“Why don’t you write up a proposal to [deliver whatever a prospective client is about to hire you or your agency to deliver to them] with a budget and send it over to me to consider?” This one sentence creates more anxiety, angst, fear and self-doubt in the hearts and minds of freelancers, coaches and agency …
The human brain analyzes 11 million information inputs every second hence, why every moment of attention is a gift. We’ve all heard that the human attention span is now shorter than a goldfish (total BS, by the way, and here is the proof). Still, the truth is that humans today are overwhelmed with information, inputs, …
Even before I discovered The Invisible Sale and started to build my Painless Prospecting approach to business development, I recognized the value of becoming known for knowledge. Whether it was appearing as a keynote speaker, writing articles for Advertising Age, or getting interviewed on NPR talking about the work I was doing to change the …
Embarking on negotiations is akin to stepping onto the dance floor. It requires finesse, intuition, and a deep understanding of the steps that lead to a dancing-with-the-stars quality performance. Welcome to Part II of my contract negotiation tactics and strategies series. If you missed Part I, Contract Negotiation Strategies: The Science Of Getting What You …
Contract negotiation – the very idea can send chills down the spine of even the most hardened professional. Images of high-stakes poker games and back-alley deal-making can fill the mind. But, as the renowned negotiation expert, Christopher Voss would say, a successful contract negotiation strategy is more akin to navigating a labyrinth than engaging in …
The Importance of Effective Networking Strategies You’ve probably heard it a thousand times: networking is crucial. But have you ever taken a minute to ask yourself why? Simply put, if you’re not constantly networking, you’re limiting your reach, your opportunities, and your potential growth.People who fail to “keep in touch” often find themselves feeling like they’re …
I recently listened to Barbara Winters, VP and principal analyst at Forrester, to discuss how Gen Z and Millennial B2B Buyers are reshaping the buying process and what companies should do to succeed with these buyers.And what she had to say, kind of blew me away. Honestly. Here’s why.When I wrote The Invisible Sale, I …
Today’s post is the final installment of our three-part series — LinkedIn Sales Prospecting for Introverts. If you missed the first post, Building Connections That Matter, or the second post, How To Leverage Content Marketing Strategies On LinkedIn To Attract Qualified Prospects, feel free to read those before continuing on to today’s post, Introvert-Friendly LinkedIn …
Today marks 13 years since I founded Converse Digital with no money, no clients, and a whopping 2-week notice. Over the last thirteen years, I’ve tried to stop each year, recap the most important lessons I learned, and share them with the world via this blog. I haven’t made it every year, but I’m batting …
Today’s post is the second part of our three-part series — LinkedIn Sales Prospecting for Introverts. If you missed the first post, Building Connections That Matter, feel free to read it before continuing on to today’s post, LinkedIn Content Marketing Strategies for Introverts. It’s ok, I’ll wait . As an introverted business development professional, you may …
Introverts, rejoice! Sales prospecting doesn’t have to be a daunting task, and LinkedIn, like other social media sites, offers the perfect platform to help you build meaningful connections and leverage your introverted strengths. As a fellow introvert, I’m here to share a few practical tips that have worked for me and others in the business …
The world of sales prospecting has changed dramatically over the past decade. Traditional prospect badgering approaches to business development are giving way to digital sales strategies, especially virtual selling skills-based tactics, forcing businesses to evolve to succeed in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. This guide will provide the tactics and insights necessary to master digital sales …
As a business development professional, your PowerPoint presentations should communicate more than just information. They should aid your efforts to build a trust-based relationship with your prospects. Only some salespeople have ever been taught how to design a PowerPoint pitch deck that not only delivers information but also fosters a genuine connection with their audience. …
Networking has always been essential to growing your personal and professional brand. But for introverts like me, networking, especially the sales prospecting and nurturing variety, doesn’t sound fun. Luckily, the digital landscape offers many networking opportunities for introverts that want to connect with qualified prospects by curating and sharing high-quality digital content that your prospects …
In business development pitches, the right messaging combined with an effectively designed PowerPoint deck can make all the difference in closing a deal. But with so much competition and noise in the market, it can be challenging to differentiate yourself from the competition and connect with your best prospects. However, a recent Corporate Vision report titled …
