By Anneke Seley and Britton Manasco (This article originally appeared on Selling Power’s Sales Leadership Blog under a different title.) It’s been almost eight years since the publication of Sales 2.0 and the first Sales 2.0 Conference. Back then, we – along with Selling Power and the first sales productivity software developers – were among…
This is a guest post by Britton Manasco. CHICAGO–The world of Inside Sales continues to experience extraordinary growth. Once shuffled off to the corner and tarred with the term “telemarketing,” today’s Inside Sales professionals are proving to be an innovative and disruptive force on the corporate scene. Bob Perkins, founder of the AA-ISP, estimated the Inside…
A condensed version of this post appears this week on the SAP Sales Effectiveness blog, along with additional Big Ideas from Hank Barnes, Sales Benchmark Index, Dave Brock, Bob Apollo and the SAVO Group. We were asked to answer this question: “If you were having a conversation with a friend and they asked you for…
Anneke’s Note: This post is by my colleague John Philpin, who asks really thought-provoking questions. Enjoy! Have you ever thought about how caught up we get in titles and departments and naming things? For example, someone once described their role to me as follows … “Actually I am in Sales. Specifically Inside Sales. Well really…
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…