Changing the Game with Digital Engagement, Presented by SAP: Recent Episodes
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Game-changing technology strategies are transformational, exciting and disruptive for a reason. They shake up your status quo. They get you thinking about new ways to scale, compete and grow. They move you in amazing new directions. Join host Bonnie D. Graham as she invites you to take an additional Coffee Break with Game-Changers for our special series on Digital Engagement. We’ll explore the fundamental changes that digital transformation is having on the marketing and sales professions. Our panelists will discuss the implications on the buyer journey, how Digital Engagement impacts an organization in terms of alignment, accountability, and business outcomes, as well as how Digital Engagement changes the dynamic between buyer and seller. Learn how you can become the savvy leader who takes your company across the finish line as you look ahead to the next wave of business innovation. Changing the Game with Digital Engagement broadcasts live on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel.
The Buzz 1: “The best marketers are constantly looking for new digital marketing trends based on the evolution of technology, and platforms, to identify new opportunities…” (smartinsights.com)
The Buzz 2: “Advances in technology, data, and analytics will soon allow marketers to create much more personal and ‘human’ experiences across moments, channels, and buying stages.” (mckinsey.com)
The Buzz 3: “The digital marketing landscape changes so much and so frequently that it’s almost impossible to imagine what the future of digital marketing may offer in terms of opportunities.” (marketinginsidergroup.com)
Marketers! Are you ready to meet the challenges ahead in the next decade? Today we'll bring you insights from six digital engagement, marketing and selling experts.
We’ll ask visionaries Kirsten Boileau at SAP, Steve Watt at Seismic, Sarah Goodall at Tribal Impact, Mike Orr at Seismic, Paroma Sen at SAP, and Bernie Borges at iQor, on Digital Engagement in Sales and Marketing in 2030.
Join us for this final episode of our globally relevant Changing the Game with Digital Engagement Radio.
The Buzz 1: “Recruiting great marketers should be your number one priority.” (Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot CMO)
The Buzz 2: “Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.” (Beth Comstock, former GE CMO & Vice Chair)
The Buzz 3: “Just because you are the loudest, doesn't make you right.” (Brian Halligan, HubSpot CEO & Co-Founder)
The Buzz 4: “The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing.” (Tom Fishburne, Marketoonist Founder & CEO)
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, technology was accelerating society’s rate of change, especially impacting the skills needed in the workforce. And Marketing has not been spared.
“The rapid rise of digitization and remote work has placed new demands on employees who, in many instances, now require different skills to support significant changes to how work gets done and to the business priorities their companies are setting.” (www.mckinsey.com)
Today's marketers need to equip themselves to meet the challenges ahead in the next decade. What skills are imperative today? Will those same skills be relevant and needed in 2030?
We’ll ask Kirsten Boileau, Anna Millman, Jeremy Kestler, and Emily L. Phelps for their take on Winter is Coming: Arming Marketers with Skills for Today and The Decade Ahead.
The Buzz 1: “Social media allows big companies to act small again.” (Jay Baer @convince Marketing)
The Buzz 2: “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” (Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO)
The Buzz 3: “We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.” (Erik Qualman, author, The Focus Project @equalman)
Social media has dramatically affected how we navigate every aspect of life. Its impact on marketing is no exception, as in how it catalyzed the transition from push- to pull-centric marketing.
According to MIT Sloan Professor Sinan Aral, “Social media is rewiring the central nervous system of humanity in real time. We’re now at a crossroads between its promise and its peril.”
This crossroads is forcing marketers to sail a boat they’re still building while battling the stormy seas of short attention spans, political correctness, new social channels and other powerful waves. Argh! What impact will all of this have on the future of social media marketing?
We’ll ask social media agency owner Janet E Johnson, Mike Grehan at SEMPO and Anna Millman at SAP for tips to help your social media marketing stand out amid the high seas noise and find friendly trade winds. Tune in for Social Media Marketing aka Building Your Boat While Sailing.
The Buzz 1: “Automated emails, triggered emails, drip email marketing…phrases often used by people considering a marketing automation system…where there’s email, unfortunately there’s spam… plenty of marketers are willing to cross the line to try to generate more leads … They rent lists full of bad addresses and unqualified prospects…too aggressive with frequency and offers…a desire for a quick and easy return. Acting on that desire however can bite you squarely in the arse.” [www.net-results.com/blog]
Today there's a solution to over-complicated processes, underqualified leads, too little use of customer data and personalization – Marketing Automation.
What is it? Marketing automation utilizes technology to streamline and improve the efficacy of marketing efforts (Salesforce). It allows you to target audiences better and provide them with relevant content, all at the exact right time of their buyer’s journey.
But some people say Marketing Automation is almost too good at its job because as soon as a customer or prospect shows a bit of interest in your product or service, a slew of uninvited spammy promotional content begins appearing. Do they get annoyed, click off and abandon their journey with you?
Question on the table: Has Marketing Automation transformed the industry in the right ways? Does automated marketing do its job too well? How will the inevitable cookies-less web impact the benefits of Marketing Automation?
We’ll ask Neal Schaffer at PDCA Social, Kirill Kniazev at Motili, and Alisha Seegmiller at SAP for their take on Out with the Old and In with Marketing Automation – Beneficial or Spammy?
The Buzz 1: “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- it is what consumers tell each other it is.” (Scott Cook, Intuit co-founder)
The Buzz 2: “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.” (Steve Forbes, Forbes magazine editor-in-chief)
The Buzz 3: “A great brand is a story that is never completely told.” (Scott Bedbury, Brandstream CEO)
The Buzz 4: “Whether B2B or B2C…We all are emotional beings looking for relevance, context and connection.” (Beth Comstock, Imagine It Forward author)
The American Marketing Association [www.ama.org] describes “brand” as “...a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”
More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic where volatility, complexity, and uncertainty have been at an all-time high, a brand’s ability to get attention, be remembered, and be an educational resource has become more imperative than ever. That, in conjunction with consumers wanting their buying power to reflect their personal values, has placed extreme pressure on brands to get it right.
Given all of this, what role does branding play in the buyer’s journey and has that changed since the pandemic began? What could or should companies do to be better at reflecting the social climate or should they not engage in that conversation? What other impacts will the pandemic have on the future of branding?
We’ll ask Alicia Tillman, Mike Grehan and Dennis Thomas for their take on Brand Marketing in a Post-Pandemic World.
The Buzz 1: “Today it's not about 'get the traffic' — it's about 'get the targeted and relevant traffic.” (Adam Audette, Chief Knowledge Officer, RKG)
The Buzz 2: “Optimizing your website for real people helps you gain your visitors’ trust, starts building a relationship, and lets you sell products without having to jump on a sales call.” (vwo.com/website-optimization)
A bit of history (Wikipedia.org): Webmasters and content providers began optimizing websites for search engines in the mid-1990s, as the first search engines were cataloging the early Web. Initially, webmasters only needed to submit the address or URL of a page to the engines, which would send a web crawler to crawl that page, extract links to other pages from it, and return information found on the page to be indexed.”
Are you a marketer who still assumes web optimization and search engine optimization (SEO) are the same? Reality check: Not!
Web optimization is much more than SEO. It’s the critical first step for an effective digital marketing program, incorporating both on-page and off-page enhancements to ensure your pages are found and visitors to your website take the actions you desire.
We’ll ask Aaron Zitzer at Aventi Group, Tom Shapiro at Stratabeat and Diego Pineda at Vengreso for their expert insights on Web Optimization: Make Your Customers’ Digital Journey Suck Less!
The Buzz: “’That thing out there…that is no dinosaur,' says Owen in the 2015 action/sci-fi film Jurassic World. Can the same be said about your email marketing strategy?” (mashable.com)
Fifty years ago, in 1971, pioneering American computer programmer Ray Tomlinson implemented the first email program on the ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet. It was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET. The first business marketing email blast was sent in 1978 – and companies are still using this method of communication with customers and prospects today.
Given the digital transformation every business is undergoing now as a result of the global pandemic, we’re wondering if this form of communication is antiquated or truly the backbone of how we entice, engage, and convert customers. Or is it something in between? Does email fit into the modern buyer's journey? What’s working and what’s not? What might the future of email marketing look like?
We’ll ask Neal Schaffer at PDCA Social, Lindsay Miles at Emory University and Ashley Melendez at SAP for their take on eMail Marketing: Digital Dinosaur or Business Backbone?
The buzz 1: “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” (Tom Fishburne, Founder, Marketoonist).
