http://thecustomercollective.com/rss en http://thecustomercollective.com/chadlevitt/86423/push-back-politely-sales-prospect-just-do-it What I really like about pushing back on the prospect or politely challenging their thinking is that it shakes their frame of reference and the status quo. When you can shake up the status quo, you get the attention you need to sell. http://thecustomercollective.com/chadlevitt/86423/push-back-politely-sales-prospect-just-do-it#comments lead generation sales sales approach Yes Wed, 23 May 2012 20:06:37 +0000 ChadLevitt 86423 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/catheonedesk/86435/does-your-customer-support-strategy-stack Here are four questions to measure how well your online customer support strategy delivers on results http://thecustomercollective.com/catheonedesk/86435/does-your-customer-support-strategy-stack#comments customer experience customer service direct marketing managing fcustomer requests online community The Customer Collective exclusive where are my customers Yes Wed, 23 May 2012 19:19:11 +0000 cathe_onedesk 86435 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/james-debono/86391/social-media-etiquette-do-s-and-don-ts From a young age we are told to be polite, listen, say please and thank you and generally respect those around us regardless of their socioeconomic status. So why is that so many people get their social media etiquette all wrong? http://thecustomercollective.com/james-debono/86391/social-media-etiquette-do-s-and-don-ts#comments social media social media etiquette social media listening Yes Wed, 23 May 2012 16:01:13 +0000 James Debono 86391 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/amanda-maksymiw/86325/content-marketing-lessons-while-skydiving Content Marketing Lesson: If you set up your content projects for success in the beginning you, too, will likely enjoy a simple checklist to help ensure your content is spot on for your audience. You can also think about clever ways to display your checklists to ensure no one over looks them! http://thecustomercollective.com/amanda-maksymiw/86325/content-marketing-lessons-while-skydiving#comments content marketing strategy content marketing tips marketing Wed, 23 May 2012 10:16:38 +0000 Amanda Maksymiw 86325 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/colleenpetitt/86327/strategy-reactivate-inactive-subscribers-your-email-list Today, I’m going to outline specific steps you can take to reactivate or suppress inactive subscribers. At first blush, you might think housekeeping like this is a “nice-to–do.” Everyone likes to keep their email subscriber lists tidy and up-to-date, right? But, as I explained in my earlier article, scrubbing your email subscriber lists is no longer just a “nice-to-do.” It’s a “must-do.” http://thecustomercollective.com/colleenpetitt/86327/strategy-reactivate-inactive-subscribers-your-email-list#comments email subscriber list inactive subscribers marketing spam traps Yes Wed, 23 May 2012 07:03:59 +0000 ColleenPetitt 86327 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/sheridanorr/86311/gen-y-and-self-service-love-story In 2017, Gen Y will outspend Baby Boomers for the first time. That means that not only do we have to understand how to manage them, we desperately need to know how to connect with them as consumers. http://thecustomercollective.com/sheridanorr/86311/gen-y-and-self-service-love-story#comments baby boomers customer experience customer self-service employee challenges gen y Jason Ryan Dorsey marketing Millennials Yes Tue, 22 May 2012 19:00:03 +0000 SheridanOrr 86311 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/parature/86323/ibm-study-social-media-will-become-2-customer-interaction-method-next-3-5-years Today, only 16% of CEOs are using social platforms to connect with their customers, but that percentage is predicted to grow to almost 60% within three to five years. http://thecustomercollective.com/parature/86323/ibm-study-social-media-will-become-2-customer-interaction-method-next-3-5-years#comments 2012 Global CEO Study consumer communication customer interaction IBM study social media social selling Yes Tue, 22 May 2012 18:52:06 +0000 parature 86323 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/annekeseley/86303/having-trouble-hiring-inside-sales-reps-here-s-idea Given today’s challenging market for senior inside sales reps, it can take months of recruiting time to lure someone with an ideal background. You can spend the time, compete for the same reps as everyone else… or you can get creative. Consider this alternative: Hire a recent college graduate with a sales degree. http://thecustomercollective.com/annekeseley/86303/having-trouble-hiring-inside-sales-reps-here-s-idea#comments inside sales team recruiting for inside sales sales Yes Tue, 22 May 2012 15:12:44 +0000 AnnekeSeley 86303 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/dave-kurlan/86297/can-right-music-motivate-and-improve-sales-performance If a salesperson has a one-hour ride to the next sales call, it would require about 10 tunes to fill that time. I invite you to join today's conversation by sharing your pre-sales call playlist (or the tunes you would include if you had one). http://thecustomercollective.com/dave-kurlan/86297/can-right-music-motivate-and-improve-sales-performance#comments music and sales sales sales calls Yes Tue, 22 May 2012 14:11:25 +0000 Dave Kurlan 86297 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/andrewrudin/86249/it-time-add-blogging-new-core-sales-competency The fact that selling skills are transferable into project management tells us that others have good reason to crave the knowledge salespeople possess. But competitive culture keeps sales knowledge bottled up, hoarded rather than shared. Crack the vault open by even a little, and a salesperson risks revealing his or her most cherished keys to success. http://thecustomercollective.com/andrewrudin/86249/it-time-add-blogging-new-core-sales-competency#comments sales sales blogging sales habits sales