Controlling Your Consciousness

https://ift.tt/2wtnmDd presents: Controlling Your Consciousness

We’re all human animals. That’s it! When it comes down to it, you are not a human being until you are able to control that voice in your head. Your consciousness is what can negotiate with, and ultimately control, that human animal. When you are able to control the voice in your head and rationalize things within yourself, you begin to have better control of your life. Think about it.

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21 Job Interview Questions to Ask a Sales Manager Candidate in 2020

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Usually when individual contributors get promoted to management, they teach their direct reports their secrets for success, use many of the same skills they did in their previous jobs, and get a salary bump.

Sales manager might be one of the only promotions where the job differs dramatically from the individual contributor role and necessitates an entirely different skill set.

Not to mention those chosen to lead the sales team actually take a pay cut often earning less than their direct reports.

Sales Manager Interview Questions

Behavioral Interview Questions for Sales Managers

With this in mind, sales leaders need unique sales manager interview questions. Sales directors looking to identify the reps who would thrive as sales managers would be wise to incorporate the following questions into their interviews.

 

1. Tell me about yourself.

This is a pretty vanilla question. But the answer can be illuminating. Dan Tyre, a 30-year sales veteran and HubSpot director of sales, says, “If they spend the whole 25 minutes talking about their experience or complaining about past teams, that tells you everything you need to know.”

Look for concise, positive answers that touch on their experience and what led them to apply for this position.

2. Why do you want to work in sales?

If the candidate simply replies with, “It’s something I enjoy” or “I like it”, this doesn’t tell the interviewer anything about the candidate’s actual interest in sales.

What is it about sales that motivates or excites them?

You should look for candidates who provide an example or real-life story about where their interest in sales began. Did they start as a first-time rep and create a long track record of success? Or was there a pivotal moment in their life when they discovered their passion for sales? Answers to questions like these will provide the interviewer with more detail about the candidate’s dedication to the sales industry.

3. How comfortable are you with data analysis?

Reps generally only care about one number: their quota. Keeping on top of pipeline and win rate is also important … as these metrics pertain to their quota. It’s all quota, all the time.

But when a rep is promoted to management, they must produce forecasts and reports that analyze a variety of metrics across the entire team.

While a sales manager doesn’t need to be a data analysis pro, they do need to have some familiarity with and inclination for crunching numbers and spotting trends. Beware of candidates that express active revulsion for data analysis.

4. What do you think it takes in terms of skills and qualifications to be a successful sales rep in this organization?

A large part of a sales manager’s job is keeping the team fully staffed with high performers. This question gives the interviewer a peek into the candidate’s stance on hiring.

The skills and qualifications they deem to be important are those they’ll look for when interviewing for open positions. Do the attributes they value line up with the company’s standards? If so, it’s a good sign. If not, this could be a red flag.

5. Why do you want to be a sales manager?

As mentioned above, sales managers often make less money than sales reps and perform a drastically different job. Tease out the candidate’s motivations behind seeking this promotion.

Do they want to be a manager because they crave a larger role within the company as a whole, and a chance to influence strategic decisions? Or have they gotten bored with their jobs, and management seems like a step up? The latter motivation is a recipe for dissatisfaction and a disengaged sales manager.

6. What do you think motivates reps the most?

This is a bit of a trick question, but it’s an important one. The best sales managers know that motivation is personal. While money might drive one rep to go the extra mile, another might be inspired by a development opportunity or creative contest.

The candidate who can navigate the trick and get to the right answer in this case, “it depends on the rep” possesses the motivational ability to lead a sales team to success.

7. What made you successful as a sales rep? How will your processes inform how you manage your team?

Just as successful sales managers understand that every rep is motivated by something different, they also understand that every rep has unique strengths they use to achieve their goals. What’s the “right” way for one salesperson is not likely to be right for the entire team.

Be wary of candidates who hint that they plan to force their methods on their direct reports. Instead, look for candidates who want to identify and develop the specific talents of each team member.

8. How important is money to you?

Yes, money is important to everyone. But as Andrew Quinn, HubSpot’s director of training and development points out, money is inextricably entangled with self worth for some salespeople and that’s okay. This attitude simply means the rep isn’t suited for sales management.

Better steer a primarily money-motivated salesperson to a new territory or another opportunity at the individual contributor level rather than promote them to management.

9. What do you think makes for a successful rep coaching session?

The candidate doesn’t have to give a sample agenda of what their one-on-ones would look like. However, it’s important that their conception of a coaching session includes actual coaching not just a dry discussion of the numbers.

Listen for responses that include mentions of career development, goals, skill building, and problem solving in addition to data review.

10. What do you like and dislike about the sales process? How comfortable are you with upholding it?

Every rep has an opinion about the sales process, and some ignore it entirely. But it’s the manager’s role to uphold the sales process in the name of organizational consistency and forecasting accuracy.

Ensure the candidate is comfortable with taking on the role of sales process police, and ask about their strategies for making reps adhere to the regimen.

11. How comfortable are you with technology?

Sales managers also act as CRM sheriffs, ensuring all reps are using the system properly. CRM aside, sales managers are also involved in the vetting, selection, and deployment of new sales tools.

While sales manager candidates don’t need to be computer whizzes, some technological savvy is necessary.

12. What training method is most effective for new reps?

It would be nice if a sales manager could do ride alongs and listen in on each and every call a new rep makes, but this model is impractical at scale.

Make sure the candidate acknowledges the importance of a repeatable training process that doesn’t center around an informal passing down of knowledge.

13. What do you think it takes to be a good leader?

The jobs title might be “sales manager,” but that doesn’t mean leadership skills fall by the wayside. Sales managers need to be able to lead through example and inspire others to action.

Although this question is last on the list, it’s probably the most important of all.

14. What does a good manager need to do within this organization?

The goal of this question is twofold. First, you want to find out their management style and goals for their employees. They should touch on metrics for success, staff development, and executive communication.

You also want to understand how much research theyve done about your company and the sales organization. If they make sweeping statements about attracting more enterprise business when your website clearly states your mission is to help SMBs grow its probably a sign this candidate hasnt done their homework.

15. How would you explain what [company name] does to a person unfamiliar with what we do?

Can this candidate distill complex ideas into simple, easy-to-understand messages? That’s what this question will find out.

Part of a sales manager’s job is to regularly translate executive directives and news to their sales staff in clear, digestible ways. Ensure they can do this concisely and without a patronizing tone, before moving forward.

Now, let’s review some behavioral questions to get a better understanding of how the candidate may perform on the job.

 

1. Pretend I’m a sales rep who has missed quota three months in a row and I’m here for a one-on-one. What would you say during the meeting?