The buzz 2: “Marketers need to build digital relationships and reputation before closing a sale.” (Chris Brogan, CEO, Owner Media Group)
The buzz 3: “Companies that speak in the language of the pitch are no longer speaking to anyone.” (The Cluetrain Manifesto, 95 business theses, 1999 – 2000)
For years, sales organizations have understood the need for a new way to engage prospects and customers – particularly since traditional rolodex-dependent cold-calling was producing dismal results. Why? Buyers are demanding a personalized, customized, and integrated experience along the total customer journey.
Yet at the same time, Marketers have been reluctant to embrace a new way of engaging customers – always throwing out the “volume” argument. Who is right?
If sales teams are having real success with the “digital engagement” model, why are Marketers so resistant? What information / data / knowledge will help Marketers embrace this new paradigm? How can Marketers support their sales team counterparts for their collective success?
We’ll ask Steve Watt at Seismic, Sarah Goodall at Tribal Impact and Charrele Robinson-Brown at SAP for their insights on what it will take for Marketers to change their mindset, skillset and potentially, their toolset, on Marketers’ Reality Check: Your Digital Presence Quotient DPQ.
The buzz 1: “Once a niche aspect of the event industry, virtual events have become an integral part of daily life in the time of COVID-19 — and it looks like these events are here to stay.” www.eventbrite.com/blog/11-virtual-event-ideas
The buzz 2: “Audience engagement is absolutely key to virtual events…it’s very easy for your audience to get distracted when attending your events online.…provide interactive elements so that your audience feels incredibly involved.” www.markletic.com/blog/virtual-event-engagement
Over the past year of the global pandemic, our world has shifted to be almost completely digital. This phenomenon isn’t limited to your day-to-day interactions with peers and colleagues. It has also impacted the way you engage with customers, particularly when it comes to events.
Is the transition from in-person to digital events as simple as just putting an on-site meeting agenda online? Not! Delivering an engaging customer experience in a digital event requires a different set of skills, ways of engaging your target audience’s attention, and most importantly, strategies for creating a memorable experience.
Which platform/s and visual tools are best for engagement and an immersive experience? How to ensure quality content? How to promote your event on social media and position your call to action?
We’ll ask experts Kathy Lopez at SAP, Lauren Stefano at Seismic, and Mark Della Valle at Encore Global / Canada, to share insights and insider tips on building engagement into their own and their customer’s events, what’s working, what’s not, and the biggest pitfalls to avoid.
Join us for How to Build Engaging Virtual Events: Insider Success Tips.
The buzz: “If there was one winner in 2020, it was probably video. With everyone online all the time, video became more crucial than ever for marketing and communication.” [biteable.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics]
According to Biteable’s video stats for 2021, 60 percent of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 14 precent of Marketers create videos every day. That’s a lot of video!
Indeed, video has been the “king” of media types over the last 12 months. Its popularity brings up important questions about how customers engage with video, the psychology behind its success, and key features today’s marketers should build into their videos to ensure engagement success.
We’ll ask Karl Yeh at Benevity, Mischa McInerney at Digital Marketing Institute and Ryan Sonnenberg at SAP about the most engaging video content they’ve experienced and how technology needs to evolve to increase customer interaction in video.
Join us for The Psychology of Video Engagement: New King of Marketing Tactics!
The buzz: “Great customer experience is a major competitive advantage that drives new sales—and it’s predicted to overtake price and product as the primary brand differentiator for B2B sales by 2020… 33% of customers will consider switching brands after just one poor experience.” (getfeedback.com)
The customer journey – mostly online without a salesperson – has become a major puzzle for marketers to analyze. From brand awareness to customer advocacy, each customer’s experience is unique, compounding the challenges. You need to build each step of your touchpoints – whatever the route – toward the goal of a sale.
The big questions: Who is responsible for the customer experience – Marketing, Sales or Customer Success – or all? In 2021, how is the customer journey map evolving and impacting customer experience?
We’ll ask Tribal Impact’s Vanessa Baker, eConsultancy’s Stefan Tornquist, SAP’s Nicky Elsner for their take on Era of Your Customer: Who’s Minding Their Journey and Experience?
The buzz: “Today, data is hidden all around us, and this begs the question: Is storytelling still important during a time when analytics reign supreme? Great analytics inform your storytelling; they point it in the right direction. But the data won’t do the storytelling for you.” (medium.com/the-mission/the-power-of-storytelling-in-sales-7ac8877475fa)
Storytelling has been around since the start of civilization. It is how people shared experiences, informed family and friends, entertained each other.
Good storytelling hooks us in from the beginning, and stimulates an emotional response to the characters, situation and outcome.
Is storytelling critical to sales and marketing tactics today? If yes, how does it fit into the buyer’s journey? If no, why not? And what are the elements of a good story?
We’ll ask SAP’s Kirsten Boileau, Citrix’s Lindsey Boggs and The Zahnd Team’s Georgia Huntley for their take on Storytelling for Marketing and Sales Success: Fact or Fiction?
The buzz: “Artificial intelligence is making waves…When marketers use AI with marketing automation, they create a superpower…drawing on everything they know about their consumers to tailor experiences with speed and precision…on a massive scale.” [blog.marketo.com]
Marketers are constantly on the lookout for the next big thing when it comes to the future of the marketing industry. Many are focusing on buzzwords 'Automation' and 'AI', which have the potential to dramatically change how the industry works. It has to do with enhancing the effectiveness of critical components of a business such as the target clients your sales team has to concentrate on, the use of personnel time and required repetitive assignments.
How will the future marketer work with AI? Will it be a battle between humans and machines? We’ll ask Alan McLaren at Infinitycomm, Rajat Kapur at &Marketing and Sylvia Lachkar at SAP for their insights on Rise of the Machines: How AI Is Disrupting Modern Marketing.
The buzz: “Artificial intelligence is making waves…When marketers use AI with marketing automation, they create a superpower…drawing on everything they know about their consumers to tailor experiences with speed and precision…on a massive scale.” [blog.marketo.com]
Marketers are constantly on the lookout for the next big thing when it comes to the future of the marketing industry. Many are focusing on buzzwords 'Automation' and 'AI', which have the potential to dramatically change how the industry works. It has to do with enhancing the effectiveness of critical components of a business such as the target clients your sales team has to concentrate on, the use of personnel time and required repetitive assignments.
How will the future marketer work with AI? Will it be a battle between humans and machines? We’ll ask Alan McLaren at Infinitycomm, Rajat Kapur at &Marketing and Sylvia Lachkar at SAP for their insights on Rise of the Machines: How AI Is Disrupting Modern Marketing.
The buzz: “B2B sellers have tremendous success when integrating social into their process…Modern buyers are digital-first buyers…B2B social sellers outperform peers who don’t use social by 72%.” go.forrester.com
How can your sales team drive brand awareness and accelerate your account-based marketing (ABM) strategy to convert top prospects into customers? Leverage their social presence.
Digital selling has become increasingly important in building long-term customer relationships and repeat business. If your sales team isn't including it in ABM, they’re missing out.
We’ll ask Steve Watt at Grapevine6, Kristina Jaramillo at Personal ABM, and Paroma Sen at SAP for their insights on how to get your marketing and sales teams to collaborate on ABM strategy, identify target accounts and key influencers, reach the right decision-makers with targeted content, and measure the impact of your ABM campaign.
Join us for Accelerating Account-Based Marketing: Integrate Digital Selling.
The buzz: “Sales representatives spend less than a third of their working time actually selling…bogged down by administrative and other ‘non-sales’ tasks.” (HubSpot, business2community.com )
Digital Selling is inefficient and time-consuming when you have to manually research different prospect profiles to fill your lead pipeline, then craft unique messages specially targeted for each.
How to reduce the busy-work? Consider Digital Sales Automation with tools to help you compile concise, detailed reports and generate new pipeline-happy leads.
But while automation can provide an elegant solution for streamlining and executing your internal marketing and sales processes, it also can create a disconnect for B2B buyers who still value and demand meaningful relationships, credibility and trust with human B2B sellers.
We'll ask Melissa Jeyaraj at LinkedIn, Walter Pollard at Brand Fuzion and Phil Lurie at SAP for their insights on Can We Leverage Digital Sales Automation in B2B Sales?
The buzz: “When I got started in sales, I would create scripts based on what I heard from the best sales reps around me…but… every sales rep I tried to copy was doing something different…I couldn’t close a deal for the first 18 months…then something clicked…I learned how to read a conversation, understand tone and intonation…to build genuine relationships with my prospects. I stopped trying to automate what needs to be personal.” (S.M. Lowisz, Jan. 2020, forbes.com )
Reality check! Many sales leaders are getting lazy and resorting back to scripts. How bad it is? HubSpot reports that the computer software industry converts only 22% of opportunities to deals. Do the math. Is 78% of your sales team’s time a financial waste? The cure: non-stop coaching, optimized content, real insight, no scripts!
