etailinsights eCommerce Data and Sales Blog

Power User Spotlight: Chantele Gibson, Searchspring

Chantele's Hack: The "No Demo" approach

In my experience, most of the sales pitches I've attended are typically in the form of a slide deck about the company, history of successes, or a full-blown product demo. I've learned that sales calls are not always designed for (or around) the prospect. That's why I am a big believer in a "No Demo" sales call. This doesn't mean that on sales calls, we should avoid a product overview, but instead strive to be more conversational. Take the majority of the time to understand the current challenges or pain points of each and every prospect. Use that information to position how your solution can help solve these problems.

With many conferences and trade shows shifting towards a digital approach, we wanted to share a few of the top virtual events taking place in August. Whether you're already registered or are interested in checking out a few 'WFH friendly' sessions, here's our lineup for next month.

Power User Spotlight: Holly Exner, Bolt

Holly's Hack: Building rapport

It's no secret that people buy from people they like. Which is why developing a relationship with a prospect prior to the sale, or the ask, is super important. Sure, sometimes you'll catch someone at the right place and at the right time, but overall it takes time to build the trust it takes to say yes. Do your research on LinkedIn, find unique pieces of information about a prospect or mutual interests, and weave it into your outreach. They'll appreciate the time and care you put into getting to know them and will (hopefully) want to return the favor.

Power User Spotlight: Christopher Vanning, ClearSale

Christopher's Hack: Leverage relatable success stories with your prospects

Your company should have a positive history providing value to merchants and clients - use it! There will always be other competitors and ways to resolve the problems your product or service addresses. What they don't have is your company and client stories to relate to the prospective merchant. It's not about features and benefits, it's about outcomes! If you can identify and communicate the desired outcome that can align with your solution, you will almost always eliminate being reduced to a commodity.

Power User Spotlight: Ashley Applegarth, Doddle

Ashley's Hack: Be Yourself

The true sales hack is be authentic, be yourself. It’s that simple.

March is shaping up to be a busy month in the trade show world. From discussing the latest advancements in packaging solutions to offering new strategies on fraud prevention, this month's line up of events has a lot to offer both online retailers and solution providers. 

Power User Spotlight: Melanie Pawlak, LinkConnector

Melanie's Hack: Tell a story that relates to your prospects

Tell a story! Online retailers often want to know how someone in a similar role or industry vertical has benefited from affiliate marketing and LinkConnector’s capabilities.  By telling a story which describes how we have helped a customer overcome specific challenges and the results achieved through our technologies and affiliate relationships, helps the prospect to create a picture of the growth their company could obtain through an affiliate program.

The online retail community has another action-packed month of eCommerce events to look forward to over the next few weeks. Whether you're planning to attend or simply want info on "what's going on" this month, here is our list of the  top eCommerce conferences happening in February.

Power User Spotlight: Birdie Bartholomew, Happy Returns

Birdie's Hack: Build strong in-person relationships

Build strong relationships and take every opportunity you can to do so in person! There are a lot of companies out there solving problems, selling you things and wanting to work with you. Differentiate yourself by listening to them, getting creative in how you can solve their obstacles and go out of your way to meet them in person. In fact, make it a point to get to know the entire team and not just the decision maker. When I began building the Happy Returns relationship with Rothy’s, the VP of Operations was my main point of contact and primary decision maker. But, I went out of my way to individually get to know members of the Ops, Finance, Tech, Marketing & Product teams because I knew our integration and partnership would impact every single one of them. Make yourself an invaluable resource to your prospect before, during, and after the sales process is complete.

New year, new trade shows! As we kick off 2020, we wanted to share the top eCommerce events taking place this month.