Smart Spots

In this Smart Spot, I share three Chrome extensions that help streamline the daily task of prospect research.

It's all about synchronicity. In case you missed it, we launched our Perpetual Growth Podcast recently. For our first episode, we invited Rachael Plummer who works in the HubSpot Partner Program to talk to us about the benefits of marketing and sales alignment, and the pitfalls of not moving in that direction. 

If you haven't already noticed, the sales paradigm is getting quite a shake up. It's theinevitable result of two factors: Google's prevalence and the advent of inbound marketing strategies.

At this stage in the game, companies need to begin thinking in terms of inbound sales, which has turned the legacy sales model upside down and sideways.

In the scholastic world, teachers have their pulse on students' performance by way of assignments, test results and overall points/grades. In the business world, we measure whether a sales team is working up to their potential by way of new conversions, completed sales and revenue.

Sales isn't the same, and it hasn't been for some time. The problem with the shifting landscape is that old paradigms are so ingrained into the fiber of sales culture that companies may be blinded by the fact that sales - like marketing - has moved from outbound to inbound methodologies.

The terms inbound sales and inbound marketing often go hand-in-hand. But anyonewho has worked in a company with designated sales and marketing teams knows the two don't always go hand in hand at all. The places where inbound sales and inbound marketing diverge can be a detriment to a company's bottom line if divergences aren't handled or supported effectively.

The phrase "inbound marketing" places all of the emphasis on marketing. That's a shame because inbound methods are as much about sales as they are about marketing. In fact, you could say inbound is really all about the sales because closing the sale is the ideal result of the hard work we put into our marketing strategy.

Before the internet, consumers relied more on salespeople for information about products and services. Today, it's a whole new ball game. 

Saves time - Check!

  Saves money - Check!

  Minimizes work loads - Check!

Yeah, yeah - you've heard it before. A CRM system is the be-all-and-end-all of qualified lead generation and online marketing. But, will it pick up the dry cleaning? Because that's when you'll finally sign up, right?

Feeling a bit dismayed about lagging sales stats? Don't let discouragement get the best of you.

Most likely, the right information isn't getting into the hands of your most qualified leads when they're most likely to spring into action.

Regardless of how much it's touted as "the next great solution," the idea of adopting a new system or way of doing business is almost always a turn off. Let's get real honest here, and admit that we're looking for an easy fix - not something that requires any significant learning curve, training time or instruction manuals.

In that way, we're just like our customers - wary of something new.

Perhaps that standard trend is the reason why so many companies avoid the CRM train. Sure, you want to save time in your sales process - but is paying a bunch of money - and spending a whole lotta energy - learning yet another system really going to do that? And, will that extra time and effort truly translate into a higher profit margin?

How often have you chosen not to try something new due to fear of the learning curve? And yet, so many of the most important skills we acquire in life - walking, running, reading, driving - are the result of our willingness to try something new.

Why, is it then, that we hedge when it comes to implementing new tools that will help us do a better job? And more efficiently too!?

Knock-knock. "Avon calling..."

Imagine the Avon Lady of yore's delight if she could spy on women in a household before knocking on their door. Perhaps Ms. Avon would notice one reading all she can on the art of perfectly shaped brows for the brow-less, or catch another one holding samples of fabric up to her face, trying to determine whether she is a "fall" or a "summer..."

If you're a salesperson, you want to spend your work time selling. If you're a marketer, you want to spend your time creating the great content and images that bring the right leads to the sales department. Any moments spent in maintenance process - rather than direct selling or marketing process - detract from your success as well as the success of your company.

Historically, marketing emails were created - and sent - from the marketer's perspective. Sure, we valiantly attempted to figure out what our leads wanted to read, but the emails were still created and generated from the perspective of what we wanted to share about our products and services.

Are you on the fence about adopting a CRM system? You're not alone. We've found that most of our small and medium-sized business clients hedged for some time before finally taking the plunge - and that hedging makes sense. While CRM systems are touted for their ability to make sales easier - and more profitable - many business owners are wary.

We have all been in the position of being attracted to an item in a retail store. We pick it up … examine it … admire it … ask questions about it … then put it back on the shelf as the salesperson looks on in dismay. A perfect example of a lead to close ratio that is not working for the business owner.

As a business owner, I get my fair share of cold calls. You could even say I'm a sucker for them.  When they're done well, it interests me to hear the approaches and how people present themselves on the calls.

There is a lot of buzz these days about online lead generation and using websites to boost the bottom line of a business.  Exactly how should a website support closing more sales?