We’ll ask Juliana Stancampiano at Oxygen, Julio Viskovich at NexLevel Sales, and Mike Orr at Grapevine6 for their insights on Lazy Leaders Use Scripts: Strategies to Better Sales Enablement.
The buzz: Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the Internet.” (www.c-tel.eu)
Welcome to digital marketing, where businesses leverage digital channels including search engines, social media, email, and their websites to connect with current and prospective customers.
Some sales professionals think they don’t need this because they’re not the ones researching keywords, executing campaigns, and optimizing results. Think again. Digital marketers are in charge of driving brand awareness and lead generation through all the digital channels, both free and paid.
We’ll ask Kirsten Boileau at SAP, Perry van Beek at Social.One, and Bernie Borges at Vengreso for their insights on Sales in a Digital Age: Sell More by Understanding Digital Marketing.
The buzz: “Digital Selling makes so much sense and seems so easy. Just find useful content, add valuable personal insights, and share it with the right people to build relationships. But creating a repeatable Digital Selling strategy requires more. As Stephen Walsh explains on the Knowledge Enthusiast: In practice, it takes time and focus to build a Digital Selling habit. Finding that content is all about useful content curation. How can you become a great content curator?” contentcurationmarketing.com
“In a 2017 contentmarketinginstitute.com survey, 49% of B2B marketers identified content creation as one of the challenges that contributed to the stagnation of their content marketing efforts…Content curation is a powerful tool…Getting more done with less is what every business strives to achieve.” quuu.co/blog
We’ll ask Jason Taylor at Grapevine6, Brandon Bornancin at Seamless.AI, and Marco Argaez at SAP for their insights on Great Content Curation and Creation for Digital Selling.
The buzz: “If you work in sales…you’ve heard the term sales enablement. Although it’s a hot topic, there seems to be some confusion around whether it’s just another vague buzzword or a specific field of practice that’s delivering real benefits to sales organizations…Sales enablement is less about sales and more about the buyer.” blog.topohq.com “The days of corporate, siloed ownership of prospects and customers are hopefully long gone, as these two departments understand the importance of nurturing from all perspectives to maintain customer engagement and loyalty -- a strategy known as B2B sales enablement.” forbes.com Sales Enablement today is primed to drive a new approach to sales and marketing messaging, skills, and content for years to come. We’ll ask Lori Richardson at Score More Sales, William Arruda at Reach,and Bruna Gonçalves at SAP for their insights on The Future of B2B Sales Enablement.
The buzz: “Sales Enablement has the opportunity to evolve in a big way. When the role first showed up in the B2B enterprise, Sales Enablement became a sidekick to the in-person, acquisition-focused selling conversation. But selling today looks completely different than it did back then” (Erik Peterson, business2community.com).
Welcome to the 2020 decade. Sales Enablement has matured and is poised to drive a new approach to sales and marketing messaging, skills and content.
The four emerging and imperative trends are Customer Success Emerges as a Growth Engine, Remote Selling Replaces Face to Face, Training Adapts to the Speed of Business, and Sales and Marketing Converge.
We’ll Ashley Welch at Somersault Innovation, Loic Simon at #SocialSellingForum and Sylvie Lachkar at SAP for their insights on B2B Sales Enablement: Four Imperatives for 2020 and Beyond.
The buzz: “We need to get over the idea that age is a barrier to expressing yourself on social media” (Ari Seth Cohen). A 2019 AARP Magazine article about social influencers age 50+ talked about influencers over 50, despite their stereotype of defining social selling as having coffee with a customer at a diner vs. millennials, the go-to social selling experts. Reality check: 66% of LinkedIn users are age 46–56+, while 25–34-year-olds are LinkedIn’s global advertising audience’s biggest cohort. The take-away for your company: employees of all ages can become passionate social advocates for your brand and your industry. By leveraging all generations’ talents, you can address the needs and interests of a multi-generational customer base. We ask Riley Hopkinson at Grapevine6, Kurt Shaver at Vengresso, and Lynn Lupo at SAP for their insights on how you can kick-start this cultural change in your organization. Join us for Top 5 Reasons to Leverage Multi-Generational Digital Selling.
The buzz: “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic” (Seth Godin). The image of influencer marketing by brands has been tarnished. In 2019, fake followers were widespread for many social media personalities, and some influencers were accused of covert advertising, challenging their authenticity. This poses a dilemma for brands because when we feel something is fake or misleading, we switch off. In August 2018, almost half (47%) of respondents surveyed by Bazaarvoice reported feeling fatigued by influencer content. The experts speak. Vanessa Baker, Tribal Impact: “… your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages” (Michelle Obama). Mic Adam, Vanguard Leadership: “The best way to predict the future is to create it” (Peter Drucker). Ursula Ringham, SAP: “…people will never forget how you made them feel” (Maya Angelou). Join us for Influencer Marketing: The Next Hottest Thing in B2B?
The buzz: “There’s a classic phrase about good marketing being both an art and a science. Although this idea has been rephrased, reused, and repeated for years, it’s never been more true than it is today.…although fundamentals like this one don’t change much, virtually everything else does. New marketing channels emerge, customer buying preferences shift, and perhaps most importantly, emerging technologies give way to streamlined processes, elevated customer experiences, and fresh takes on marketing principles and practices. Technology influences almost every aspect of today’s businesses, and marketing is certainly no exception… a 2019 survey by Chief Marketer revealed that more than half of marketers plan to increase their budgets for marketing technology in 2020 (www.business2community.com). Tune in to hear Richard Hegarty at Digital Marketing Institute, Barbara Giamanco at Social Centered Selling, and Marco Cai at SAP discuss Marketing for 2020: Tech Tactics You Need To Succeed.
The buzz: “Does your content lead readers on a journey, or does it merely stuff them as leads into a pipeline?” (Ann Handley, MarketingProfs). 2020 has always sounded far off in the future. It’s here! Your customers and prospects know more and expect more, the bar will be set higher and new priorities will emerge. What businesses will win in the 2020’s? The most forward-thinking companies that consciously and deliberately anticipate customers’ future needs and devise smart, reliable strategies to deliver. The experts speak. Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Some things cannot be taught; they must be experienced. You never learn the most valuable lessons in life until you go through your own journey” (Roy T. Bennett). Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter: “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve (Napoleon Hill). Nicholas Lagersten, Digiteyes: “Opportunities multiply as they are seized” (Sun Tzu). Join us for B2B Customer Experience 2020: Digital Sellers Evolve To Meet Customer Demand.
The buzz: “Digital Selling relies on having robust, well-built social networks, which is why social media marketing is a crucial aspect of Digital Selling. Since these two concepts are so similar, many people confuse the two.” (Adrian Fisher, www.forbes.com). Fisher explains that social media marketing lives at the top of the sales funnel to help bring in leads using Facebook and Twitter, for example. Digital Selling puts the traditional sales process back on social networks, where salespeople can comment on a prospect’s LinkedIn post or retweet their Tweet. What does this mean to you? The experts speak.Brynne Tillman, Social Sales Link: “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become (Oprah Winfrey). Alan McLaren, Infinitycomm and SaluberMD: “We have a good time together, even when we’re not together” (Yogi Berra). Sylvie Lachkar, SAP: “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken” (Oscar Wilde). Join us for Boost Your Social Media Marketing Campaign: Apply Digital Selling.
The buzz: “Account-based marketing is thinking of the account as a market of one: (Nick Panayi, CSC). With Digital Selling, your sales team leverages their social presence to drive brand awareness. And they use education to accelerate an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy and convert top prospects into customers…it’s not too late to start (upthereeverywhere.comy). How can you get your marketing and sales teams to collaborate on your ABM strategy? The experts speak. Lisa Dennis, Knowledgence Associates: “The level of the problem isn’t the level of the solution” (Deepak Chopra, MD). Nicole O’Brien, Sales Enablement Society: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” (George F. Tilton). Paroma Sen, SAP: “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree” (Martin Luther). Join us for Digital Selling Plus: Accelerate Your Account-Based Marketing.
