CRM, sales and marketing Insights by Lindsay Garrison
I got a call today from someone who wants a few new fields added to their ACT! contact management database - version 6.O. Sage ACT! is on version 14 now, but that’s okay because, as my caller said, everyone else is only “using ACT! like a Roledex, so I can’t get an ACT! upgrade approved.” Focusing on the task at hand, we sorted out how we could help customize ACT! with [...]
Historically, our main business has been helping B2B companies use CRM to manage relationships and grow sales. And, for most of our 13 years, we focused on ACT! Contact Management. We expect a disparity between the needs of a Fortune 500 company (yes, companies this size use ACT!) and the requirements of 20-person business. But I realized today there is much bigger division between a million dollar company and their [...]
I swear on my sales coach’s retirement fund I am not making this up: Earlier this week I spoke with a marketing expert who is on-boarding a new client (or, trying to). The company’s revenue goals for 2012: go from 18 million to 50 million in sales this year. Yowsa, now that’s ambitious! To develop a marketing strategy, she needs to discuss their current sales plan. Imagine this conversation: [...]
Some people choose selling as a career and others have the role of selling thrust upon them. Yet, although sales skills can be learned, let’s face it: not everyone is cut out to sell. One way for management to address a high failure rate is to incorporate it into their hiring strategies. That keeps warm bodies coming in the door but is costly and fundamentally wrong-headed. If the only consequence [...]
