services-Specific CRM?

Nutshell

A customer relationship management (CRM) platform exists to gather, store, categorize, and analyze customer data in a single, centralized location. That makes it an essential tool for any business, including professional services companies like yours. But what kind of CRM should you get? Many CRMs are designed for all kinds of businesses, but some are specific to your industry.

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How AI can help businesses hedge against uncertainty

Zendesk

In the eyes of customers, you’re only as good as their last experience with you. This means that consistency is key—whether you’re facing economic headwinds or an unexpected spike in customers needing help. AI helps teams boost their productivity, increase efficiency, and meet rising customer expectations at a time when many are being asked to do more with much less.

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How Sales Reps Can Use Generative AI to Sell Faster

Hubspot Sales

It’s easy to be skeptical of AI in a job built on personal interaction. Like all disruption, generative AI in sales has the potential to completely change the way things are done. It also has the potential to rewrite it for the better. Generative AI is a category of algorithms that draws from large, unstructured data sets to create new content, including text and images.

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Working With Influencers

Strategic Communications

What do Richard Simmons, Ron Popeil, George Foreman, and Kim Kardashian have in common? Many readers may not have even heard of the first three names, but they do share something in common with Kim Kardashian: They are early examples of influencers. While influencer marketing often seems to be a factor of the digital age, it’s a concept that has been around for decades—ever since people began selling products and looking for ways to spread the word.

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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.