Month: May 2014

Categories
Blog Sales Advice Social Selling Social Selling in 60 Seconds

A Few Bad Apples in Sales (Video)

Social SellerA few bad apples spoil the bunch. Have you heard that saying before?

Here’s the problem. We’re the rotten apples that this saying is talking about! In the world of sales, we’ve taken too many liberties with our buyers. Quite frankly, we’ve treated them like dirt. Although this isn’t entirely all our fault, the sheer fact that we’ve participated and gone along with this way of doing things has put us here.

Again, I’m not blaming YOU per se… I’m blaming the ENTIRE system. We’re all part and parcel of this wonderful sales industry. But, why is it that buyers want to escape us? Could it be that we’ve been too disrespectful of their time and space? As my friends in Minnesota would say, “You betcha!”.

Continue reading “A Few Bad Apples in Sales (Video)”
Categories
#S4LSocial Blog

#S4LSocial Twitter Chat: Adding Value

Adding ValueDo you wish for a magic solution that would convert buyers to choose your product or service every time? Perhaps your value proposition is lacking an essential component: value.

My colleague Amar Sheth agrees, writing this about the value conversation: Social Selling actually delivers on the long-held and correct belief that buyers purchase from those who add the most value.

Continue reading “#S4LSocial Twitter Chat: Adding Value”
Categories
Blog Sales Advice Social Selling

What Does Jack Bauer and Social Sellers Have in Common?

Jack Bauer of 24How are social sellers like Jack Bauer of 24? They both have a diverse set of tools to get the job done.

For those of you that have ever watched the show 24 you will already know that the main character, Jack Bauer, is a bad ass. Full stop. For anyone out there that is unaware of who Jack Bauer is (and potentially living under a rock), he is a CTU counter-terrorism agent equivalent to a modern day MacGyver who often goes rogue for the greater good of humanity, aka the United States.

What many of you may not have pieced together is that Jack Bauer is, in many ways, similar to a Social Seller. You see, Jack has a very large proverbial tool belt that he uses to get the job done. He’s got his tactical Carbine, his Beratta, his combat knife, his multi-tool and of course, his nuclear missile disarmament kit for when thing get REALLY hairy.

Continue reading “What Does Jack Bauer and Social Sellers Have in Common?”
Categories
Blog Social Selling in 60 Seconds

Don’t Ask Me What I Think! (Video)

Don’t ask the buyer what they think. Add value to the conversation by providing relevant content that will help their buying decision instead.

Put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. Do you really think you’re the only game in town? Of course you don’t. So then why act like you are?

There’s a challenge we all have at some point in the buying cycle (notice how I said “buying cycle” and not sales cycle? Read more about that important vocabulary change here).

We know that potential buyers will hardly play by our rules and timelines. Why should they? They’re comfortable moving at their own pace. Promises of quarter-end deals can only go so far. So how can you get their attention?

Continue reading “Don’t Ask Me What I Think! (Video)”
Categories
Blog Social Selling

The Inconvenient Truth & The 70% Piss-Off Factor

The Inconvenient Truth 70% of people hate being called. Why aren’t more people in the sales industry talking about this new reality?

I was recently watching a video by Gary Vaynerchuk (watch out for the F-bombs and keep the volume a little low on this if you’re at work) that confirmed a whole lot of insights that we’ve heard anecdotally and that major research houses are now finding as well. This is the inconvenient truth that our industry is sweeping under the rug right now.

Very simply, it’s that people hate to be called. It doesn’t mean they don’t like to talk – it’ll be a sad day in hell before that happens, my friends. However, it means that people like you, me and everyday folk, especially those that are social and connected by mobile, don’t prefer the phone as the first medium of contact.

Continue reading “The Inconvenient Truth & The 70% Piss-Off Factor”
Categories
Blog Social Selling Social Selling in 60 Seconds

Use Topsy to Identify Prospects (Video)

Identify ProspectsIn today’s video I’m going to teach you one simple tip to start identifying prospects. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Think about what you do when you cold call: you’re trying to establish interest. How often do you need to call and how much time do you need to spend to get to ONE PERSON that is interested in exactly what you have to offer? That’s a rhetorical question, no need to answer.

Then consider the fact that there is a river of qualified buyers for what you have to offer and you’re not able to discover it. How can you get a hold of them? One way is Twitter.

Twitter isn’t just to share your LOLs and SMHs anymore. It’s a place where real business discussions are happening. If you haven’t tried it, I’d highly recommend you do so. And here’s a quick tip on how to get started.

Watch the video to learn more.

Continue reading “Use Topsy to Identify Prospects (Video)”
Categories
Blog Social Selling

My First 2 Weeks as a Social Seller: 500% More LinkedIn Profile Views

Social SellerWithin my first two weeks as a social seller, I’ve seen a 500% increase in the views of my LinkedIn profile and added 80+ new connections to my network.

If you’re a member of my network on LinkedIn or Twitter you may have noticed a massive increase in my activity level as of late. If you’ve checked out any of the content that I’ve been posting you will likely have noticed that it is all centered around “Social Selling.” What you may not know is why this increase in my activity has taken place. Here’s my story for anyone out there that’s interested.

Two weeks ago I started a new job as a Principal (and soon to be Sales Trainer) at a small but rapidly expanding online sales training organization named Sales for Life. Sales for Life has quickly become a global leader in social selling training as well as a helpful resource to sales reps and managers, like myself, that have found it difficult to continually meet their growing sales targets. Basically, Sales for Life can train you to be a social seller.

Continue reading “My First 2 Weeks as a Social Seller: 500% More LinkedIn Profile Views”
Categories
#S4LSocial Blog

#S4LSocial Twitter Chat: The Cold Calling Conundrum

Cold Calling
During a recent conversation with a veteran sales representative, the issue of cold calling arose. “It’s just not working anymore,” the sales rep said with frustration. “There’s got to be a better way.”

There IS a better way. Learn great tips how to leverage Social Selling and come in from the cold during our weekly #S4LSocial Twitter chat, which continues every Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET.

Continue reading “#S4LSocial Twitter Chat: The Cold Calling Conundrum”
Categories
Blog sales training Social Selling Social Selling in 60 Seconds

Social Selling Workshops Suck (Video)

LinkedIn WorkshopsHave you been training your sales reps in face-to-face 1/2 day or full-day LinkedIn workshops? STOP! FAIL!

There will be NO retention after 2 weeks.

You need to think about social selling as an evolution to selling. Learning social selling requires more than just half a day or one day of LinkedIn training through a workshop. You need to serve your tips, tricks and tactics in digital bite-sized chunks to your sales teams so they can better retain and digest them.

Watch the video below to find out more.

Continue reading “Social Selling Workshops Suck (Video)”
Categories
Blog Social Selling

Cold Calling and Its ULTIMATE Demise

Cold Calling’s Ultimate Demise

Cold calling’s ultimate demise will be because of the universal law called the Law of Cause and Effect. In blunt terms, this means for every action there will be a reaction.

Our Actions Haven’t Been Good

When the telephone became the primary tool for prospecting in B2B sales, I’m sure none of us could have really imagined that it would end up here. The medium of talking by phone is certainly not dead, but how it’s being used (and abused) today will cause its demise!

Do you agree that we’ve abused cold calling? Even though our collective intention hasn’t been to harass and bother people, what do you think has resulted?

The answer is fairly obvious: YES!

Continue reading “Cold Calling and Its ULTIMATE Demise”