Sales managers have to have uncomfortable conversations with their direct reports. Especially if the candidate is a rep on the team that they might be promoted to lead, sales directors must ensure they can maneuver tough situations and deliver bad news in a positive manner.

However, a candidate who’s overly harsh on their hypothetical stumbling rep is just as bad as one who’s too soft. Look for an innate coaching sensibility and a motivational flair.

2. Tell me about a time conflict arose among a team you managed. How did you handle the situation?

Although not ideal, conflict among team members happens. When it does, managers are often tasked with helping diffuse the situation. This question is designed to help you understand the candidates conflict resolution style.

Though the nuts and bolts of conflict resolution can vary depending on the situation, ideally you want a candidate who is willing to hear both sides of a situation and can facilitate a fair solution.

3. Can you describe a time your team was working under a lot of pressure to meet a quota or a tight deadline? How did you keep morale up?

Experiencing burnout while working in sales is very common. Between shooting for ambitious quotas and working under tight deadlines, sales teams are often under a lot of pressure to perform.

This question is designed to give you an understanding of how the candidate would support their team during a stressful or demanding time. While ultimately their job is to ensure the company meets its sales goals, the well-being of employees should be a top priority. Look for a candidate who advocates for making sure reps feel supported and have what they need to succeed when the pressure is on.

4. Describe the most awkward or challenging sales call you have ever had. Why was it so difficult? How did you manage it?

No matter how seasoned of a sales pro someone is, we have all had those calls or conversations that have thrown us for a loop. Successful sales managers know how to navigate tricky situations and land on their feet, and are able to coach their reps on how to do the same.

Listen for responses that indicate the candidates ability to think quickly on their feet while representing their company well.

5. Tell me about a time you set a goal for yourself and achieved it. What did you do to ensure you reached your goal?

Ideally, you want your new sales manager to demonstrate the ability to set a goal and follow-through with it. When seeking a candidate to fill a sales manager role, youll want someone who has had success setting and reaching goals even if they are small goals.

As youre listening to their response, note the approach they took to reach their goal. This will give you a feel for how they will lead their team to reach their goals.

6. Give me an example of a time you had to implement an unpopular or difficult change for your team.

Sales managers are often tasked with serving as change agents for their team. Whether it is implementing a new system or process, or facilitating an organizational change, effective sales managers need to be able to lead a team through change management.

In their response, listen for mentions of how they communicate changes to a team and ask how they would handle pushback to a change they were tasked with implementing.

Hiring a sales manager is a big step for any company. Don’t rush the process. Instead, be clear about the role and the attributes the right hire will possess. Then, don’t settle until that right person walks in the door and blows you away.

Want to learn more about sales interviews? Check out the best sales development rep interview questions next.

 

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Key phrase analysis for Search Engine Optimisation: the best manual

Keyword research is the first step in the SEO copywriting process and an essential part of your SEO strategy. Before you create your websites content, you have to find out which search terms your audience use. Their search terms are your keywords. Based on these keywords you can start writing useful and high-quality content. Here, well take you through the many steps involved in keyword research.

Table of contents

What is keyword research?Why is keyword research important?Essential concepts of keyword researchHow is keyword research done?Tips for keyword researchQuick keyword researchReady? Start writing!

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is part of SEO (search engine optimization). Its the work someone does to come up with an extensive list of keywords for which one would like a website to rank. To obtain such a list, website owners need to dig into their desired audience and search engines: Which search terms do people type into Google when looking for their products, service, business or type of organization? And what do they expect to find? With this list, website owners can create content on their site that will attract more, high-quality traffic. Keyword research is never finished: repeating it regularly is essential to stay up-to-date!

Read more: What is keyword research?

Why is keyword research important?

Proper keyword research is important because it will make clear which search terms your audience uses. At Yoast, we frequently came across business owners who used one set of words when describing their products, while their target audience used a completely different set of words. As a result,potential customers couldnt find those websites, because of a mismatch in word use.

For instance, sometimes, a marketing department decides to give a product a not-so-common name. This can be a smart marketing decision: People could remember your product more easily. If you rent out vacation cottages instead of vacation homes, you might stand out. But beware: Very fewpeople search for [vacation cottages]. If you optimize your text for these terms, youll probably rank well on these specific terms. However, you wont generate a lot of traffic with these terms and youll miss a large part of your potential audience because your audience uses other words.

Youll understand that it doesnt make any sense to optimize for words that people dont use. Thorough keyword research makes sure that you use the same words as your target audience and this makes the whole effort of optimizing your website far more worthwhile. In addition, by looking at search intent, you find out what exactly your audience is looking for. Those queries should get an answer in the form of quality content.

In this video, Michiel tells a bit more about keyword research and how we think it should be done. Its part of our free SEO for beginners course, available through our free Yoast SEO Academy subscription:

Essential concepts of keyword research

Before we jump to doing keyword research, well shortly explain some essential concepts of it:

A focus keyword or keyphrase is the word or phrase you want a certain page on your site to be found for in Google. Youll determine a set of focus keyphrases by doing keyword research.

If you want to easily optimize a post or page for one of your keyphrases, you can enter this phrase into the focus keyphrase input field for a post or page with the Yoast SEO plugin. It will provide you with feedback on how to optimize your content for this phrase to improve the chance of ranking.

Long-tail keywords are more specific and less commonly searched for than, so-called, head keywords. They focus on a niche. The longer and more specific search terms are, the easier it will be to rank for them since there will be less competition. Even though there are less people searching for these terms, they might be more motivated to buy, subscribe, sign up or whatever youd like them to do.

Your keyword strategy is about the decisions you make based on your keyword research. For instance, what content are you going to create first? Will you focus on the head or tail? How and where will you publish it? Will you create a piece of writing, a post or a product page, a video tutorial or an infographic?

Digging into search intent is key here: you have to discover what a searcher actually wants or needs. Youre not just looking at keywords, but the underlying goals of what a searcher wants to know, do or buy. Your content should provide a solution to the searchers problem. This is also known as content design.

How is keyword research done?

We believe there are eight crucial steps while carrying out keyword research. Here, well guide you through this process step-by-step, and well give you practical tips to easily start your own keyword research.

Determine your missionBefore starting anything, think about your mission. Reflect on questions such as: What is the main goal of your business or organization? What makes it special? Who exactly are you trying to reach? And, what promises do you make on your website? Take your time and literally write down your mission. Once youre able to answer these questions in detail, youll have taken the first and most important step in your keyword strategy.

The market youre in determines whether your mission will prove genius enough to rank high. Some markets are highly competitive, with large companies dominating the search results. These companies have huge budgets for marketing in general and SEO in particular. Competing in these markets is tough, so ranking in these markets is also going to be tough.