The buzz: “Content curation is a great tactic for promoting your thought leadership — but only if the audience can clearly distinguish your insight from that of your source material” (contentmarketinginstitute.com). Does your job description include “great content curator”? Maybe not, but if you’re involved in Digital Selling, it’s automatically part of your role. How to do it? Find useful, timely, relevant content without any sales messaging. Add authentic personal insights. Share it with the right people at the right time to build and grow relationships. Finally, create a repeatable strategy so you can do it over and over again. The experts speak. Jason Taylor, Grapevine6: “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it” (Dali). Brandon Bornancin, Seamless.ai: “Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle” (R. Simmonds). Marco Cai, SAP: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” (Einstein). Join us for Secrets to Great Content Curation.
The buzz: “Sales representatives spend less than a third of their working time actually selling…bogged down by administrative and other ‘non-sales’ tasks.” (HubSpot) Manual Digital Selling can be inefficient and time-consuming if you need to find different profiles and write-out the message each time. Digital Selling automation to the rescue, with automation tools to help you compile concise, detailed reports and generate new pipeline-happy leads with way less busy-work. What does Digital Selling automation look like and how can you get started? The experts speak. Melissa Jeyaraj, LinkedIn: “My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Walter Pollard, Brand Fuzion: “If people like you, they'll listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you” (Zig Ziglar). Phil Lurie, SAP: “You can observe a lot by just watching” (Yogi Berra). Join us for Marketing Automation? How About Digital Selling Automation?
The buzz: “Account based marketing is simply instead of fishing with nets, we’re fishing with spears. You identify exactly the prospects you want to do business with and then you market very precisely and narrowly to them directly” (Matt Heinz). ABM and Digital Selling both engage target prospects with super-relevant content. But while 90% of marketers (2016 marketingprofs survey) rated ABM extremely or very important, only 20% had a full ABM program. How to identify target accounts, reach key influencers, and measure your campaign impact? The experts speak. Julio Viskovich, NexLevel Sales: “Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement” (A. J. D’Angelo). Juliana Stancampiano, Oxygen: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response…” (Viktor E. Frankl). Danny Nail, SAP: “All great changes are preceded by chaos” (D. Chopra). Join us for Account-Based Marketing 101 for Digital Selling: Everything You Need To Know.
The buzz: “Sales and marketing are continuously and increasingly integrated. Marketing needs to know more about sales, sales needs to know more about marketing…we all need to know more about our customers” (Jill Rowley). Digital marketing encompasses all marketing activities that use an electronic device or the Internet to connect with customers and prospects. Oh? Digital marketing doesn’t concern you because you’re a sales professional? Think again! Organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing teams have 38% higher sales win rates and 36% higher customer retention rates.The experts speak.Mike O’Neil, Integrated Alliance: “220…221, whatever it takes” (Mr. Mom movie). Bernie Borges, Vengreso: “Every human being is under construction from conception to death” (Billy Graham). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “If you stay in your comfort zone! You would never do the things that you need to do” (Lights Poxlietner). Join us for Digital Marketing: What Every Sales Pro Needs to Understand.
The buzz: “Content curation is a great tactic for promoting your thought leadership — but only if the audience can clearly distinguish your insight from that of your source material” (contentmarketinginstitute.com). Does your job description include “great content curator”? Maybe not, but if you’re involved in Digital Selling, it’s automatically part of your role. How to do it? Find useful, timely, relevant content without any sales messaging. Add authentic personal insights. Share it with the right people at the right time to build and grow relationships. Finally, create a repeatable strategy so you can do it over and over again. The experts speak. Jason Taylor, Grapevine6: “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it” (Dali). Brandon Bornancin, Seamless.ai: “Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle” (R. Simmonds). Marco Cai, SAP: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” (Einstein). Join us for Secrets to Great Content Curation.
The buzz: “Content curation is a great tactic for promoting your thought leadership — but only if the audience can clearly distinguish your insight from that of your source material” (contentmarketinginstitute.com). Does your job description include “great content curator”? Maybe not, but if you’re involved in Digital Selling, it’s automatically part of your role. How to do it? Find useful, timely, relevant content without any sales messaging. Add authentic personal insights. Share it with the right people at the right time to build and grow relationships. Finally, create a repeatable strategy so you can do it over and over again. The experts speak. Jason Taylor, Grapevine6: “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it” (Dali). Brandon Bornancin, Seamless.ai: “Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle” (R. Simmonds). Marco Cai, SAP: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” (Einstein). Join us for Secrets to Great Content Curation.
The buzz: “By living the day-to-day life of your clients, you can glean insights that are impossible to see from your side of the aisle” (Sona Jepsen www.entrepreneur.com/article/300683). The same people who buy cars, clothes and home services are also making B2B purchasing decisions for their business. The implications for sales people in this Digital Selling era? Ensure you maintain personal communications across digital channels to show your real human face behind your selling message. The experts speak. William Arruda, Reach: “Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are” (Brené Brown). Mark Lotenero, Grapevine6: “Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony (Morpheus, The Matrix). Bruna Gonçalves, SAP: “Great men are not born great, they grow great…” (The Godfather). Join us for B2B Digital Selling: How To Stay Human.
The buzz: “Active participation on LinkedIn is the best way to say, 'Look at me!' without saying 'Look at me!” (Bobby Darnel). Believe it! 42% of LinkedIn members access it multiple times daily or weekly. 74% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn for purchasing decisions and social proof. 79% of B2B marketers view LinkedIn as the most effective marketing channel. 91% of executives rate LinkedIn #1 for professional content. Hubspot reports LinkedIn is 277% better for B2B lead-gen than Facebook and Twitter. Ok. But how to get the best results from LinkedIn? The experts speak. Mic Adam, Vanguard Leadership: The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing (Walt Disney). Loic Simon, #SocialSellingForum: “Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good” (Malcolm Gladwell). Phil Lurie, SAP: I still don't know what I was waiting for And my time was running wild… (David Bowie). Join us for Mining Golden Nuggets: LinkedIn for Digital Selling.
The buzz: “You sell more when you stop selling (David Meerman Scott). “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” (William Bruce Cameron). We’re hearing exciting success stories about the new sales elite: savvy quota-overachievers who apply Digital Selling techniques and tools with energy and diligence. But how can you measure the value of non-quota-carriers: sales team members, marketers and other groups who don’t “get” how to do social selling? And how can your organization help them use “traditional” social tools to boost impact? The experts speak. Chuck Shaver Vengreso: “If you would not be forgotten…either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing” (Benjamin Franklin). Kristen Lawrence, Grapevine6: “It’s not easy bein’ green” (Kermit the Frog). Marco Cai, SAP: “Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way” (Tom Freston). Join us for Digital Selling: Quota vs Non-Quota Sales.
The buzz: “To write off ‘Influencer Marketing’ as a fad is a foolish game. Brands will figure out how to collaborate with culture creators and harness the distribution of. curators.” (David Armano, Strategy at Edelmandigital). The value of B2B influencer marketing has taken a hit from news about fake followers of social media personalities and accusations of covert advertising. The result? In a 2018 Bazaarvoice survey, 47% of respondents reported feeling fatigued by influencer content. How can B2B influencer marketing work – and remain authentic? The experts speak. Mike Orr, Grapevine6: Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose” (Janis Joplin). Viveka von Rosen, Vengreso: “Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Cecilia Marshall, SAP: “Not everything that counts can be counted” (William Bruce Cameron). Join us for Influencer Marketing for B2B: How Does It Work?
The buzz: “The idea that social selling is dead or dying is a bit over exaggerated … Cold calling should be dead” (Koka Sexton). In conversations about account-based marketing (ABM), we often hear that cold calling is dead, email is dead and social selling aka digital selling is dead. True or false? The key to the longevity of any channel is its rocket fuel: content. Timely, targeted and relevant messages help you break into target accounts and drive ongoing buyer engagement. Our panel of experts will discuss whether digital selling is dying or dead, and if so, what will replace or complement it. The experts speak. Paul Slack, Vende Social: “There are no traffic jams along the extra mile” (Roger Staubach). Tom Martin, Converse Digital: “Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Act accordingly” (Dr Phil). Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself” (Leo Tolstoy). Join us for Channel Checkup: Is Digital Selling Dead?
The buzz: “Social media allows big companies to act small again” (Jay Baer). When we hear “2020”, we tend to picture a time way off in the future. Reality check: it’s only 10 months from now! Which B2B companies will win in 2020? Those with new go-to-market strategies that consciously and deliberately anticipate customers’ future needs and deliver the best Digital Selling experience. Why is this critical? Ubiquitous access to pre-purchase information arms customers with higher expectations than ever before. Are you ready? The experts speak. Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment” (Jim Rohn). Mark Lotenero, Grapevine6: “If I had five minutes to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first three sharpening my axe” (Anonymous lumberjack, 1950s). Bernie Borges, Vengreso: “Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster” (Elon Musk). Join us for B2B Customer Experience 2020: Why Digital Selling Matters.
