Finally - your chance to avoid getting "pitch-slapped" and to be part of the solution, not just the problem. This is the first in a series of Workshop-Webinar-Wednesday lunchtime events (and related discussions) - with the ambition to get us all back on track, really selling for UK Plc.
RECORDED on 1st June 2011 - CLICK HERE TO WATCH
| I Choose Life! - Show me this workshop-webinar |
Do you (or your clients) have any problems in selling and sales management just now? For example in the areas of prospecting for new business and/or trying to generate leads? (We do). Or maybe those telephone cold-calling and appointment setting results are not what they were - what with all those voicemail and gate-keeper barriers? (Yep - same here).
So where do we go then, what do we do? Are you going back to direct mail maybe – or planning the old motor 'n' shoe-leather approach of knocking on doors in the hope that someone will see you? Or have you tried emailing people recently? (We have).
Step 1 must be that we all sit down together, and compare notes – thus the Bring Out Your Dead theme for this first in a series of workshop-webinars. More workshops follow as indicated, in the months ahead, as we explore all the composite parts and people, from Buyers to Bean-Counters, who impact on how we can sell what, to whom, where, when and why - in 2011 and beyond. But to start, let's get all the deadwood on the table, and confirm or deny that it is indeed “dead”. (Or is it just on life-support, needing a new limb and/or a blood transfusion?)
Also round the table, with you, are concerned paramedics Peter Johnston and Neil Warren, who may not have all the answers but we hope, between us and all of you, that we’ll "know a (wo)man who can".
And your involvement starts right here too, because this is a two-way and multi-way discussion (not an old-school press release), so you can not only watch the recording here, you can start the ball rolling by confirming the specific problem you’d like to discuss, and have our involvement in discussing exactly that – with you.
For this and all other recorded webinars currently available on ModernSelling.com, you will need a free download of Windows Media Player - click here.
Questions & Comments
It's and Ego - Pride Thing
Perhaps those sales professionals reading this thread might offer their best advice on a specific challenge. Who wants to broadcast weakness?
Dear Mr Agony Aunt,
I am having trouble with . . .
What is 'Pitch Slapped' and how does one avoid it?
Posted by Clive Miller on
Pitch-slapping = Problem 1?
Hi Clive - yes that was a phrase attributed to even the relatively minor problem of being "enticed" to watch a presentation (webinar even!) of some description, only to find that you have just sat through 30 mins or an hour (or a day!) of allegedly "useful information" - so that the presenter can "slap" you, at the end, with his/her "pitch". Part of the "push marketing" or "selling at" nightmare, methinks.
Posted by Neil Warren on
A little bit of up sell goes a long way
Providing the webinar/seminar does what it said it would, in terms of providing value, who can be offended by a little selling?
If the event is free, the sales pitch is expected.
Even if the event isn't free, providing the pitch has value for the audience, it is unlikely to be panned.
Posted by Clive Miller on
Thank you
Hi Neil
Many thanks for your kind invitation to participate in the forthcoming webinar. I think it is a great idea but unfortunately have prior commitments. I will try and rearrange these and get back to you one way or another.
Posted by Iain Swanston on
I want to know why?
If sales is dying, I'd like to know everyone's thoughts on why?
What are your recent experiences?
Or is it just a moan by bad salespeople?
Posted by Peter Johnston on
The start of "the problem" list then...
Yes exactly Peter - we do need to know what, why and so on from you all first (and thanks Iain for looking to spare the time).
So, after 5 years of pumping out thousands of headlines, let me just say that "Sales Director Jailed" was the No 1 attraction (archived now) followed by "The Seven Sins of Sales Management", which is here...
http://www.modernselling.com/work-skills/sales-management-training/seven-sins-of-sales-management-20093104.aspx
Then the "big" topics I've discussed a few hundred times now, over the last couple of years, all around the LinkedIn Groups, would be...
Cold Calling
Cold Calling
Cold Calling
..and...
Cash / OTE Commission is THE No 1 way to motivate sales people.
All of which seems to stem from trying to make 20th Century sales techniques and thinking, fit with 21st Century buying activity.
We all know we're doing something "wrong", in other words, but we're just not sure what "right" looks like.