Perhaps you sell cruises to Hawaii. You offer great facilities for children, making the cruises especially suitable for young or single parents. Offering the best cruises to Hawaii for young parents could very well be what makes your service unique. So, look for the thing that makes your product stand out from the competition. This should be your mission, your niche and this is what you have to offer your audience.

If youre launching into a competitive market, your best bet is to start out small. Once you own a small part of that niche and become a bigger name in the business of cruises to Hawaii, you could try to level up and sell your cruises to a larger (more general) audience. Your mission will then become more general as well.

Make a list of keywordsThe second step is creating a list of your keywords, preferably in a spreadsheet, such as Google Sheets or Excell. With your mission in mind, try to get into the heads of your desired audience. What will these people be looking for? What kind of search terms could they be using while looking for your amazing service or product? Which of their problems does your product solve? Write down as many answers as possible. If your mission is clear, you will have a pretty clear image of your niche and unique selling points (the things that set your business apart from others). These are the terms you want to be found for.

Research your keywordsAfter youve created this first list, its time to dive a bit deeper into your keywords. Luckily, there are some tools that make your keyword research a bit easier.

The first is Google itself. Google the keywords you already came up with and check the searches Google suggests while you are typing. Those are the questions people actually asked Google! You can also check out the related searches on Googles results page. Or, have a look at our Yoast suggest tool or Answer the public. These tools will provide you with all kinds of variations of your keyphrases, synonyms and related keyphrases. In our post on keyword research tools youll find more details on how to use these and other tools.

Check these tools out and add all the keyphrases to your list!

Dont forget the long-tailWhen people start out with keyword research, they tend to focus on very popular head terms. Unfortunately, those head keywords are mostly taken by large businesses. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, get less search traffic, but theres less competition too. Therefore its easier for you to rank on those keywords. Moreover, long-tail keywords even have a higher conversion value, as they focus more on a specific product or topic: a niche!

A long-tail keyword often is longer and more focused than a head term. If your head term is [puppy training], a long-tail keyword could be [positive puppy training for Labradoodles in Amsterdam]. Using the tools mentioned in step 3 will also help you find more long-tail variants of your keywords.

Dont forget to add the long-tail keywords to your spreadsheet too. Put the head terms in the first column and add (multiple) columns for more long-tail keywords. This will help you with creating a proper site structure later. The more long-tail your search term is, the further down into your site structure the terms landing page belongs.

Analyse the competitionWhether you should go after long-tail keywords largely depends on your competition. If the competition in your niche is high, youll have a hard time ranking on competitive head terms. If you have little competition, youll even be able to rank for head terms. So youll need to do some benchmarking for SEO.

Google the keywords that came out of your keyword research. Start with your most head term. Check out the search engine result page (SERP). These are the websites youll be competing against once you optimize your content for such a keyword. Take a closer look: Do you see professional websites? Company websites? Are you equal to these companies? Does your website fit among these sites? Is your company of similar size and does it have as much influence in your niche?

Its harder to rank when youre competing against sites with strong brand-names. If brands are known from TV or radio commercials, your chances to rank high will become even smaller. But it wont hurt to take a look at their content. Is the content well written and well optimized? If your competition really has poor content, you might have a chance to outrank them!

Also, take a look at ads in Google. Are there any? If you have a Google Adwords account you can check the pay-per-click. Search terms that have a high pay-per-click are usually also harder to rank for in the organic results.

Make sure to make notes in your spreadsheet about your findings for the keywords youve investigated!

Take a closer look at search intentTodays SEO strategies should, for the most part, revolve around answering the questions people have or providing the best solution for their problem. Whenever someone enters a search query into a search engine, they are on a quest for something. Every type of question needs a specific answer.

Try to find out which intent your audience when they type a certain keyphrase into Google: Do they have an informational intent (try to find information on a specific topic), navigational intent (want to access a specific website), commercial intent (want to research something before buying) or transactional intent (looking to buy something right now)?

You can learn more about the search intent of certain queries by looking closely at the type of pages that already rank for that query. Do you mostly see product pages? Do you see a lot of informational blog posts? Do you see videos? Or, do you see a mix? These are all hints to what Google assumes the search intent of a certain query is.

Find out which kinds of intent apply to your keyphrases and, again, add your findings to your spreadsheet!

Determine a keyword strategyBased on the data youve collected now, you can determine a keyword strategy. If youve followed the steps above, you should have a spreadsheet with a substantial amount of keyphrases, and information about the competition and the search intent of your audience for those keyphrases.

Now think about this question: how does my website hold up, compared to the websites in the SERPs? Are you of equal size and marketing budget: go ahead and focus on those head terms. If not: try more long-tail keywords first. Focusing on a whole bunch of long-tail keywords combined could very well attract a lot of traffic. Once youve managed to rank for those long-tail keywords, aiming for more head terms will become a bit easier.

When youve decided where to jump in, think about the type of content: What was the search intent for my keyphrases? What is my audience looking for? But also, which content can I create that isnt there yet, and how can I stand out, in terms of quality or providing solutions? This will help you decide on the type of content youre going to create.

Start constructing landing pagesIn theory, this step is out of the scope of keyword research itself. Nevertheless, creating awesome landing pages is, of course, essential if you want to get traffic to your website. So, youll need to build landing pages for your search terms, but you dont have to create all these pages immediately it can be a long-term effort. Your keyword strategy will help you prioritize.

For your most important keyphrases youll create cornerstone content articles; you create the best possible content about that keyword authoritative and all-encompassing. All your supporting, more long-tail articles will link to this cornerstone content. This should be part of your internal linking strategy, which Yoast SEO Premium can help you implement.

Tips for keyword research

This all might sound pretty straight-forward, but we know its a lot of work and easier said than done. When put to practice, you might bump into some common issues or questions. Here well give some tips to make it work!

Want us to guide you through keyword research step-by-step? With videos, quizzes and other training material? Take a look at our keyword research training, part of our online SEO training subscription, and let us help you carry it out!

Prioritize your keyword list

How many keywords should you have? Well, we cant tell you the exact number of keywords you should have, but we can tell you that you need a lot of them as many as you can think of. However, more than 1000 keywords are probably too many! Even if youre a reasonably small business, youll probably end up with a couple of hundred keywords.

But theres no need to create pages for all of these straight away. You can add content bit by bit. Think about what keywords you want to rank for now perhaps the more long-tail ones? and which ones arent as important right away. Understand your priorities and plan the creation of your content.

Keep reading: Managing a growing blog: content planning

focus keyphrase and its synonyms only need one page

In the past, each of the keywords you wanted to be found for, got its own landing page. Today, however, search engines are so smart that they mostly use search intent to give searchers the best answer to their questions. The page that answers those questions best will rank on top. Search engines also understand subtle differences between keywords so you dont have to create landing pages for all subtle variations, like synonyms, of a keyword.

