“The social revolution is a trust revolution.” This statement appeared on the 9th slide of Marc Benioff’s opening keynote, “Business is Social,” during his kickoff of Dreamforce 2012 last week. It followed some compelling statistics proving that the trends toward social media adoption in business are undeniable: 1.3 Trillion in value can be unlocked through…
I just finished reading Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. Most of us already know if we tend toward introversion or extroversion based on whether we feel drained or energized after networking events, days full of meetings, or even dinners out with friends. If you want…
McKinsey is arguably the best known and respected management consulting brand in the world. Their customers share that distinction: they are the Fortune 100, the largest and most recognized global companies. As owner and founder of a 20-year-old consulting business, I looked forward to interviewing Jon Vander Ark, who co-leads McKinsey’s Sales practice and is…
If you are building a new inside sales team or expanding an existing one, you know that recruiting good people can feel about as easy as qualifying for the Olympics. Most companies’ job postings sound alike: they seek to hire sales development /lead generation reps or quota-carrying inside sales professionals with at least 3-5 years…
Oscar-nominated film, Moneyball, starts with this quote by superstar Mickey Mantle: “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.” Are your sales veterans saying the same thing about selling? How open are they to change in order to improve their performance? As I watched this film (like…
Existing customers may be fastest route to ROI Guest Post by Brent Holloway Ever hear salespeople referred to as hunters and farmers? Hunters “hunt” for new business outside the fold; i.e.: they convert prospects to customers. Farmers till the soil within, growing revenues from existing customers. It’s easy for companies to be enamored with their…
What business leaders can learn from this often controversial, industry-changing man. As Marc Benioff’s first manager at Oracle (more years ago than I care to mention), I was like a proud Mom watching him dazzle the crowd at Dreamforce this year. Once teacher, now eager student, I filled my MacBook Air and Twitter stream with…
Still think Social Selling is a lot of hype? While large and small companies alike continue to puzzle over the impact of social media on sales, these giants in our industry are here to say it’s here to stay. What giants? IBM and Microsoft. And they have the stories to back it up. A few…
Think you have a pretty good handle on common inside sales practices? Let’s see how your knowledge compares with results just published from our 2011 Inside Sales Metrics Survey. Questions What’s the industry average number of inside sales reps per manager? What’s the average ramp time for new IS reps? Did high-performing companies – those…
Brent Holloway is one of my favorite people, as co-author of Sales 2.0. He is Regional Sales Director, Witness Actionable Solutions at Verint Systems Inc. As a top notch, get-it-done sales leader, when Brent shares some advice, we all do well to stop and listen. Let’s listen now to what he has to say about…