"Marketing" don't seem to have it any better though, where all the websites are now about to start closing...
http://www.bnet.com/blog/digital-marketing/is-it-time-to-shut-down-your-website/133?tag=content;drawer-container
...and where I thought Galactic Hitchhiker Douglas Adams was probably on the money, way back in the Dark Ages of 1999...
http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/19990901-00-a.html
...by predicting that we probably just want to carry on talking to each other.
So (also from above) my suggested Top 3 would be...
1. Let's really look at what "push marketing" is.
2. Let's agree that none of us likes to be sold or marketed AT
3. Let's explore if any versions of "pull" are possible.
Posted by Neil Warren on
Oh Contraire
I quite enjoy being sold to when it is done well.
Isn't push marketing all to do with channels and pull marketing focused on the end customer?
To me, marketeers do it one to many. Sales people do it one to one!
Posted by Clive Miller on
But why have things changed?
By that terminology, Clive Sales is just another form of push marketing.
But what I want to know is what has suddenly changed.
Why have email response rates dropped to near on zero?
Why do telephone sellers have to make a dozen calls just to get a rude No!
Why do pipelines no longer have any leads in them?
Why does your CRM not work any more?
To put it bluntly...
What is the problem?
Posted by Peter Johnston on
Easy Access to Information
We have all been blogging and posting about this for many months, perhaps years in some cases. Let's just consider how easier access to information impacts the questions Peter poses:
Suddenly changed!
I haven't personally experienced sudden change. My email open and click through rates remain at around 25% and 5% respectively. There is/has been a long term decline. We should probably expect this as more and more people are using email marketing.
Dials per decision maker conversation do seem to have increased by 10% or so over the last three years. I have come across conflicting data on this. One could speculate that the easy availability of information and the increasing demands placed on people is squeezing discretionary time and making them more reluctant to take calls. On the other hand, a ringing telephone can't be ignored any more than it ever could.
Perhaps more significant is the ease with which decision makers can verify our credentials online, as we are speaking to them.
My pipeline has definitely become more compressed. I have seen this happen at least twice before in my career. It's a natural consequence of recessionary pressure. Things have become a little easier of late although their is still a lot of caution about. Some markets are experiencing a return to more normal growth and some sectors are buoyant.
In my opinion, CRM never worked in the first place. It appeals to senior managers because it seems to promise more control of the sales process. It is certainly no replacement for good sales management.
I expect your world is quite different from mine Peter. I'm most interested in any evidence regarding perceived changes.
Posted by Clive Miller on
Those telephone contact stats...
These are Peter Smith's survey results Clive...
_________________
Hot to Trot Marketing surveyed 20 telemarketing agencies, with an average of 73 seats each ? so about 1,500 staff ? and checked how many dials it took get through, or make contact. And the answers were?
In 2006??.4
In 2007??10
In 2008??18
In 2009??29
In 2010??41
___________________
...so more like 1000% than 10%, which is "conflicting data" indeed, and thus one of the things that I practically insist we look at.
Posted by Neil Warren on
Unbelieveable!
Neil, I don't mean to cast dispersions on the rigour of any research however, in 2006, I did some work with a telephone sales team team of five people over several days. They were not the best and not the worst. Their dials to decision maker contact rate was 22. At about the same time I conducted some tests of my own based on calling people who have given their permission to receive my newsletter. My dial to decision maker contact rate was 18.
I have some recent data that I didn't collect yet I believe it is genuine. It records decision maker contacts every 24 dials.
Other data from a less certain telephone sales operation source suggests decision maker conversations happen every 19 dials.
I expect that it is entirely possible to select data to support any preposition. If a campaign was targeting CEO's of companies with a 1000 or more employees, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that it took 41 calls per conversation in 1996, 2006, or 2010.
Propagating implausible statistics does a cause no good at all. It merely reinforces that idea that 96.47% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Potential customers have less need to speak with sales people than they used to. Of this I am sure yet, there is no certain way of knowing if a caller is a sales person or not. It is easy to befuddle caller ID.
Like you, I think the way people buy is changing and the means of competing for a potential customers attention demands creativity, innovation, authenticity, and persistence. There are certainly some new skills that sales people need to develop. Just as there are new new methods that marketeers need to master.
Change is happening faster in our time than it ever has. Then again, this is probably true for all the times, ages, epochs, periods, eras, and eons.
