There has been many blogs posts, discussions and debates on the value of cold calling. Many suggesting that it is a dead and dying.

My personal opinion is that the cold call is still and should be part of the sellers kit bag. It is only by blending the new required social skills and older sales tactics can a seller truly provide value and credibility.

I came across this infographic from sales for life blog site and would like to share it with you.

What are you thoughts on cold calling? Does it remain? Perhaps now referred to as a warm call?

So is the term “cold” dead but the function still exists? Drop your comments below

Infographic created by DocSend

As sales and marketing evolve, more teams are recognizing the importance of social selling. Where are we in this evolution and what trends have emerged? What practices should you be adopting today to stay ahead of the competition? Discover how your peers are embracing social selling and driving results, and how you can seize this opportunity to gain an edge.

Key trends:
Top performers spend 25% more time on research and preparation.
Top sales and marketing pros send 148% more connection requests and share 23% more content.
Social selling behavior leads to a 2X increase in sales performance through new clients, meetings secured and opportunities generated.
Social selling adoption is higher amongst older sales professionals: 27% are over 30 years old, 33% in 30-45yo and 34% in 45+ yo.
Watch Justin Shriber, the Head of Marketing for LinkedIn Sales Solution speak about how social selling drives massive results in 2016.

Believe or not, prospecting on social goes beyond just LinkedIn. The following infographic describes very easy ways to multiply your prospecting activity on Twitter and Facebook as well.

For instance, advanced search queries on Facebook, using queries like “pages liked by women who like Intel and live in New York”, can combine multiple variables, giving you targeted focus on and results.

LinkedIn’s Advanced Search feature allows you to identify decision makers and champions with complex filters through the use of Boolean search terms. You can then save your results as leads and export lists.

And Twitter’s search options help you find new customers fast. Search for key interest terms in tweets, people mentioned in tweets, places, and dates. Take a look:

Original Post

The business world is growing more complicated and involved by the day thanks to technology. Yet thanks to technology, it’s also getting more manageable and efficient. That might seem like a contradiction, but it’s all about your preparation. If you’re on top of the rising wave, it’s a lot less worrying than those scurrying under it. Part of what’s changing about business is the prevalence of remote workers, running a business from home and even when travelling. So, we’re going to take a look at how some of the more successful bosses manage to keep being bosses even when they’re not around.

Pic sourced by geralt

Communication

Being able to communicate with your employees wherever you are is the most important part of being a boss. Although it’s not true that workers are any less motivated when their boss isn’t physically present, you will want to know what’s going on. Using digital communication apps can make it easy to keep in touch throughout the day. Communicating verbally is the best for ensuring your delegations and reports are clearly understood. You have to make sure you show a public stance of being open to bad news, as well. Nothing good comes from having negative developments hidden from you.

Pic sourced by Blue Diamond Gallery

Management

It’s not just about talking about things, either. You need to manage, too. Business systems of all kinds are becoming more available so you can manage from afar. Whether it’s accounts of data, you can analyse to make decisions without needing someone to walk you through them. Or scheduling software so everyone knows what they’re supposed to be working on at what time. There are all kinds of options for networking your management.

Pic sourced by Nappiness

Delegation

One of the keys to being a successful boss anywhere is delegation. Delegating tasks trains your employees to take more responsibility and builds a bond of trust. That trust is especially meaningful if tasks are delegated in your absence. In the best case scenario, it’s how you train a team of independent elites capable of working nearly autonomously. More realistically, it’s one way to give yourself less of a headache. Delegating properly can mean that you have less need to communicate so constantly with every member of the team.

Pic sourced by GotCredit

Outsourcing

Sometimes, your team just doesn’t have enough know-how to do a task without your express guidance. There’s nothing wrong with that; you can always train them to take on more tasks. However, if you don’t have the time, outsourcing could be the key. Professionals, by nature of their trade, are usually much quicker at understanding your instructions. That and they need no hand-holding to get on with their job. Don’t get frustrated if you staff isn’t capable of a certain task, just use someone trained for it.
Being a boss from afar is all about how you handle the responsibility of managing staff and tasks. Management software and delegation can shift responsibilities. Communication ensures that no-one’s left out of the loop. So long as everyone has tasks they can handle and know how to do them, you should have a smooth ride.

Are you running a business in 2016? If you are, it’s crucial that you are using the available technology. Technology has been providing answers to companies for years. Need a new marketing campaign? Check out the latest tech. Do you want your business to be more efficient? You might want to see what Microsoft has cooked up lately. You get the idea. The truth is that over the years this trend hasn’t diminished. If anything, it’s grown, and technology has become more important for business owners looking to make their mark. It doesn’t matter whether you need to cut costs or expand; tech provides the key that you need. Here are some pieces of tech software you should be investing in and ideas on how they could benefit your business.

