(This is the fourth post in our series on sales organizations’ emerging use of social media as a channel for shaping demand.) . One of the most surprising findings in the SEC’s newest research study was  the importance of social media and social networks to high performers. Getting in early is now about finding the places where customers learn, and becoming a trusted advisor in those spaces. In previous blogs we have given you practical advice about  getting onto LinkedIn , and ways that  corporations have supported reps  to get into Twitter and blogging. MORE >>

Salespeople are famously competitive and they’re often looking to improve upon how things are being done. This is partly a matter of personality, but mostly it’s a matter of needing to continuously adapt to changes in what customers want and how the competition responds. This means that the frontier of practice in sales organizations constantly changes and that the bar is raised every year. One of the Council’s most popular pieces of work—the Anatomy of a World-Class Sales Organization —is our effort to track these changes in Sales. The new Anatomy starts with a section on Strategy and Culture. MORE >>

You may have heard the increasing buzz from your marketing department about “IMA”, or “inbound marketing automation.” But what exactly does it mean? And why all the hype?  . To give you some context, inbound marketing is about optimizing the availability of your content. Marketing automation refers to the use of technology to automate marketing tasks, such as lead tracking or scoring, and to distribute content to prospects based on their actions. Together, you get inbound marketing automation (IMA). So what are the implications of IMA for you and your sales force?  . MORE >>

In today’s consensus-driven sales environment, we all agree that engaging the right customer contact is a critical linchpin in deals progressing forward. While we know the best reps lead with insight to challenge customers’ assumptions, who your reps challenge can drastically change the course of a deal. So who are the right customer stakeholders to work and how can we help our reps find them? And once reps find this individual it’s a clear path to the corner office and a closed deal, right? Wrong. While these conversations are easy and pleasant, they ultimately lead to the road to Nowhere. MORE >>

As David Bowie so eloquently put – “Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes”. Sums up the world of selling pretty well these days, doesn’t it? In fact, it also sums up the world of customer buying pretty well too. Which is why, we, in Sales, are going through some changes. Certainly, customer buying has fundamentally changed: as they are increasingly engaging us as late as they possibly can. Our reaction in this more commoditized, price driven space, cannot simply be attempting to differentiate on price. How can we effectively begin to change into a Challenger organization? Broaden Challenger adoption. MORE >>