Let's adapt.
Posted by Clive Miller on
Believe it or not...
That "clash" of general versus specific stats is also part of "the problem" Clive, often manifested as one-size-fits-all "sales training" which says things like "All sales people MUST cold call", or even "Always Be Closing". To be discussed, as we're suggesting.
And apologies one and all for that C# bug which turned my hyphens into ??, it should say...
2006...4
2007...10
2008...18
2009...29
2010...41
Plus I note that the "WHERE THE HECK DO I BOOK?" bit may not be as obvious and in yer face as I intended, so it's here...
http://learn.gotomeeting.com/forms/01June11-EMEA-G2MC-WBR-S?ID=701000000005fJ2
...leaving the lead-tracking codes intact, please ;-)
Posted by Neil Warren on
A great subject
I have just caught up with this discussion and I would be very interested to join the webinar (it is a shame that I will be on holiday, but I will circulate the information to my colleagues).
Sales performance and a sales organisations challenges are certainly right up at the top of the agenda, both internally and externally. Getting those challenges and indeed the strategies that are not working and have not worked in the past on the table is of course the perfect point to start to come up with the new Plan A. What's the definition of madness....?
This is why we (Miller Heiman) have been conducting sales best practice studies for the past 8 years...
http://www.modernselling.com/work-skills/sales-management-training/best-practice-sales-strategies-thriving-post-recession-economy-miller-heiman-andrew-perkins-20113981.aspx#215
And bring together sales leadership to network with, share their best practice and ultimately learn from each other at the Sales Performance Summit...
http://www.millerheiman.com/workshops_events/client_summit_uk/index.html
As mentioned, although I am away, I will speak with my colleagues and request their input into your webinar as I think we can add value to the discussion on our challenges with prospecting and opportunity creation.
Andy.
Posted by Andy Perkins on
Confirmation
Hi Neil and all.
Happy to confirm my attendance on June 1st.
Posted by Iain Swanston on
Pitch Slapped
"Pitch Slapped" made me laugh so hard that coffee almost came out of my nose.
Great link above to the Douglas Adams article too.
I'll be attending on June 1st - think this is an excellent idea with regard to increasing the "interactivity" (thanks Mr. Adams) of this type of webinar.
Posted by Adam Warren on
Reminds me of Sixth Form!
Looking forward it; loads of broken and dying businesses out there and it hasn't even started yet.
Posted by Richard Nolan on
Re: Reminds me of Sixth Form!
Certainly "Back to school" Richard, or the black / white board (or drawing board) - but I hope we can do a bit better than "Teacher says...", which seemed like a 6-year "pitch-slapping" - to me anyway ;-(
Posted by Neil Warren on
My Browser just died too (poor browser)
Revolving around this fabulous example of how the new EU Cookie legislation is going to add to our woes with the SpamCops...
http://www.davidnaylor.co.uk/eu-cookies-directive-interactive-guide-to-25th-may-and-what-it-means-for-you.html
...I also was obliged today to switch from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to Google's Chrome - posted about it in our LinkedIn Group, and got practically drowned in the flood of replies.
Seriously folks, this is "big" business collapsing (or at least doing a tornado impression) all around us!
Posted by Neil Warren on
CRM doesn't work?
Neil, this looks like a well-timed event to me!
Clive and Peter both mentioned CRM and I'm particularly looking forward to hearing why people don't get seem to get any value from their CRM... See:
http://www.modernselling.com/work-tools/sales-software-systems-technology/why-is-it-difficult-to-get-sales-people-to-use-crm-Jonathan-Broadley-JMC-IT-20113973.aspx#299
I'm also very keen to know if cold calling is dead. I make a living from it and no one has told me!? ;-)
Looking forward to the 1st June...
Posted by Jonathan Broadley on
CRM; Cold Calling; AND @aol and @hotmail?
Hi Jonathan - a very welcome addition to our merry band - and I'm betting your version of "cold calling" involves some judicious use of t'internet? (And that'll be one of your take-aways folks, having that explained).
Also worth adding to our list here will be the fact that Registered Readers of ModernSelling.com who use either aol or hotmail (and gmail at the moment) addresses will NOT be getting any email-nudges from us, because you share a home with the most rabid of the "SpamCops" self-appointed police - so that's another sales communication channel in the morgue.
