Trade show season is right around the corner!
For some, it's the most exciting time of year, wandering the aisles, visiting their favorite brands and trying out new demos. For others, it can be a nightmare, trying every B2B marketing tactic in the book to get potential leads to visit their booths.
If someone asked you what your brand is, how would you answer?
Building your professional brand is one of the most influential factors contributing to your Social Selling Index (SSI) score on LinkedIn, which is more important than you might think.
It’s a simple question and frankly, it's why we started etailinsights. We have a database of all the online retailers and a subscription that instantly lays them at your fingertips. But not everyone subscribes to our mailing list, and not everyone knows what to do with that information once they have it.
My customers are etailers, and etailers are innovators. They are entrepreneurs and go-getters. Before I started my career in sales many years ago, I was a customer service representative. I was on the other end of that phone, usually fixing something my previous organization had done wrong. As a salesperson now, it’s my job to think ten steps ahead and find creative solutions to my customer’s complex problems. Balancing my customer’s budget, their transit needs, and their customer’s expectations when shipping a package across the planet is a delicate matter – one that can be done with innovative ideas and the right team of people to make it happen. That’s where RRD makes that magic happen for our customers.
Mastros Ocean Club in Newport Beach is one of those amazing restaurants where the service and food are second to none. If you don’t mind a decent dent in your credit card, this place is fabulous for an amazing anniversary, birthday, or any special occasion. It’s on the coast of Newport Beach, and if you’re lucky (and early), you may be able to score a window seat with the view of the beautiful California coastline. My husband and I celebrated our anniversary here last year, and the meal was one we will never forget.
If you’re calling on small to medium-sized businesses, lunch is often a good time to catch the owners. Just like salespeople, they work during times when most are taking breaks.
Tucci’s in Dublin, OH. It has the best patio and a small but well-thought-out menu. The buildings in downtown Dublin, OH are all from the 19th Century, which adds a nice touch. It’s also within walking distance to many other bars and dessert shops for after the meal. It’s my go-to for brunch, lunch, or dinner.
In this day and age, social selling is a huge tactic that I think all salespeople should use. In addition, do all the research you can beforehand to make sure you're reaching out to the correct contact at a company. If you're blasting multiple people at a company, not only is that time consuming, but you will most likely get put on a blacklist, and they won't even see emails from your company in the future.
My last piece of advice would be to personalize your messaging. Prospects don't want to hear robotic pitches or see template-like emails all day, especially when they're in an industry that gets these messages from thousands of vendors every day. Do something to stand out.
Also - the phone/cold-calling is NOT dead...
It’s a simple question and frankly, it's why we started etailinsights. We have a database of all the online retailers and a subscription that instantly lays them at your fingertips. But not everyone subscribes to our mailing list, and not everyone knows what to do with that information once they have it.
This is one of Moovweb's Core Values and something I try to represent in my work.
Sales is all about understanding needs and delivering value, and in order to do this well you need to align yourself with the customer's world and care about their success. Moovweb as a company works towards this goal from pre-sales all the way through to customer success. We develop strong relationships with our customers and strive to offer value at every step.
With this in mind, their success is our success and vice versa, so we get to share in victories together, all while strengthening our partnerships.
Building the Database
"You can't hire someone right out of college to do this, Darren."
She was wrong. I respected her a lot, but I now know for a fact that she was very wrong.
When we founded etailinsights (see here for why) we were on a quest to build the most accurate database of eCommerce Leads. This was no easy task. You see, there was a reason that something like etailinsights didn't exist... it was really really hard to source e-retail leads. And even harder to keep that database updated and accurate because in the e-retail industry, the Directors of eCommerce move around at a rate of 28% per year. It's hard to find the Head of Fulfillment for a major Online Retailer.
My golden rule is to be organized and keep up with my pipeline. Etailinsights is very helpful for saving time, finding more prospects, and closing business. There are so many companies tucked away in the database of etailinsights, and if you carve out time to do some research, your learnings will be endless.