Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies

The One Piece of Advice You Need to Earn Your Clients’ Loyalty

What does it take to build the type of relationships with your clients that keep them loyal and coming back to your firm year after year? To find out, RainToday asked me and 8 other experts in client loyalty this question:

If you could only give one piece of advice regarding how to develop client loyalty: what would that be?

They then gathered our responses in this complimentary, 38-page special report, The One Piece of Advice You Need to Earn Your Clients’ Loyalty.

Here's why you'll find in this ebook & the authors of the articles:

• Keeping Your Clients Loyal - Nine Questions You Need Answered, by Mike Schultz, author of Professional Services Marketing

• Achieving the Highest Level of Loyalty, by Andrew Sobel, author of All for One

• How to Be Invaluable, by Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies (Yup! That's me!)

• Your Highest Priority: Building Client Loyalty by Delivering Superior Service, by Michael W. McLaughlin, author of Winning the Professional Services Sale

• Client Loyalty: How to Keep Happy Clients Who are Delighted to Pay Their Bills, by Larry Bodine, Esq., Apollo Business Development

• Taming the Search-and-Switch Client: 3 Keys to Keeping Your Client Loyal, by Jill Griffin, author of Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer

• Your Clients Need Cultivation - Now, More Than Ever! by Ardath Albee, CEO and B2B Strategist of Marketing Interactions, Inc.

• How to Retain Clients: Teach Them How to Be Loyal, by Sharon Drew Morgen, author of Selling with Integrity

• Client Loyalty as a By-Product of Firm Leadership, by Patrick J. Lamb and Nicole N. Auerbach,  Valorem Law Group, LLC.

Earn your clients' loyalty with the expert insights and advice in this special report. Download here: http://www.raintoday.com/pages/5072_client_loyalty_special_report.cfm

Complimentary Ebook: 5 Essential Strategies for Highly Effective Initial Meetings

It's not easy to secure the full attention of decision makers - even for just a few minutes. Whether you have 15 minutes for a phone conversation or 30 minutes for an online presentation, your prospect must feel like their time is well spent.

To make that happen, your initial meeting must be strategically designed for a lasting (and profitable) impact. My new eBook shows you how to do that. In it, you'll discover:

• Why most first meetings fail miserably.
• What it takes to really engage customers in the conversation.
• How to flip your focus to what's really important.
• Strategies to enhance your credibility in just one meeting.
• How to effortlessly advance to the logical next step.
• ...and much more!

Get your complimentary copy of 5 Essential Strategies for Highly Effective Initial Meetings now.

I hope you enjoy it!  And, please forward this to your colleagues who might be interested in learning more.

Check Out These Top Sales Resources

 Jeff Ogden, The Fearless Competitor, has just released a new white paper on How to Find New Customers: The Definitive Guide to Driving Demand for your Company's Products & Services.

In this document, Jeff does an excellent job of describing how organizations today can leverage the internet & educationally-based thought leadership content to:

• Attract prospects to their website.
• Capture their contact information.
• Create an ongoing conversation.
• Nurture them till they're sales ready.

If you're not sure what demand generation is - or want to learn more about it - click here to get your copy:  www.findnewcustomers.net

Dan Schawbel, author of the hot new book called Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success, recently launched a magazine on this timely topic.

Personal Branding helps readers discover, create and maintain their personal brand for successful living and career development.  You'll find interviews with industry leader, along with articles from numerous experts.

Personal Branding is published 4 times/year and distributed electronically. Check out a sample issue here.

Top Sales Resources, March 2009

This month I'm just featuring one resource - Top Sales Experts.

This new website features great sales articles, sales blogs, daily interviews with sales gurus, how to guides, interactive assessments, job postings, podcasts and more. All this is totally free.

For those who want to become a member, there's even more! First, you get a Goody Bag which includes over $2000 in bonuses such as:

• Financial Justification in a Snap MP3, Kendra Lee
• Platinum Rule MP3, Tony Alessandra
• Salesopedia - The Sales Dictionary, Clayton Shold
• Secrets to Cold Calling Presidents, Leslie Buterin
• Free Membership in Colleen Francis' member program
• Leadership Mojo ebook, Keith Rosen
• and much, much more.

