Red Star Kim

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

Long before I learned of the value of Socratic questioning in coaching and counselling, I remember an editor asking me to use Socratic questioning in some writing. Socratic questioning is a way to drive logical argument. It’s helpful in conversations, critical thinking and negotiation. So what is Socratic questioning? (Questioning skills). This article on Socratic questioning follows an earlier and longer post on questioning skills Why are questions so important?

Negotiation 130

Negotiation Facilitation Emotional Intelligence Sales 130

Vantage Partners

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

No professional service firm partnership works without getting buy-in and mindshare from the partners or account executives who manage client relationships.

Client Relationships 153

Client Relationships Management 153

Zendesk

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Zendesk today announced it completed its acquisition of Klaus, the industry leading AI-powered quality management platform. The acquisition of Klaus is the latest addition to the company’s existing WEM solutions which includes Tymeshift, a modern workforce management tool built exclusively for Zendesk. “Workforce engagement management is key to not only meeting, but exceeding customer expectations.

Acquisition 144

Acquisition Digitalization Customer Experience Software 144

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Knowing who to hire and what sort of traits to foster across an organization’s talent can go a long way in creating value for customers and seeing the business returns of customer success.

Customer Success 131

Customer Success Marketing 131

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.

Account Manager Tips

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Explore Eric van Antwerpen's unique approach to redefining success in sales teams.

Sales 147

Sales Account Management Management 147

The Center for Sales Strategy

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

In this episode, we’re continuing our season-long deep dive into the latest Media Sales Report from The Center for Sales Strategy. Today, Trey Morris, VP/ Senior Consultant here at CSS, is joining Matt to help answer the question, “Why is it getting harder to convert prospects and renew clients?

Media 125

Media Meetings Sales 125

The SAMA Podcast

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Geoff Williams, longtime SAMA Board Member and Corporate Member, boasts a distinguished career in international sales and global strategic account management. Having shaped successful programs at Schneider Electric and Danfoss, Geoff’s new role as SAMA's interim CEO brings a clear and precise vision for the future of strategic account management. In this episode, Williams’ wealth of experience and wisdom shines bright as he unravels the intricacies of SAM's role as a true business initiative, pr

Account Management 104

Account Management Management Sales 104

Customer Think

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

In the dynamic world of e-commerce, understanding your customers is key to success. Meeting customer needs is critical in today’s competitive e-commerce landscape. Digital platforms have raised consumer expectations by offering a wide range of products and services. Customer-centricity is more than a trend; it is a strategic approach that sets companies apart.

Digitalization 119

Digitalization Meetings Marketing 119

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

“Executive alignment is critical to growth and value creation. Nearly 75% of companies with high commercial momentum have go-to-market (GTM) leadership teams that are highly aligned.” This may sound like common sense to many executive leaders, but some companies can still have a hard time making this happen when their leaders don’t know where to start.

Prioritization 126

Prioritization Leadership Marketing Organization 126

Hubspot Sales

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Welcome to "The Pipeline" — a weekly column from HubSpot, featuring actionable advice and insight from real sales leaders. “Buyer beware.” We’ve all heard that expression before, and unfortunately, it’s because buyer-seller relationships haven’t traditionally been great. Old-school salespeople often used aggressive and selfish tactics to win business and then disappeared like Sasquatch in the Canadian mountains, so savvy buyers knew they had to do due diligence to make sure they weren’t being sc

Sales 115

Sales Decision-making Facilitation Marketing 115

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

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

B2B

The Center for Sales Strategy

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Your next hire is important! Right? It’s probably one of the top reasons managers tell me their job is hard. Finding talented people is difficult, and once you find them, hiring them and getting them onboarded is time-consuming and stressful. You have a lot to do, but investing time and energy in a few important onboarding disciplines can give you and your new hire a better chance for success.

Onboarding 122

Onboarding Management 122

Nimble Business Success

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

This Valentine’s Day, let’s celebrate a different yet essential aspect of our professional lives: networking! Successful businesses thrive on networks of relationships that are built over time, which are crucial for sparking new opportunities, forming partnerships, and driving growth. We’ve connected with industry experts who have shared their insights and personal takes on how effective […] The post Heartfelt Connections: The Power of Relationships in Business Success ap

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FinListics Solutions

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Gone are the days of cold calls and generic pitches. Today's buyers are well-informed, conducting thorough research before engaging with sales reps. This means your team needs to operate more as strategic advisors, understanding customer goals and demonstrating the tangible value your solutions bring.

B2B 109

B2B Sales 109

Customer Think

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

We’ve all had that neighbor. They’re the one you avoid when taking out the trash or collecting the mail because if you don’t, you’re in for it: the dreaded half-hour update on their prize-winning Schnauzer, a deep dive into their latest hobby, or the most recent gossip on their entire extended family.

Meetings 116

Meetings Sales 116

Advertisement

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.

Meetings

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

The slowdown in corporate spending due to economic and geopolitical uncertainties has prompted many companies to rethink their growth strategies for the near and distant future.

Marketing 126

Marketing 126

RAIN Group

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Unless you’ve been on an extended media break, you’re aware that artificial Intelligence (AI) is making a splash across all industries of business. I’ve seen this as a practitioner. I work closely with client organizations and collaborate with senior executives, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about AI. What’s RAIN Group’s position on AI?

