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BOLD GROWTH: FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LEADERS
Here’s How Not to Follow Up with Your Sales Leads
As someone who loves to learn stay current on sales and leadership, I’m usually immersing myself in an ebook, white paper, or webcast. In today’s world of content marketing, thought leaders publish these pieces to stay in the forefront of our minds and establish their credibility. Of course, lead generation is another benefit of content marketing. Every time we download content, we add ourselves to that company’s lead-gen list. What happens next requires a delicate balance. Not too long ago, I wrote about lack of follow up and what it can do to the sales process. I think we can all agree no follow up leads to no sales. But over-aggressive and poorly-timed follow up doesn’t reflect well upon you or your business either. Recently, a member of my team downloaded a free ebook. It was her first contact with the company. Within hours, before she even had a chance to open the ebook, she received a call about...
How You Can Become a Strategic Advisor to Your Clients
Growing up, I remember watching the television commercials for the financial firm EF Hutton. “When EF Hutton talks, people listen,” the famous tagline proclaimed. (I may have just dated myself a bit with that memory.)As I’m researching for my upcoming book, The Modern Seller, that phrase comes to mind. How can we, as modern sellers, ensure that our clients and prospects will stop to listen to us in this busy world with a million messages and distractions a minute? Even more, how can we influence them to take action toward a different result?One way is to elevate beyond a typical sales person and “order taker,” transitioning to a strategic advisor.As the title indicates, a sales pro who is a strategic advisor is strong on strategy. They know their solutions, of course, but their knowledge extends well beyond to include the latest industry and business trends. They’re strong listeners who seek to solve...
6 Tips for Being a Better Leader from Successful CEOs
The latest Columbus Chamber CEO Insights event featured Yaromir Steiner, founder and CEO of Steiner & Associates, and Denny Gerdeman, chair and founder of Chute Gerdeman. These two seasoned retail leaders shared their experiences in the industry, how Columbus has grown into a retail mecca of talent and innovation, and what the future might hold for retail. As I was listening to them, it occurred to me that these lessons are also very relevant to modern sellers and leaders in any industry. While a few of them are tried and true, some may surprise you. Your reputation will be remembered. You never know where your connections and work quality may lead, or come full circle. For example, Yaromir was part of the 1990 CocoWalk design – think of it as an early version of...
A Modern Seller’s Response for Success
I live in the heart of Buckeye Country, and it's a bit of a given to watch and learn from all things Ohio State. (I promise, only one football reference.) Since he arrived in Columbus, Head Football Coach Urban Meyer has set himself and his team apart. In fact, one of the essential focus areas of his program is leadership development for the team. Meyer will frequently mention the formula they share with the players: E + R = O. Or "Event + Response = Outcome." This is a philosophy developed by leadership expert Tim Kight. The basics of E + R = O means that while I can't always influence an Event or an Outcome, I'm in total control of my Response. I get to choose how I show up. This same concept can be applied in sales, as well as on the field. As a Modern Seller, what does the way you respond say about you? And how does it affect your sales performance? In any given day, we have hundreds of interactions....
The Top Three Blog Posts on Selling
I’ve been involved in B2B sales in a corporate environment and as an entrepreneur for my entire career, and I’ve started blogging on this topic a little more recently. In that time, I’ve shared my sales performance strategies here, as well as with ATD, Training Industry, and Selling Power. A few weeks ago, I shared the most visited leadership blogs on our site. Today, let’s look at the top three Impact blogs on selling. Six Strategies to Maximize Sales Results Last fall, I teamed up with two other sales thought leaders to create this six-part series. We cover critical strategies like developing a growth mindset, improving your pipeline, and selling to the C-suite. We also packaged this into an ebook – make sure to pick up your copy. For Lead Generation, the Magic is in the Follow Up When you launch a lead generation campaign, do you have plans in place for follow up? In this post, I discuss a recent sales...
Are these myths threatening your sales?
The world is changing. As a sales professional, are you adapting?I'm honored that Selling Power has published my new article, Four Selling Myths You Need to Know. In it, I share signs of a modern seller and address four myths that may be plaguing your department and threatening your sales.I invite you to read it on Selling Power now. You'll learn how a modern selling approach will deliver better results to your organizations and your customers.And for more strategies to strengthen your sales, download our ebook.
Four Lessons to Improve Your Sales Prospecting
Prospecting is one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) activity we undertake in selling. Especially when you’re at the beginning – as a new entrepreneur, growing a new market, or taking on a new sales role. In Fanatical Prospecting, author Jeb Blount shares this thought, and it has stuck with me: “In any endeavor, success is paid for in advance with hard work. In sales, success is paid for in advance with prospecting.” Prospecting, or building new relationships and leveraging existing ones to grow your business, must be part of your modern selling toolkit. This post shares four strategies to help you and your sales team enhance your prospecting efforts. Lesson 1. Consider specialization. Unless you’re in a very specific territory or vertical, the choices are pretty limitless when it comes to who we can prospect. When we have too many choices, it’s easy to become paralyzed with where to start. Those who...
How to Look and Sound Like a Modern Seller
What impression are you making with your prospects and clients? A few weeks ago, I explored how our actions can impact sales. Today, let’s consider the importance of visual and verbal presence for the modern seller. Do you dress the part of a leader and professional? What does your physical presence exude? What you say is important, too. Every communication, verbal or written, is an opportunity to showcase how well you organize your thoughts and articulate yourself. How do you sound? Look Ahead You’ve heard it before. The first time people meet us, they form a judgment about us with lightning speed. One research study cited about 250 milliseconds. Those judgments of initial credibility and trust are based on appearance. That’s a...
Our Top Leadership Development Blog Posts
When I think about where I want to make the most impact through my work, it’s hopefully inspiring you to be your best leader, and providing ideas you can put into practice to help you get there. It’s my goal to continually publish fresh and valuable leadership content for you and our community of readers. To that end, I’m always looking at our analytics as one measure of what’s connecting with you. I've been writing about leadership development for nearly a decade, so there's lots of material to consider. Today I’m sharing three of my top-rated leadership development blog posts. Inspiration is the Spark that Elevates You and Your Team Have you ever had someone in your life that makes you feel as if there’s nothing you can’t do? Someone who moved you to be more and do more than you ever thought possible? That’s inspiration... it can be hard to describe, but we know it when we feel it, and we know it when...
Two Hours + Four Conversations = The Power of Connections
Few things in business and life are as powerful as a strategic connection. This week I’ve had the opportunity to create new connections with four interesting, diverse, intelligent, and engaging people – and all from different parts of the world. We talked about topics ranging from board service, to team cultures, to how do we get more women into sales and leadership roles. The paths to these connections were as diverse as the people themselves. Some traditional introductions from colleagues. Some via social media. But the connections had something in common, too. I left each conversation with a renewed sense of energy and fresh ideas – knowing there are so many thought leaders using their creativity to solve challenges and inspire. This set of conversations reminds me of what fuels me – connections with others and sharing ideas. Few things in business and life are...
Our Strategic Selling signature sales training program is now available online. This online sales learning program is ideal for professional services and B2B sales. Get started with 2 free lessons.
