Failing at sales can be highly frustrating for entrepreneurs. You have happy clients; you deliver products and services well, but sales come up short no matter what you try. This blog provides a framework to help you understand why sales may not be meeting your...
A lot has been written about making Rocks SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), but I have yet to see it applied to the added context of the Sales Department. This blog was written to add this context in order to help sales departments...
The Before Picture Ashton Solutions provides IT strategies and solutions to small to medium-sized businesses across the Greater Cleveland region and the U.S. Things were humming along at Ashton with a steady 12% growth rate, but that pace was starting to slow down....
The Proven Process tool (aka Client Journey, or Client Experience) is an under-utilized tool. As many have said, the Proven Process is the “Front Stage.” These are the stages that your clients navigate with your business to maximize the value they will realize. For...
It's no secret that a business with documented processes will sell for more than one that works from the hip. Sales is one of the last frontiers of process implementation and adherence for entrepreneurial businesses. One reason for this is that sales reps naturally...
Small business owners are often faced with a decision dilemma of hiring the right leader for their leadership team. The two ends of the spectrum are: The leader that I know and want for my business is not affordable The leader that I can afford will be different from...
The four elements of the Marketing Strategy component of the Vision/Traction Organizer™ of the Entrepreneurial Operating System® provide a fantastic framework for growing your business. If you don’t remember off the top of your head, the four elements are: Your target...
Not all that long ago, the decision to implement a CRM involved huge trade-offs. A CRM that was very functional from a sales standpoint had very limited functionality for the operations/customer service team. Customer service applications lacked sales functionality....
Unlocking Growth for Entrepreneurial Businesses by Overcoming Sales Barriers Sales is a barrier to growth for a lot of entrepreneurial businesses. Understanding how to break through that barrier can be very challenging. How can you do it? Some common thoughts that go...
Two Types of CRMs There are two types of CRMs: vertical and horizontal. Vertical CRMs are designed to meet specific industries' unique needs and challenges. They provide more targeted solutions to businesses operating in those sectors, with features and...
Creating a business plan (V/TO™) is a great first step in moving your business to your goals. Putting in place the processes and metrics to enable you to meet those business goals is a journey, but it is a journey worth taking. We call this the "Connected...
On the surface, investing in contact data looks expensive. Before you reject the idea, here are three reasons to consider investing in a product like ZoomInfo, and then we will look at a few considerations to help you evaluate...
B2B services organizations typically have goals to grow their business. The interesting thing is that they often miss the biggest opportunity to grow that is right under their nose. It is pretty hard to argue that it is a lot easier ot sell to current clients than to...
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is now crucial for businesses looking to increase their revenue. It allows companies to manage customer interactions by capturing data, tracking interactions, and automating business processes. To scale your sales and...
An effective marketing message is crucial for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. It is the foundation on which your marketing strategy is built and can significantly impact your success. Your marketing message helps to...
As an entrepreneur, growing revenue and scaling sales is crucial to the success of your business. However, it can be challenging to achieve these goals if you don't have a documented Ideal Client Profile. This detailed description of your target customer will enable...
Once you are tracking the right metrics, The success of any scorecard is limited by the actions you or do not take when you review the numbers. We discussed a few key points in our recent blog: Things your scorecard tells you about your business: Developing a mature...
Developing the scorecard that works for your business is a journey. There are some common challenges that entrepreneurs face along the way. This blog is written to help you take action to improve your scorecard and shorten the journey. We will look at three common...
I have seen a lot of entrepreneurial scorecards, and one thing is consistently missing... the client’s perspective. Some businesses track NPS which asks customers/clients how likely they are to recommend the product or service to their friends or colleagues, but...
The process of developing the right scorecard for your business can be frustrating and is a journey. Does any of this sound familiar to you?: Am I tracking the right metrics to support my business? I have hopeless, long streaks of red for certain metrics on my...
Developing a tight, mature scorecard is a journey worth taking if you want to take your business to the next level. Introducing a scorecard into your business can be frustrating and make you wonder: Am I tracking the right metrics to support my business goals? Do I...
The importance of content is often overlooked in small businesses. The truth is, content enables revenue generation, and cost reduction: Revenue Generation: Great content enables prospects and clients to navigate their experience with your business quicker, with a...
“What are we going to do to hit our 3-year goal?” Leadership teams regularly ask this question in quarterly planning meetings. The way this question gets answered determines whether the company will hit the goal or whether they’ll arrive at a future quarterly saying,...
Most companies want to do playbooks last, preferring to try to get quick wins with a sales activity blitz, a marketing campaign, or some shiny technology. While this may generate a short term blip in the results, these things rarely create ongoing revenue growth....
Sales and marketing are historically misaligned, which is very curious given their goals are really the same, right? If sales and marketing both have the same goal of bringing more clients into the business, it doesn't make sense that this misalignment still occurs....
When it comes to content most sales and marketing teams spend time asking the question, “What content should we present?” They should also be considering this: “When during the sales cycle should we present specific content?” Today’s buyers are overwhelmed with...
