Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Brian Hansford, Director of Client Services and Marketing Automation Practice at Heinz Marketing.

Demand generation has dramatically evolved from activity-based contact marketing to a core strategic function in organizations.  Marketing Automation is a leading force in this evolution, and B2B marketers are rapidly increasing their acumen to provide a direct impact to revenue generation.  But ROI results don’t come quickly, and they’re often hard to measure.    

Heinz Marketing and OnTarget Consulting completed the 2014 Marketing Automation Effectiveness and Performance Survey and we developed this infographic to share the results.  Survey data is on SlideShare.  

With a family background in sales, it’s no wonder I love competition, organization, and numbers. I like that every month your slate is wiped clean and you have another 30 days to crush your numbers. But not only is sales a month-to-month game; it's also quarterly and yearly. The cycle in which we work in inside sales is organized and allows you to plan your time accordingly.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing.

Many sales organizations often struggle with how to predict which sales will close. Their sales forecasts are weak, or non-existent, and that fact affects their bottom line.

Your sales forecast influences numerous decisions in your company’s sales process. A weak sales forecast not only affects commission checks, but also the success of your entire organization. It’s tricky to predict which sales will close or which prospects will be qualified. However, when it’s done right, an accurate forecast will keep a business on course, using past figures to predict short- or long-term performance.

Understand the Difference:

As sales professionals we come across these types of people all the time.  But knowing how to tell the difference between a so-called “Tire Kicker” and a “Window Shopper” is critical and will better help you to eliminate wasted effort. 

I don’t know about everyone else, but I am absolutely addicted to the Winter Olympics. Every night when I am relaxing at home, I get sucked into the speed skating, skiing, and of course curling competitions! After watching the first few nights of events and discussing with coworkers throughout the day, I started to think about how our office has the same qualities that the Olympics in Sochi have. 

Happy Friday, Sales Prospecting Perspectives readers! We've had a busy week, with clients arriving and inside sales reps ramping up for a successful Q1. Without further ado, here are our favorite articles from the sales and marketing world this week! 

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing.

Whether you’re managing sales for a large enterprise organization, or are trying to build business for your own one-man-shop, these tips should help guide your thinking, strategy and action when building and managing a bigger sales pipeline.

Ah yes, it’s that time of year again. Lines at the mall are out the door, parking lots are jammed, and calories don’t matter (right?). With the holiday season comes the end of the fiscal year for the majority of companies. And for inside sales reps here at AG, it can be a stressful time, as they try to pass qualified leads while prospects are taking vacation time to spend with their family. We can use this time to plan for the New Year while also nurturing accounts and catching prospects live. Last week, Craig gave some tips from a director’s point of view, and this week I’m giving some tips from a sales rep standpoint.