The buzz: “Social business: This is not a drill, people” (Jeff Gibbard, True Voice Media). Armed with a list of target prospects to close, sales reps traditionally use a cold call/voicemail/email script with a list of common objections and rebuttals, and company assets to send. For social selling, social media relationship building is a warmer approach to digitally savvy prospects. Will the sales needle move faster and smarter using social on top of traditional methods? The experts speak. Mark Lotenero, Grapevine6: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” (Maya Angelou). Brandon Bornancin, Seamless.ai: “Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle” (Ross Simmonds). Marco Cai, SAP: “Being fast is the ultimate secret for a Kung Fu King to defeat enemies” (Kung Fu: The Movie). Join us for Social Plus Traditional Selling: Get to the Close Faster.
The buzz: “Almost every single social media platform is beginning to leverage AI…” (martechseries.com). Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is penetrating every aspect of B2B sales, including social selling, with the potential to disrupt strategies and techniques, and disadvantage digital sales laggards. Reality check: Can you really tell if a salesperson answering you real-time online is human or robot? Aha! Our panel will explore if AI will have a positive, lasting impression on social selling or just be a fad. The experts speak. Perry van Beek, Social.ONE: “If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough” (M.Andretti). Mike Orr, Grapevine6: “There are no environments where you're only going to win, because life just isn't like that” (Bobby.Orr). Charrele Robison-Brown, SAP: “Friendship...born at the moment when one man says to another, What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…” (C.S.Lewis). Join us for Social Selling and AI: Human or Robot–Part 2.
The buzz: “Where else can you find your customers, prospects, partners, suppliers, competitors and thought leaders talking about key topics and trends in your industry? If you’re not using LinkedIn groups, you’re missing out” (Jeff Simmons). LinkedIn is the primary B2B targeted relationship-building social selling tool, helping salespeople find, qualify and close prospects. It’s “social” because you build foundational relationships online by answering their questions with content that builds trust with you along their buying journey. Are your salespeople optimizing or underutilizing LinkedIn’s powerful social tools? The experts speak. Aka Petrancosta, LinkedIn: “Everything you want to be, you already are. You're simply on the path to discovering it” (Alicia Keys). Brynne Tillman, Social Sales Link: “What we dwell on is who we become” (Oprah Winfrey). Phil Lurie, SAP: “’The time has come,’' the Walrus said” (Lewis Carroll). Join us for Social Selling and LinkedIn: Relationships 101.
The buzz: “Videos are more frequently shared on social media as compared to written content” (Koka Sexton). Whether you are in sales or marketing, it's time to spread your reach as wide as possible. That means considering video if you’re not already using it. Combining effective video content with social selling can help directly reach prospective clients and encourage them to buy from you. Tune in for expert insights on the benefits of using video content in sales and social selling strategies, and tips and tricks to get the most engagement and pipeline from your videos. The experts speak. Jason Taylor, Grapevine6: “The best . way to predict your future is to create it” (Alan Kay). Julio Viskovich, NextLevel Sales: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Nelson Mandela). Alexandra Witte, SAP: “You have the power within your reach to create what you desire” (Lailah Gifty Akita). Join us for Social Sellers and Video: Look Ma – I’m on Camera!
The buzz: “Repeat after me: Social media followers are not leads. They could be, however.” (Ben Green, “B2B Social Media: 6 Tips for Social Selling Strategy” (Ben Green, Oktopost). Reality check: Sales is the world’s oldest profession, with each technological era impacting how the salesperson sells. Only recently has technology, in the form of social media, shifted the power from the B2B seller to the B2B buyer, who can search and shop for enterprise solutions as easily as finding a garage door opener on Amazon. How have successful companies made the paradigm shift to a Social Selling culture that benefits sales, marketing and the customer? The experts speak. Bernie Borges, Vengreso: ‘I am thankful for laughter except when milk comes out of my nose” (Woody Allen). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “The key to change… is to let go of fear” (Roseanne Cash). Join us for Social Selling Secrets of Companies Doing It Well – Part 2.
The buzz: “In the old days, sellers would bring their Rolodex from company to company–now they bring their LinkedIn network” (@RobBois). Top salespeople have mastered how to use social networks to grow revenue potential, exceed quota, prospect efficiently, and maintain a robust pipeline. How? They play by each social network’s etiquette rules, know what customers want to see, how and when they want to see it, and know their own social media goals. Our panel will share Top 5 Guidelines to help you write your Social Selling Playbook. The experts speak. Joanne Black, No More Cold Calling: “My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is” (Ellen DeGeneres). Lori Richardson, Score More Sales: “Love or Fear. The decision defines you” (Oprah Winfrey). Michael LaBate, SAP: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” (Benjamin Franklin). Join us for Social Sellers Playbook: Top 5 Do’s and Don’t Do’s.
The buzz: “The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful” (J. Jonathan Zittrain). Facebook has the most users. LinkedIn is for serious professionals. Twitter is considered in-between. Per the American Press Institute, 79% of members use Twitter to get the news, 36% to pass the time, and 19% to network. But 19% doesn’t mean you should omit Twitter as a social selling tool. The experts speak. Sarah Goodall, Tribal Impact: “One technology doesn’t replace another, it complements. Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevator” (Stephen Fry). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch…the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around” (Leo Buscaglia). Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: “An open-minded person sees life without boundaries, whereas a close-minded person can only see what’s beyond their eyes” (Kaoru Shinmon). Join us for Insider Secrets: Twitter for Social Selling.
The buzz: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” (William B. Cameron). If you’re your company’s designated “bean counter” in this Age of Social Selling, the standardization of digital performance metrics may give you a sigh of relief. Why? You’ll be able to measure the business impact of all digital selling performance across your organization and provide timely feedback to reinforce what’s working vs what can be improved or eliminated. And you can level the playing field for marketing investments. The experts speak. Scott Santucci, Social Enablement Society: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (Leonardo da Vinci). Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter: “My mom always said life was life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get” (Forrest Gump). Marco Cai, SAP: “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things” (A. Einstein). Join us for Social Sellers’ Playbook: Making It Count.
The buzz: “Technology can make salespeople more effective and efficient IF you know what tools to use” (Triblio). Despite hard proof that Social Selling gives the modern B2B sales force a tangible advantage over social laggards, many companies consider it a trend or fad. Need more info before you dip your toe in the water or wade in deeper? We’ll share insights on how the best and right social selling tools can help you navigate the increasingly crowded pool, especially when used by your entire organization – not just Sales! The experts speak. William Arruda, Reach: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken” (O. Wilde). Meagan Davis, GAN Integrity: “‘I never look back darling, it distracts from the now” (E. Mode). Phil Lurie, SAP: “Negative results are just what I want. They're just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don't” (Edison). Join us for Social Selling Insider Secrets: What’s In Your Toolbox?
The buzz: “Content is fire, social media is gasoline” (Jay Baer). Reality check: the world’s oldest profession is Sales. Each technological era has impacted how the salesperson sells. Only recently has technology, in the form of social media, shifted the power from the B2B seller to the B2B buyer. B2B buyers can search and shop for enterprise solutions as easily as finding a garagedoor opener on Amazon. How have successful companies made the paradigm shift to a Social Selling culture that benefits sales, marketing and the customer? The experts speak. Bernie Borges, Vengreso: ‘You may find the worst enemy or best friend in yourself” (English proverb). Gabe Villamizar, Lucidchart: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” (Aristotle). Michael Labate, SAP: “I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination” (Jimmy Dean). Join us for Social Selling Secrets of Companies Doing It Well.
The buzz: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” [Luke 6:31]. Truth time: Do you stalk prospects to get into their Facebook newsfeed, or are you a patient advisor in their buying journey? We’ll resume our 2017 discussions about the do’s and don’ts of Social Selling, and how you and your team “should” vs. “should not” behave in the digital world. Hint: Yes, the Golden Rule still applies in our hyper-paced Digital Age. The experts speak. Viveka von Rosen, Vengreso: ‘Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right” (Henry Ford). Barbara Giamanco, Social Centered Selling: “Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts” (Robert Fulghum). Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: “Great companies in the way they work, start with great leaders” (Steve Ballmer). Join us for Mind Your Manners: Social Selling Etiquette and The Golden Rule – Part 3.