Cloud Software

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Have you started using cloud technology in your business yet? If you don’t know cloud technology is a way to share and store information online. It’s everywhere now. If you look at your phone, you’ll probably find it’s offering cloud tech to store your data. Is it cheap? Of course not but that doesn’t mean it’s not providing distinct advantages to business owners. Using cloud technology such as the Cloud 9 Software, you will be able to easily share information between providers, patients, customers and employees. This will make your business run far more efficiently and allow you to change your business model. Using cloud technology, there is nothing stopping you running your company from home. Or, travelling while controlling and guiding your business from afar. There is also the advantage of online security. Cloud tech provides one of the most secure forms of storing data. You won’t have to worry about your client’s important information.

Of course, it all depends on what cloud software you use. Have a look at some of the best possibilities online before you commit to a specific software.

E-Learning Software

There are numerous advantages to using E-learning software in your business. E-learning provides a cheap and efficient way for keeping your staff up to date with training. Using software such as Adobe Captivate, you can create E-learning programmes. It could be the perfect tool to get new employees up to speed with your practices when they join your company. You can use E-learning to train your employees on anything. The software can be moulded into whatever form you like to create the perfect learning tool. Interested in this possibility? Captivate Training classes by Training Connection would be a good place to start. There you will learn everything you need to know about this unique business tool. E-learning comes with several advantages that we think you’ll be particularly interested in. For starters, it’s cheaper than other training possibilities. It’s also one of the fastest methods for learning.

SEO Software

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We wouldn’t recommend that you invest in software that producers claim can add SEO to your business site. This tends to be cheap and lazy SEO tactics that are immediately dismissed by Google. Even the most advanced software is not yet at the point where it can be used to design a website with SEO automatically. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be investing in SEO software for your business. Specifically, you can get software that allows you to keep track of how effective your SEO is. You can also use the software to measure your methods against your direct competition online. By doing this, you’ll be able to discover what’s working for them and what isn’t. Essentially, you’ll be able to create a marketing campaign with the best bits of theirs.

Digital Faxing

Are you still using a faxing machine in your business? Perhaps you are, but we’ve got two major reasons why you should stop right now. You’re killing the environment, and it’s costing your business a fortune. Just think for a moment about how much paper you use faxing on a regular basis. Now consider how much the maintenance costs for the machine have been. It’s probably only a couple hundred each year, but those little costs are the ones that add up. There’s really no need to spend that money either. Not when you can use a digital software for a fraction of the cost with the same results. Information for faxing can now be sent directly to your email.

Video Conferencing

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Lastly, we recommend that you stop flying across the world for conferences and instead use the available software. Business trips cost an absolute fortune and are completely pointless. Especially when you consider you can talk to your clients on a conference call, face to face, without leaving the office. It’s just one of the many other forms of tech your business should be using in 2016.

The use of social media has exploded in recent years! Most of us have a profile on networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We even use social media to find jobs (i.e. LinkedIn). There’s no denying that social media is an important aspect of today’s digital society.

If you run a business, chances are you have a website to promote your brand and its products and services. You may also have social media profiles for your company. But, is your website a social media friendly one?

If it isn’t, or you aren’t sure, this blog post is for you. Today, I will teach how you to make sure people can share content on your site with their followers and fans. Here is what you need to know:

Source: Flickr

Make sure you’ve got content people want to share

Before you do anything, you need to ask yourself one question. Does your website have the kind of content that people want to share on social media? Or, put it another way. If you stumbled across your website, would you share its content?

If you’re unsure, or the answer is “no”, you need to rectify this issue first. The good news is that it’s straightforward to resolve content quality problems. All you have to do is post fresh, dynamite stuff on your website!

The easiest way to do that is to set up a blog. WordPress is my preferred option for blogging as it’s simple to setup and free to use. You can install WordPress on your Web host, or you can use the free hosted version with your domain. I recommend the former option as you’ll have more control over it.

If you’re thinking of revamping your website, why not use WordPress for all of it? You might not know it, but many people use the platform as a CMS (content management system). WordPress has now evolved into a fully-fledged publishing platform. It’s a far cry from its early days as simple blogging software!

Why am I recommending WordPress? It allows you to update your blog or site fast and without any hassle. What’s more, your new content will get indexed by search engines quicker if you use WordPress.

Image Source: Pixabay

So, you’ve got the software side of things sorted out. How do you go about creating decent content to put on your site? Most people tend to use a copywriter to create compelling material. After all; you need to create content that grabs your audience’s attention.

Of course, you could write the content yourself and save some money. But, if you haven’t got a natural flair for writing, it’s worth paying a professional to do the work for you.

Once you’ve got your text content sorted out, you should also incorporate some multimedia. In other words, add some photos and videos relevant to your topic. It’s always a good idea to break up large sections of text with photos or videos.

Add social sharing buttons

No-one is going to copy a link and paste it into their social network of choice. Your job is the make the lives of your audience easier. One way you can do that is by adding some social sharing buttons on your website.

Most sites have buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Avoid having lots of sharing buttons as they can make your web pages look messy and unappealing. Just stick with some common social media platforms.

Image Source: Pixabay

You should make sure that people can share your content from any page on your website. So, how do social sharing buttons work, I hear you ask?