Posted by Neil Warren on
CRM, Cold Calling and what else?
I'm pleased to see that the concerns people have expressed are so minor. A few worries about cold calling. Getting those pesky salespeople to use their CRM.
But hasn't anyone noticed? B2B Sales is getting harder. There aren?t enough leads. Conversion rates are falling. Buyers aren?t responding like they did.
Surely there's a much bigger problem here?
And surely every problem creates an opportunity for someone? Who's found an edge? And why won't they tell us about it?
Posted by Peter Johnston on
CRM, Cold Calling and Adding Value!
Not sure that there's a problem, just adjusting what we already know and one of those is that CRM can be overly complex, but overly complex or not, is it adding value to your business?
Posted by Richard Nolan on
Is it getting harder?
What is it that makes you think it's getting harder, Peter? Certainly, as we all get older/wiser/more experienced, we'd expect things to get easier wouldn't we? Perhaps things haven't got harder, maybe just not as easier as we hoped? I have had to evolve (and don?t get me wrong I am far from "there") what I was doing 5 years ago. After all, the world's a different place (the explosion of social media and the use of the internet has resulted in more information being available to a buyer than ever before), but I still think humans are fundamentally the same creatures - they're just better connected than they used to be. The ?2 dimensional? ?sales? call is dead (I?m thinking about the un-dynamic robots who are forced to make 150 calls a day) and people don?t respond to these people anymore (did they ever?). People don?t call you back or reply to emails? Why? The same reason I don?t ? you Google their company and decide if you need what their selling! You couldn?t do that 10 years ago.
So, instead you have to be delivering something of value. Something different. Maybe it?s your personal experience or knowledge (after all that is a USP). Going back to the good old days (or so I?ve read ? ) of getting a client to recommend someone they know to you is massive! Ensuring that you listen to what a client wants and act in their best interests. None of these are new, they?ve just taken on increased importance in recent times.
Posted by Jonathan Broadley on
CRM, Cold Calling, Developing Relationships and Adding Value
It's all about developing relationships isn't it? Not sure it's ever going to be easy, but I'm sure there are easier ways of developing them?
Posted by Richard Nolan on
(Sorry about the punctuation)
That's not Jonathan's fault, it's something to do with C# code "reading" copy/paste out of Word or whatever - it's on my "to do" list along with allowing people to edit stuff that went wrong. Hopefully we can all cope and forgive meantime (so sorry Jonathan).
Posted by Neil Warren on
Punctuation
..and I'm soooo expressive!!! And there was I trying to make sure I had no typos! :)
Posted by Jonathan Broadley on
Ps and Cs
In my humble opinion the problem goes beyond Cold Calling/Direct Mail vs. Web Marketing. I think the answer is in Ps and Cs...
I think the effectiveness of the traditional four Ps model of marketing is being replaced by the more currently relevant four Cs model:
Community
Co-creation
Customisation
Conversation.
"The Four Ps Marketing Mix model ? Product, Price, Place, Promotions. Product/price are product related elements. Place/Promotion are delivery system, whereby a product is delivered to a place or a message is delivered to clients."
Posted by Elliott King on
Right Market even?
Nice one Elliott - I think that's bound to feature.
And then Bob Apollo's recent blog caught my eye...
http://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/62390/10-Critical-Factors-That-Could-be-Constraining-Your-Sales-Growth
...and made me ask whether the "traditional" sales teams where Sales Direction (print magazine 1986-92 plus "The Database Years" since then to the current day) or ModernSelling (2006-now) has always focused are even the right ones.
Question for readers would then be...
"Are you part of a bigger sales team, in a more established sector? And, if so, are you aware of the company growth plans for scalable success (in which you are playing a vital role)?"
Or should we all be looking at new venture start-up type businesses, for future "sales success"?
Posted by Neil Warren on
CRM ?
Does that stand for coloured recycled media by any chance ? That's what we use at the company I have joined recently
Posted by John Gillingham on
Will you be recording this one?
Hi Neil,
Great idea and I've enjoyed a read through the comments. I'm with a client tomorrow so won't be able to make the webinar but wonder whether you will post it for replay?
