Are you aware of what data you should be measuring in the brave new world of ABM? Do you know what qualities companies value when hiring new salespeople? And how is a great restaurant experience like a perfectly executed sales pitch? This week’s Top Sales News from Emissary has all that and more.
Why You’re Not Closing Sales (And How To Fix It) (MarketJoy)
Stuck in a slump? Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us. Lost mojo can be found again, but it helps if you look for it instead of waiting for it to come back. Be proactive and check out how you can do to get you back to closing. We found the reminder about the power of collaborative words—and their list of 20 examples—particularly useful, and we’re already rewriting our next sales pitches to incorporate them.
Account-Based Marketing Metrics: What to Track and Why (CustomerThink)
Many aspects of Account-Based Marketing are still being defined—especially as far as what data we should be capturing. This CustomerThink piece has a great breakdown of eight such metrics, divided between pre-sale and post-sale, that you should be measuring throughout your sales funnel. They may be different than what you’re used to with more traditional approaches, so there’s lots of fantastic detail in here. Data nerds should absolutely dig in.
2018 Talent Sales Study (Miller Heiman Group)
Speaking of data we can nerd out on, this presentation has given us a lot to think about when it comes to how we hire salespeople. The historically low unemployment rate causes enough issues when it comes to hiring sales talent, and the attrition rate and lack of productivity that result from an unsuccessful hire only compounds the expense. Miller Heiman Group has lots of great data about the challenges of hiring great salespeople, along with insights on how you can put them in the best places to succeed after they’ve been hired.
The Account-Based Marketing One Team Approach: More Than a Catchphrase (CMSWire)
Sales Enablement: Is it Sales or Marketing? (Heinz Marketing)
Here’s a pair of point/counterpoint articles that discuss how the relationship between marketing and sales should work. The CMSWire folks (perhaps controversially) suggest that the marketing team takes the lead while sales follows and executes. On the flip side, the folks at Heinz Marketing insist that the best way for the sales team to thrive is for them to do the fronting. Of course, the best way for your organization depends on what works best for you, but we should always be thinking about how we can strengthen collaboration between both teams.
Fine Dining Serves Up a Great Example of Positive Sales Technique (People First Productivity Solutions)
The similarities between a great sales experience and a great dining experience is something we hadn’t thought of until we came across this, but so much about both matches up very well. From the opening presentation of the wine menu to the grand finale nightcap, your own sales pitch can parallel the upsells of the specials and sides at pretty much every stage. The next time you’re at a restaurant, pay closer attention to how the waitstaff is selling your meal and see if you can’t glean some new tips and tricks. The bolder among us may even try to match the stages of our sales pitch at our next client sales lunch with the waitstaff.
