Sales

How I Outsourced My Non-Core Sales Tasks

By Chris Hamilton - May 16, 2013 - 11 Comments

As a small business owner and also the person who is responsible for the sales for my company, it is important that I focus on sales tasks that generate revenue. One day, I stopped and looked at all the different sales tasks I was doing and realized that I was doing stuff that took away from … Read More

How to Use Knowledge to Connect to Your Customer

By Jennifer Shaheen - Mar 26, 2013 - 5 Comments

Knowledge is dead. Have you heard this? It’s a meme making the rounds in marketing circles right now. This happens periodically, when advances in technology make accessing information easier, faster and less expensive than it was previously. It creates a type of existential angst in the … Read More

Know Thyself: How Self-Awareness Impacts Your Sales

By Diane Helbig - Mar 21, 2013 - 2 Comments

Sales is about relationship building. Gone are the days of explaining, cajoling and persuading people to buy what you have to sell. With competition greater than it’s ever been, salespeople are well served to pay attention to themselves, how they are feeling, what they need and how they … Read More

3 Sales Lessons From The Presidential Election

By Al Davidson - Mar 1, 2013 - 1 Comment

Another U.S. Presidential election campaign has come to a close and the political analysts and statisticians have sifted through the results and the data. Many interesting trends and facts have shaped our understanding of why Americans voted the way they did. This analysis is already being used … Read More

Google Ecommerce Play: Search Giant Acquires Channel Intelligence

By Anita Campbell - Feb 11, 2013 - 2 Comments

Google recently announced it is acquiring Channel Intelligence, an ecommerce data service, for $125 million. Google says it wants to improve the online shopping experience for both merchants and shoppers. How good the acquisition will be for small merchants and consumers remains to be … Read More

20 Tricks of the Trade to Develop Superior Customer Service

By Valentine Belonwu - Jan 24, 2013 - 26 Comments

Every brand has a mandate to attract new customers at all times. Indeed, attracting new customers is one sure way to guarantee funds without going bankrupt. Everyone has an opinion about the way their customers feel towards them. The more you show that you care about your customer, the more … Read More

Upselling: Run Your Business Like the U.S. Postal Service and Thrive

By Dave Lavinsky - Jan 20, 2013 - 3 Comments

In any list of companies and organizations to emulate, you certainly will not see the United States Postal Service. In fact, it was recently reported that the USPS is losing $25 million per day. However, on a recent visit to my local post office, I saw one thing the USPS was doing very well: … Read More

6 Surefire Ways to Get Business Referrals

By Chris Hamilton - Jan 17, 2013 - 10 Comments

Word has it that 66% of all sales are through word of mouth, but only 18% of sales representatives and companies have a formalized process for business referrals. There is another way to look at this statistic: Are you part of the 82% who are going after the 34% of sales that are not influenced … Read More

Maximizing Sales With Existing Clients

By Chris Hamilton - Jan 2, 2013 - 10 Comments

A lot of attention is placed on the modern business development model in obtaining new customers, but an equally important part that is often neglected is how to maximize your current customers. These two items work hand in hand to help you bring in new revenues, but because the latter is often … Read More

Sales Lessons From The 2012 Election

By Diane Helbig - Nov 13, 2012 - 6 Comments

What I am about to say is not a political statement. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I look at the results of the 2012 election through the prism of business and sales practices. To me, there are stark lessons that can be learned by sales people and small business owners. Let’s start … Read More

Step Away from the Megaphone and Listen to Your Customers

By Curt Finch - Nov 7, 2012 - 5 Comments

One of the greatest questions in the age of the interactive web 2.0 is: “Given the new technology at my fingertips, how do I use these tools to improve customer experience?” Certainly, there are enough widgets, applications, social buttons, and the like to allow your customers to interact … Read More

Ways to Reduce Your Sales Stress

By Al Davidson - Nov 4, 2012 - 7 Comments

Every customer hates the feeling of being pressured into buying something – you can hear the urgent neediness in a sales person’s voice when they’re desperately trying to close a deal, whether or not you’re receptive to the offer. Sales neediness comes from a place of stress. When a sales … Read More