That doesnt mean you shouldnt use synonyms! In fact, synonyms can really improve the readability of your copy, so use them in your text! Our Yoast SEO Premium plugin can help you with this; it allows you to optimize your content for synonyms and related keyphrases. Related keyphrases are words and concepts that deepen and broaden the understanding of your focus keyphrase. They even help Google better understand the topic youre talking about. By using synonyms and related keyphrases in your text you can paint a complete picture of your focus keyphrase in your article.

Check out results for singular and plural keywords

Should you aim for the singular or the plural keyword? Well, this depends on the query. As Google is learning more about search intent of your query, it is able to better guess what youre looking for. For instance, if you search for book, you get a different result than if you search for books. Apparently Google thinks that in the first case youre looking for a definition or certain stories, in the second case it believes youre intending to buy a book. So make sure you know what you offer on your page and that it fits with the query and results Google gives on that query.

Yoast SEO Premium has word form support, so it automatically detects all the different forms of your focus keyphrase (known as keyword stemming). So, you no longer have to optimize your post for a specific word form. Optimizing your post has become a much more natural process. However, there are reasons why youd still want to optimize for a very specific word form of a keyword. In this case, you can put your focus keyphrase in quotes: best books ever. Yoast SEO will now only take that exact focus keyphrase into account when checking your content.

Use a keyhrase only once

Beware, you should not use your exact focus keyword more than once. If you do, your rankings might suffer from keyword cannibalization. Google has a hard time distinguishing between content thats very alike. Therefore it might rank very similar posts or pages lower.

Not sure if you used a focus keyphrase before? The post why and how to export your focus keyphrases with Yoast SEO Premium will help you get an overview of the focus keyphrases youve used before and on what page. Also, Yoast SEO throws off a warning in the SEO analysis if you use one twice.

Did you find out youve already used the same or very similar keywords or keyphrases on various posts and pages? Then, it probably makes sense to audit your content and perhaps merge/delete/redirect some of it. Heres a step-by-step guide on how to solve keyword cannibalization issues.

Try, evaluate and try again

Once youve done a thorough analysis of your chances to rank on a specific term, the next step is to write an amazing article and optimize it accordingly. And hit publish, share it on social media and in your newsletter. Make sure youll attract some nice backlinks. And wait a little while. Check out your rankings. Does your article pop up? Did it hit the first page of Googles SERPs? Or is it hidden away on page 2 or 3? Make sure to evaluate your articles in the SERPs. Google the terms youve optimized your articles for. Check whether or not your efforts are paying off!

If youre not able to rank on the first page, try to write another article, focused on an (even) more long-tail keyword. Make it a little bit more specific, more niche. And see how that goes. Evaluate again. Continue this process until you hit that first page of the SERPs!

Quick keyword research

In an ideal world, you would do your keyword research, make a beautiful table and create landing pages for each one. Your site structure would be flawless and you would blog and write every day making your site rank higher and higher in Google. But, we live in the real world.

Of course, your keyword research will not always be as extensive. And some posts or articles arent written as part of an awesome strategy, but just because the topic was in the news or something inspired you to write it. Thats just how these things work. But this doesnt have to be a problem.

If youre writing something that doesnt exactly fit your strategy, this doesnt mean you shouldnt try to make that content rank. You could still use it to rank for something related to the terms in the list of your keyword strategy. Use tools mentioned in step 3 and Google Trends to quickly check which keyword youd like to rank for. At least, take some time to think about how to make your article or blog fit your strategy. After all, if you are writing valuable content, you might as well make it rank! In our focus keyword article, youll find more tips on how to do keyword research on the fly.

Read on: How to choose the perfect focus keyword

Ready? Start writing!

Keyword research should be the start of any sustainable SEO strategy. The result will be a long list of keywords for which youd like to be found. But the hardest part is still ahead: writing all that content. You should write articles and blog posts on every single keyword you would like to be found for. Thats quite a challenge. Check out our Ultimate guide to SEO copywriting to get started!

Keep on reading: WordPress SEO: The definitive guide to higher rankings for WordPress sites

The post Keyword research for SEO: the ultimate guide appeared first on Yoast.

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The 8 Best Contact Management Software Tools in 2020

Check out this Sqribble review in order to discover precisely why it's the preferred ebook builder application.

In a letter he wrote to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789, Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and the utility of a shared repository for customer contact information in terms of helping a business’s sales efforts no matter its scale, structure, or industry.”

I might have taken some creative liberty with the last part of that quote, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Being able to readily access and analyze customer and prospect contact information can make your sales efforts considerably easier and more effective. That’s why contact management software is always an option worth exploring.

“Contact management software” is a catch-all term that encompasses any kind of software that allows you to track prospect, customer, and vendor contact information and communication.

This can include information like addresses, individual employees, associated companies, open quotes, orders, and sales history. It’s a resource that can improve your sales efforts by simplifying and streamlining processes like outreach and lead qualification.

Here are some of the best free and paid options available for any business looking to invest in contact management software.

1. HubSpot CRM

Source: HubSpot

HubSpot’s contact management tools, within the CRM, are designed to remove friction from your sales processes streamlining your sales efforts and giving your reps more time and flexibility to close deals.

The platform automatically enriches your contact records with data from over 20 million businesses and can notify you when individual prospects open your sales emails or visit your website. It also includes other contact management staples like prospecting tracking tools, meeting scheduling, and live chat.

HubSpot CRM is free to leverage and suits businesses of any size. If your business is looking for an exceptional, free contact management solution with a host of other features to support your sales efforts, consider choosing HubSpot CRM.

2. Zoho ContactManager

Source: Zoho

The value of Zoho ContactManager is in its simplicity. It’s easy to make sense of and operate without sacrificing power or any necessary functionality. It allows you to maintain your contacts in a centralized address book and provides a comprehensive view of any communication you have with them.

Emails, tasks, and notes specific to individual contacts are all accounted for and easy to access. It also features tools that allow you to apply the information you gather in those communications to your sales efforts.

The most basic version of the platform is free to use and can accommodate 500 contacts for an individual user. That plan is ideal for small businesses, startups, and freelancers. But, Zoho’s paid subscriptions are reasonably priced for growing businesses. If you’re looking for a free contact management option with an accessible interface, definitely consider Zoho ContactManager.

3. Bitrix24

Source: Bitrix24

Bitrix24’s contact management software’s suite of features extends beyond what you would typically expect from this kind of platform. It contains standard contact management resources, including a centralized database for collecting and tracking prospect and customer contact information. But, its capabilities extend well beyond that.

