The Complex Sale, like Gilligan’s cruise, can easily deteriorate from a straightforward 3-hour tour into a storm-tossed wreck.  Here are two tactics which will keep you at the helm of your sales relationship:

Catherine spent some time last month chatting with Britton Manasco of Manasco Marketing Group in Austin, TX. Britton produces a thought leadership strategy blog at Illuminating the Future and has contributed to many business and marketing journals and magazines. Below is a transcript of Catherine and Britton's conversation. 

Miss our webinar: 7 Reasons Not to Manage the Compex Sale in Leads? You can see and hear the presentation here.

What is your organization's policy toward Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media? Lately it seems I'm hearing more stories about Social Media mishaps.

Many thanks to my friend, Jay Horne and his friend - the amazing trainer Giovanni Gallucci - for their class that came to Oklahoma City on April 21.  Extreme Social Marketing was not just about social media theory; I am proud to say that I learned a few things that I began using immediately.  

We at Initial Call specialize in representing companies with a complex sale which, by definition, is harder than the average sale.  And by “hard” we mean hard.  The ever-increasing “opt-in” mindset poses real challenges for businesses who want to expand sales beyond the scope of their current social network.

If you have experienced the challenges of tracking the complex sales cycle in Salesforce.com and you've been frustrated, you are not alone. The beauty of this CRM is that you can make changes to optimize the tool for your company's unique sales cycle. Our whitepaper addresses these issues.

I really am feeling my age. I'm not an early adopter but I'm usually far ahead of the Average Joe, but Twitter has me stumped. Why would anyone be interested in what I have to say this moment?

Do you know what your real lead cost is?  This deceptively simple question can challenge your preconceived notions about how to evaluate marketing programs and sales partners.  It is common to weigh the cost of a campaign activity or a vendor's service in isolation, but the only way to accurately calculate a true meeting cost is to capture and compare all of your expenditures, from technical tools to the labor it takes to represent what you sell. 

This last week I participated in our Initial Call Sales Manger training via conference call.   Although we were discussing specific strategies for getting into large companies, the conversation turned to individuals sharing with one another about recent phone calls they had while prospecting for clients.  Listening to the examples that our Sales Managers gave of recent conversations they had while prospecting prompted me to ask myself the question, “What makes someone good at this job?”  Put another way, “Why are some sales people better than others at generating good meetings?” 

As the year has progressed, I have added more and more newsletters and blogs I want to read to my list of “to dos.”  I find that there are quite a few good sales and marketing consultants whose regular communication I like to follow.   I recently reread Mary Sullivan’s article Maintaining Sales Momentum in a Recession- or Whatever This Is.  Her five principles are timeless and timely.

Initial Call counts itself fortunate for the simple fact that we are actively looking for good people to join us. Since the news is full of stories where the converse is true, one could assume that our Recruiting Team is enjoying a lighter workload. But in a world where “be careful what you wish for” is all too true, our Recruiting Team is working harder than ever.

Earlier this month, I went to a day of training provided by the local chapter of the American Marketing Association.  My favorite speaker was Brian Massey out of Austin, TX.  He calls himself the Conversion Scientist -- as in a person who helps other companies "convert" website visitors into qualified leads or customers.  What I liked about him is that in coming and giving the talk and giving away information, he took a dose of his own medicine.

You can’t turn on the computer, TV or radio without hearing Henny Penny’s warnings of doom and gloom.  Almost every news piece bemoans the state of the economy.  Pre-election hype?  Fear-mongering?  Good ratings nonetheless.

Have you ever thought about leveraging your voicemail messages for maximum sales effectiveness? Recently Ford Harding posted an article called How to Leave a Voicemail Message suggesting ways to leave informative and concise voice mail messages that are likely to be returned.

In an earlier post, we introduced our underlying premise that the terms “profiled” and “qualified” are not synonymous when it comes to target accounts in the complex sale. The purpose of this post is to further outline the steps involved in profiling accounts: objective targeting, high-level sorting and contact verification.