Hope it goes well.
Richard.
Posted by Richard Lane on
Re: Will you be recording this one?
Hello Richard, and "yes" is the short answer, plus "thank you". I think I'll probably just re-edit this page so that people can access it from here, because the idea is very much that we carry on discussing what we're finding out.
We've also got an "umbrella" page going on over here...
http://www.modernselling.com/work-tools/lead-generation/better-sales-marketing-buyer-finance-management-alignment-integration-20114007.aspx
...because when we've sorted out what's "dead", we're also aiming to look at what sellers, buyers, marketers, suppliers, bean-counters and bosses are doing - or should be.
And you'd be a more than welcome contributor too, by the way, so it's very nice to see that you've cracked the login with LinkedIn and have joined already. We're looking forward to this lunchtime and the whole unfurling debate and further workshops and discussions.
Posted by Neil Warren on
Do you sell to SME's?
Just getting ready for the off, and note that one of the early topics is how many sales people work for what size of company - and selling to what other size of company.
Then I spotted this...
http://www.businesszone.co.uk/topic/business-trends/i-am-not-sme-you-patronising/35194
...which I think we're therefore going to find useful ;-)
Posted by Neil Warren on
Corporate Firewalls, aaaggghhhh!
I wanted to be there, I registered and everything but the corporate firewall kept me out. Sigh! Hopefully I can get the recording via my home PC!
Posted by Neil Fletcher on
Recording now posted
Fear not brave Sir Neil - t'is recorded and linked to above now, foresooth, egad, (and was pretty good if I say so myself and with muchos gracias to Peter).
Posted by Neil Warren on
Good research helps the sales and marketing process
Hi Neil
Just a quick note to say well done on a useful webinar yesterday. I've recently had the pleasure of being re-introduced to frontline sales after a 10 year sabbatical and can agree with many of the points raised in your discussion about how times have changed.
Good to see the importance you placed on the art of really listening to your customers. My company, (http://www.orsl.co.uk) helps people do this by conducting customer, prospect and market intelligence research studies online. Time and effort spent here really does make the marketing and sales processes that much easier.
Looking forward to part 2!
Posted by Mark Hughes on
Crowd-sourcing - and saucing - and broken things
Hello Mark - indeed that'll be at the heart of all this too.
In the meantime, anyone who joined in, or has now watched the recording above, might be wondering how provable or valid or "right" any of this is, about what's "wrong".
So let me also chuck in a couple of TED talks I've come across (they're just under 20 mins each). The first is by Seth Godin, and even as long ago as 2003 he was noticing some of the same stuff Peter highlighted, at least as far as what is "broken", even if his answers drift away from possible B2B UK selling solutions where we're more focused...
http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html
And also emphasising that "one size does NOT fit all", and that "mass marketing" is now sooooo 20th Century, here's Malcolm Gladwell on why there is NO perfect Pepsi, or spaghetti sauce, and why customer feedback is there to be both properly understood, and double-checked, and explored, and explained back to the customer / prospect, and then tested, and negotiated with reluctant colleagues, and "sold" back to "ignorant" customers who don't even know what they want, etc., etc.....
http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
...which is obviously going to require a touch more expertise (and pay and other rewards) than an old-school ABC (Always Be Closing) sales professional would have expected to possess (Alec Baldwin and Glengarry Glen Ross style...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI
Posted by Neil Warren on
Changing Job Roles
I should maybe keep this for "The Seller's Tale", but noticed a chap on the US Sales Playbook! LI Group (on a popular "Pimp my Company..." discussion) saying...
_________________
PIMP MY COMPANY?
Paul you have no idea how great it is to finally have a company to pimp after nearly two long years without one! Having searched high and low for that perfect opportunity in Regional Sales Management, I decided to end my search campaign and accept a position completely different to anything I've done before. I have just started month 3 as Inside Sales/Customer Service representative for Michigan Motor Exchange, the leader in the state of Michigan for engine re-manufacturing....
_________________________
...which he then went on to pimp, of course.
But that shift from (Regional) Road Warrior to "Inside Sales..." is pretty typical of the US, for example resulting in this recent innovation for their profession...
http://www.aa-isp.org/index2.php
...and I'm waiting / watching / thinking / hoping that something similar, with the attendant training and qualifications is getting a bit overdue here in the UK - isn't it?