There is a lot of discussion in the content marketing world today about the role and challenges posed by ChatGPT content creation and other AI content creation tools. So today, I thought I’d ask the hottest new content marketing creator on the block — ChatGPT — how do you recommend human content marketers create more …
Almost three years after the world shifted to remote and hybrid work, Zoom, Teams, and GoToMeeting continue as vital tools for agency owners and business development executives to connect with their prospects. However, presenting over these virtual presentation platforms continues to create agency business development challenges because agency teams still lack the vital virtual selling …
I’m a voracious reader. I always have been. The best Christmas gift I ever received was a Kindle Unlimited Subscription. I mean, books are the cheapest, highest ROI investment you can make in your future and career. So with that in mind… here is my and Quinn’s Christmas gift to you this year. Our 12 …
As we’ve discussed before, According to the WSJ, $250 million per day is wasted on bad, ineffectively designed PowerPoint Presentations. It still amazes us that companies continue to spend millions of dollars developing sales slicks, marketing campaigns, lead generation programs, etc., but spend little or nothing on the most utilized tool in their sales toolbox — …
My sons love to fish. I like to fish. The problem is, we don’t know how to fish — or better stated, we don’t know how to FIND where the fish are hanging out. And we’re not alone. There is an entire industry devoted to helping folks like us find and catch fish — charter …
At a minimum, social media, email, and texting are the new phone. They’re both inbound and outbound marketing tools to contact and communicate with sales prospects. Are they always the best phone to use for all contacts? Certainly not, but they do allow you to call more prospects in a day than you’d likely be …
Getting and maintaining a sales prospect’s attention is often the single hardest yet most important step in any sales process — but especially a virtual selling process. Traditionally, salespeople have simply bought prospects’ attention with free lunches, dinners, or drinks. Or maybe an invite to a ballgame or other event helped them achieve access. But in …
Competitive differentiation is crucial to delivering compelling sales pitches that close quickly and generate higher margins. When sales prospects view you, your organization, and your product or service as something extraordinary—and not just a commodity — you can avoid price concessions as your primary tool to win more business. Suppose you’re lucky enough to …
Remember when you could pull out your IPhone, get on Facebook or Instagram, and see what your friends and family have been up to? Those were the days. Unfortunately, it seems those days are officially behind us, with Facebook releasing its plan to launch a redesign very similar to Tik Tok and Instagram already having …
A few months ago, we published, How To Sell Your Agency’s Services Even When You Hate Selling, where I shared a 5-Step process to enable any advertising, public relations or digital agency owner or business development director to immediately sell more effectively AND actually enjoy it. Over the last few months I have had …
Let’s face it. When you’re a solopreneur, every minute you spend chasing a new client, customer, or sale that doesn’t convert is wasted. You’ll never get that minute back, you can’t use it to chase down another sales prospect that will convert and you can’t sell that time to any existing customers or clients. …
Many moons ago, a friend of mine was watching the Super Bowl and along with millions of other folks around the world saw a Samsung commercial for a ground-breaking new phone. And like we all do (well all of us with smartphones) he immediately Googled the name of this new phone. Alas, he was greeted …
The Problem: Research shows that worldwide B2B buyers are increasingly moving towards DIY buying processes that eliminate the salesperson entirely. In a Gartner Research pre-pandemic survey of 750 B2B customer stakeholders involved in complex “solutions” purchases within their organization, customers reported spending only 17% of their total buying time interacting directly with supplier sales teams. …
Accurate prospective client intel, in the hands of a skilled business development team virtually guarantees a successful outcome. But clients today prefer to remain invisible, talking to Google instead of your agency directly. That’s why successful agencies are leveraging the power of Content Marketing, Marketing Automation/Website Tracking Software and 2nd-Click Content to focus their business …
With virtual selling becoming the norm vs the exception, it’s never been more important to understand how to leverage digital channels like email to nurture at scale. However, a quick Google search for “best sales nurturing email templates” quickly reveals a glaring issue in every nurturing template you’ll find — none of them are truly …