The buzz: “If you cannot learn daily, you cannot become a digital marketer” (Soravjain.com). Your staff may be excited about social selling training and enablement, but what happens when they return to their day-to-day jobs? The gauges of social selling success include how well and how consistently they execute their lessons in the real business world and add value to your marketing and sales. Tune in for best practices to encourage social selling adoption, maintain momentum, and monitor execution. The experts speak. Mic Adam, Vanguard Leadership: “For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour” (Mary Kay Ash). Loic Simon, PartnerWin: “Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good (Malcolm Gladwell). Marco Cai, SAP: “Be the change you wish to see in the world” (Gandhi). Join us for Social Selling Post-Training Momentum: Strategies and Best Practices.
The buzz: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” [Luke 6:31]. Is this Golden Rule passé in our hyper-paced digital world? Not! Why? Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Truth time: Do you stalk prospects to get into their Facebook newsfeed? Or are you patiently serving as an advisor in their buying journey? The experts speak. Jill Rowley, #SocialSelling: ‘To be interesting, be interested” (Dale Carnegie). Sarah Goodall, Tribal Impact: “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new” (Dalai Lama). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “I make a distinction between manners and etiquette - manners as the principles, which are eternal and universal, etiquette as the particular rules which are arbitrary and different in different times, different situations, different cultures” (Miss Manners). Join us for Mind Your Manners: Social Selling Etiquette and The Golden Rule.
The buzz: “The importance of understanding the impact of competitors’ social footprints compared to your own can’t be overstated” (Paige Leidig). All brands and organizations operate in a competitive, fast-paced global environment. But while ignore the competition, others are obsessed with tracking competitors, even using “under the radar” spy methods. If traditional wisdom still holds – that strong knowledge about competitors’ strengths and weaknesses positions you to make smart marketing strategy decisions – then it’s time to add social media to your competitive info-gathering toolkit. The experts speak. Frank D. Geisler, ERPsourcing: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” (Robert Orben). Simon Deschênes, Oak3s: “I don't need time. What I need is a deadline (Duke Ellington). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently” (Marie Forleo). Join us for Modern Competitive Analysis: Remember Social Media!
The buzz: “Widespread Social Selling adoption in companies remains a challenge...why aren’t more companies taking Social Selling seriously?” (SPI) Building a successful corporate Social Selling program beyond LinkedIn can be complex, especially if it requires a company-wide cultural change. First, getting your executive and managerial support and branding can be a challenge if they don’t get the concept of Social Selling ROI. Your next hurdle: rolling out and scaling a training curriculum to make Social Selling every employee’s role. Then you’ll need enablement initiatives to drive motivation and program expansion. Is it worth all this effort? Yes! The experts speak. Amar Sheth, Sales for Life: “Everything you want is a dream away We are legends, every day” (Coldplay). Perry van Beek, Social.ONE: “Screw It Let’s Do It. (Sir Richard Branson). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Change before you have to” (Jack Welch). Join us for Social Selling Success: Getting Your Company on the Bandwagon.
The buzz: “The days of the ‘us versus them’ mindset between sales and marketing teams are over…no room for companies made up of teams that compete with each other–even if it’s just for glory and recognition” [Charles McKay]. Analysts and experts say Social Selling requires a close collaboration between marketing and sales. Sounds good, but how can these business units come together to make a social selling initiative work? Time for a reality check on the ins and outs, ups and downs of getting siloed organizations to collaborate on a common goal. The experts speak. Barbara Giamanco, Social Centered Selling: “If you align expectations with reality, you will never be disappointed” (Terrell Owens). Lorraine Maurice, SAP: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear” (Mark Twain). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself” (Henry Ford). Join us for Sales and Marketing: Becoming A Social Selling Dynamic Duo.
The buzz: “79% of sales people that use social media outsell their peers” [Forbes]. Social selling is at a tipping point, “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, spreads like wildfire” (Malcolm Gladwell). It is impacting how sales and marketing teams collaborate, do business and engage customers. But as the supporting technology constantly changes, do the behaviors of great Social Sellers need to change, too? The experts speak. Bernie Borges, Vengreso: “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor” (E. Musk). Brynne Tillman, Vengreso: “Become the person who would attract the results you seek” (J. Cathcart). Mario Martinez Jr., Vengreso: “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking” (G.S. Patton Jr.). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “There is no substitute for innovation. Original, revolutionary ideas will always rise to the top” (R. Branson). Join us for Social Selling at the Tipping Point.
The buzz: “The existing culture of traditional B2B companies is not entirely conducive to online procurement experiences ... [yet] B2B e-commerce sales in the US will soar as high as $1.1 trillion by 2019” [Evan Klein]. Today’s digital buyer expects to be a dynamic part of the sales process, not just a passive receiver of information. According to a Walker study, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Can Social Selling help B2B solutions sellers enhance their customers' experience throughout the sales cycle? The experts speak. Firdaus Shariff, SAP: “Take risks now and do something bold. You won’t regret it” (Elon Musk). Evan Kirstel, Strategist: “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed” (Napolean Hill). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Make every interaction count, even the small ones. They are all relevant” (Shep Hyken). Join us for 2020 B2B Customer Experience: The Role of Social Selling.
The buzz: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” [Luke 6:31]. Is this Golden Rule passé in our hyper-paced digital world? Not! Why? Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Truth time: Do you stalk prospects to get into their Facebook newsfeed? Or are you patiently serving as an advisor in their buying journey? The experts speak. Jill Rowley, #SocialSelling: ‘To be interesting, be interested” (Dale Carnegie). Sarah Goodall, Tribal Impact: “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new” (Dalai Lama). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “I make a distinction between manners and etiquette - manners as the principles, which are eternal and universal, etiquette as the particular rules which are arbitrary and different in different times, different situations, different cultures” (Miss Manners). Join us for Mind Your Manners: Social Selling Etiquette and The Golden Rule.
The buzz: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” (Bruce Cameron). We’re hearing exciting success stories about the new sales elite: savvy quota-over-achievers who apply social selling techniques and tools with energy and diligence. But how can you measure the value of your non-quota-carriers: sales team members, marketers and other business groups who don’t “get” how to do social selling? And how to help them use “traditional” social tools to boost their impact? The experts speak. Julio Viskovich, rFactr: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” (Sun Tzu). Jamie Shanks, Sales for Life: “Stop selling. Start helping” (Zig Ziglar). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” (Helen Keller). Join us for Social Selling for Non-Quota-Carriers: Does This Compute?
The buzz: “Until recently we believed that robots cannot have a conscious or emotions. And most importantly we thought robots can never sell...We don’t even know If a salesperson replying to us in real-time in 2020 would be a human or a robot” (M. Siddiqua). The infusion of artificial intelligence into the social sales process is already here! Will it have a positive, lasting impression or be a flash in the pan? We'll explore the pro’s and con’s, and the implications for the modern B2B sales person. The experts speak. Bernie Borges, Find and Convert: “Winners…imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live” (Joe Montana). Tim Hughes, Digital Leadership Associates: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” (Gandhi). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “You can never plan the future by the past” (Edmund Burke). Join us for Social Selling and AI: New Frontier or Pricey Gimmick?
The buzz: “We doubt anyone ever chose to be a B2B sales rep because it seemed easy.” (Jesse Davis) If you’re reluctant to embrace Social Selling without assurance that it will help build meaningful B2B relationships that impact – and even complete – the buyer’s journey, you are not alone. We’re seeing a growing trend pigeon-holing Social Selling into the Demand-Gen stage of the sales cycle, but it might be a viable option in other stages. The experts speak. Morgan Jones, Televerde Europe: “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation” (William Paley). Jonathan Russell, SAP: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” (Henry Ford). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “There is no more B2B or B2C, it’s H2H – Human to Human” (Bryan Kramer). Join us for Social Media Relationships and B2B Buyer’s Journey.
The buzz: “To thrive in this new age of hyper-change and growing uncertainty, it is now an imperative to learn a new competency—how to accurately anticipate the future” (Dan Burrus). The fear of the unknown makes change very difficult for most of us, especially when it impacts our personal income and/or business success. If your organization embarks on a Social Selling journey, it will dramatically transform how Sales interacts with your customers, like it or not. Is change management among the best practices that can help expedite and smooth the transition? The experts speak. Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don't” (Irish Proverb). Barbara Giamanco, SocialCentered Selling: “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” (George Bernard Shaw). Kurt Shaver, The Sales Foundry: “What's the ROI of your mother? (Gary “Vee” Vaynerchuk). Join us for Your Social Selling Journey and Change Management.
