One of Marketing’s primary responsibilities is to generate leads for the Sales organization to turn into new business. Incredible amounts of time, effort, and money are spent by Marketing to capture these leads including writing excellent content, running ad campaigns, exhibiting at conferences, being active on social media, etc. Each marketing qualified lead (MQL) is treasured by marketing because it is the fruit of all their hard work. The Sales team must now reach out to the lead to engage them in a meaningful discussion to determine if there is an opportunity to help their business and sell your solution. However, most MQLs never respond to the salesperson. The picture below shows a traditional B2B marketing & sales process and pinpoints where this problem exists. Why the breakdown between marketing & sales? I’m going to break this down and explain why this happens because it is the main [...]

The pressure is on to build pipeline and close business. You need to use every tool you have to beat your competition and generate revenue. Watch this webinar recording as we discuss how you can use interactive assessments to find stronger opportunities, shorten the sales cycle, and increase your win rates. We’ll introduce the concept of Assessment–Based Selling™ techniques that will help your sales team:Provide instant, personalized feedback to clients through assessment results. Focus & tailor the conversation based on the results. Enable the rep to maximize the value provided in the conversation. This webinar recording is 30 minutes and includes real-world examples of Assessment–Based Selling™ in action. We look forward to your [...]

A major windstorm blew through my hometown of Ashburn Virginia last year with gusts of winds hitting 60-70 mph. I can still vividly hear the howling winds! After the storm I walked around my house to look for any signs of visible damage. I was relieved to see that I didn’t lose any shingles or siding like many homes in my neighborhood. “We dodged a bullet” I remember saying and thought little of the storm thereafter. Then about a month later I was working outside on a Saturday when a roofing repair truck came down my street. “Do you mind if I go up on your roof to inspect for any wind damage?” asked the roofing consultant. “It will take me only a few minutes” he assured me. I readily admit I know nothing about roofs and my inspection didn’t involve me climbing up for an up close [...]

Every system, solution or service purchased by the enterprise that has even a hint of complexity involves a series of conversations with sales reps. These conversations, especially the early conversations, provide valuable insights to the buyer that greatly informs the purchase decision.  During these conversations, the buyer is quickly trying to determine:Does this rep understand my business & challenges? Does this rep know how to solve my challenges? Can this rep help me? Can I trust this rep? To be successful in today’s market, sales reps have to consistently add value, starting with the first interaction. According to Salesforce, the #1 reason new sales reps fail is they don’t know how to add value.[1] I completely agree and will add that existing reps, even past top performers, can struggle to add value. How can this be? Let me explain by summarizing two recent conversations with Fortune 500 executives [...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[...]