The Competitive Advantage

October 11, 2016

The Secret to Sales & Marketing Success? It’s Right in Front of You.

Maximize revenue growth by leveraging your sales database.

There are two kinds of sales prospects – those you know (and who know you) and those you have yet to meet. However, too many sales & marketing initiatives focus on trying to uncover more of the latter.

I submit, however, that the opposite (focusing on those you know) is a more efficient and more effective way to grow revenue.

Think of it this way… you’ve spent a ton of time, money and effort trying to increase the number of contacts in your sales database. Now it’s time to leverage all of that work.

September 21, 2016

Don’t ignore your ex-clients!

This week, I’m heading to Cincinnati to work with a new client for a couple of days. It’s a really nice shop and I’m excited by the opportunity. But they are not the only firm I’m visiting there. I’m making a sales call on a new prospect and reconnecting with an ex-client.

The good news about ex-clients is that they know you (and you know them) and there is an existing level of trust and credibility… something you don’t have with new sales prospects and an awfully good starting point for re-connecting (assuming the relationship didn’t end badly).

August 16, 2016

Listen up salespeople… “Your voice mail messages are AWFUL!”

Last Wednesday, I came back to the office to find a voice mail message on my office phone. It was one left by a sales rep (and I use that term loosely) who wanted to connect with me. Without giving away the firm, here’s the message…

After introducing herself, she said, “We have a lot of experience working with firms like yours. I’d appreciate the opportunity to have a short conversation to see if we might be of service to you.” Then she left her phone number and hoped I would call back. That was it.

We can debate the value of leaving phone messages, but here’s what happened (or didn’t happen)…

July 12, 2016

3 Proven Summer Sales Tactics

Summertime is often a slow time for businesses, in general… and for sales efforts, in particular. Clients and prospects are on vacation, their business is slow so they’re not in the buying mood, there are very few conferences and networking events scheduled this time of year and so on. So, what’s a sales rep to do, especially if they still have sales goals to achieve?

Below are three ideas to help minimize the summer doldrums and stir up some sales action…

May 10, 2016

Selling with email? STOP IT… your emails suck!

Every day, I receive emails from [pitiful, desperate, etc.] salespeople trying to sell me something. And as someone who has spent the better part of his 30-year career in sales and marketing, I can tell you that not only do these aggressive, high-pressure emails rarely work, they are generally so badly constructed and delivered that they have almost no chance of working.

So, for all of you salespeople – and more importantly, for your managers and business owners who just don’t have a clue – let me give you some guidelines for improving your chance of success when selling with email…

December 15, 2015

9 Proven Sales Tips to Try in 2016

One of my favorite sayings of all time is this: “If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’… you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’!” It applies to your business just as much as it applies to everyday life.

So, unless you’re 100% satisfied with the growth of your business in 2015, now is the time to think about trying something new in 2016. “Like what?,” you ask! Well, here are 9 sales tips to get your creative juices flowing and help you to increase revenue next year…

August 26, 2015

Seek first to help… then to sell

Last week was the inaugural Instant Impact™, a 1/2-day virtual workshop on marketing and sales in the market research industry. (By the way, it was awesome!) If there was an underlying theme to the event – although, interestingly, an unintentional one – it was this, “Seek first to help… then to sell.” And it applied equally to both the marketing and sales portions of the program.

This philosophy works for a lot of reasons…

June 20, 2015

Hiding in your booth? Really?!

I attended IIeX NA in Atlanta this past week… a very interesting event with a focus on technology and emphasis on the future of research. And attended by 750 people!

A gold mine for those companies exhibiting… or so you would think.