The buzz: Beyond monarchy. In the late 1990s, Sumner Redstone and Bill Gates declared 'Content is king', which became a mantra for Internet marketers and SEO practitioners. In 2012, wine marketing guru Gary 'V' Vaynerchuk raised the bar: 'If content is king, then context is god.' Aha! Getting the right content to the right audience at the right time is key to building your brand, developing trusted relationships and impacting a buyer’s journey. How to do it right? The experts speak. Hilary Carter, InTune Communications: 'When you invent the plane, you also invent the plane crash' -Paul Virilio. Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: 'Marketing is telling the world that you're a rockstar. Content Marketing is showing the world that you are one' -Robert Rose. Kirsten Boileau, SAP: 'Content fails when you create materials that speak to very broad audiences' -Mark Yeager. Join us for Social Selling: King Content, Context and the Sales Cycle – Part 2.
The buzz: Thanks, Bill. Thanks, Gary. Bill Gates’ 1996 observation, 'Content is king,' became a mantra for Internet marketers and SEO practitioners. Fast forward to 2012, when wine marketing master Gary Vaynerchuk upped the ante: 'If content is king, then context is god.' Aha! What you do with your content – sharing the right content with the right contact at the right time – is the key to building your brand, developing trusted ongoing relationships and impacting the buyer’s journey to your advantage. The experts speak. Hilary Carter, InTune Communications: 'Sharks act calmer when they listen to AC-DC' -Australia National Geographic. Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: “Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks' -Yo-Yo Ma. Kirsten Boileau, SAP: 'Always stay curious. Curiosity instills creativity' -Aerin Lauder. Join us for Social Selling: Accelerating the Sales Cycle with King Content.
The buzz: 'We go together like rama lama…' Grease, 1978 film. Even if you’re successfully using Social Selling, you still need good partner relationships for your business to grow, scale and thrive. Why? A partner model in your go-to-market strategy can help ensure your customers receive the best experience every time. How to make it happen? Your organization needs to provide ongoing support, enablement, training, more – especially for partners who rely on you for innovative ideas and strategies. How does the partner model fit in with Social Selling? The experts speak. Lorraine Maurice, SAP: 'Succeeding in business is all about making connection' Richard Branson. Phil Lurie, SAP: 'You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find you get what you need' The Rolling Stones. Marco Argaez, SAP: 'Coming together is a beginning: keeping together is progress: working together is a success' Henry Ford. Join us for Social Selling and the Partner Ecosystem.
The buzz: Weather at six. Microsoft’s headline-grabbing LinkedIn acquisition announcement was followed immediately by widespread speculation about what this would and could mean for the Social Selling world. How open – or not – will LinkedIn’s platform stay? What new features are in development and when can we expect a reveal? What will be the impact on Social Selling newbies versus those who have been in the game for a while? Could this open the door for other social platforms to shine in the social selling arena? So many questions! Tune in for insights and predictions. The experts speak. Kurt Shaver, The Sales Foundry: “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow” (Rupert Murdoch). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Chaos in the world brings uneasiness, but it also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth” (Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee). Join us for LinkedIn and Microsoft: The Perfect Storm for Social Selling?
The buzz: Viva le Video! The 1978 lyrics of “Video Killed the Radio Star” (The Buggles) expressed deep concerns about the impact of 20th century inventions on the media arts. “They took the credit for your second symphony, Rewritten by machine on new technology.” Video popularity has soared since then and today video is considered the “future of content marketing” (The Guardian, 2015). What exactly is the potential of video? How can it be leveraged for Social Selling in the sales cycle? The experts speak. Gabe Villamizar, HireVue: “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it. (Rafiki, The Lion King). Jack Kosakowski, the Creation Agency: “Before you can understand and motivate anyone else, you must first understand and motivate yourself” (Black Jack Moher). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak” (John Berger). Join us for Video and the Social Seller’s Toolkit.
The buzz: “I don’t’ believe it. Prove it to me and I still won’t believe it” (Douglas Adams). Social Selling is changing the sales industry in positive and profitable ways. For example, sales people who are skilled social media users are six times more likely to exceed quota (Forbes.com 05/22/15, M.M. Biro)! Yet even with growing proof like this, you may still need to convince your entire sales organization to adopt and internalize this new selling and engagement mindset and strategy. How? The right kind of training program can speed transformation and boost adoption rates.The experts speak. Jill Rowley, #SocialSelling: “To be interesting, be interested” (Dale Carnegie). Mario M. Martinez Jr., M3Jr Growth Strategies, LLC: “The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work” (Stubby Currence, 1935). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “If we are growing, we are always going to be outside our comfort zone” (John C. Maxwell). Join us for Social Selling Adoption: How to Make It Happen.
The buzz: Finally…Social Selling has grabbed business headlines since at least 2012, with companies worldwide hanging onto every word of advice from a handful of Social Selling gurus. It’s time to peek behind the curtain and find out if Social Selling is a proven cure-all for old-school, impersonal, annoying cold-calling, and if its best practices are set in stone or still evolving. We’re asking three thought leaders to tell us once and for all if Social Selling is fantasy and hype or fix and hope. The experts speak. Kurt Shaver, The Sales Foundry: “The first thing you should do as a Social Seller is enhance your LinkedIn profile… create a good impression before jumping in.” Jim Fields, SAP: “The term ‘Social Selling’ is actually a bad name for what we are talking about.” Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Sales can’t do Social Selling without Marketing, and Marketing can’t do Social Selling without Sales. Join us for Social Selling: Fantasy or Fix, Hype or Hope? Three Experts Speak.
The buzz: The little engine that could. We previously explored how Social Selling is transforming the large enterprise. Today we’ll focus on Social Selling for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Hubspot reported (2014) that SMBs contributed $5.5+ trillion to the US economy in 2013, and are increasingly turning to social media to market products and services, learn about trends, and interact with customers. Stats bear this out: 94% of SMBs that adopted social media use it for marketing, 80% use it to drive growth, and 61% find it useful in gaining new customers. Ready to learn how? The experts speak. Mario Martinez Jr., Social Selling Evangelist: “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful (Eric Thomas, The Hip Hop Preacher). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Change before you have to (Jack Welch). Joao Branquinho, SAP: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” (Milton Berle). Join us for How Social Selling is Changing the SMB Market.
The buzz: The times they are a-changin’. Yes! Social Media has not merely changed the way we buy – but also the way companies sell. Established businesses around the world are aware that they must get smarter about Social Sales in order to stay ahead of the competitive curve. But according to Adweek, 61% of Fortune 500 CEOs still have no Social Media presence. Why not? What are the implications for slow-to-adopt / slow-to-adapt companies and executives, as Social Selling continues to dramatically change the large enterprise? The experts speak. Maggie Fox, SAP: “Fortuna audaces Iuvat or Fortune favours the bold” (Latin proverb). Chris Boudreaux, EY: “Leaders grasp nettles” (David Ogilvy). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Your success in life isn't based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business (Mark Sanborn). Join us for How Social Selling Is Changing the Large Enterprise.
The buzz: Game Face. Game On! As humans, we all like games. Why? Games enable us to try to be the best at something, whether Scrabble, cards, video games, football or even the Olympics, and to challenge each other. Games motivate and bring out the best (and the worst) in us. Can games help your sales reps get up to speed in Social Selling, which challenges them to change how they do business? Yes! Join us to learn the best ways to incorporate games into your Social Selling program, get pointers on how to do it, learn what outcomes to expect, and hear the challenges that may emerge along the way. The experts speak. Mario Martinez Jr., Social Selling Expert: “If your “WHY” doesn't make you cry, then it's not big enough” (Unknown). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another” (John Dewey). Join us for The Gamification of Social Selling.
The buzz: Stargazing. Since this series debuted in Sept. 2015, we’ve discussed the state of Social Selling, strategies to build a Social Selling program, and best practices. Our thought leaders shared proof points to validate their insights: 98% of sales reps with 5000+ LinkedIn connections achieve quota (Sales Benchmark Index); 80% of social introductions generate a sale (DSWA); 72.6% of salespeople using social outperformed peers (Social Media and Sales Quota Survey); and 61% of US marketers use social media for lead generation (IBM). Today, to cap Season 1, we’ll look back at 2015 and ahead to 2016 with our experts from the debut episode. Kurt Shaver, The Sales Foundry: “80% of success is just showing up (Alvy Singer, Annie Hall). Jim Fields, SAP: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded” (Yogi Berra). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress” (Frederick Douglass). Join us for The Future of Social Selling: 2015 Surprises, 2016 Predictions.