Work within “inside sales” is challenging enough, but the lack of standardization on various important terms makes it even tougher. My firm provides what we call “inside sales” contract help to other companies. We mean this to be broad, encompassing lead qualifying, research work and lead nurturing. However, not everyone means the same thing when they say “inside sales.” For example, some people call inside sales telesales or even telemarketing.

Maintaining an accurate and current database of target customers and prospects is essential for sales and marketing success. Too often I see the state of a company’s database or CRM and understand why they may be having difficulty filling their sales pipeline.

Communicating well is foundational to success. In sales, you can quickly lose your credibility with the use of a grammatically incorrect word or phrase. Even so, using proper grammar isn’t typically a conscious pursuit. On one particular point, however, people are sipping with their pinky fingers raised, verbally speaking. They are striving for correctness but getting it wrong. 

Can we get away from the Olympics? No, not sure we even want to in these few exciting weeks…

Ann Killion of the Mercury News wrote an article about Phelps’ amazing medal run and ended it with a quote from Phelps:

As I type this I’m waiting for a tech from our telecommunications company to come fix their service to our home. I could tell you one story related to my experience with their technology that might make you think twice before signing up with them. However, I could tell you another story about their customer service, both over the phone and in person, that might cause you to come to a different conclusion.

Recently my husband was cleaning out his memorabilia and was reminded of an old friend from high school. Nostalgic, he googled his friend, found an email address, and sent his friend an email. Within minutes his email was returned with the message: “I just facebooked you last week!” So have you facebooked anyone lately?

Robert Bly is one of the most well known copywriters in the business.  Like many veterans of “traditional media,” he now has a blog.  Somewhat ironically, he occasionally uses it to strike a blow for the reputation of traditional media over against those who deride it in favor of social media on the Internet.

We are concluding a series about the books the Initial Call staff has found to be helpful in building their sales and business knowledge and skills. I hope you've found these posts informative. Be sure to leave your comments and let us know what you think about the books we've already reviewed, as well as what books you've found foundational.

Inside Initial Call, we sometimes joke that the most difficult part of our job is telling the future.  Many variables affect success in a sales campaign, so there are no simple answers when estimating project outcomes.  Only after we learn more about the variables can we apply our knowledge and experience to a situation and predict results. 

What books do the Initial Call staff think are most foundational and helpful?  I started to answer that question in an earlier post.  Now here are three more.  Just remember, like I wrote earlier, I’m not listing them in any particular order of value.

Over the last year we’ve been tracking the cost of sourcing and interviewing contractors for Initial Call. And as we complete the stats each quarter, I’m reminded that it is all too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of our work and forget about the big picture that statistics and analysis provide.

Experienced “players” in the business world may think that the key to making a good deal is to hold your cards close—to avoid slipping up with a “tell” about your true position. Many prospects and sales people assume that maintaining a poker face will give them an edge.

Naturally, these aren't the only books we think are worth reading!  We do have lives outside of work, after all.  Nor are these the hottest new books out there.  But these are the titles that stand out to us as presenting some of the basics. 

I love it when I read about a real, live business leader who is to be admired. I am sure there are many out there, but it seems that the media portrays two extremes: Leader A is the CEO who writes his own biography (or has his own television show) and seems to pride himself on his own accomplishments; Leader B is in the news because he’s embezzled money from the company and as a result his employees have lost a good bit of their retirement investments.

In a recent meeting, the Management Team discussed traits they want to see in future hires. Half jokingly, a response of “someone who follows directions” was tossed out. Group agreement was unanimous, followed by silence. Then another voice added, “Not just literally following directions…but strategically following directions.”

Can sales people who hate sales people be effective?  Maybe even more so.  We all know when we are being fed a line.  No one likes being sold and we naturally recoil at the cheesy salesman stereotype.  Poor Willy Loman.  Yet, our whole economy hinges on sales.  Some sales messaging must work.  How else could GEICO stay in business?