The Competitive Advantage

October 8, 2019

Setting 2020 Sales Goals? That Big Revenue Number is NOT Enough!

For those firms that take the time to set annual sales goals, they generally think in terms of a BHAG… a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal! That is, “What lofty revenue number can we achieve next year?” And that’s fine. Employees need that target to work toward. To inspire and drive them.

In fact, it was about this time, last year, that I wrote a blog post on how to set those annual sales goals. Click Here to read it.

But those big goals are not enough!

September 24, 2019

Not sure what sort of customer experience you deliver? Just ask!

Here’s a short [true] story about an incredibly effective way to understand what sort of ‘customer experience’ your firm is delivering to the marketplace…

We subscribe to a webinar platform called WebinarNinja… and have been a client of theirs for just under three years. It’s proven to be a very good platform for our webinar program and workshops. WebinarNinja is one of those fast-growing tech companies, led by a sharp and energetic leader. In this case, his name is Omar Zenhom.

One of the risks when running a growing company is getting pulled in a lot of different directions and, as a result, slowly becoming ‘distanced’ from your clients. Losing touch with them. Getting so wrapped up in dealing with all of that other ownership and management ‘stuff,’ that you become disconnected from what made you successful in the first place… those clients.

September 17, 2019

Hard selling inside of LinkedIn? Stop it, stop it, stop it!

I love LinkedIn… and I hate it!

It is, by far, the best platform for connecting, communicating and sharing information in the B2B environment. It is also abused far too often and by far too many people. Let me share with you a recent true story of how NOT to use LinkedIn.

September 10, 2019

The 5 Strategic Questions You Must Answer for Success in 2020

The end of 2019 is in sight. And as it nears, wandering minds turn to the future… and what’s going to happen next year.

As a result, over the next few months, many firms will convene their annual gathering around the conference table and talk about what they want to do in 2020 to grow their business. Unfortunately, these meetings seem to end the same way every year, with a bold directive from the boss… something like, “We want a 20% increase in sales next year… now go get ‘em!” And while that might rally the troops a little (though, I doubt it), it doesn’t provide any real direction or guidance for making that happen.

September 2, 2019

3 Easy, No-Cost Ways to Upgrade Your Website

When was the last time you made some major enhancements to your website? Or even just a few simple edits? Did you create your website and then just let it sit there like a print ad in a magazine… or do you treat like it what it really is – the most important element in your entire marketing & sales effort?

If it’s been a while since you’ve spruced up your website, now’s the time… as you start thinking ahead to the new year (and the new decade). To help you get started, here are 3 easy ways to upgrade your website… and it won’t take very long or cost much (if any) money.

August 27, 2019

Former Clients: A New Path to Growth?

In a meeting, recently, with a couple of leaders from our industry, we fell into a discussion about the state of “sales” in our industry. During our chat, one of them mentioned that a new sales rep at his firm – someone from outside of the industry, interestingly – managed to put several hundred thousand dollars of potential new business into her pipeline in just her first few months of employment!

I was blown away! That is absolutely unheard of. To reach level of success… that quickly… especially by an industry outsider. What was her secret?

August 20, 2019

Want to host a GREAT sales meeting? Follow this blueprint.

Recently, I had the pleasure – and privilege – of being hired by Merrill Dubrow, President & CEO of M/A/R/C Research, to be a guest presenter at his national sales meeting in Dallas. The other guest presenter was Ryan Barry with Zappi, so I was in pretty good company.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been part of such a well-organized, educational and enjoyable sales meeting. And while I wasn’t there for the entire event, what I did see provides a solid model for how to structure and host an effective sales meeting.

August 6, 2019

Do you speak the “language of sales?”

We’re two weeks into the inaugural 3-week Seller-Doer Workshop… and with 30+ participants, I couldn’t be more pleased (or grateful).

In these first two weeks, we’ve covered a number of topics related to general selling philosophies, acquiring new clients and maintaining & growing existing clients. But the one topic that seems to have generated the most group discussion is the “language of sales.”