Business Growth Blog

(Note from Krista: Yes, those are my dogs and they are giving me their full attention. And no, I wasn't showing them a presentation, but you get the idea. 🙂 I couldn't resist using this pic on this post! Now on to Julie's article… )

While there is a wealth of information on how to put together a good PowerPoint deck for your sales presentation — right down to the number of words and size of font on each slide, little attention is given on how a presenter can interact with those PPT slides in order to ensure his or her message resonates with the audience.

What's the best way to stay relevant in this ultra-fast changing world of sales? In this article, I'm going to share with you a little bit about my journey developing my inbound sales and marketing craft and the absolute best sales resource ever...

As soon as I finished my teaching certificate I got my first...sales job. (Classroom teaching wasn't for me.) I didn't really know anything about sales except that I liked educating people about how to solve their problems (the teacher in me I guess) and as with most salespeople, I liked "being on the road" and "making what I'm worth".

Most websites are set up for prospects near the end of the sales cycle. They're focused on driving prospects to "contact" the company in some way (demo, trial, consultation, etc.). But, not everyone that comes to your site is ready to jump actively into the sales process. They just want more information about their problem and possible solutions. They want to self-educate so that when they do end up talking to a salesperson, they can feel more confident about what is going on.

If you're not providing content that's aligned with all the stages prospects go through to make a purchasing decision, you're limiting your opportunities and opening the door for your competitors to snatch up good potential customers.

Read more to see an example of how to align your website content with each stage of the sales cycle.

There’s a widening gap between the way prospects buy, and companies sell. Prospects are using Internet research to self-educate through the first two-thirds of the sales process, but the majority of corporate websites and marketing strategies are entirely focused on the late stages of the sales cycle. Unfortunately, this approach puts companies at a huge disadvantage.

Read more to find out how to position your website and marketing strategies so you can engage prospects as early as possible in the sales cycle, have more influence over their buying decision, and get on their short list of potential vendors.

As salespeople, we send out a lot of sales prospecting emails. We spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find just the right words to encourage potential customers to engage with us. It's tough.

I continue to be amazed at the technology that allows us to dramatically increase our ability to engage with the right prospects at the right time in the right way.

This is a true story about how a company’s website design almost cost them a deal with a Fortune 500 company. (Names and company have been changed to protect privacy.)

Sam, a salesperson (whom we’ll call Seller Sam), had a meeting with Bill, a contact from a Fortune 500 company (whom we’ll call Buyer Bill). The meeting was going great - until Buyer Bill went to Seller Sam’s company website.

So, you have a list of potential customers you want to contact. The problem is, they have no idea who you are.

How are you going to take them from not knowing anything about you to wanting to meet you to learn more about your products and services?

That was my biggest struggle for years. I’m pretty relentless when it comes to prospecting. While many salespeople give up after a few tries, I have no problem contacting them 10 times over a period of time.

I just never knew what I should say when I picked up the phone or typed up that email. It was agonizing. Literally.

This may sound a little melodramatic, but my whole life changed when I read Jill Konrath’s bestselling sales book Selling to Big Companies. In that book, she spoke directly to the angst I was feeling and offered a way out. In it, she said:

Salespeople are on the front lines interacting with prospects and customers all day long. They should be driving what content marketing creates for lead generation. I recently did and generated about 70 sales leads in one month. Here’s an example of how I did that:

Content Idea Generated Through Sales

One of my customers recently asked me if I had a blog template or some resources to help him start writing articles. I do have a solid process for that of course, but it wasn’t a resource I made available online. I have a ton of articles on my website about blogging as well, but none of them are the actual “process.”

These 2 sales prospecting tools can be very powerful in helping you secure meetings and close deals. Personally, I think they’re game-changing.

Here's the truth: If you aren't setting sales appointments, you're not going to get new customers!

Doesn't sound like brain surgery, I know. But getting appointments is, to me, the hardest part of sales. There are 3 types of new potential customers we're trying to reach:

1. Leads: Someone that knows they have a problem, has been researching solutions, and wants to learn more about how you can help them.
2. Referrals: Someone that received positive information about you from a mutual connection. They know they have a potential problem and are interested in learning more about how you can help them.
3. Prospects: Someone you think would be a good fit for your products or services, but they don't know anything about you.