Salespeople who don’t work for the low-cost provider in their arena often struggle with losing deals based on price. Prospects are only human, and no one likes to pay more when they could pay less. That’s why pricing in sales is one of the biggest barriers to purchase and a roadblock for many reps. This roadblock is particularly difficult to overcome in the world of high-ticket sales. What Are High-Ticket Sales? A high-ticket sale is the sale of an expensive product or service. Because of price resistance, closing a sale of a high-value but high-cost item often results in a longer sales cycle and requires a great deal of sales skill. While there are certainly steps you can take to win … [Read More...]

When the New Year has passed, and the excitement of your new resolutions or goals is dwindling, it can be challenging to stay motivated. How do you stay on the right track and make your goals a reality? Reignite your drive and excitement and give yourself an amazing gift — something that keeps on giving, all year long. Whether you’re working in-house for an organization or are a commission-only sales rep, you can take your performance to the next level (and ultimately make more money) by thinking of your efforts like a business. That means thinking of your efforts like a business: Who are you targeting, what are your performance goals, and how do you plan to achieve them? This year, give yourself the gift … [Read More...]

The way we interact with people is changing, both in our personal and professional lives. When we send text messages to friends and emails to colleagues, we expect a quick reply. And whether we’re instant messaging a co-worker or chatting with customer support on our favorite website, we often get a response instantly. Wouldn’t it be great if your sales team could connect with prospects in a similar way? No matter which stage of the sales lifecycle they’re in, 82% of consumers rate an “immediate” response as important or very important if they have a sales question. Live chat software allows salespeople to interact with website visitors as they’re exploring content or researching products. Plus, many live chat software options integrate with CRM databases where contact … [Read More...]

What’s on your schedule for today? Meetings. Meetings. And wait … let me guess, more meetings. If you’re a manager, salesperson, or individual contributor a portion of your day might even be spent scheduling meetings. This can take time, especially if you receive a “meeting declined” notification from a contact in response to your meeting invitation. The result? Lengthy email threads and back-and-forth messages will follow. Luckily, there are scheduling polls and survey tools that can speed up the scheduling process. Best Scheduling Polls and Survey Tools HubSpot Meetings Tool SurveyMonkey Zoom.ai Arrangr Doodle Xoyondo Calendly NeedToMeet Meetingbird Rallly These scheduling polls and survey tools will help you find the best time to meet. 1. HubSpot Meetings Tool Price: Free One solution to all the back-… [Read More...]

Every sales team needs sales strategies and initiatives. Moreover, a strong sales strategy plan creates the foundation for a cohesive, successful sales team and organization. Sales strategies and initiatives also align salespeople on shared goals and empower them to do their best work — keeping them happy and successful, too. In this guide, we’ll dig into some sales strategies and initiatives that helps you generate more leads and close more deals. Most strategies involve a detailed plan of best practices and processes set out by management. Different sales strategies work for different sales teams and industries. The most important component of choosing and implementing sales strategies is your customer. Let’s cover some popular sales strategies — including inbound sales. In addition to these, there are two primary … [Read More...]

Have you ever wondered how your email results compare to those in your industry? Or perhaps, what kind of open rates should you expect? Is your click rate above or below the industry average? Email deliverability is hard and there isn’t always a good way to know how you are doing or how to improve. This benchmark data is really valuable because it gives you a reference for how well you’re doing — and some indication of how to improve. Email Marketing Benchmarks Email marketing benchmarks provide you with useful information about the health of your email sends. Benchmarks allow you to see how your specific campaigns compare to the standards of your individual industry (Surprise! Each industry has different benchmarks). In turn, you can discover opportunities … [Read More...]

Sales forecasting can play a major role in your company’s success (and your own career development). Accurate sales forecasts allow salespeople and business leaders to make smarter decisions when setting goals, hiring, budgeting, prospecting, and other revenue-impacting factors. But despite the advantages, many sales leaders struggle to create sales forecasts that are anywhere near reality. We’ve compiled an in-depth guide to creating a trustworthy sales forecast — rather than a wish-cast. Read on to learn, and don’t miss the sales forecasting template we’ve included at the end. Managers use reps’ sales forecasts to estimate business their team will close. Directors use team forecasts to anticipate department sales. The VP of Sales uses department forecasts to project organization sales. These reports are typically shared with … [Read More...]

Implementing business processes can streamline the completion of any task, simple or complex. Processes can also make your employees more efficient, consistent, and accurate both in their roles and their interactions with customers. The benefits of processes in business apply to your sales department as well. A sales process that complements your business, sales representatives, customers, and products or services will allow you to boost conversions, close more deals, and ensure all of your reps are providing customers with positive and consistent experiences — no matter who they’re talking to. However, building a scalable and repeatable sales process can be tough, especially because every business, sales team, and target audience is unique. We’ve created this guide to help you. Below, you’ll find the best tactics to create … [Read More...]

In 2020, salespeople need to change the way they approach prospecting. First, work your inbound leads. Let your marketing team work the top of the funnel. You don’t have to call all the leads who are just looking for information or education — those leads need to be nurtured, and Marketing is the right team to do it. But what if you don’t have enough inbound leads? You still have to keep your pipeline full, so how do you create net new opportunities if your inbound leads are running dry? You warm call. What Is Warm Calling? Warm calling is connecting with a company that you’ve proactively identified as a good fit although they haven’t demonstrated an interest in your product or service yet. Based on your knowledge … [Read More...]

Let’s say your marketing team is crushing it. All the metrics they use to measure success are green. At the same time, your sales time is not feeling the effects of their efforts and are spending more time prospecting when they should be closing. What’s going on here? In many organizations, a disconnect happens between marketing and sales: The sales team says that leads coming in are unqualified. Marketing says the sales team just can’t close. There’s no system to tell warm from cold leads, high-value leads from low-value ones. There’s not even visibility into where the disconnect is occurring. Sound familiar? The first step toward rectifying your marketing and sales alignment is implementing sales development into your existing process. What Is Sales Development? Sales … [Read More...]