 What does membership cost? Only $25/YEAR (1/2 price) for Selling to Big Companies readers.  Click here to JOIN NOW.

Besides all the goodies, you get 20% off the webinars & roundtables. Here are some of the upcoming ones.

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Roundtable: The Future of Professional Selling

• Tuesday, April 14th at 1 pm ET
• Featuring Dave Stein, Linda Richardson, Nigel Edelshain, Jonathan Farrington & Me

Join the debate, as five of the world’s leading sales gurus, discuss what professional selling will involve in the upcoming years.

Topics include: Does professional selling as we know it have a future? How will organizations train and develop their sales teams? What can front-line salespeople do to protect themselves from possible extinction? After this current financial meltdown, will lost jobs be re-created? ... and much more.  Register now.

Webinar: Sales 2.0 & Selling to Big Companies

• Tuesday, April 28th at 1 pm ET
• Featuring Jill Konrath & Nigel Edelshain

Find out how Sales 2.0 is changing the way we can sell to big companies. This event is for sales people, sales managers and CEOs who want to keep up with how sales is evolving in a Web 2.0 world. New tools are available, and continue to come-to-market, that give us additional selling approaches. The speakers believe you need to keep up with these changes or become a "sales dinosaur" -- especially during in a recession!  Register now.

Top Sales Resource, February 2009

This month I only have one to share with you! It must be because it's a short month. Enjoy!

Landing Big Sales with an RFP
by Tom Searcy

This is the first ebook I've seen on this grossly overlooked topic - and it's definitely a winner. Smaller firms hoping to land large corporate customers will find the most value, but even sellers from big companies will learn some new tricks.

In short, you'll discover how to qualify, divide and conquer RFPs that make the most sense for your company. Click here to download. (Registration required, but worth it.)

Top Sales Resources, January 2009

Each month I try to bring you the best free sales resources I can find. Here are my January picks.

How to Sell More By Reducing Risk
By the Sales Bloggers Union

Want to help customers feel more comfortable buying your product? The riskier they feel a decision is, the less likely they'll make it. That's especially true when one bad decision could cost them their job. This ebook by 8 sales bloggers offers 8 different perspectives of risk and its impact on selling. Click here to download now.

LinkedIn Networking: Quick Start Checklist
by Flyn Penoyer, OnlineBusinessNetworker.com

Whenever I go on LinkedIn, I see Flyn Penoyer's name. It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago he was a stranger to me. In that short time, he's figured out how to use LinkedIn to grow his business - something many of us would love to do! You'll want to download his LinkedIn Networking secrets now. Plus, check out his website to get two more free ebooks: Master LinkedIn Power Tips and Working the Room at a Networking Event.

Building Your Business Case
by Michael Nick, author of ROI Selling and Why Johnny Can't Sell

I was really excited when Michael showed me this ebook of his. With today's economy, having a strong business case is essential. Without one, your sales opportunity can disappear into a black hole. You'll find lots of good ideas in this information-packed 10 page ebook. Download Building your Business Case now. 

Sales Learning in Bite-Sized Chunks: New Resource for Professional Development

To me, the most important thing a seller can do is to become the differentiator! And the only way to do that is by investing time and resources in professional development.

Well I have some good news for all of you!  I'm one of the exclusive authors and sales experts featured on CanDoGo. They've just launched a brand-new site with thousands of tidbits of advice on sales, personal development, leadership and motivation.

Here are three links that go to some of my videos on CanDoGo.

• Personalize Every Contact
• Getting Your Voice Mail Message Heard
• The Overwhelming Corporate Mystique

Of course, that's just a start of what you'll find on CanDoGo. Enjoy the learning - and then put it to good use!

Top Sales Resources - October 2008

Top Sales Experts Share Their Top Articles

This ebook, compiled by Jonathon Farrington of Top Sales Experts, is filled with excellent advice from the best in the business, including: Colleen Francis, Paul McCord, Mark Hunter, Leslie Buterin, Kelley Robertson, Keith Rose, Linda Richardson and me.

You'll find tons of good ideas in here that you can use immediately. Registration required.

Stunningly Awful Demos

If you need to demo your products to customers, you'll want to read this article by Peter Cohan, author of Great Demo!  He covers the "Top Ten List of What NOT To Do."

