Sales Prospecting Perspectives Weekly Recap - Week of January 31, 2024
It's officially the end of the first month of 2014. Was the new year all you thought it would be? Are you still keeping your New Year's resolutions? Are your sales and marketing teams surpassing the goals they set at the end of Q4? Now is a great time for some reflection on your sales and marketing plans. Look back on the statistics from this month compared to other years, and see how your teams are doing. We hope they're succeeding!
Here are a few of our favorite articles in sales and marketing this week:
- Data is at the heart of every B2B marketers' daily tasks: email campaigns, webinar invitations, whitepaper downloads, etc. However, there are many data management practices that these marketers are overlooking. Are you on the right track for creating qualified leads for your sales team?
- I know it's Friday, but it's never a bad idea to look ahead to Monday. According to a recent survey by Accountemps, 39% of HR managers said that Tuesday was the best day for their employees. Why not Monday, though? Monday should be just as productive as Tuesday. Fast Company shows us how.
- Do you market on multiple social media networks? Do you guest post on multiple websites? In this era, multichannel marketing is not an option; it should be the standard. Steve Kemish explains why at Marketing B2B.
- Every sales professional wants to learn how to build customer trust, the cornerstone to a healthy working relationship. Linda Richardson, featured on Salesforce, shows what she's learned about customer trust over the years and shares an excerpt from her book, Changing the Sales Conversation.
- I hope you're all geared up for the Superbowl this Sunday, as well! Here are some great nacho recipes from Heinz Marketing.
And here are the blogs from Sales Prospecting Perspectives this week.
Monday: On Monday, we published an excerpt from our new eBook, The Ultimate Inside Sales Prospecting and Mangement Success eBook. We focused on one chapter of the book: What Reporting Metrics Do You Use to Measure Your Inside Sales Team? We focused on five important categories and how to measure them: prospecting skills, information gathering skills, phone skills, work ethic, and competitiveness. For example, to measrue an employee's prospecting skills, measure your team members' Connect Rate, the amount of quality conversations your rep has in comparison to their call volume. Hopefully these metrics will help you assess the success of your inside sales team.
Tuesday: Craig wrote 5 Things I've Learned from Successful Inside Sales Managers on Tuesday. It's easy to approach your job as an inside sales manager with an air of superiority, but that might not yield the best results. Instead, Craig investigates how inside sales managers can maintain a healthy relationship with their team, even if there is a gap between millennials and Baby Boomers. His tips should help any inside sales manager motivate a team.
Wednesday: On Wednesday, guest blogger Jeff Shore shared advice for dealing with sales frustrations: Be Bold, Delete Your Frustration. The in-demand sales expert, author, speaker, and executive coach established a thought that many inside sales experts think: "We can't control this situation." Then, he dismantled it. We may not be able to control circumstances, but we can control our own situation; that is, we can control our reactions. Instead of being frustrated, identify what's frustrating you and do what you can to fix it. In this blog post, Jeff Shore offers an alternative to frustration: pursuing excellence in the face of it. It may be a bold move, but that is what Jeff Shore is all about.
Thursday: Finally, on Thursday, Megan wrote an article about B2B companies using a specific social media site: Why should a B2B Sales Company Have a Facebook Page? Megan highlights a few main points about her thoughts on this question. B2C doesn't have to own Facebook; B2B can be successful in this realm, too. B2B companies are more than a logo and a gerat reputation; they're also human, and a company Facebook page can offer a peek into the company culture within. Facebook is also a great platform for engaging with and listening to customers and prospects. Use Facebook to your company's advantage by following Megan's steps!
That's all for this week, Sales Prospecting Perspectives readers. What were your favorite sales and marketing articles this month?