Well, the code behind the button connects to an API (Application Programming Interface). Each social network has their own API. When you click on one of those buttons, a dialog box usually pops up and gives you sharing options.

For example, let’s say that one of your website visitors has clicked on a Facebook sharing button. The box that pops up will ask them who they wish to share the link with. If the visitor manages a page or group, they can choose to share your URL with those audiences instead.

Once the user selects the ‘Post’ button, a preview of your web page appears on the timeline.

There are many ways to add social sharing buttons to your pages. If you use WordPress for your website, you can install one of many available plugins. For static pages, you can usually add social sharing buttons from AddThis, for example.

Use a fast web host for your site

You might think that hosting is an odd topic to associate with social media friendliness. But, it should be a relevant part of your strategy! The thing about websites is some people overlook the hosting options available to them. Often, people will use hosts that boast things like unlimited disk space and bandwidth. Or they just select hosting based on price alone.

There are many reasons to select a fast web host for your website. First of all, what happens if your server is unreliable? Your site will go down more often than it will stay up. Your audience can’t share your content if they can’t access it.

Second, a fast and reliable host is a must for SEO (search engine optimization). Google, Bing, and Yahoo rank websites based in part on site speed. Why does SEO matter for social media friendliness, I hear you ask?

Well, many of your site visitors will come across your content by searching for a keyword or phrase. If they feel the content is relevant to their needs, they will want to share the URL on social media.

If you visit VPS Server, you can see an example of a hosting company that offers a fast and reliable service. Avoid providers that claim to offer the Earth and deliver nothing. I recommend doing some research before selecting a new host if yours isn’t good enough.

Invest in a kick-ass design on your site

Last, but not least, you need to make sure the design and layout of your website works. Are you still rocking a site design from 2006? Do you have to zoom in on your site when you use a mobile browser?

If the answer to either of those questions is yes, it’s time to upgrade your site design and layout. There are many options you can choose; it all depends on what your site uses and what you wish to invest.

For example, WordPress uses “themes” that you can upload and activate in seconds. You can use free ones from the WordPress repository, or you can pay for premium ones from ThemeForest. It’s also possible to buy HTML and CSS-based themes if you aren’t using a CMS on your website.

In general, themes are easy to customize. If you want a more bespoke solution, I suggest hiring a web designer. They can build you a site design and layout according to your needs.

Prefer a more hands-on approach to web design? If so, you could always use some web design software such as Adobe Dreamweaver. Another option is to use a web builder service. This is where you design the layout of your site in your browser.

Whatever method you’re planning to follow, be sure to do some research before buying. That way, you can be sure that you’ll end up with a solution that best meets your needs.

I hope that today’s blog post has been of help to you. Thanks for reading it!

We’re one month into 2016 and certain themes for B2B sales and marketing teams are already emerging. With insights from top research firms such as Aberdeen Group, Forrester and SiriusDecisions, the following infographic describes five trends that your organization should consider to stay ahead of the curve in 2016.

There are so many advantages for making your business more accessible. First, you will improve the experience for customers that you already have. Apple learned the hard way in the early years that customers want choice. They don’t want to be forced into options that have already been decided for them. Giving them more ways to access your business will only mean great things for your business. Second, it will attract consumers you haven’t yet claimed. Consumers can be put off a company for a number of different reasons. If they didn’t commit because they don’t like your business model, this is your chance to gain new interest. Third, it will quite simply make your business easier to run. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some advice for making your company more accessible.

Online Marketing

If you are engaging customers through online marketing, make sure you are using as many different methods as possible. You may have already started to use social media to your advantage. Connecting with customers with updates on Twitter is a great way to make your business seem accessible. But you could also use a blog. A blog is a fantastic source for writing high-quality content that connects with customers on a personal level. By doing this, you’ll start to tell a story they’re interested in hearing. These are just two sources of online marketing. There are many more like a stylish website and a Google Adwords campaign. You should look into the different possibilities and see which one will benefit your business.

In Store

If you have a business with a store presence, you also need to think about how to make your company accessible here. The best way to do this is to use the latest technology available. For instance, the latest POS systems offer a number of different possibilities to consumers and business owners. You can get a semi integrated emv compliant solution. This will make payments in your shop or store more secure which will be a bonus for both you and the consumer. For you, you won’t need to worry about dealing with fraud. For the consumer, they’ll be able to make easy transactions without putting a risk on their finances. You may also want to look into incorporating mobile payment methods into your store. This allows customers more freedom when making a payment, rather than having to queue at a till.

Going Mobile

You may want to consider the possibility of including fully mobile payments and purchases in your business model. This could mean investing in an app for your business. That will allow customers to make quick online purchases. Or, it might mean ensuring that your business site is easy to access on mobile devices. By doing this, you can guarantee customers more options when choosing how and when to buy. Don’t forget the average consumer spends a huge amount of time on their phone each day. It would be crazy to let an opportunity like that slip by.

Take this advice and you can easily make your business more accessible for consumers. This, in turn, will lead to a huge increases in sales for your company.