The buzz: Count what counts. If your company is already on the Social Selling bandwagon, are you ready to justify the cost and effort when your management demands impact results? Reality check: a promising new connection on LinkedIn doesn’t always convert to a new deal on the bottom line. If your current metrics tools aren’t up to the task, take heart. Our panel will define meaningful metrics, best practices and tools. And we’ll explore the bigger question: can social relationships really be measured? The experts speak. Mario Martinez, Jr., PGi: “Whatever you choose to do, my son, always put 150% into it and be the best” (Mario Martinez Sr.). Kevin Thomas Tully, rFactr: “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said 'Sit down' I stood up” (Bruce Springsteen). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule” (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations). Join us for Social Selling Accountability Metrics: How Are You Doing?
The buzz: Reps for reps. “Education is not the learning of the facts, but the training of the mind to think” (Einstein). But 93% of sales execs have received NO formal training on Social Selling (Accenture). How do you train key departments and organizations on Social Selling, then get them to exercise it to develop a‘Social Selling Muscle’? The experts speak. br Gabe Villamizar, HireVue: “Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you; Beginners are many, but enders are few” (Thomas S. Monson). Shawn Robertson, SAP: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, knowing it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed…a lion wakes up, knowing it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. Whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running” (Christopher McDougall). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand” (Confucius). Join us for Your Social Selling Program: Training and Enablement.
The buzz: Tell me why. MSLGroup reported that 77% of buyers are more likely to purchase from a company whose CEO uses social media. If your CEO, executives and employees are not active on, don’t believe in, or are shy about social networking – they need to be convinced it’s a make-or-break business activity that should be taken very seriously. But how? Start by telling them Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, Michael Dell and Bill Gates are “Social CEOs”. The experts speak. William Arruda, Reach: “If you don't show up in Google, you don't exist” (W. Arruda, 2003). Lindsey Boggs, SmarterHQ: “It's never as good as it feels, and never as bad as it seems” (Ken May). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba…has no inventory. Airbnb…owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening”. (Tom Goodwin). Join us for Convincing Your C-Suite to Invest in Social Selling.
The buzz: A race to the finish…! Time is money. And it’s especially precious in the last quarter of your fiscal year. According to a Dell study, 70% of B2B purchase decision makers now use social media to help them decide what to buy and from whom. If your sales people aren’t using Social Selling – or lack the Social Selling savvy to read customers’ and prospects’ digital signals along the buying journey, they’ll need help reaching the finish line this year. Listen up! The experts speak. Koka Sexton, LinkedIn: “Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way” (George S. Patton, Jr.). Tom Nusko, SAP: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” (Walt Disney). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “It’s just not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results” (Warren Buffett). Join us for The Final Sprint: Closing Strong with Social Selling.
The buzz: Stuck. It's Oct. 27. If you're 1/3 through your 4th quarter, we bet your Sales team is putting the pedal to the metal to drive year-end success. But if they use traditional pipeline-accelerating strategies, deals could be getting stuck. Listen up! The Aberdeen Group found that 72.6% of Salespeople using Social Selling outperformed peers and exceeded quota 23% more often. How can Social help you? The experts speak. Barbara Giamanco, Social Centered Selling: “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else” (Albert Einstein). Liam McLaughlin, LinkedIn: “Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow (Liam 'Liga baby' McLaughlin). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Forget today. Think about the future. While it can be rewarding in the short-term to focus on transactions, it will harm you in the long-term. Build and sell relationships” (Amar Sheth). Join us for Is Social Selling Closing the Deal?
The buzz: The NBT for Sales? The term “Sales 2.0” was coined nearly a decade ago by Nigel Edelshain. Soon after, the buzzword “Social Selling” emerged. But it is just now gaining real momentum as a valuable tool for sales reps. As a Sales methodology, it covers everything from branding and listening to engaging and collaborating. Join us for the next 13 weeks to learn what Social Selling really is, how it can positively impact your sales organization, and the best way to board the fast train to Social Selling success. The experts speak (via the Blues Brothers): Kurt Shaver, The Sales Foundry: Elwood: “It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.” Jake: “Hit it.” Kirsten Boileau, SAP: Elwood: “Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now.” Jim Fields, SAP: Jake: “How often does the train go by?” Elwood: “So often that you won’t even notice it.” Join us for Social Selling 101: All Aboard!
The buzz: Fred and Ginger. Partners and social selling – what’s the deal? Many companies use partner channels to access markets, and share resources, to ensure the best customer experience. As these companies start to leverage Social Selling for their own sales teams, some are wondering how to also fit partners into this new selling model. But how do you invite, train and encourage partners to support your own social selling strategy and who in your organization owns the responsibility for enabling the partners? This new segment of Social Selling is evolving as we speak! The experts speak. Bryan Kramer, PureMatter: “80% done is 100% incomplete” (Mark Waxman). Russ Fradin, Dynamic Signal: “A CEO’s job is simple. Don’t let the company ever run out of money (Fred Wilson). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Change is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is” (Seth Godin). Join us for Social Selling 101: Partners and Social Selling.
The buzz: Behind the hype. Social Selling is being hyped as the magic bullet for all kinds of companies to engage authentically – vs. traditional old-school hard-sell methods – with future and current customers on the booming social media platform landscape. Reality check: Social selling can be a minefield if your sales reps lack the right training, skills and tools, or if your organization lacks a solid social strategy to nurture their success. It’s time to replace the hype with straight talk and examples of real-life social selling heroes and zeroes. Ready? The experts speak. Brynne Tillman, Social Sales Link: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there” (Will Rogers). Jeff Zelaya, Triblio: “What do you desire? (Alan Watts). Phil Lurie, SAP: “Join the revolution! Social Selling, along with Mobile enablement, is changing the face of 21st century commerce.” Join us for Social Selling: What Makes or Breaks A Social Seller.
The buzz: Building blocks. Sales reps: If you believe a LinkedIn profile is all it takes for a positive social brand and reputation, you’re not even close. It’s just the beginning. Building on the social listening skills covered on our last episode, you need to start engaging in social conversations with prospects and customers in a targeted, relevant, caring, educational way –no “hard sell”. Tune in for best practices Do’s and Don’ts, and their impact on your brand and the brand you sell. The experts speak. Chris Boudreaux, Social Media Governance: “You are a human being, and what human beings do is art, new stuff, connection... There’s a big difference between being Dell and being Michael Dell... You are not a brand. You’re a person” (Seth Godin). Casey Ryan, SAP: “I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate” (George Burns). Reuven Gorsht, SAP: “There are no old roads to new places.” Join us for Social Selling: Engaging in the Social Conversation.
The buzz: Say what? Greek philosopher Epictetus’s (55-135 AD) adage, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak,” still applies to life today – and great advice for Social Selling. Say what? Your customers really want to be heard. And you can listen to them on social media platforms where they freely share ideas, opinions, challenges. If you’re new to the “social listening” skill set, we’ll tell you how to do it well, and share insights on how it impacts your customer relationships and sales. The experts speak. Hilary Carter, inTune Communications: “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road” (Stewart Brand). Julio Viskovich, rFactr: “Social selling is not for the hard sell, it’s to build trust and credibility.” Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply” (Stephen R. Covey). Join us for Social Selling: Can You Hear Me?
The buzz: Who are you? To succeed in Sales, you have to be authentic, relevant, and add value to interactions with customers and prospects. The premise of using social platforms to sell is basically the same, but the stakes are much higher. How? You, your social brand and every interaction are viewable by anyone anywhere 24/7/365, 'forever'. It’s complex. Ready to learn what a good brand looks like, how to build your own unique brand, and how your brand impacts what others think about you and the solutions/services you offer? The experts speak. Mario Martinez Jr., PGi: “The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We’ve always done it this way’” (Grace Hopper). Jamie Shanks, Sales for Life: “Always do today what we teach, and innovate tomorrow's path to be taught.” Nick Robinson, SAP: “The modern consumer is digitally driven, socially connected, and mobile empowered. Sales reps need to adapt or be replaced” (Jill Rowley). Join us for How Your Brand Impacts Social Selling.
The buzz: The NBT for Sales? The term “Sales 2.0” was coined nearly a decade ago by Nigel Edelshain. Soon after, the buzzword “Social Selling” emerged. But it is just now gaining real momentum as a valuable tool for sales reps. As a Sales methodology, it covers everything from branding and listening to engaging and collaborating. Join us for the next 13 weeks to learn what Social Selling really is, how it can positively impact your sales organization, and the best way to board the fast train to Social Selling success. The experts speak (via the Blues Brothers): Kurt Shaver, The Sales Foundry: Elwood: “It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.” Jake: “Hit it.” Kirsten Boileau, SAP: Elwood: “Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now.” Jim Fields, SAP: Jake: “How often does the train go by?” Elwood: “So often that you won’t even notice it.” Join us for Social Selling 101: All Aboard!