Posted by Neil Warren on
That recording link...
Is here...
http://learn.gotomeeting.com/forms/01June11-EMEA-G2MC-WBRARC-S?ID=701000000005gUz
...if scrolling up and down web pages is against your religion ;-)
Posted by Neil Warren on
Unanswered Questions...
You're semi-anonymous until you say otherwise, but Chris asked in the "Is Sales Dying" opening section...
Q: Is it not perhaps that you need more resources in sales to get the same results?
...and my stab at that Chris would be...
A: Depends what you mean by "resources" - where more phone lines and telesales staff to make more cold calls would not be my Plan A ;-)
But if "resources" stretches to things like training sales people better in multi-media integrated communication channel use, then absolutely yes (in my personal view, this is).
And you followed that with...
Q: Do you think there is a reason for 0% for online meetings?
...when that poll came up, where I'd say...
A: I think that's a reflection of the "mostly" part of the poll question about which communication tool we use. I know some of the attendees do use online meetings, and fairly regularly at that, but the medium is new enough to have not overwhelmed the phone or face-to-face...yet.
We may have missed a couple of other questions, and apologies if so, but feel free to fire away here...
Posted by Neil Warren on
The story continues...
Peter Johnston is just kindly posting the feedback on the umbrella discussion, which is here...
http://www.modernselling.com/work-tools/lead-generation/better-sales-marketing-buyer-finance-management-alignment-integration-20114007.aspx
Posted by Neil Warren on
Recorded: A Canterbury Tale of Modern Selling - 1: Is Sales Dead?
Clicked on "click here to watch" (as well as on part 2)
& I get a register file-Citrix-GoTo Meeting for part 2. I have the latest WMP-where is the problem-cannot access recordings.
Stan Creatchman
Posted by Stan Creatchman on
Ref: Recorded: A Canterbury Tale of Modern Selling - 1: Is Sales Dead?
Hi Stan - yes you do need to fill out the short Citrix form there to get access - they are paying all the bills!
All they want to know is who is possibly interested in these new Webinar or online meeting, training and such like platforms and possibilities, they're not going to march you off to a darkened room for interrogation! ;-)
Let me know if that's not the answer though, please.
Kind regards - Neil
Posted by Neil Warren on
The Buyer's Tale awaits you...
Plus that's the start, with the Buyer's Tale just done...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner.aspx
...and The Seller's Tale coming on July 13th.
Posted by Neil Warren on
Re: Recorded: A Canterbury Tale of Modern Selling - 1: Is Sales Dead?
Thank you kindly for the quick response. Will fill out the form (thought I had already done so) & bring on the "darkened" room-I'm ready!!!
The best, Stan
Posted by Stan Creatchman on
Re: Changing Job Roles - UK-ISP???
Neil - the link above regarding the American Association of ISP is really interesting. In fact many of the thought leaders, authors, and affiliate owners are people I've listened to numerous time via LinkedIn and webcasts etc. What would it take to create a UK version - because I couldn't agree more that it is way overdue here!
I?m lucky because I don?t get too many sales calls (as most people don?t perceive me as being a buyer) but, on the odd occasion I get one, the quality is usually somewhere between terrible and diabolical! The problem is, these are the people ringing my prospects before I do ? no wonder my prospects always sound p***ed off!
Also, many of us work in pretty small teams, sometimes solo, and it can be really difficult sometimes to keep motivated and keep things fresh. It would also give employees a safe and quality assured way of training new recruits and the new blood coming into the industry.
What about the Institute of Sales Professionals? Is that not similar?
Posted by Jonathan Broadley on
Meet some more Inside Sales Managers...
Welcome to my dream Jonathan! And I was just chatting the Inside Sales Manager from TAS Group, about Gartner's prediction that there would be 4 million rather than 18 million "traditional" US sales people in 9 years time, in our LinkedIn Group...
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Gartner-predicts-18million-current-US-1328087.S.58857762
...where I know you also hang out.
And YES - PLEASE...will some off you please start to group together and demand that this is the kind of representative body (and suppliers of support services you can really use) that you now need.
