William Cameron | Beyond the Keyboard

Every organization wants its salespeople to be successful -- that is, close more sales. Yet ask many salespeople and they will tell you that their organization often makes it difficult for them meet their quotas, requiring them to do lots of administrative work (e.g., enter data into a CRM system) or not providing them with mobile tools. So what can organizations do to better support and free up their salespeople, so they can close more sales? Here are seven sales strategies for success gleaned from sales and marketing experts. 1. Employ a sales-friendly CRM system. "A good [sales-focused] CRM system can help your sales force stay organized and focused," says Mack Dudayev, CEO and cofounder, InsureChance, an online life insurance marketplace. "With features such as lead prioritization, automatic reminders, lead nurturing and notes, you can expect to see an increase in your sales team's closing ratio and improved productivity." Another benefit of CRM: "Y

E-commerce is a very competitive field because your rival is no more than a click away. If a customer doesn’t like your site, he simply looks for another e-commerce site to buy products from. If you want to gain more customers and attract attention, you want to make sure that your website is as usable and as customer-friendly as possible. It doesn't matter if your prices are very low or you have the best products in the market because if customers get confused navigating your website, reaching a preset target will likely be difficult. Usability means that you have to make the buying process as quick and as easy as possible. These tips will let you create a more usable e-commerce website that can create higher conversion rates. 1. Call To Action & Sign-Up Buttons Avoid lengthy sign-up forms that can take a few pages or so before visitors can successfully register to your site. As an e-commerce site, you don’t actually need to know their address, phone number, what kind of wo

1. You Can’t Respond to Conversations You Don’t See Great response starts with great listening. Set up Google Alerts for your brand and industry keywords. Keep a close eye on your Facebook page. Listen on Twitter. Depending on the type of business you have, read reviews on sites such as Yelp , TripAdvisor and Zagat . Make a list of any forums or communities where your customers congregate andregularly check in on them. Whether you’re paying attention or not, the conversations are happening. But a great listening program makes it easier for you to catch negative buzz and spot issues before they build momentum and become much harder to turn around. Google alerts are free, easy to set up, and instantly help you keep an eye on key conversations. 2. Determine if it’s Worth a Response Not all negative comments are worth a response, and not all critics are worth trying to win over. Sometimes, as hard as it can be, it’s best just to move on. Avoid th

Test-driven development  ( TDD ) is a  software development process  that relies on the repetition of a very short development cycle: first the developer writes an (initially failing) automated  test case  that defines a desired improvement or new function, then produces the minimum amount of code to pass that test, and finally  refactors  the new code to acceptable standards.  Kent Beck , who is credited with having developed or 'rediscovered' the technique, stated in 2003 that TDD encourages simple designs and inspires confidence. [1] Test-driven development is related to the test-first programming concepts of  extreme programming , begun in 1999, [2] but more recently has created more general interest in its own right. [3] Programmers also apply the concept to improving and  debugging   legacy code  developed with older techniques. [4]