MarketStar Blog | Articles (20)

Every sales professional needs a little sales motivation now and then. Successful selling is about staying positive and being motivated to win, but keeping that positive energy flowing can be tough sometimes. When it’s hard to get motivated and you need a pep talk, there are plenty of online resources and motivational podcasts to keep those juices flowing.

With more companies looking to create recurring revenue models based on subscription sales, the impact of customer churn is higher than ever. The only way that a recurring revenue business model becomes sustainable is if you have happy customers who continue to buy what you have to sell. What we have learned is that having a Customer Success team as part of MarketStar’s Sales as a ServiceⓇ offering is essential to reducing customer churn.

If a customer is unhappy with your brand, it is very likely that they have not had a seamless experience during their interactions with the brand across multiple touch points and devices. A ‘unified customer journey’ approach holds immense potential for brands. Having a well-orchestrated omni-channel strategy will ensure that customer convenience is always treated as topmost priority.

Understandably, 2020 has been a unique year for many sales reps. Many businesses have delayed or canceled investments in products and services until the COVID-19 pandemic is over and they can more accurately plan for the future, others have seen a surge in demand and require quick action and product education. In both scenarios,, the business-to-business (B2B) market is growing increasingly competitive. 

The opening scene of Mission Impossible 2 featured Tom Cruise climbing a sheer mountain face, only to receive a mission embedded in a pair of sunglasses that activated after a retinal scan confirmed his identity. 

A well-structured and efficient onboarding program is the key to getting new recruits up to speed on their jobs. Such a program will determine the sales rep’s journey toward full productivity and is crucial for the organization’s revenue development and growth. On the other hand, poor or inefficient onboarding can result in high attrition costs and lead to the revolving door syndrome that plagues many organizations. 

When you think of social media marketing, the first name that comes to mind is Facebook, followed by Twitter and then the rest. But you also know that Facebook is relevant as a social tool to generate business when you are reaching out to your potential B2C customer base. 

So, what should you do when you have to reach out to your B2B audience and generate business leads, some of which may turn into revenue for you?  

According to new research by Forrester on Mastering Omni-Channel B2B Customer Engagement, 63% of B2B buyers are spending more time online in digital channels to search for services and solutions. The same report also shows that 65 percent of them are spending more on services that they’ve found through digital channels. The Forrester report further illustrates that for B2B sellers, 70 percent of their B2B revenues are being generated from digital and social media channels. 

That’s where LinkedIn comes in. In a recent Research Report, State of B2B Social Media Marketing 2016, we found that 89% of B2B marketers have rated LinkedIn to be the most effective social media channel for reaching out to prospective clients. LinkedIn is not just a place where you set up your professional profile for networking; you can use your LinkedIn page for greater good: lead generation for business. 

In a recent study of over 5,000 B2B businesses done by HubSpot, it was seen that LinkedIn is 277% more effective than Facebook and Twitter in converting business visitors to your site or page into effective business leads. Today we find that LinkedIn is a place where you can easily set up shop to reach out to potential clients and do business. 

Lately, we have been talking about small and medium-sized business (SMB) sales, but what about enterprise sales? Enterprise sales requires a different approach than SMB sales does. It also requires different resources and more patience, but the size of the sale makes it more than worthwhile.

Most B2B SaaS organizations experience two periods of intense activity in a customer lifecycle – when onboarding the customer, and just before the account’s annual renewal date. That approach is proving to be unsuccessful now with several businesses finding their churn rates increasing year over year.

Hiring outsourced sales professionals can be a quick, cost-effective solution for bolstering your in-house sales team. Whether you’re looking to expand into a new market segment, add specialty sales roles, incorporate Customer Success, or simply empower your in-house team to do more, outsourcing sales is a powerful and proven way to significantly grow your team’s capabilities.