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You Can't See Growth Looking Only Inside the Business
You can run a company from inside the four walls.
You can't grow it well from inside the four walls alone.
Strong operators tend to know their businesses exceptionally well. They understand their people, processes, customers, financials, sales performance and operational constraints.
“We need more leads” (and what must come first)
Fri, Aug 27, 2021 — A client’s desire for “More leads from Marketing" is often the impetus for our firm’s engagements. We’ve learned that “more leads” can be great. If. There’s something that companies need beforehand, or “More leads” won’t do much good.
Focusing Your Sales Force During an Economic Downturn
Thu, Oct 1, 2020 — By Aurora Toth and Ann Anderson During times of business volatility, companies are forced to make quick decisions about how to deploy their resources – financial and human. While we acknowledge that Sales is an expensive function within an organization – it is a critical one. Times of crisis provide an opportunity to look at how the salesforce is deployed, where it creates the largest impact, areas you may be missing and how to either refine or completely redesign Sales to achieve your business objectives. My colleague, Ann Anderson is the founder at Retail Partner Solutions. Ann has spent 25+ years partnering with America’s largest retailers such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Barnes & Noble, Sam’s Club, Costco and more to help CPG brands thrive in-store and on store shelves.
Top 5 Actions to Positively Impact Financials that CEOs of Mid-Sized Companies Can Do Now
Thu, Aug 20, 2020 — Co-Authored by Aurora Toth, CMO, Chief Outsiders and John Morris, Partner, B2B CFO We are well past the initial shock that first accompanied the onset of COVID-19, and the ensuing economic downturn. At this point, many CEOs realize that coping strategies need to evolve. So how does a company move forward without increasing financial risk while focusing on future growth? My colleague, John Morris, a Twin Cities-based Fractional CFO with B2BCFO and I recently talked about how we are counseling our clients on this key topic, particularly in light of the still-uncertain future. John offered up five immediate actions CEOs of mid-sized companies should be taking to ensure their companies are set up for financial success.
What You Should Do About “The 80%”
Wed, Jul 8, 2020 — Co-Authored by Kimberly Miller, CMO, Chief Outsiders and Chris Dohl, President, The Alias Group The conventional wisdom of the 80/20 rule is that 80% of your company sales come from 20% of your customers. If you believe that, then you might believe that those top 20% of customers would guarantee success. And from an operational standpoint, maybe the 80/20 rule could turn into the 20/80 rule, meaning that those 20% of customers should take up 80% of your sales team’s efforts. Now more than ever, businesses should be appreciative of their entire customer base—not just the top 20%. The 2020 coronavirus lockdown has shown us that diversity in service and product offerings and diversity in clients and prospects helps any business weather the storm.
The Traditional Marketing and Sales Funnel is Dead. Welcome the Intelligent Sales Pipeline™!
Mon, May 6, 2019 — Improving Your Lead Generation and Qualification Processes Mark Coronna, Area Managing Partner & CMO, Chief Outsiders with Jeff Parris and Daniel Steyn, Fractional Sales Executives, Sales Xceleration Sometimes we take certain business models for granted. The model of a “funnel” to represent a sales pipeline is certainly one example. Dusting off its past, a gentleman named E. St. Elmo Lewis is generally given credit for initiating the idea of a funnel in 1898. The author is also credited for introducing the first formal theory of Marketing. It would be amazing that a model like a funnel would still find relevance 120 years later. There have been previous attempts at calling the funnel “dead.” In a 2016 article in Marketing Week, Mark Ritson declared that “If you think the funnel is dead, you have mistaken tactics for strategy.”
The New Sales Funnel: How to Revitalize Your Messaging to “Wow” Today’s Consumer
Mon, Dec 11, 2017 — For sales-driven organizations, 2017 marked the year that the baton was finally – and permanently – passed to the consumer. This was the year, it was declared, that all of the growing technology megatrends finally gave the consuming public the upper hand in the relationship with marketers. This means that, despite all of the efforts and resources we’ve invested into outbound sales and marketing efforts, heretofore, we’re simply going to find ourselves several paces behind an educated and savvy buying public.
Take the “Path to Closure” to Ensure Forecast Accuracy Success
Tue, Jan 17, 2017 — Only a half a generation ago, we thought we had it made, technology-wise. Getting onto the World Wide Web was as easy as loading up the latest CD mailer from America Online; and we were able to send important messages to beeping little black boxes that resided on our belt clip or purse strap. We truly had it made – or so we thought.
Enabling the Sale: How to Handle Requests for Customer References Without Losing Momentum
Thu, Sep 8, 2016 — Sales and marketing in the B2B space is ever-evolving, often disrupted with new technologies or strategies that revolutionize traditional processes. Sales enablement is a relatively new concept in the B2B sales industry, one that refers to the utilization of training, tools, metrics and marketing alignment to maximize a deal’s potential and close it faster, no matter the product or service.
The Art of the Sale: How to Conquer Your Prospect’s Objections and Close the Deal
Wed, Jul 20, 2016 — The face of sales has certainly changed, hasn’t it? When I started my career, the best sales reps were traditionally hired by large companies, and trained to execute a strategic sales process, using a specific methodology. Like soldiers in a battalion, each sales rep knew their role, was aware of the various possible strategies, and was armed for each deal with the scripts and insights necessary to succeed.