“Can I pencil you in for next week?” I was wrapping up a sales meeting with a new account. Even though they seemed interested, they were hurrying to get off the call. They all had other meetings to get to, and I was holding them up. “Sure,” said my main contact, feeling rushed. “Send me an […]
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These are the best sales books for your 2019 reading list. Throughout my career, I’ve been a voracious reader, and I credit much of the success I’ve enjoyed so far to that habit. Of all the different types of books I read, sales books have probably been the most common (though I spend a lot […]
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Improving sales skills is one of the main reasons people use Gong.io. Think of your sales methodology as a race car — it’s the vehicle that brings you from first call to close. Think of your sales skills fuel for that sales process. Without the right sales skills to fuel it, it’s just an expensive piece of metal. Sales skills (and specifically, effective sales […]
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“I’m running out of sales training ideas,” the director of sales told me, a bit embarrassed. “My job is to upskill the sales team,” he said. “But keeping a calendar of sales training topics has been tough to juggle with everything else I have to do.” This story is more common than many sales managers care to […]
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The team and I at Gong are excited to bring you a direct integration with Outreach. That means two things: Your Outreach calls are now analyzed by Gong, helping you transform your team into quota-shattering super sellers (Coming soon) You can access Gong calls directly from your Outreach interface. Having a list of an account’s […]
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“We had a ton of inbound leads,” Paul told me with a serious look on his face. “But our close rates weren’t keeping up, and I couldn’t answer why.” Having spent his career running sales teams at Salesforce.com, Paul Snelson now found himself leading the 70-rep sales organization at TouchBistro. Planted in the heart of […]
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In Michael Porter’s seminal book Competitive Advantage, he highlights three core competitive strategies: Cost leadership Focus Differentiation Cost leadership is for the “Amazons of the world.” Their economies of scale allow them to reap insane profits despite charging razor thin prices. They “make it up in volume.” Focus is for companies that narrow in on a niche. While this is a great way […]
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This article was originally published on OpenView Labs Becoming the absolute leader in your market is not a luxury. It’s a necessity to survive. The old battlecry of “If we can get 1% of a $10 billion market, we’ll be rich!” is some of the biggest maladvice in business history. It sounds so good on paper (the young VCs always […]
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“Just stop,” spat the COO from across the table. “I don’t have time for this generic line of questioning.” I was two years into my first tech sales job, thinking I was doing everything right. I asked open-ended questions to unearth pain. Just like the sales books told me to do. Yet this COO kicked […]
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Highly successful salespeople deploy tiny persuasive language techniques to sell more. Some of these techniques are so subtle, they’re barely perceptible: Like using “I” or “we” language at the right time. It’s a small switch, but these two first-person language types create completely different dynamics in your sales conversation. When you predominantly use “we” language (referring to your company rather than […]
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What’s a sales process? We’re glad you asked. Put simply, a sales process is a set of steps that a sales team can take to ensure prospective clients become actual customers. By having a strong sales process guide in place, you and your team can consistently close new deals. The Internet is littered with articles […]
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Selling is a zero-sum game. While you’re popping a champagne bottle because you know how to sell against the competition, your competitor is downing cheap whiskey to mourn their loss. Either way, when the drinks are done, you’ll both go back to square one with the same goal: Sending your competitors home with their tails between […]
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I have some bad news — by the time you try those slick closing techniques you read about online, it’ll be too late. Your deal’s fate will already have been sealed. The actions you take earlier in the sales process define your outcome. Not even the fanciest closing technique can change that. Imagine an asteroid on a collision […]
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Starting May 25th, the impact of GDPR on sales and marketing teams could force you to experience a serious pipeline drought. Why’s that? Because your contactable marketing list may be cut in half. The standards for achieving consent on your marketing list will become much higher, and a huge portion of many companies’ email lists will be considered non-compliant […]
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