![[Podcast] Systematizing Sales & Marketing w/ EOS® Strategies](https://www.convergo.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/jonathan-velasquez-c1ZN57GfDB0-unsplash-400x250.jpg)
Bill Poole was a guest on The COO Show where he chatted with host Bill Reed about why there may be silos in your organization and how to integrate your teams to drive revenue growth. They also talked about how important change management is for creating lasting change...
![[Webinar] The Buyer’s Journey: Optimize Engagement to Maximize Revenue Results](https://www.convergo.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/matt-howard-A4iL43vunlY-unsplash-400x250.jpg)
Darrell Amy had the privilege to participate as a panelist on Authentic Brand's webinar. In this webinar you will learn: Why defining ideal customer personas is essential Best practices for designing your buyer’s journey Where...
What if the way we think about Buyer’s Journey is upside down? Smart marketing and sales teams collaborate to map out the buyer’s journey, thinking about how they can provide the right information to buyers at the right time during their decision making process. While...
The past two years have been incredibly challenging. Hats off to all of the teams that have pivoted, re-pivoted, and adapted to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. To say it has been incredibly challenging is an understatement. As we emerge from the pandemic, we find...
Much has been said about the Hubspot Buyer’s Journey Simply stated, the buyer’s journey is the process that a buyer goes through in making a decision to buy. Hubspot’s definition: The buyer's journey describes a buyer's path to purchase. In other words, buyers don't...
Series: How To Make Revenue Growth Predictable In Uncertain Times Part 1 Part 2 When entering a time of economic uncertainty, consistent revenue is critical. While one might be happy with keeping revenue flat and “hold our own” during tough economic times, the reality...
Series: How To Make Revenue Growth Predictable In Uncertain Times Part 1 Part 2 (this article) Part 3 Over the past few years business leaders have become familiar with uncertainty. In the midst of pandemic pivots, supply-chain shifts, and hiring hassles, one thing...
Series: How To Make Revenue Growth Predictable In Uncertain Times Part 1 (this article) Part 2 Part 3 Creating steady revenue growth can feel impossible during uncertain times. The headwinds of hiring challenges, price increases, and supply chain issues seem to...
Originally published on April 19, 2019. Since we know a lot has changed since 2019, we've updated the article in 2022. One of the best ways to grow revenue is to sell more to your current clients. My friend Mark Hunter likes to say, "You don't close a sale, you open a...
Recently I talked with a business owner who had put all of their lead development into one particular source. Leads were streaming in—until the platform changed their rules. When that happened, new business came to a grinding halt. It took many months to ramp up a new...
Originally posted by Forbes Growth Architect and author of Revenue Growth Engine, helping companies align sales and marketing to grow revenue faster. When times get tough, it can be tempting to look for revenue anywhere you can find it. As one of my first sales...
Every growing business needs a stream of leads from ideal prospects. One way to create leads is with lead magnets. A lead magnet is information of value to a prospect that captures their attention and motivates them to exchange contact information. In Revenue Growth...
Leads are the lifeblood of revenue growth. One of the most frequent questions we get asked is, “What is the best source of leads?” This is often followed up with questions about whether “new” digital lead channels are better or whether it is better to be more...
Metrics are nothing new to successful entrepreneurial businesses. Metrics typically flow throughout the operations and finance departments and drive client satisfaction and business growth. For whatever reason, these same businesses have a hard time inputting and...
Originally posted by Darrell Amy on LinkedIn. When it comes to revenue growth, most companies focus on the total revenue goal. Doing this usually ignores a critical driver of revenue: cross-sell revenue. The goal for cross-sell should be 100% sold. Most companies do a...
When faced with a price increase, clients may feel backed into a corner with only two options. One option is to take the price increase, sacrificing somewhere else in their budget. The other option is to stop buying from you and either forego the service or go through...
Increasing costs require many businesses to raise prices. Rather than just raise prices, what if you could take a strategic approach to cost increases? Following are ideas to get you thinking creatively about how you could handle this challenging situation. First,...
You might be wondering when it’s the right time to expand your marketing team. With a refined sales and marketing process, it can be pretty transparent on what you should be hiring for. Being particular about which role to fulfill isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Taking...
When it comes to sales and marketing alignment, the focus is on ensuring that both departments tell the same company story. Because these two teams have the greatest influence over disseminating that story, there must be cohesiveness between the marketing and sales...
Every business shares similar struggles: there aren’t enough hours in the day, a limited marketing budget, maybe only a few sales team members. It’s important to filter through clients and projects to ensure that goals are being met as efficiently as possible....
To get from Canada to the United States in eastern Ontario, you need to cross the St. Lawrence River. When you cross the Thousand Islands Bridge, it’s like you are crossing two bridges. In between each bridge is an island. If you only cross one bridge, you get stuck...
Does this sound familiar to you: Your company’s monthly sales results look like a roller coaster at Six Flags. You're up one month, then down the next. You have a great quarter, and then the next you drop off. Why do we experience the roller coaster ride with crazy...
When we sit down with our prospects for a first initial meeting, we often discover that they don’t have a defined sales process or experience that they are guiding prospects and clients through. This can be challenging for a couple reasons: It’s difficult for managers...
To hit your goals you need competitive advantage. How can you create strategic advantage in your competitive marketplace where imitating competitors seem to frustrate your efforts to differentiate? The answer for strategic advantage comes through customer experience....