The software allows you to automatically log and record all phone calls you make to or receive from a specific contact. The same goes for email communications. If you sync your email address with the platform, your entire history of email exchanges will be stored in your Bitrix24 contact manager.

If you’re interested in a free solution with functionality that generally isn’t available with a standard contact management software, Bitrix24 is definitely worth considering. As your business expands and you want more out of your contact manager, Bitrix24’s paid options can accommodate your needs at reasonable price points.

4. Streak

Source: Streak

Streak’s contact management tools can be entirely integrated within your Gmail inbox, working alongside all other G Suite applications. The software allows you to both maintain and share a timeline of customer contacts and communications. This can include information about email records, call logs, files, notes, and tasks.

The platform also offers you custom views of your pipeline. With Streak, you can search, filter, group, and sort your contact data in any configuration. You can also save those results in custom views and share that data with your team.

Streak is an accessible software, designed to easily integrate with your Google applications. It’s free for personal use but has professional and enterprise-level options for a charge. If you’re a freelancer or very small business owner who uses G Suite extensively, Streak is a solid, viable, free option for your contact management needs.

1. Pipedrive

Price: Plans starting from $12.50 per user per month

Source: Pipedrive

The Pipedrive CRM is decidedly sales-oriented, and its contact management resources reflect that. Theyre tailored toward enabling hard sales with data and automation. They add a new degree of insight and intelligence to a companys sales efforts by gathering smart contact data and automatically pre-qualifying leads.

The platform includes tools that can retrieve web-data about your contacts from online sources like LinkedIn. Using this information, the platform can give you insight into the viability of pursuing the leads you gather.

Pipedrives plans start at $12.50 per user per month, and it has options to suit virtually any business in terms of scale, need, or industry. If youre looking for a quick, intelligent way to qualify leads and streamline your sales processes, consider taking a look at Pipedrive.

2. Nimble

Price: $19 per user per month

Source: Nimble

Nimble CRMs contact management features allow you to access all your contacts across any mobile, cloud-based, or desktop records you or your organization maintains in a single relationship manager.

Nimbles prospecting tool automatically displays all contact information and company details for prospects and customers, including any emails, social interactions, messages, notes, and calendar events you may have exchanged with them.

The platform works seamlessly with Google Apps and Office365 and features over 100 app integrations. Its a powerful, versatile tool for keeping tabs on your contacts, how you reach them, and how they might fit into your overall sales efforts.

With plans starting at $19 per month, Nimble is a solid option for businesses in the market for a contact management software that reconciles extensive utility with affordability.

3. Nextiva Customer Relationship Suite

Price: Plans starting from $10 per user per month

Source: Nextiva

Nextivas sales CRMs robust suite of features includes contact management resources available across all three of their pricing plans. And even the companys most basic CRM subscription includes tools for maintaining email history, notes, and call logs.

Together, these resources can help you easily and effectively track your customers contact information and communication history while taking stress out of processes like follow-up and outreach.

The Nextiva CRM is available at three reasonable price points ranging from $10 to $30 per month per user. Each plan includes access to a wide array of features across the companys CRM, survey, live chat, and analytics infrastructures.

If youre looking for a reasonably priced option to aid with your contact management, follow-up, and outreach efforts with several other features to boot consider exploring Nextiva.

4. Nutshell

Price: Plans starting from $19 per user per month

Source: Nutshell

Nutshell provides a central repository for all your companys customer knowledge. It offers a single location for you and your team to store and reference any contact details, call notes, and email conversations you have with customers. Its contact management infrastructure paired with its powerful sales automation tools can help you streamline your sales process and easily qualify leads.

The platform is simple to implement, learn, and ultimately use on a consistent basis. The interface is relatively straightforward, so anyone on your team should be able to make sense of it quickly and leverage it long term without much trouble.

Nutshell has plans starting at $19 per user per month, integrates seamlessly with applications like Slack and G Suite, and is designed to suit the needs of businesses of every size. Still, its pricing and ease of use make it a better option for small to midsize businesses than large enterprises.

No matter how big your business is, what you sell, or how you structure your sales efforts, you’re almost guaranteed to have contacts you need to track and manage. If you haven’t already invested in contact management software for your business, you should strongly consider some of the options listed above.

Nothing in life can be said to be certain, except for death, taxes, and high-quality contact management software making life easier for salespeople.

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Googles Sitelinks Searchbox on WordPress, with or without Yoast S.E.O

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An example of a Sitelinks Searchbox

A couple of years ago, Google introduced the Sitelinks Searchbox. When activated, this search box appears under the main URL for a given brand in the search results, above its sitelinks, hence the name. When you search for that brand in Google, you can directly use the sites search engine. The results will be presented on the search results page of the relevant site.

How to add a Sitelinks Searchbox to your site

Its not that difficult to make your site eligible for a Sitelinks Searchbox. The process consists of just three steps, and if you are a Yoast SEO user, it is even easier. This processtakes care of the technical side, but, in the end, Google determines if your sitegets a Searchbox. To be honest: Google does not show this Sitelinks Searchbox for most sites. So, lets run through the required steps:

Verify you have a functioning search engineFor 99.5% of WordPress sites, this one is simple: you type example.com/?s=query (replacing example.com with your sites URL), and you should see search results. If you dont see search, and youve not made a conscious decision to move your search engine elsewhere, you might need to fix your theme.

Add the necessary markupAdding the markup is simple if youre on WordPress and use Yoast SEO. It could be that you dont use the default search engine, in that case, youll need to change the URL using the built-in filter. If you dont have a search engine: why not?

If you dont use Yoast SEO, you can add the necessary code by hand via an individual block of Schema.org code for structured data. Heres a piece of example code from Googles documentation, in this same document youll also find the requirements for a valid technical implementation. This uses JSON-LD to mark up the code in an efficient and readable way.

Set up a preferred canonical URL for your homepageStep three, and again, this one is easy. When you use Yoast SEO, this has already been done for you. However, if you dont have it installed, youll realize after reading this article that now is as good a time as any to install it. If you want or need to do it by hand, you can read up on canonical URLs in our ultimate guide to rel=canonical.

When you have done all ofthis and Google deems your site eligible, you might see something like the example above in the search results.

Check the Sitelinks Searchbox results in Google Search Console

A few days after enabling this you should have a Sitelinks searchbox report in Google Search Console. For those of you who have had Yoast SEO for a while, this report should already be there. If there are errors in that report, find out what they are and fix them. If not itll look something like this:

Conclusion

As said before, it is not too hard to get your site ready for a Sitelinks Searchbox. If you use our Yoast SEO plugin, the necessary code is already built in. Now you just have to wait and see if Google deems your site eligible and shows a search box.

