Both sales and marketing should work through a customer persona process, targeting who the ideal customer is in terms of the business’s size and revenue and who the ideal buyer is in terms of the person’s title and decision-making ability. Sales reps should want to input the data that marketing needs, and to do that they need to see the marketing process. Sirius Decisions uses the term “small-net fishing,” to describe a process where salespeople focus on developing their pipeline through their own prospecting efforts. But that doesn’t have to be the case! Work together. MORE >>

By stepping into the conversation, you can form a solid footing earlier in the sales process. With a minimal amount of planning and effort, you can put a process in place to refer viable prospects to the frontline Sales team. Sales Prospecting Perspective is pleased to bring you a guest post from Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble , a social CRM solution. People born at the turn of the 20th century saw a lot of change over their lifetimes. They went from horse to automobile, from oil lamps to electricity.saw the transformation of medical care, science, and society. Or your computer. MORE >>

If it were up to Matthew Dixon, author of the book The Challenger Sale , he would probably say that challenger selling should be the next phase in the evolution process. These traits are still prevalent in today’s sales cycle, so why are we so quick to dismiss the idea that a relationship has not been forged during this process. The relationship building process moves at a faster pace, because, frankly, most of us don’t have the time to commit as we once did. Transactional selling was replaced by relationship selling, and now that has reached its end of life. MORE >>

As you may know, the RFP process is incredibly archaic and time-consuming. Many salespeople are anxious to provide an answer to a problem, but research shows that high performers have a process that slows the conversation. Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Craig Wortmann , CEO and Founder of Sales Engine , a company that helps firms build and tune their sales engine(s). You can find him on Google + , LinkedIn , & Twitter ! Optimizing your sales engine doesn't have to be time-consuming. Sell What Makes You Different. Stop Answering RFPs! MORE >>

As you work through the process of building and scrubbing your database, think to yourself, does this prospect look like my ideal customer? Now you are ready to begin the process of developing your pipeline. Use this process, to progress interested prospects, and remove those that are not interested, but always keep in mind that it is your job to add value. Don''t be afraid to hit delete, those “maybe someday” prospects are for the nurturing bucket, an automated marketing process can take care of them. Building a pipeline is no different. Failure is not an option. MORE >>