I too am in a "pretty small team" Jonathan, and the best I can really offer is the "media and publicity" angle. That does give you 60,000 unique visitors per annum to aim at persuading, on the main site here, and mostly UK-based middle to senior "sales management", plus business owners.
The BIG problem is that the BIG sales teams are actually built on the old models, of course, so we may have to keep plugging away looking for the smaller innovators of change to hook up, such that the "numbers" make sense for any organising committee or fledgling body to take shape.
I'm not sure how far Trevor Donald has got with spreading the ISP beyond its NLP training roots, but the ASP or IPS or many others are all a bit tainted too, I'm afraid, in terms of just wanting to flog their version of "sales training".
So I would favour looking to "shape" AA-ISP for the UK market instead, not least because of all the US-based employers it is clearly going to represent, by way of professional qualifications and employment opportunities, for many a UK/EMEA sales person and team.
We still have the problem though of who provides what UK-based "training" - and then other related tools and techniques (like recruitment).
Stay close, and we'll try to build up a head of steam.
Posted by Neil Warren on
Is "Inside" Sales like "Digital" Marketing?
Be warned though, Jonathan / All, that the leading "digital" marketers are just working out that the specialisation has no future either...
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/7669-brand-everywhere-the-next-big-thing-in-digital-marketing
...with Ashley Friedlein there being a founder / boss at Econsultancy, and looking to now drop the "Digital" bit of "Marketers United".
So, in the same way, how long will it be before "Inside" Sales Professionals (and Managers and Directors) begins to look about as silly as if some had been called "Horseback Sales Manager", or "Covered Wagon Sales Exec" - when that was the case? "Tele" sales is equally looking dubious and dated, to me.
Posted by Neil Warren on
The Buyer's Tale - now recorded...
For the convenience of the majority who will just be catching on that "something" is changing, but you're just not sure what, or how much...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner/buyers-tale-buying-versus-selling-cycles-workshop-webinar-discussion-tips-series-20114015.aspx
...that's yesterday's recording (22 June 2011), featuring Dell, IBM, Addison Lee and Procter & Gamble.
And "The Seller's Tale" is next up on July 13th at 1pm, if you want to make a diary note, and I'll post as soon as we can get the landing / booking page sorted (our delay, not Citrix's - but there's a LOT of changing and learning happening here, believe me!)
Posted by Neil Warren on
The Seller's Tale is here...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner/sellers-tale-eselling-book-workshop-webinar-discussion-tips-series-20114025.aspx
Posted by Neil Warren on
Bring Out Your Dead - Wrong Link!!
Neil Fletcher (above) just pointed out that I had the link on the recording(s) in the main article above pointed at The Buyer's Tale - all these weeks.
So sorry - and to any who told your friends or colleagues or whatever. Hopefully all fixed now - and / or unless anyone has discovered any other bloopers?
(And thanks Neil - much appreciated).
Posted by Neil Warren on
The Marketer's Tale is now available
We've got some superb, expert speakers too folks...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner/marketers-tale-workshop-webinar-discussion-tips-series-sharon-drew-morgen-jeremy-spiller-peter-johnston-20114029.aspx
...so looking forward to carrying it all forwards with you.
Posted by Neil Warren on
The Bean-Counter's Tale is now available
And please feel free to make up your own numbers...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner/bean-counters-tale-workshop-webinar-discussion-tips-series-jeremy-spiller-alan-timothy-20114033.aspx
...by inviting anyone else who might learn from that.
Posted by Neil Warren on
No 6: The Supplier's Tale, open for business...
Crucial if your sales, selling and sales management in any way involves partners or channels you supply...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner/suppliers-tale-channel-sales-workshop-webinar-discussion-tips-series-jeremy-spiller-tim-barnsley-20114045.aspx
...or who supply you.
Posted by Neil Warren on
Grand Finale - No 7: The Boss's Tale
We'll be picking our way through all these ideas, questions and so on, as well as advising what to do about The Boss - who might be pointing in any old direction too, including the Dead and failing ones.
Now open for seat reservations...
http://www.modernselling.com/news-and-events/webinar-corner/boss-tale-workshop-webinar-discussion-series-neil-warren-jeremy-spiller-20114049.aspx
...and feel free to put your supplementary questions and comments on there.
Posted by Neil Warren on
My Question / Comment Is...
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