Discover if you're making these sales-deflating mistakes: download StunninglyAwfulDemos now.

How to Use Social Media to Drive Sales Results

Check out this excellent white paper from InsideView. You'll learn how to use intelligence from your social network and company resources to:

• Increase your prospecting productivity, while decreasing time spent on research.
• Identify opportunities you didn't know existed
• Enhance the quality of your customer interactions.

In my opinion, InsideView has the best business intelligence tool available. I love what they're doing and recommend it every time I speak.

So get on it. Download their white paper now and learn what you're missing. I am not a techie type person, but this is simple & makes your life 100 times easier

Top Sales Resources - August 2008

The One Piece of Advice You Need
to Get the Fees You Deserve
Once again, Rain Today has published an excellent ebook. With contributions from Alan Weiss, Jeff Thull, Andrew Sobel, and Bruce Marcus among others, you’ll learn what's really important and what you really need to know about pricing your services.

Download the report  here. Registration required.

Selling into the Big Fortune 1000 Companies
This guide, written by SalesQuest, includes tips on qualifying prospects, getting past gatekeepers, increasing call back rates from voicemail, picking the right targeted companies to go after, critical success factors in lead gen programs and more.

Download this 12-page guide now. Registration required.

Top Sales Resources - July 2008

Check out these "how to" and "get you thinking" resources.

The Plot Thickens: Why Case Studies Create New Customers
I'm a strong advocate of using case studies in account entry campaigns. That's why I liked this ebook by copywriter Charles Brown. To learn how to create powerful case studies, you can download The Plot Thickens here.

 

Tell the Whole Truth, by Clinton Korver
Here's a ChangeThis manifesto that challenges our ethics. As sellers, it's particularly tempting to shade the truth or withhold some information. To learn more about truth telling, and how to use it with discretion & wisdom, download this ebook now.

Closing the Gap: The Sales and Marketing Alignment Imperative
The CMO Council recently completed a study analyzing the gap between marketing & sales organizations. Click here to download the Executive Summary.pdf  For more info, you can purchase the full study.

Top Sales Resources - June, 2008

Top Sales Experts, Summer Edition

This excellent ebook features articles by everybody who is anybody in sales today. You'll find articles by Keith Rosen, Joanne Black, Jonathon Farrington,  Wendy Weiss, Paul McCord and Dr. Tony Allesandro.

Sales SheBang 2008 speakers featured in this ebook include Kim Duke, Colleen Francis, Leslie Buterin, Kendra Lee, Anne Miller, Lori Richardson and me. Click to download your free copy.

Why Marketing Stories Have Catch

In this excellent ebook, Ardath Albee shares how you can use stories with Catch Factors to transform buyer attention into engagement and consistently tip purchase decisions in your favor.

Click to download your copy. While you're there, stay a while to read Ardath's always insightful articles. If she's not in your RSS feed today, she should be!

Sales Secrets eCourse
Sales expert Colleen Francis of Engage Selling offers a free 10-day intensive eCourse when you subscribe to her newsletter. Colleen's advice is rock solid. I know you'll get a lot from it! Click to sign up now.

 

Top Sales Resources, April 2008

Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?
by Jill Konrath, Selling to Big Companies

If you're wondering if social media is worth it or a waste of time, check out my newest ebook. Learn how others are leveraging LinkedIn to connect, create opportunities and more. Click here to get your copy.

Prospecting is Changing
By Nigel Edelshain, Sales 2.0

This excellent ebook focuses on ideas & strategies you can use to harness this change and to tilt the playing field your way.  Download ProspectingIsChanging.pdf

67 Tips for Presenting Like a Pro
By Anne Miller, Chiron Associates

Written by a top presentation expert, this ebook is filled with golden nuggets that will keep you on top of your game. Download PresentingLikeaPro.pdf

Top Sales Resources - March, 2008

Decisive Presentations
This FREE 1-hour online program by presentations expert John Windsor of Creating Thunder is excellent. It's designed to help salespeople make a stronger, more compelling  connection in their presentations to customers, clients, and  prospects.

You will gain valuable insights that will significantly impact your sales success. Click here to go to the launch page.