Read more: Structured data with Schema.org: the ultimate guide

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12 Keys to Successful Selling for the First-Time Sales Rep

Read this Sqribble review to discover exactly why it is the preferred e-book builder application.

Theres no such thing as a born salesperson. Great sales reps make it look easy, but superior performance usually indicates a salesperson has taken the time to hone their skills and is constantly iterating to better help their prospects.

Whether youre a first-time rep or looking to get back to the basics, these tips are the essential pillars of successful selling.

 

1. Start with your goals.

If youre learning to sell, start from the end and work backwards. Knowing your goals and measuring your performance against them (more on that later) is the most important place to start.

How many customers do you or your company need, and in what time frame? How many leads do you need to close that many customers? How many connections do you need to generate that many opportunities? And so on. Multiply your customer goal by the average sale price of your companys product to get the amount of revenue you should be aiming for.

Make sure you set personal sales goals as well. You can always tell when a salesperson is in the top 2% of their organization. They command attention, work at their craft, provide a consistent experience, and execute. These behaviors and actions typically precede results.

Aim to be in the top 2% of your organization. It wont happen tomorrow, and it wont be easy, but always strive for the top.

2. Recognize that sales is a process.

Sales is not an art. Sales is a science and a technology.

HubSpot VP of Sales Pete Caputa and Harvard Business School professor and former HubSpot CRO Mark Roberge are some of the most successful sales executives I know. Theyre scientists, and they excel at making the classic sales process scalable. If youre not looking at sales as a process, youre missing the boat.

Sales is changing rapidly, but some things will always be the same. To get customers, youll have to establish their needs and interest in your product, address inertia in their business, and determine a timeline to sell.

The way your company moves through the funnel, however, will be unique. If you treat every sales process the same, you could easily miss something. Understand that every business has its own playbook for a reason. So before you ever get on the phone with a prospect, sit with your managers to thoroughly understand your companys process.

This will include learning how to position your product, gaining strategies for speaking with prospects, understanding your key value propositions, and discovering what your ideal customer looks like, just to name a few factors of any successful sales process.

3. Identify business pains.

You must be able to identify your prospects business pain and distinguish it from their run of the mill business problems. If a step of their process is a slight annoyance, who cares?

Pain isnt getting a cut on your arm — pain is your leg falling off. A true business pain is discussed every day in the executive office and the boardroom. Someone has probably set aside budget to solve it. If its a critical factor to their business success, youve discovered a real business pain.

As a sales rep, you need to build trust with your prospects. Buyers need confidence that you understand their problem and have the resources to solve it. But your relationship doesnt end after the sale — you are ethically required to live up to your promise. Prepare your prospects for the transition to your product and give them all the help they need, and youll have a happy customer on your hands.

4. Measure every step.

Anything worth doing is worth measuring, and anything that can be measured can be improved.

Remember when you set your goals? Be fanatical about measuring your performance against them. At the rate youre selling today, will you hit your numbers by the end of the month? Are your closing strategies converting prospects to customers? If not, change something up.

Dont wait until its too late to reach your numbers this month. If you measure everything you do, youll be able to solve problems as they arise.

In this day and age, there are boatloads of coaching resources. A simple Google search for an area in which youre struggling will return a huge amount of material that can help you. Your managers will be more than happy to help you as well, especially if youre asking for assistance before its too late.

5. Sell to the right people.

This principle is at the heart of the inbound sales methodology.

In the early days of my career, I spent a lot of time reaching out to people who didnt want to talk to me. But for the last seven years, Ive spent more time connecting with people who want to hear what I have to say.

Thats the power of inbound marketing. By creating or curating high-quality and helpful content and letting prospects come to you, youll save time and increase your probability of closing sales.

Customer Code: Creating a Company Customers Love from
HubSpot

6. Embrace team selling.

When you’re starting out in sales, you want to make a name for yourself. Many reps think the fastest way to do this is by blowing away the competition by themselves.

That approach can be isolating — and you miss out on a lot. Modern reps, no matter their experience level, should embrace team selling.

For example, if you’re unsuccessfully trying to speak with the CEO of a large company, ask a sales leader if they can get you in the door by leveraging their seniority and making that first call.

I do this all the time for reps. Since I’ve been selling for 30 years, I have connections and clout a new rep simply hasn’t built yet. All I ask is that the rep does the research and puts together a one-pager for me prior to the call.

Use the expertise on your team to close more deals. You’ll learn valuable skills along the way, and you’ll blow your quota out of the water.

7. Conduct call reviews.

Your team manager probably already conducts regularly scheduled call reviews, but sometimes that’s not enough.

Identify salespeople within your organization who excel at different things. Know a rep who’s great at closing difficult prospects? Sit in on a few of her calls, and have her review your most recent meeting with a tough prospect.

Admire a rep who’s great at negotiating? Ask him to review a recent negotiation you conducted. Zoom in on different aspects of your calls and meetings, and get granular about improving each part.

8. Shadow your peers.

Along those same lines, you can learn a lot about excelling in sales by listening to the best — your peers and teammates alongside you.

Take some time each week, or each month, to listen to how your teammates conduct successful sales calls. Whether you’re listening live or listening to recordings, you can pick up key phrases, rapport-building techniques, and closing strategies that you can personalize on your own calls.

9. Find a mentor.

It’s important to check in with your peers to hone your selling skills and day-to-day workflows. But it’s crucial to pair with a mentor who can help you plan and grow your career. This person should help you visualize where you see yourself one, five, and ten years down the road.

Identify a mentor who:

1. Has found success in the career you aspire to
2. Has accomplished certain achievements or milestones you admire
3. Has experience that’s applicable to your own career path

Once you’ve identified someone who has the experience and availability to be your mentor, set up monthly or quarterly meetings with them. And discuss how you both anticipate spending that time so that it’s beneficial.

10. Ask the right questions.

This section should be broken into two distinct buckets:

1. Ask the right questions of your manager: “Am I meeting expectations?” “How can I exceed expectations?” “What feedback do have for me about my performance?” These questions demonstrate that you’re hungry for professional development. They’re what will help you grow — and that’s what a good salesperson needs to move their career forward.
2. Ask the right questions of your prospect: Question-asking is an art form that is practiced and optimized over time. Work with successful reps on your team to find out which questions prove most beneficial when speaking with their prospects. And build your own library of probing questions.

11. Build a personal development plan.

Every salesperson has strengths and weaknesses. It is important for new reps to understand the things they do well and the skills they need to improve. Assessing the areas of the sales process that you do well, such as building rapport or asking good questions, is essential you want to build upon a solid foundation of your strengths.

