thorough examination of purchase and loyalty drivers we conducted across more than 5,000 B2B customers showed the most impactful drivers were (in order of impact): rep offers me unique perspectives. By Nick Toman and Matt Dixon. As a research team, we’re both humbled and glad to see the huge amount of discourse about the Challenger research and what it says about the changing recipe for sales effectiveness.  This debate makes us all better and is ultimately necessary for moving the profession forward. This is the first in a short series of posts designed to address some of these. . MORE >>

Storytelling is far too under-utilized in B2B communications. Some This is the second in a series of three guest posts about CEB’s solutions for sales effectiveness ( read the first one here ). Our team helps organizations improve the overall performance of the sales force with customized insights, tools, and training programs ( contact us to learn more ). The last time we wrote, we shared some lessons learned from the first 50 Challenger Development Programs that we have rolled out with our clients. We Don’t Underestimate the Power of Collaboration. Surprised at what you hear? One MORE >>

One of the debates regarding social media’s role in the B2B sales world is the difficulty of dividing time between social media and cold calling. Skeptics believe that social media is good for information gathering, but doubt it can have any further impact. They see social media as a waste of time that would be better spent elsewhere. The things naysayers generally do accept about social media include: LinkedIn may generate good prospects more easily. There may be good bits of information to reference during a cold call (if prospects ever accept your call). The Buzz Social Media MORE >>

In fact, a new study of over 500 B2B customers conducted by the MLC earlier this year found that only 47% of the information a customer consumes during his or her purchase research actually comes from suppliers (and to really bring the doom and gloom, that 47% accounts for all suppliers, not just you – so if the average customer is researching three or four suppliers for a given purchase, that means your individual mindshare is more like 10-15%).  This is a guest post by Shelley West of the Marketing Leadership Council, our sister program for marketing professionals. MORE >>

Also be sure to register for our upcoming webinar on Social Selling: Gaining Credibility and Influence in B2B Social Media Networks. (This is the second post in our series on sales organizations’ emerging use of social media as a channel for shaping demand.). Social media is a key ingredient for reps to be able to  get in earlier and help shape demand. Proactive engagement in digital communities can be effective in sales, but reps will be even more successful with support from their organization. LinkedIn is becoming a prerequisite to online professional engagement. Personal. MORE >>