Cold Calling 2.0: The Next Generation of Prospecting
Check out this white paper written by lead generation expert Marguerite McLeod-Fleming of The Result Source. You'll discover new strategies and tactics that integrate technology, sales process improvement and collaboration to achieve extraordinary cold calling results.

Definitely worth reading. Download it now.

What Sales Really Needs from Marketing

I was just reading John Jantsch's article on Those Idiots in Sales Just Don't Get It! on the Duct Tape Marketing blog.

Since he was clearly talking about me - and most likely you, if you're reading this - I felt an overwhelming need to respond quickly to set the record straight. 

The issue is with MARKETING. That's right. They don't know what sales needs. And the stuff they give us to do our job doesn't work in today's business environment.

That's why I wrote this ebook, What Sales Really Needs From Marketing: 7 Strategies to Get More & Better Prospects in Your Sales Pipeline.

Make sure the Sales & Marketing leaders in your organization read this ebook today. It will definitely get them talking!

Download What-Sales-Needs-from-Marketing.pdf

(P.S. John also wrote a post on Those Idiots in Marketing Don't Get It. Both of us are trying hard to get sales & marketing together.) 

Award-Winning Ebook

It's always fun to be part of a winning effort - and especially when it's a Gold Medal awarded by Marketing Sherpa for best B2B Opt-In Email Campaign.

Last August, RainToday published an ebook called, The One Piece of Advice You Can't Generate Leads Without. It featured articles by 10 top lead generation experts including me (Jill Konrath), Ardath Albee, Brian Carroll, Mike Schultz, and Roy Young & Ann Handley from MarketingProfs. Over 10,000 readers have downloaded this ebook since that time, making it a tremendous success.

Good Sales Resources

Check out these resources. I know you'll find them worthwhile.

How to Write a B2B Complex Sales Lead Generation Letter that Attracts Sales-Ready Leads
Jim Logan of the Accelerate Business Group has just published the 2nd edition of this excellent special report that shows you how to use direct mail to create more sales opportunities.  Download your copy now.

Creating Digital Footprints Your Prospects Can Follow
This ebook by Harry Hallman of Octane Interactive provides a good overview of the multitude of digital strategies your company can use to augment and drive your marketing and sales process. Click here to get your copy.

Webinar: Trash Talk & Delete Buttons

A Candid Look at Marketing From Your Prospect's Perspective

I don't often speak to marketers, but when I do I'm a bit tough on them. My focus is always on how they can help the sales force increase their prospect base, speed up sales cycles, improve sales productivity and win more sales.

In short, I think there are soooo many things that they can do that will really have a measurable impact. But in many cases, they just plain miss the boat.

If you check out this recent webcast of mine, you'll discover what I have to say about to Marketing about:

• What it takes to capture the attention of today's time-starved corporate decision makers who are expected to do more, in less time and with fewer resources.
• The new "Rules of Sales Engagement" that will totally transform their lead generation strategies.
• What your salespeople need from you to radically impact their ability to turn leads into sales.

Feel free to share this with the marketers in your organization. And, if you're in sales, I guarantee there will be some fresh information in here for you too!

Listen to Trash Talk & Delete Buttons now.

Sales Ideas from World-Class Coaches

The Elite Advisor has pulled together an ebook featuring an all star cast of world-class sales coaches. In it, you'll find these excellent articles:

• Salesperson or Trusted Advisor?, Bill Bachrach
• But I Could Never Sell, Bob Burg
• The Brand Called You, Peter Montoya
• Creating Value in the Age of New Wealth, Dan Sullivan
• You Can Ask for Referrals Without Begging, Bill Cates

My article on Secrets of Top Sellers is also included. To read the entire ebook, click here:

Download SalesIdeas-WorldClassCoaches.pdf

Catch Me, If You Can

That's the name of this excellent new ebook by Ardath Albee of Marketing Interactions. In my opinion, Ardath is one of the best voices out there today on how marketing can nurture leads till they're ready to hand off to sales. She "gets it" - if you know what I mean.

In Catch Me, If You Can, she explains the Five Catch Factors that determine if a prospective customer pays attention to your messaging or not. It is so aligned with my philosophy, that I suggest sellers read this ebook. Additionally, forward it to your marketing colleagues. They need it!