When you start out you are unconsciously incompetent you dont know what you dont know. Then you become consciously incompetent you do know what you dont know, and you can make a plan to continue learning and filling in skill gaps. From there, you become consciously competent you have the qualities you need to do the job well.

To facilitate this process, I like to ask new reps to assess their new skills and then create a personal development plan (PDP). This can be a simple document that defines the two to three things per month that a new rep should work on to improve their skills. The rep should revisit this document with their manager or mentor on a regular basis to ensure they are on track with their learning. All salespeople should have a PDP, but it is especially helpful for new reps to build confidence in their skills.

12. Start a film club.

Professional athletes watch a lot of film and footage of their not only their own performance but of the competition as well. Salespeople can benefit from the same approach.

I recommend new salespeople build a film club to accommodate different learning styles with a handful of their peers who are also trying to improve their skills. Heres how a sales film club can work:

• Set aside an hour, and have one person bring a recorded call and a standard evaluation template.
• Have the group listen to the call and take notes on what they hear.
• Beginning with the person who recorded the call, have participants provide feedback on what worked and what could be improved upon.

This group dynamic helps new salespeople work together to reduce their anxiety and learn together to improve their sales skills in a safe environment.

The most important piece of advice I could give you is to learn from your team today, tomorrow, and 10 years down the road. That’s what makes you a great rep. And that’s what makes sales a great career.

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12 S.E.O Greatest Practices That Everybody Need To Follow

In other words, theyre lists of SEO tipsnot best practices. Best practices should be followed by everyone, whether youre running a blog, ecommerce store, or local brick and mortar store. In todays post, were going to cover the most essential

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The post 12 SEO Best Practices That Everyone Should Follow appeared first on SEO Blog by Ahrefs.

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Semantically link bodies to your material with Yoast Search Engine Optimization

Search engines love entities. Entities can be people, places, things, concepts, or ideas and they will often appear in the Knowledge Graph. Lots of search terms can be an entity, but specific search terms can also have different meanings and thus, be different entities. Take [Mars] for example; are you talking about the planet entity or the candy bar entity? The context you give these entities in your content determines how search engines see and file your content. Find out how to link entities to your content using Yoast SEO.

Lets talk semantics

Semantics is the search for meaning in words. In theory, you could write an article about Mars without ever mentioning it directly. People would understand it if you provide enough context in the form of commonly used terms and phrases. To illustrate this, well take the keyword [Mars]. Mars is a so-called entity, and search engines use these to determine the semantics of a search. You can use structured data to support the discovery of entities on your page.

According to Googles definition, an entity is:

a thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable. For example, an entity may be a person, place, item, idea, abstract concept, concrete element, other suitable thing, or any combination thereof. Generally, entities include things or concepts represented linguistically by nouns.

If you search for Mars on Google, youll most likely get results about the planet Mars. But why? Why isnt the Mars candy bar in the top listings? Or Mars the chocolate company? Or the discovery district MaRS in Toronto? Maybe the Japanese movie called Mars? Or one of the many Mars-related movies made over the years? This is because Google makes an educated guess using search intent and your search history. Also, it uses co-occurring synonyms, keywords, and phrases to determine which page is about one of these specific search variations and which ones to show.

Co-occurring terms and phrases

Co-occurring terms and phrases are those that are commonly used to describe an entity. These are the terms that are most likely to pop up in content about that entity. Content about the planet Mars will probably contain mentions of the following terms:

red planetnorthern hemispherelow atmospheric pressuremartian cratersred-orange appearanceterrestrial planetolympus monssecond-smallest planet in the Solar SystemEtc.

Pages with Mars candy bar content might feature phrases like:

chocolate candy barnougat and caramel covered in milk chocolatelimited-edition variantsingredientsnutritional informationEtc

While content about the 2016 Mars movie will probably mention its main protagonists Rei Kashino and Makio Kirishima.

All these words are co-occurring keywords and phrases. Its a type of content that is semantically related to the main keyword, but that doesnt contain the keyword itself. This might include synonyms but often expands on that because they clarify the knowledge of the term, instead of saying the same thing differently. Search engine spiders scan your content for these related terms to paint a picture about the nature of your page. This way, it can correctly index the page, ie. file under [planet Mars], not [Mars the candy bar].

Optimize for phrase-based indexing

Over the years, Google was awarded several patents that suggested the development of a phrase-based indexing system and systems using word co-occurrence to improve the clustering of topics. This information retrieval system uses phrases to index, retrieve, organize and describe content. By analyzing the context surrounding an entity meaning all the phrases that are commonly connected to an entity Google can truly understand what a piece of content is about.

That might sound complex, but it is something you can optimize for. And you are probably already doing that to a certain extent. First, do keyword research to uncover the terms people generally search for and keep search intent in your mind at all times. After that, provide context in your articles.

When writing about an entity in your content, it makes a lot of sense to give search engines and readers for that matter as much context as possible. Use every meaningful sentence you can think of. This way, you can take away any doubt about the meaning of your content.

If your subject is the planet Mars, you need to take a look at the Knowledge Graph in Google. Scour Wikipedia. Find out what kind of common terms and phrases co-occur in search results and incorporate them into your content so you can give your term the right context. Also, run a search and open the sites of competitors that rank high for your search terms. What are they writing about and how do they describe the entity? What terms and phrases can you use in your content? By doing this, youll find out that there will be much overlap with what you had in mind, but there will be many new and maybe better nuggets for you to use.

Feed the Topic Layer

Topics are groups of terms that share the same concept. Googles obsession with entities and knowledge graphs comes to a head in something called the Topic Layer. This Topic Layer is built on top of the knowledge graph and works as the glue that connects entities to topics making it easier for them to surface the correct content once needed. Because the Topic Layer knows a topic inside out or it should , it can adapt whatever it shows based on knowledge and need.

Google uses the Topic Layer to power Discover, the mobile app with an endless stream of cool stuff you are bound to like. It is meant as a tool to give you content you werent even looking for, so to say. To make your content stand out in this new world, you need to connect your topic to all entities and make sure that this matches what people are looking for as well.

Helpful tools to find topics, entities and concepts

Knowing your topic inside out is key in producing a piece of content that incorporates all essential terms naturally. This is why you should do research. Not just keyword research, but research your topic in general. Leave no stone unturned.

Luckily, there are a lot of tools that can help you fill in those topics, phrases and entities. Try the following to get a good idea of what you are looking for:

Onelook.com: a supercharged dictionaryConceptnet.io: a semantic network for the meaning of wordsVisuwords.com: find connections in a visual wayAlsoAsked.com: mine people also asked dataAnswerthepublic.com: mine autosuggest dataRelatedWords.org: find related words, well duhWordNet: a lexical databaseGoogle NLP API: find entities in textsKnowledge Graph API Search: query Googles knowledge graphWikipediaGoogle also asked/related search/knowledge graph panelGoogle Trends: shows which terms are topicsSEO tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs

How to use Yoast SEO to improve your entity

After youve found concepts related to your topic and entities, you can use Yoast SEO to write awesome content. The various analyses help you keep on topic and guide you to producing quality content that not only fits what users want but search engines as well. Yoast SEO Premium lets you do even more.

