Sales optimization is the soup du jour in the sales world – every company is working hard to streamline processes and bring in revenue faster. While it’s important to optimize every bell and whistle you can, it’s also important to understand that growth is not only about getting more leads into the pipeline or more customers to sign on the dotted line. You’ve got things like the buyer’s journey to consider, the importance of decreasing churn, and a whole lot more if you really want your company to grow. Tiffani Bova writes about these topics and more in her new book, “Growth I.Q.” and she’s Anthony’s guest to talk about them, on this episode of In The Arena.
Churn can actually be leveraged as an offensive strategy
Most of the time when sales organizations address the issue of churn, they approach it defensively, like there’s a problem to be fixed or someone to blame. While it’s true that you may have adjustments to make that can decrease the churn rate in your sales process, it’s is often an indication that rather than being defensive you need to go on the offense when it comes to existing customer relationships. Tiffani Bova explains how you can use churn to reveal ways you can keep the gold you already have, in this conversation.
When is expansion into new markets a good idea?
One of the ways large companies attempt growth is through the expansion of the company into new or foreign markets. But Tiffani Bova doesn’t think that’s always the best idea. In her mind, you have to ask yourself a vital question before proceeding. What’s the question? “Can what you’re doing successfully in your existing market(s) be replicated EXACTLY in the new one?” In other words, you need to analyze whether the things you’re doing so successfully in your present market are easily transferable to the potential opportunities you see elsewhere. If you don’t take the time to figure this one out you could spend months and lots of money only to discover that your efforts in the new market are not going to gain anything.
Sales optimization and the buyer’s journey are very different things
Sales optimization is about processes and procedures. It might include the way things are done as well as the successful integration of a tech stack that makes the process itself smooth and quick. It’s a linear process: this happens, then this, then this. The buyer’s journey is not linear at all – it’s a very circuitous route that customers travel according to their unique biases, needs, and fears. Tiffani Bova points out that too many sales organizations try to stuff their customer’s journeys into their sales optimization efforts like square pegs into round holes. It simply won’t work and the customer winds up being served poorly. You can hear Tiffani’s insights nad recommendations on this episode.
Your invitation to the very best sales conference you’ve ever attended
The Outbound Conference is like no other sales conference you’ve attended…. and for two days of stellar content that moves your sales success forward, the ticket price is ridiculously low. The conference addresses something no other event does – how to keep your pipeline full of high-value prospects. Four giants in the sales world, Anthony Iannarino, Mark Hunter, Mike Weinberg, and Jeb Blount bring you the sessions and you’ll also be led through your choice of sixteen high-impact training tracks delivered by today’s top speakers, authors, and experts. Join Anthony and his friends in Atlanta, April 23-26, 2019. Get your tickets here: Click Here
Here is your personal invitation to the very best #sales conference you’ve ever attended. http://outbound.ticketspice.com/outbound-2019 @iannarinoClick To Tweet
Outline of this great episode
- The hunger for sales growth was the motivation behind Tiffani’s book
- There is a lot of thinking to do about sales strategies. It’s not a template approach
- How can you think about churn in a practical, actionable way?
- Is expansion into new markets the right strategy?
- What is sales optimization and how should it be approached?
- Why the case studies alone are worth the price of the book
Resources & Links mentioned in this episode
- Tiffani’s website
- Tiffani on LinkedIn
- Tiffani on Twitter: @Tiffani_Bova
- Tiffani’s BOOK: Growth I.Q.
- Dreamforce
- Salesforce
- The Iannarino Sales Accelerator – 833-426-6274
- The Outbound Conference – get tickets: Outbound Ticketspice
- Anthony’s planner: B2B Sales Toolkit
- BOOK: The Lost Art of Closing
The theme song “Into the Arena” is written and produced by Chris Sernel. You can find it on Soundcloud