Blog


Dec

09

2013

Do you have an “Effective” Sales Enablement Strategy?

There is a lot of talk today around Sales Enablement, but there is also a lot of confusion as to what it is. I mean the name alone pretty much explains what it is, but let’s take a look at how it is defined. “Sales enablement is a strategic, ongoing process that equips all client-facing employees with the ability to consistently and systematically have a…

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Sep

26

2013
Keeping your Sales & Marketing teams Accountable

Keeping your Sales & Marketing teams Accountable

Where does accountability lie within your organization and how do you go about holding people accountable for their performance, or lack thereof? I know a lot of organizations have annual reviews that are conducted by HR or an immediate supervisor of how an individual is performing. Depending on the organization these can be very helpful and detailed or just fluff. It all depends on who…

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Aug

07

2013
Success is 90% Preparation, 10% Perspiration

Success is 90% Preparation, 10% Perspiration

We’ve all heard the adage “Success is 90% preparation and only 10% perspiration”. The great scientist Louis Pasteur once said, “Chance favors the prepared mind”.  This is an area that I believe needs to be addressed more effectively by sales people and the organizations they work for today. So, let me start by asking: Are your sales people as prepared and effective as they need…

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Jul

24

2013
Is your company message on target?

Is your company message on target?

This week’s blog post was influenced by a couple of different resources and both came from two different LinkedIn discussions. The first came from a link that Michael Cannon provided from some research that his Silver Bullet Group did called “Customer Communication Effectiveness Index” (www.silverbulletgroup.com/research). The second came from a link in a discussion that I currently have running in the Sales / Marketing Executives…

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Jul

18

2013
How Important is Sales Enablement to Your Organization?

How Important is Sales Enablement to Your Organization?

 What exactly is Sales Enablement anyway? Well, there are two really good definitions that I like to quote. The first definition is provided by the Forrester Group: “Sales Enablement is a strategic, ongoing process that equips all client-facing employees with the ability to consistently and systematically have a valuable conversation with the right set of customer stakeholders at each stage of the customer’s problem-solving life…

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May

17

2013
Time is Money

Time is Money

The old adage that “time is money” has never been more of an issue than it is today. Have you ever noticed how everyone wants things faster? I just heard that Samsung is going to introduce a new phone that is going to have 5G speeds. This is supposed to be 100 times faster than the 4G phones that are out there today. They said…

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Feb

27

2013

As Head of Marketing how do You Know What’s Working and What Isn’t?

 There are so many research reports that have been done from reputable organizations like Gartner Group, Aberdeen, Foresters, IDC, etc., regarding how marketing content and collateral just isn’t working. You have to wonder how the head of Marketing knows what’s working and what isn’t for their organization? Here are some examples: “62% of buyers said that content is either not relevant or not useful.” (IDC,…

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Aug

13

2012
Bridging the Sales & Marketing Disconnect is No Easy Task

Bridging the Sales & Marketing Disconnect is No Easy Task

I wanted to get back to this discussion because it impacts so many organizations. This isn’t a new problem, it is one that has existed for decades and there are no clear signs of remission despite many efforts to find a cure. One of the problems clearly is in how the two entities, Sales and Marketing, identify themselves and what they believe their mission is….

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Jul

27

2012
Why there is a Sales & Marketing Chiasm

Why there is a Sales & Marketing Chiasm

In my last blog post “Why Sales throws Marketing under the bus (and how you can avoid the fatalities)” it is clear that we struck a nerve that has a profound effect on a number of organizations. I got some great comments and feedback from a lot of you on your personal experiences in this area. So I wanted to delve a little deeper and…

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Jun

15

2012
“Be Prepared” is not just a Boy Scout Motto, but also a rule by which all great salespeople live by!

“Be Prepared” is not just a Boy Scout Motto, but also a rule by which all great salespeople live by!

Clearly one of the greatest challenges facing sales organizations today is making sure that their sales people are as prepared as they need to be to effectively win more business. We constantly hear reports from organizations like IDC, Aberdeen Group, Forrester Group, etc. that only 25% of prospects rate salespeople as being knowledgeable, effective, or prepared when they call upon them. 25% that means that…

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