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Springwise | New business ideas from around the world. Getting Measurable Growth In Sales By Understanding Your Customer – with David Skok. David Skok tells a story about how rethinking his sales cycle helped him generate sales of $3.5 million in one day, after doing $4 million the whole previous year. Of course that’s not a typical result, but as you listen to him explain how he did it, you’ll see how the methodical way that he thinks about the customer acquisition process can be applied to your company.
You’ll hear several stories like that in this interview as I ask David about the companies he launched when he was an entrepreneur and the ones he helps grow now that he’s a venture capitalist. David Skok is a serial entrepreneur turned VC. He started his first company a few months after leaving university at the age of 21, and over the next 25 years, founded a total of four companies (Skok Systems, Corporate Software Europe, Watermark Software, and SilverStream Software) and did one turnaround (Xionics). Andrew Warner: Three messages before we get started. Here’s the program. Hey, everyone. David Skok: Thank you, Andrew. Twelve Rules of B2B Sales Productivity (an ode to the economic d. When we combine the #1 issue for CEOs with today's economic downturn, what emerges are Twelve Rules of B2B Sales Productivity. Each by itself is a path to improved sales productivity.
The most productive firms are those who live by a combination of all twelve: Rule 1: focus on outcomes. Being busy isn't productive. Rule 2: give Sales Reps more time for selling. Rule 3: enable repetition. Rule 4: measure prospect behavior. Rule 5: being helpful to prospects creates competitive advantage. Rule 6: detect trigger events. Rule 7: help Reps invest their time and effort wisely. Rule 8: conversations count. Rule 9: good conversations count more. Rule 10: speed matters, more than ever. Rule 11: learn from patterns. Rule 12: expect uncertainty. These rules are my blending of our own experiences with the observations over the past year of pundits such as Neil Rackham, Jeffrey Gitomer, John Monoky, Verne Harnish, Chet Holmes, Victor Cheng, Greg Alexander, Jim Cecil, and Victoria Medvec. Comments. 10 Verbal Communication Skills Worth Mastering.
Last week I read a blog post 7 Personal Branding Predictions for 2011 by personal branding expert Dan Schawbel. One of his seven predications for 2011 was that soft skills will become more important than hard skills. Dan said, “When enough people have similar talents, and are competing for the same positions and opportunities, the real differentiator is your interpersonal skills. The way you present yourself, how you communicate with other people, whether it’s in an interview or with management at work, can make or break your personal brand. More and more people are starting to realize that the little things matter, especially in our current competitive environment.” Schawbel then went on to highlight a new research report by Kelly Services conducted with 134,000 people.
This made me ask myself, “What are some of the top verbal communication skills that people need to master if they want to stand out from their competitors.” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 Be concise. 10. Bonus Tip: Ten Ways Twitter has Completely Changed the Sales Process. In Customer Interviews Don’t Rush to Pitch the Solution (Build 20100722155716) All the theory in the world won’t make a lick of difference if you don’t get into the field and do something. That’s why advice isn’t worth as much as it should be, and isn’t nearly as effective as it should be. Entrepreneurs consistently make the same mistakes over and over, even when there are lots of competent and successful people out there advising otherwise (and non-successful, non-competent people too!).
Founders are doers, simple as that. Not theorists. Not passersby. Not partipants. Doers. That being said, here’s some advice (based on action though!) I’ve recently started the validation process for a startup idea. When the first few words out of my mouth are, “Let me tell you about this great idea I have…” I realize shortly thereafter that I’m screwed. As I go through the interviews, things are getting better. That’s really cool. Using friends and/or people in my network already creates a bias I have to be cautious about. Brandable sleeves help consumers mark their bottle of beer.
Consumers share in the success of winning product ideas.