Ready for a rebound

INDUSTRY NEWS

Ready for a rebound

What do LeBron James, someone fresh out of a relationship, and the US Economy have in common? There’s a good chance of a rebound in the near future. If you’re a B2B sales leader, you’re certainly hoping that any economic downturn in 2023 will be short lived. You probably also know that “hope” is not a strategy, which is why you’re trying to figure out what changes you need to make to weather the storm. Before you start taking the axe to people and technology, we recommend you take a moment to understand why Forrester principal analyst Christopher Gilchrist believes that “Smart Tech Executives Will Position Their Company For The Coming Rebound.” While you may miss a shot or two in 2023, you can begin positioning yourself now to get the rebound.

The not need for speed

When Tom Cruise utters the line, “I feel the need, the need for speed” in the original Top Gun movie, he comes off as a bit of a maverick. If you’re trying to usher prospects through your buying process, you might also want to feel the adrenaline rush of buzzing an aircraft carrier tower at fighter jet speeds. However, just like Maverick, you could be making an ill-advised decision. If you want to gain greater buyer confidence and close bigger deals, you may actually need to slow things down. Learn why creating a learning path for customers is more lucrative than alternative approaches in the latest post from Gartner research director Michael Katz. With the right approach, you won’t end up like Tom Cruise and come up short.

Hail to the chiefs (of revenue)

The 49ers had an impressive year, but they couldn’t rise above The Eagles in the NFC Championship game. While the Eagles and the Chiefs prepare for the Super Bowl, there is another group of chiefs celebrating their rise to power: Chief Revenue Officers. As revenue streams have multiplied throughout the buyer’s journey, the role of the CRO has become more important than ever. If you don’t currently have a CRO who is responsible for managing all of your company’s revenue streams across the buyer’s journey, now would be a good time to get one. To get you started, David Cichelli, revenue growth advisor for the Alexander Group, takes a deep dive into the requisite skills and responsibilities of the modern CRO.

IN THE GROOVE

We are the champions

Remember last week when we won two Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service? Well, this week we are bringing you some more great news. TrustRadius just announced its 2023 “Winter Best of Awards,” and Groove is happy to report that we’ve won first place in “Best Feature Set,” “Best Relationship,” and “Best Value for Price” in the Sales Engagement category. That means we won first place in all three awards offered during the Winter 2023 cycle. Now, we don’t like to brag, but we think that’s pretty impressive! If you are curious about what makes us number one, check out our blog to learn more about these awards.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Ten seconds to save the world?

We have all heard the mom in the grocery store trying to calm her toddler down with, “You have ten seconds to stop crying or mommy will take your toy away.” Growing up, this was the thing of nightmares. However, have you ever considered that the ten-second rule could be useful in business? We’re not saying to give an angry rep a ten-second warning before you take away their top accounts, instead, Inc. Magazine encourages leaders to wait ten seconds before responding to difficult conversations. While ten seconds is a relatively short time, it can vastly decrease your stress response and improve communication. It might even come in handy if you’re standing in line behind the mom with the screaming toddler. 

In the business of storytelling

Storytelling is the business of sales. Or, is sales the business of storytelling? Whichever it is, according to Maury Rogow, author and CEO of Rip Media Group, “Your sales will thrive or die based on the stories you tell.” Now, he isn’t talking about spinning fabricated fables about the capabilities of your product just to hit your quota. Rogow is referring to the sales stories you can tell to close more deals and grow your book of business. From your elevator pitch to your unicorn story, these aren’t tall tales; they are useful messages that can help you inch closer to closed-won. Now that’s a story we want to tell.

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