Business Growth Blog

When I talk to salespeople about blogging, I get the same response Bob Wiley gives Anna when asked about going sailing: “I've never blogged before; I don't think I can handle it!” The good news is that even though Bob is terrified, he has a great attitude and is willing to try.

Below are some blog ideas that can get you started. Hopefully, when you write a few of your own posts, you can be as excited about your accomplishment as Bob is about sailing!

One of the most popular things salespeople search for is information about how to write prospecting emails. And it’s no wonder: figuring out “what to say” to get a prospect interested enough in a conversation is HARD! There are a gazillion templates and ideas available out there to help kick-start your prospecting efforts. I decided to consolidate some of the best resources I’ve seen in one post.

One of the biggest problems businesses face is figuring out what to say to take a prospect from “Who the heck are you?” to “I want to do business with you!”

How do you get on your prospects’ radars and capture their interest? The first step is to clearly understand your buyer journey. The second step is to create and promote the type of information prospects need at each stage.

Getting sales meetings with new prospects is not easy. They have no idea who you are, are overwhelmed with work, can't imagine taking on another project, and are happy with the status quo. It takes tremendous effort to get prospects to understand the benefit of making a change and then get them to actually move forward with a new idea.

My friend Jill Konrath, sales strategist, speaker, and author of 3 bestselling sales books put a message on LinkedIn asking for people to submit sales limericks for a project she’s working on. It got my wheels turning, and I ended up coming up with something. Here it is!

Sellers are on the front lines talking to prospects and customers all day long. They have deep company and industry expertise and know what messaging elicits the best responses. If anyone understands what information will resonate with your ideal buyer persona, it’s them.

But too often, sales and marketing are not aligned, and sellers aren’t at the table when it comes to developing the corporate content strategy or lending their experience and expertise to the content creation process. Here are some ideas about how to get your sales team engaged in creating useful blog articles that prospects and customers want to read:

Many organizations are turning to sales enablement to ensure that sellers have the tools, processes, and content they need to meet the new demands of savvy buyers armed to the teeth with information. Here are some articles and resources that can help you deepen your understanding of sales enablement, determine if it’s right for you, and start formulating a plan for your organization.

Your sales team has a list of hot prospects to contact. The problem is - the prospects have never heard of your company or the salesperson. Should the seller write a letter, send an email, make a call? What the heck are they supposed to say?

Rather than struggling to start a sales conversation, there are ways to systemize the prospecting process to make it more efficient and productive. When done correctly, sellers will always have the right messaging at their fingertips to create account entry campaigns that get potential customers to take notice.

Warning: what I'm going to suggest is not a quick fix. It takes strategic thinking, time, and alignment between sales and marketing to pull it off. But if you commit to the process, your sales team will have more leads, more time to actually sell, and shorter sales cycles.

Here are 3 steps to simplify sales prospecting:

Good content and a superior website user experience will attract the most interest, generate the most leads, and gain the biggest market share.

Salespeople, by trade, are usually quite optimistic. We’re determined, visionaries, and persistent. That’s what makes us good, but it can also hold us back. Pursuing prospects takes a lot of time and energy, and going after the wrong people can dramatically inhibit company growth.

A friend of mine, Janice Mars, founder of SalesLatitude, gave me three simple questions that can help you quickly determine whether they are worth your time investment or not. The faster you can qualify prospects, the faster you can fill your pipeline with high-quality sales opportunities.