Are you selling the benefits of your product? For years as a sales trainer, I preached the acronym FAB (Feature Advantage Benefit.) Too often, sales and marketing concentrate on the features of their product or service (what it is), not considering what, if anything, the feature means to the consumer. Some took it further and [...]
Your organizations success or failure could ride on these 10 social media mistakes. It's no secret that social media can be an effective marketing tool for business. Businesses are losing market share to competitors who use social media more effectively. If you don't want to lose customers to socially savvy competition—avoid these common mistakes. Ten [...]
What makes a successful sales relationship? Whether your job title includes “sales” or not — you’re in sales. Everyday, you attempt to persuade and influence the decisions of others. This includes peers, subordinates, bosses, customers, prospects, friends, and family. Just because sales isn't in your title doesn't mean you’re not a salesperson — so don’t [...]
While conducting a meeting with front-line managers at a small business, I said, "The customer is not always right." One of the leaders of the company disagreed with me. I asked him if a customer ever asked for products or services that wouldn't help them, anything unethical or illegal, or demanded work not in the [...]
What a business shouldn't share on social media should not come as a surprise. Social media rules for business are the same for any media a company uses, not only SM. There is no one size fits all formula that fits the needs of every business. However, there are some basics, and they begin with [...]
Instead of Top "Ten Social Media Marketing Mistakes", I almost titled this post “MY Top Ten Social Media Marketing Mistakes” because although I haven’t made every one of these—I've come close. I’ll take that further; I continue to make mistakes, which gives me the opportunity to learn. Ain't it great? Every day I’ll see someone [...]
Would you buy from you? It's a good question. Unfortunately, it's not one that most businesses consider. However, businesses are richly rewarded when they take the time to think about how their processes affect their customers. It's a step towards becoming a customer-centric organization, a better company with a loyal customer base. So, would you [...]
There are a bazillion articles, tutorials, analyzers, and videos on how to write an elevator pitch — so why one more? I have a slightly different perspective, which I’ve found to be successful. The elevator pitch (EP) theory is, when introduced, there is very little time to capture someone’s attention. How to Write an Elevator Pitch The [...]
So, who makes a good salesperson? I googled this question and got over 6 million results. And, as it’s easy to do, I floated off to the blog-o-sphere, happily reading away, away, away. Is there an echo in here? Much of what I found was as I expected. I didn't expect the general opinion to [...]
Are your sales and marketing on the same page? Are you certain? When sales and marketing work together, forming one team with collective goals based on mutually beneficial outcomes and driven by shared activities, they reach their goals and more. Does that sound like your sales and marketing teams? Do your sales and marketing teams [...]
