Marketing and Sales

Whether crossing the street or going against the herd, taking risks is part of our daily routines. How a person responds to these risks, however, determines their overall success in life. Just ask Randall C. Eubanks, vice president of sales, owner, partner, for Suncoast Marketing, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

When marketing to a hyper-connected society, it is important to create as many touch points as possible to get your message seen and remembered. That's not to say you should overwhelm prospects with emails, social media and QR codes—you need to offer a seamless, consistent experience across all communication channels. Here's how to launch a cohesive campaign.

The most successful companies and the highest paid salespeople place great value on developing lifetime relationships with their customers and actively look for opportunities to render service above and beyond their customers' expectations.

There are plenty of ways to say "not interested." There are also plenty of things worth turning down—your sales pitch shouldn't be one of them.

Stick to the plan, or pivot? Seize a new opportunity, or blink? Hold to the course or stride off in a bold new direction? These are the decisions young companies confront frequently. Which path should your business choose?

Well, that depends: On one hand, strategy takes time to work. A mediocre strategy executed consistently over time may well do better than a series of brilliant strategies never fully executed. On the other hand, there's no virtue in sticking to a plan merely because it's "the plan." Many startups have to pivot to succeed. So, there is the dilemma.

I have worked with a number of business owners who have told me they still don't get the social media aspect of sales and why it matters. Here's why it does.

The idea that 2015 is "The Year of Mobile" is starting to get real. (Cue the sound of marketers' frustrated groans.) After years of being oversold on the next big thing (with underwhelming results), why should anyone continue to buy into hyped-up declarations? The answer can be found in the latest figures.

Proforma, a large print and promotional products distributorship, was kind enough to fly me out to write about its annual Million Dollar Club event. It's a three-day celebration of all Proforma's owners that have passed the $1 million mark in sales for the year. It's held at a different resort every year. The 2015 event was at the beautiful oceanside Terranea resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. While there, I spoke with high-earning Proforma owners, as well as their support staff and supplier partners, to figure out how and why these distributors were able to break the million-dollar mark in sales.

You may have a solid sales strategy that works every time—well, almost every time. Or maybe you switch among a few tactics depending on the situation. But what happens when your pitch falls flat? When you're stuck in a sales rut, it can be hard to evaluate where you've gone wrong. Instead of some soul-searching and evaluating on your part, we've done the work for you. Here, seven industry professionals reveal their best-kept secrets for success that will spare you from missing that key sale.

A negotiation is nothing more than a discussion through which both parties seek to formulate and settle upon a mutually beneficial agreement, whether this agreement is a multimillion-dollar contract or simply at which restaurant to meet for dinner. Our daily professional and personal lives are riddled with negotiations, those across a boardroom table, the kitchen table and everywhere in between.