JOANNE'S BLOGS

The Irrefutable Referral Business Case

The Irrefutable Referral Business Case

How asking for referrals will drive your revenue in 2024 How many people should you ask for referrals to get five new clients? No more than 20. In my experience, at least half the people you ask for referrals will introduce you to your ideal prospect. Referred...

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My Kids Don’t Like My Turkey

My Kids Don’t Like My Turkey

I’m most thankful for our human connection. I’ve always barbequed our Thanksgiving turkey. Raining? No problem. That’s what umbrellas are for. My turkey is juicy and moist. I insist on making the turkey, so it’s not overcooked and dry like many people make it....

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Social Selling: What You Should and Should NOT Do

Social Selling: What You Should and Should NOT Do

Social selling has finally (and dangerously) reached buzzword status. Dangerously, because there are misperceptions about what it means, how to do it, and just as importantly, how not to do it. Misperceptions, because salespeople have forgotten the social part of social selling.
Instead of pitching, spamming, and annoying contacts, use social media to do this instead.

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Expand Your Sales Team By Asking Clients for Referrals

Expand Your Sales Team By Asking Clients for Referrals

Referred leads are qualified leads. “If your customers aren’t selling for you, you won’t have customers.” That’s what  Steve Silver, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said when making his 2025 predictions. No, I didn’t pay him to say that. Every...

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Sales Tech That Doesn’t Work

Sales Tech That Doesn’t Work

Emotions surpass emoticons. Digital communication only takes us so far … period. Even the best sales technology isn’t as valuable as business relationships. But it’s easy to forget that in the digital era. These days, people are literally addicted to smartphones, and...

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Are You a Sales Stalker? [Q3 Referral Selling Insights]

Are You a Sales Stalker? [Q3 Referral Selling Insights]

Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter. Mark, a salesman with an enterprise company, invited me to connect on LinkedIn. I accepted his standard invitation, thinking he might be a good connection, and sent him a personal message,...

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How to Harness the Power of Business Referrals

How to Harness the Power of Business Referrals

Curious how to put business referrals to work for you? It’s time to get serious about business referrals. That’s where the lead generation power is. Simply stated, referrals drive revenue. It’s no wonder that high-growth businesses—companies with double-digit...

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Stop Counting Dials, Start Counting Connections

Stop Counting Dials, Start Counting Connections

Technology doesn’t close deals. Relationships do. Rachel, a sales VP at a large technology company, was frustrated with her sales team. They weren’t even close to making quota. In fact, they were lagging by 27 percent. She knew they relied almost exclusively on...

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Here’s Why You’re Not Getting Referrals

Here’s Why You’re Not Getting Referrals

Referrals must be the priority, not an afterthought. Your team knows a lot of people, who in turn know a lot of people. So, why aren’t they getting referrals at scale? Because they haven’t asked everyone they know. Your team’s job is not to evaluate whether people...

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