Social media has leveled the playing field. Comment on The Bridge Group's ten predictions for inside sales in 2011. Trish Bertuzzi and Laurie Page start the new year off with some surprising predictions. Roles will continue to segment. No longer will the Inside Sales Rep be a “jack of all trades” Roles will be clearly defined and measured based on specific desired outcomes. Hunters will go after new business while farmers will cultivate the customer base. Data will become an integral component for predicting the likelihood of Inside Sales success. MORE >>

Many C-level decision makers have not yet embraced—and may never—the role of self-education via social media. Companies providing complex, high-investment solutions are facing a significant risk management issue in light of Sirius Decisions and others finding that B2B buyers are self-educating and moving through as much as 70% of the sales funnel before connecting with sales. For me, risk management has always been about assessing business exposure and taking proactive steps to improve a situation rather than remaining reactive when there is downside potential. MORE >>

Jeff is the authority on making social media sell, adjunct faculty at Loyola University business school, a social selling speaker and author of, Off the Hook Marketing: How to make social media sell. For years now, there's been a steady drum beat coming from content marketing experts who say producing engaging content on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and other social media is the key to success. At best, sales are often blindly attributed to content as part of a mass media branding success using fuzzy math. Today's guest blogger is Jeff Molander. It does. MORE >>

Social media is at the top of nearly every B2B marketer’s priority list. What drives social media engagement? I recently had the opportunity to interview Ardath Albee about the importance of lead nurturing and I think you’ll be interested to read some of the valuable feedback she provided. PC: Ardath, you’ve written a lot about the importance of using lead nurturing to engage leads across the entirety of the buying process. Yet B2B marketers seem to be more focused on lead generation than the rest of the process. Is that a problem? AA: Yes. AA: Absolutely. MORE >>

Yes, the web and social media provide metrics and, that enables marketing to show results, ROI and possibly gain value with regard to the marketing mix that use these media. 'Andy Gray is a senior marketing professional with proven expertise in directing, centralizing, and strengthening how customers are acquired and retained as well as how companies are positioned through marketing strategies, demand generation, sales support and enablement programs, market research and product development. You can connect with Andy on LinkedIn or via email. Yet, not all companies get marketing. MORE >>