skills Yes Tue, 22 May 2012 11:05:56 +0000 AndrewRudin 86249 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/devmcdee/86238/are-your-sales-reps-accountable-qualified-leads-given-them You can have an incredibly productive and successful outbound prospecting lead qualification team — but at the end of the day, if your sales reps are not held accountable for the qualified leads given to them then you might as well not have a lead qual team, at all. http://thecustomercollective.com/devmcdee/86238/are-your-sales-reps-accountable-qualified-leads-given-them#comments lead generation lead qualification sales sales accountability Tue, 22 May 2012 07:38:11 +0000 devmcdee 86238 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/charlesgreen/86234/how-not-ask-recommendations-referrals-and-references What’s true for books is true for referrals. Haven’t done any favors for others lately? Then you’re going to come up short when you start trying to ask for favors. http://thecustomercollective.com/charlesgreen/86234/how-not-ask-recommendations-referrals-and-references#comments book testimonials referrals sales Mon, 21 May 2012 21:50:03 +0000 CharlesGreen 86234 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/loririchardson/86178/make-5-strategic-calls-week-and-grow-sales Make 5 calls this week that are strategic in nature. These are calls to people you may or may not know – and they are all people who can refer you to others – or support you in the sales opportunity you are already working on. http://thecustomercollective.com/loririchardson/86178/make-5-strategic-calls-week-and-grow-sales#comments lead generation sales calls Mon, 21 May 2012 14:34:49 +0000 LoriRichardson 86178 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/rachelmiller/86099/q-and-benefits-social-customer-service Sometimes, customer support is only contacted as a "cry for help," as I normally say. In the end, and in the customer’s perspective, social media brings a wide range of emerging channels that can be used to solve issues quicker and more efficiently. http://thecustomercollective.com/rachelmiller/86099/q-and-benefits-social-customer-service#comments customer service monitoring customer activity social customer service social media Mon, 21 May 2012 13:44:13 +0000 RachelMiller 86099 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/thesaleshunter/86086/do-you-sell-your-customers-or-do-they-buy-you The customer is not going to buy anything if they don’t know what it is they’re buying. The salesperson’s job is to help the customer determine in their mind what it is they’re really looking for. http://thecustomercollective.com/thesaleshunter/86086/do-you-sell-your-customers-or-do-they-buy-you#comments role of the salesperson sales Mon, 21 May 2012 11:50:31 +0000 TheSalesHunter 86086 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/pm2662/86123/generating-leads-facebook-fanbusiness-page-engagement-strategy There’s plenty of content on the web about Facebook Business Pages. So let’s review a overall strategy on how to optimize your Facebook page engagement approach. http://thecustomercollective.com/pm2662/86123/generating-leads-facebook-fanbusiness-page-engagement-strategy#comments b2b marketing Facebook business pages lead generation marketing social selling understand EdgeRank Yes Mon, 21 May 2012 07:22:56 +0000 pm2662 86123 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/davidarmano/86092/five-intuitive-reasons-bet-facebook There was no shortage of commentary around Facebook as the smoke literally built around its engine while the social media rocket prepared for IPO liftoff. This piece won't be full of rational analysis but rather gut intuition. Here are a few things to chew on as you think about the global future with or without Facebook. Zuckerberg Isn't Steve Jobs, But He's Jobs-Like http://thecustomercollective.com/davidarmano/86092/five-intuitive-reasons-bet-facebook#comments facebook Facebook IPO social media social networking social sales Sun, 20 May 2012 06:17:30 +0000 DavidArmano 86092 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/eyelona/86110/social-media-roi-3-mistakes-cost-you-money Do you struggle to find time to check your Facebook Page? Have you found yourself blindsided by a competitor’s brilliant new offering? Social media is a virtual power tool for small businesses and start-ups, but by not maximizing on its potential, you could be costing your brand money. Here are 3 all-too-common mistakes that lower social media ROI:Not incorporating SEO into social http://thecustomercollective.com/eyelona/86110/social-media-roi-3-mistakes-cost-you-money#comments marketing social media social media roi social sales Yes Sat, 19 May 2012 11:00:38 +0000 eyelona 86110 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/davestein/86010/role-playing-making-your-formal-sales-training-programs-more-effective If your sales training partner offers role-playing as part of their approach, you’re probably in good shape. Avail yourself of what they have. If not, you’ll have to take matters into your own hands. http://thecustomercollective.com/davestein/86010/role-playing-making-your-formal-sales-training-programs-more-effective#comments major sales training role-playing for sales tams sales sales training reinforcement Fri, 18 May 2012 16:55:45 +0000 DaveStein 86010 at http://thecustomercollective.com http://thecustomercollective.com/jonathanfarrington/85872/old-ways-doing-business-no-longer-work As business changes, so do the traits needed to survive, let alone excel. All these transitions put increased value on emotional intelligence. Competitive pressures put a new value on people who are self-motivated, show initiative, have the inner drive for outdoing themselves, and are optimistic enough to take reversals and setbacks in their stride. http://thecustomercollective.com/jonathanfarrington/85872/old-ways-doing-business-no-longer-work#comments sales sales leader world economy Fri, 18 May 2012 16:52:28 +0000 JonathanFarrington 85872 at http://thecustomercollective.com