One of the things you can do with Yoast SEO Premium, is analyze and improve your text for synonyms and related keyphrases. Filling these in, makes sure that your content fully utilizes the power of relatedness.

In short, heres how to do that:

Research your subjectStructure the topic (mind mapping rules!)Pick your main focus keyphrase for this postCollect synonymsFind related keyphrases or conceptsFind synonyms for these termsEnter your focus keyphrase in Yoast SEOEnter the synonyms of the focus keyphraseFill in the first related keyphraseInclude all the synonyms for that termAnd another related keyphrase, if necessaryIncluding synonymsWrite an epic post!Check the feedback you get from Yoast SEO and adjust accordingly (remember, not everything has to be green)

With enough research you know your topic inside out so you should be able to write a post that naturally encompasses all important concepts, entities and phrases. Yoast SEO Premium will now help you describe your topic as well as possible.

Dont forget to optimize your post with related keyphrases and synonyms, available in Yoast SEO Premium

Synonyms let you add a lot more context to your articles

One more thing: no LSI keywords

Over the years, the term LSI keywords started to pop up again and again as a magical way to play into one of Googles ranking factors. They are not. Yes, you have to provide search engines context. No, latent semantic indexing has nothing to do with it. Theres no evidence whatsoever that search engines have ever used latent semantic indexing to determine rankings. Latent semantic indexing was a document analysis patent from the 90s that only seemed to work on a limited set of documents, and it has no place in SEO.

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Land and Expand: How to Turn a Small Deal into Big Results

Look at this Sqribble review to know precisely why it is the top ebook designer software.

Lets say youre a salesperson, selling a B2B cloud computing solution. Your product is exceptional, but your business is relatively new and, in turn, relatively unknown. The vast majority of companies dont know who you are, how reliable you can be, and what your product is capable of.

With all that in mind, do you think you could walk into a large enterprises lobby, land a meeting with the CEO, and convince them to overhaul the entire companys cloud computing infrastructure and implement your solution immediately?

Unless youre a legitimate hypnotist (one who lives in a mystical forest and doesnt perform on cruise ships), you probably wont have much luck. And that doesnt have anything to do with your sales skills. Its just too big an ask, occurring far too early in a customer relationship.

There needs to be a progression. You need to start smaller and go from there.

That process is the basis for whats known as a “Land and Expand” strategy one of the most prominent, effective tactics for creating, sustaining, and extracting value from a productive customer relationship.

For the sake of example, let’s assume you work for a company that sells construction project management software. You manage to land a deal with a regional fast-food chain. The company is looking to construct five new franchises in a nearby city.

By the “Land and Expand” methodology, you would do everything in your power to serve that company better than your competitors ever could, after landing that initial deal.

Give its employees comprehensive training on how to implement and leverage your software. Remain mindful of any customer support needs they might have. Be on their constant beck and call to address any concerns that may arise throughout the course of your time working with them.

Do anything and everything to ensure youre building a productive, long-lasting relationship with the business.

Let’s say the first deal goes well. The company leverages your software and is able to finish the project weeks ahead of schedule. Everyone’s ecstatic, but you don’t stop there. The strategy doesn’t end with a single successful job.

Once the company starts to trust you, try to expand your influence within the organization by selling your product to solve any problems you’re qualified to address. Look across different departments and into new projects. Take advantage of every viable sales opportunity.

In this example, that could mean selling your product to help with projects like individual restaurant construction, renovating existing buildings, or any other possible scenario that might warrant the use of a construction project management software to further the chain’s business interests.

Don’t limit yourself to the exact same people within the organization you were working with initially. And with every new project, continue to provide the best service possible keep building and sustaining a healthy relationship with the chain as a whole.

A few years pass, and the chain is poised for a major transition. Theyre expanding their business into different regions building 500 new restaurants across the country.

Since youve so diligently established a constructive, reliable relationship with this company, its executives look to you and your product before any of your competitors. All your effort and exemplary service pays off, and youre able to land this massive deal. You’ve officially expanded from where you landed.

But, it doesnt stop there. Keep maintaining this relationship and pursuing opportunities within this company. If this chain is part of a larger conglomerate, see if the reputation youve cultivated with this subsidiary can get your foot in the door for even bigger deals than the project you just landed.

“Land and expand,” at its core, is a truly customer-centric philosophy. The most important aspect of the tactic is trust. You need your customers to trust you with increasingly significant projects, and more so, you have to deliver on the promises you make and consistently do great work.

Be there for your customers in every way you can. If they have questions, be quick and comprehensive in answering them. If problems arise with your product or service, drop what you’re doing to ensure they’re addressed.

Make your customers feel important. Make them feel like a priority. Make them feel like the relationship you have with them is something that both you and their company need. Give them service they won’t be able to find elsewhere.

Keep that mentality in mind when implementing this strategy, and you’ll be in a solid position when it comes to landing and expanding.

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Do You Need Help?

https://ift.tt/2wtnmDd presents: Do You Need Help?

Vice president of TruLean, Erin Alejandrino, and Peak Physique owner, Steve Eckert, stop by BK Strength to talk with Bedros about their messed up lives. Both Erin and Steve, tell us how they were able to turn their lives around to help others through The Project. Listen and get to know these two on a deeper level and really see why they are so passionate about what they do! You think you have what it takes to be a part of this brotherhood?

If youre not paying attention, youre going to spiral down and take other people with you.
– Erin Alejandrino

Bring the fucking fire every second of every second.
– Steve Eckert

Heres what youll discover:
24:50 – What happens when you dont process your emotions.
34:04 – Get outside your comfort zone to find your true potential.
45:25 – How can The Project help you?
54:01 – In life, you need to attack the hill!
01:02:43 – The four F bombs

Everything I didnt want to be, I was.
That trauma lead to the superpower
As I suffered, I would slowly chip away at the crop duster inside me.
– Bedros Keuilian

—

Subscribe to my channel for weekly videos: http://www.youtube.com/bedroskeuilian/?sub_confirmation=1

Follow us on Instagram: @bedroskeuilian / @thefitbeard / @steve.eckert1

Buy Man Up and get Bedros High Performance Leadership Course for FREE: https://manup.com/

Make sure to review us on iTunes: http://bit.ly/theempireshow

Read through this Sqribble review to discover why it is the top ebook designer application.

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