Sales 2.0

Off-Road vs On-Road Prospecting

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Prospecting is hard. There’s no need to make it even harder.

I’ve run dozens of experiments over the years on how to get through the door and start working with a new account. In every experiment, I’ve found that the number one factor that influences a successful outcome has been a human relationship.

The smartest piece of content has never beaten a warm introduction from another person. In my own experiments, I’ve found a referral of any kind (not necessarily from a client) to be 3.25 times more effective than a cold approach (based on time spent–it’s even more effective in terms of conversion rates.)

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Reps need to self-source leads

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According to recent research from SalesLoft best-performing senior salespeople (like Account Exectuives) need to self-source around 48% of their pipeline–rather than having leads come from a sales development rep (BDR, SDR etc.) or inbound via the efforts of their marketing department.

This uptick in the need for AEs to self-source deals has likely been driven by economics, the need to “do more with less”, but is I trend that may continue as AI tools free up AEs from admin tasks.

If AEs are going to self-source their deals, I believe they are going to have to be good at certain skills.

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The Money’s in the List

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“The money is in the list” is an old direct marketing adage going way back to the development of the envelope. Despite all the digital changes in in sales and marketing, if you’re running a business and trying to use outbound to grow it, the money is still in the list.

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Lost in the CRM forest?

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I recently had a conversation with a business owner about how to improve their CRM data. It’s a conversation I’ve had many times over the years.

It’s not that this business needs more data in its CRM or is missing an important prospect list. The CRM in question has plenty of contacts and accounts–think nearly a hundred thousand contacts. It’s that with this huge list of potential customers, the business is not actually easily able to sell. There is too much data and not enough useful information.

If you find yourself with a CRM that is full of data but not easy for you to use to make actual sales and nurture relationships, consider some of the following ways to organize it. Think of this like Marie Kondo for your CRM.

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Sales climate warming?

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We may be entering a “new, new era” of selling—an era that takes us back to good old-fashioned relationship selling.

Up to this point many of the tools available to sales teams have encouraged volume-based sales techniques, like mass emailing and cold calling. But as more and more salespeople use these tools, buyers have become inundated with low value communication. Inevitably connection rates and conversion rates have dropped quickly.

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