Artificial Intelligence 109

Artificial Intelligence Media Sales Organization 109

The Center for Sales Strategy

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Do you ever feel like you're using your CRM, but not really using it? Many seem to fall into this trap, believing they've mastered their software when, really, they're only scratching the surface. After all, The 5th Annual Media Sales Report found that 74% of salespeople believe they use their CRM effectively. This data point may, in fact, reflect reality.

CRM 118

CRM Software Software Media 118

Groove HQ

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

As stories of AI chatbots replacing entire customer support teams circulate, it’s easy to feel uneasy about the future. A notable incident involving a CEO who laid off 90% of his support staff after a chatbot outperformed them only adds fuel to the fire. However, let’s take a step back and assess the situation with […] The post Debunking the Myth: Why AI Enhances, Not Replaces, Human Customer Support appeared first on Groove Blog.

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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.

Sales

Sales Gravy

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount sits down with KaTom CEO Patricia Bible to discuss what it takes to lead and sustain a hyper-growth company. Reflecting on her journey with KaTom, Patricia shared insights into the exponential growth of this hyper-growth organization. "It's been a whirlwind of achievements, challenges, and invaluable lessons," she remarked.

Suppliers 95

Suppliers Innovation Leadership Decision-making 95

Customer Think

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

For the last five years, around this time, I’ve compiled a set of customer experience-related predictions for the coming year. For each article, I gather together a set of predictions that have been sent to me over the preceding month.

Customer Experience 116

Customer Experience 116

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Sellers today have an unenviable job: buyers are increasingly conservative, and deals are taking longer to close. A survey from SBI in Q3 2023 shows that commercial leaders are feeling the effects, with a staggering 69% of CEOs seeing lower seller productivity. For sales leaders seeking to escalate growth projections in 2024, it’s time to rethink how sales enablement should be done.

Sales 127

Sales Marketing 127

Hubspot Sales

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Welcome to "The Pipeline" — a weekly column from HubSpot, featuring actionable advice and insight from real sales leaders. Every time you use a selfish sales tactic, you’re destroying the trust between you and your buyer — but you’re not just hurting yourself. When a salesperson uses a slimy sales tactic, the entire sales profession takes one step backward.

Sales 94

Sales Decision-making 94

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.

Supply Chain

The Center for Sales Strategy

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Negotiation is an art, often perceived with a mix of hesitation and intrigue. It's a dance that occurs in various aspects of life, from buying a car to brokering major business deals. Especially in sales, negotiation is not just a skill; it's a necessity. But the essence of effective negotiation lies in the approach: it's about collaboration, not confrontation.

Negotiation 122

Negotiation Sales 122

Force Management

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Whether you're leading an early-stage startup or an established organization, one of the most important things a leader can do is to cultivate a culture of accountability, curiosity and excellence. This month, our guests on the Revenue Builders podcast offered some insightful perspectives on building a successful sales culture. These leaders have spearheaded culture transformations and spurred massive growth at some of the most influential sales organizations of our time.

Publishing 93

Publishing Leadership Organization Sales 93

The Great Game of Business

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Not only are all bonus plans not the same, and they don’t have to be tied to higher profits (although profits are important). Read more with our guide!

Innovation 94

Innovation Profitability 94

Customer Think

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

CX Metrics are a big part of new CX wisdom for 2024. In the past year, at least 24 new discoveries were made in the immature field of Customer Experience Management (CXM).

CXM 113

CXM Customer Experience Customer Success Management 113

Speaker: Michelle Vazzana

Every sales organization wants their sales force to be agile. Why? Because the world is rapidly changing, becoming more complex, and making the salesperson’s job harder. Organizational leaders are unsure of the best way to equip sellers to succeed in this new reality. Should they change their sales methodology? Should they adopt better technology tools?

Sales

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

The transition into a new calendar year can create a period of adjustment that negatively impacts a company’s productivity and their growth trajectory if not managed well. In 2023, up to 49% of companies were adjusting their growth projections as early as the beginning of March. Q1 underperformance can often set the tone and momentum for the rest of the year if left unchecked.

Management 127

Management Marketing 127

Hubspot Sales

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

We often compare elite athletes with animals: Fast like a cheetah. Strong like an ox. Agile like a hummingbird. To get fitter and healthier, humans are taking inspiration from the animal kingdom. Here are two trends we spotted in this direction, each presenting unique opportunities you can pounce on for wild profits: 1. Humans Want to Move like Animals If you notice people doing exaggerated, animalistic stretches in your gym, rest assured: It’s not the cast of Cats taking over.

Logistics 89

Logistics Profitability Organization Marketing 89

The Center for Sales Strategy

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Did you know that the first email was sent way back in 1971? That first “message” was a throwaway in terms of actual content. Engineer Ray Tomlinson, at the time, was exploring different ways for humans and computers to interact and sent himself a test email to see if his new idea worked. Ray had little idea how powerful and enduring the concept of electronic mail would end up becoming.

Computers and Electronics 119

Computers and Electronics Innovation Media Sales 119

Force Management

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

In today's highly competitive market, it's no longer enough for a sales organization to differentiate itself solely based on its offering. The most successful companies today are those that create differentiation in their initial sales process and the customer’s journey. That level of execution requires that leaders enable every customer-facing team and role to be fluent in a unified sales message, strategy, and execution.

Sales 91

Sales Marketing Organization 91

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.

Negotiation