B2B sales reps may not always feel the need for the fancy new gadgets, but there’s no question that certain kinds of SaaS tools can help them become more efficient. Imagine if there’s a big sale that just screams to be closed, for instance, but your team is still stuck on the last module of […]
Tag: sales
Inside the Mind of … Greg Pietruszynski
Is the rise of artificial intelligence profoundly changing what it means to work? AI is all around us, and its applications run from the mundane to the fantastic. But many are questioning the growing symbiosis between machines and humans. As machines begin to manage more of our professional lives, are we at risk of losing […]
Customer Experience is the New Battleground for B2B Businesses
Customer experience has remained one of the most crucial factors in retaining the existing clients. The customer pool for B2B businesses is smaller when compared to B2C businesses. For B2B businesses, it is extremely important to hold on to the current customers as losing even a single customer due to poor customer service can be […]
Accenture study says B2B firms need more control over sales channels
Nearly all B2B executives say channel partners are critical to their sales strategy but less than a quarter of them feel they have control over how the process works, according to a research study from Accenture. The consulting firm’s report, ‘B2B Customer Experience 2017,’ includes global responses from more than 1,300 people who showed just […]
Really Simple Systems’ CEO explains the full rewrite of its flagship CRM
Most B2B technology companies are trying to make their products smarter with artificial intelligence. Really Simple Systems just wants them to be easier. The company this week released Version 5 of its cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. Aimed at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Version 5’s latest features include drag and drop customisation, a […]
The big question for B2B startups: Build a data science and AI team, or buy one?
Content marketing platform company Uberflip was recently on the verge of making an acquisition in the artificial intelligence space, before concluding it needed to develop its own capabilities, its CEO told the TechWeek Toronto audience on Thursday. Speaking in a session on “data intelligence,” Uberflip co-founder Yoav Schwartz did not disclose the name of the […]
Node applies AI to make warm introductions to sales and marketing prospects
A woman who was one of Google’s youngest hires at the age of 19 has launched an AI startup focused on one of the oldest problems in B2B sales and marketing: connecting with the right people and companies. Node, based in San Francisco, officially came out of stealth mode on Tuesday with more than US$16 […]
Attack of the Toddlers: How Marketing Automation is Giving Three-Year-Olds a Bad Name
There are few things more exquisitely strange than a three-year-old with an idea. Any idea at all will do. What happens is the enormity of the idea quickly spills out of their tiny heads and into their mouths and thence into the world. They will not be ignored. Ignoring a toddler with an idea is […]
AI and B2B Marketing: Get Ahead of the Competition
Artificial intelligence (AI) has played an important part in B2C relationships over the years. There are thousands of applications, ranging from the recommendation of TV shows to the fraud detection systems deployed across many commercial establishments. The current rise in the use of chatbots is just another level in the use of AI in the […]
How Startups Can Dramatically Accelerate Sales
Given that the simple key to success of any startup is your ability to sell what you make, here are five critically important tips as to how startups can really make their sales machines fire on all (or at least more) cylinders. 1. Talk to accomplished sales professionals who know nothing about startups or your […]
Hurdling the Unique Challenges of Selling SaaS to Enterprise Clients
For B2B SaaS brands, selling to solopreneurs and small firms is fairly straightforward, and can even be automated with a good marketing stack. But you may be missing out on some huge potential by ignoring the bigger fish – potential customers on the enterprise level. Focusing on enterprise leads may seem counter-intuitive. After all, they […]
B2B Trending Conversations: AI, Brand Rivalry, and More
Another week has come and gone and it’s time once again for another edition of B2B Trending Conversations, wherein we bring you the latest B2B buzz from Twitter, LinkedIn and other social platforms. This week, we’ve got a couple of AI-related links, a look at the efficacy of brand rivalry in the B2B space, an […]
How to Train Your Customers: Six Steps to Better Relationships and Outcomes
I’ve written a couple times before about how buyers should select and manage their vendors, consultants and agencies. But it goes the other way as well. Consultants, vendors and agencies who don’t set clear expectations and “train” their clients and customers up front are more liable to experience friction and frustration down the road. Whether […]
B2B Trending Conversations: AI, IoT, and More
This week, B2B Trending Conversations finds itself at the intersection of business, technology and politics. We’ll ask whether artificial intelligence is our friend or foe, pick the brains of B2B CMOs to learn their top priorities, listen to a podcast on selling to complex B2B buyers and see how tech companies are resisting President Donald […]
How Digital Customer Behaviour is Changing Brand Management
To say that the brand universe is complicated is a bit of a truism. The brand experience is deeper, fragmented, and very complex and fragile. More than ever, a brand is shaped by experiences and not perceptions. Perhaps delivering one bad experience with a customer service rep after five good digital or product experiences won’t […]
B2B Trending Conversations: Sales Success, Influencer Marketing, AI and More
The weather outside may be frightful, but the B2B social traffic is delightful this week as we rapidly approach the end of the year. While we may be gearing up for the holidays, there’s still plenty of work to be done and there’s also lots of great new B2B articles, posts, tweets, infographics and more […]
B2B Trending Conversations: Lead Gen, Blogging, and the Evolution of Digital Marketing
Welcome back to B2B Trending Conversations, our weekly roundup of what’s trending on Twitter, LinkedIn and other leading social platforms in the B2B space. Whether you’re interested in improving your company’s lead generation, increasing your B2B blog traffic or finishing the sales year like a champ, you’ll find links to timely articles and posts to […]
B2B Trending Conversations: Follow-Up Fears, Email Marketing and More
The weather outside may be chilling, but the B2B buzz is hot this week on Twitter and across social media. In this week’s edition of our weekly B2B Trending Conversations report, we collect the best of the buzz-worthy tweets and posts and bring them to you in an easily digestible format. We’ll try to take […]
B2B Trending Conversations: Data Storytelling, and Making Social Media Fun Again
Welcome back to another edition of B2B Trending Conversations, our weekly roundup of what’s making waves on social media in the B2B space. While it’s a bit of a slow week with the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, there’s still plenty of B2B buzz, especially on Twitter and LinkedIn. This week, we’ll explore how to […]
It’s a Funnel, Not a Juicer
Every now again I become aware that I am being marketed to. I mean more than the usual assault of terrible pop-ups while I’m trying to play Scrabble. I mean I’m in someone’s funnel and the walls are closing in. Lately, I’ve been trying really, really hard to get out of the sales funnel of […]