It’s September and I’m feeling focused and getting down to business. I hope you’re feeling energized and focused too. Here is my weekly Business Growth Roundup. Each week, I share what I’m reading and what is trending with some of today’s true thought leaders and business growth experts. This is a roundup of who I’ve been following this week, and their recent innovative and insightful articles. I hope you enjoy these articles and podcasts as much as I do.
When You Should Walk Away From a Deal?
Brian Burns
Brian does a great podcast. This week, he reached #9 on iTunes. His topic this week is all about walking away from a deal. In sales, it’s so hard what to spend your time on. We react emotionally and it isn’t always a logical process. We go on feeling so much of the time, and the process can be lengthy. Brian talks about how to recognize what is a real deal, what isn’t, and what is a bad deal. It’s a great listen.
3 Ways to Be Constantly Improving Your Social Media Strategy
Brandon Moore
It’s a great time to ramp up your social media efforts and here, Brandon encourages us to get organized and improve our strategy. Make sure that you’re targeting your audience. Don’t sign up to every single social media platform. Get strategic about what you’re posting, who you’re following, what you’re sharing. It all needs to have a purpose. The better you can describe your audience, the more likely you will be able to capture their attention with your messaging. You need to stay focused on customer service. That is really our business as sales people. And make sure that you’re tracking your efforts. All good advice, and this is definitely worth a read.
The Impact of Sales Turnover
Tom Chamberlain
How do leaders handle the huge problem of sales team staff turnover? This is a problem across all industries and in all positions, but it affects sales in a particularly difficult way. When we’re trying to develop meaningful relationships with customers, the turnover just doesn’t work. How do we handle it? The 2015 turnover rate is 31% higher than the rate reported in the 2014. That’s a huge jump! It impacts the entire organization. Tom encourages us to take the time to make sure we’re hiring the right people. Make sure that they are actually the best-suited person for the available position. We also need to remember that smart hiring is a team effort. We need to be very upfront and direct when we hire someone, and we need a strong onboarding process. How is your own company measuring up to the task?
Getting it Right the First Time: Better Sales Contracting for Busy B2B Sales Operations Leaders
Peter Ostrow
What do we do when closing a deal gets dragged down in complex legal contract? The days of the handshake and one-size-fits-all business agreement are behind us. Nowadays, we end up losing momentum sometimes even the customer’s goodwill when it comes down to finalizing red-lined contracts back and forth between the offices of the buyer and the seller. This article by Peter Ostrow is such a timely topic and a great read.
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