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John Cousineau

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President, innovative information inc.

296 points

President, innovative information inc.

Dec. 29, 2011

John Cousineau is now following Tibor Shanto and 4 other people

Oct. 25, 2011

John Cousineau and 8 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Sales Training Doesn't Work - Unless You do THIS [10/14 @ 11 am]

Which selling metrics (aside from revenue) matter most in evaluating sales performance?

David: great points. It is really tough to precisely measure the share of an improved result that's due to sales practices vs. other factors (like an uptick in market conditions, or a new product, or ... ). Having said that, one of the keys to ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Oct. 20, 2011

John Cousineau answered this question at this roundtable

Sales Training Doesn't Work - Unless You do THIS [10/14 @ 11 am]

What is a leading indicator/metric that tells us the culture is on target and the sales team is inspired?

Ken: certainly as a measure of whether a team's firing on six cylinders or not, look at the % of all sales conversations that've been good ones, as verified by buyer actions. The higher it is, the more successful your results will be. Initially it's ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Aug. 17, 2011

John Cousineau recommends this answer by Tibor Shanto

What did you learn last week that's improved your B2B sales results this week?

I learned that persistence is king, just when you are ready to move on, you need to stop, review if you have done everything you planed to do with an account or prospect. Often we let emotion drive decisions, we get frustrated by events, actions, ... more

B2B Sales Best Practices

Change Management

Organizational Learning

Aug. 12, 2011

John Cousineau and 2 other people answered this question

How do you make sales e-mails more powerful and engaging?

What we're seeing that works:
1/ make it relevant (to them + their situation)
2/ write it with a focus on them, not you (66% or more customer focussed is best)
2/ keep it brief (200 words or less)
3/ use simple language (Grade 8 readability or less)
4/ use ... more

Direct Marketing

Email Marketing

Aug. 12, 2011

John Cousineau and 2 other people answered this question

What are the main differences between cold calling and smart calling?

To Tibor's points + Dan's, I'd add these two points:
a/ smart calling is differentiated from cold calling by the timeliness + helpfulness of the buyer experience, as proven by the (number and outcomes of) subsequent sales conversations provoked from such calling.
b/ in execution, ... more

Sales Strategies

June 17, 2011

John Cousineau is speaking at this roundtable

Tactics to Radically Improve Your Sales Performance

Sales Management

June 17, 2011

John Cousineau and 3 other people answered this question

How do you measure the effectiveness/impact of sales training conducted within your organization?

We measure for proof of two things:
a/ is what's taught, then practiced
b/ when practiced, how (and how fast) does it affect Return-on-Effort more

Human Resources

June 15, 2011

John Cousineau and 2 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Tactics to Radically Improve Your Sales Performance [6/17 @ 11 am]

Just how much should sales reps depend on technology to help streamline their performance?

Agreed Barbara. Tools (+ tactics, like your email example) are a potential means to an end. IMO, Reps should *only* rely on those tools + tactics which, when used, trigger sales conversations which, in turn, in their content + timing, create real buyer value. When ... more

Sales Management

June 14, 2011

John Cousineau and 7 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Tactics to Radically Improve Your Sales Performance [6/17 @ 11 am]

What specific tactics have you seen dramatically improve a sales team's performance?

Ones which:
- promote learning from practice
- help Reps detect + fix (at least some of) their own mistakes, fast
- let Reps sell at the cadence of each buyer more

Sales Management

May 27, 2011

John Cousineau and 38 other people answered this question

How long does it take you to write a blog post?

I queue thoughts for future posts. From articles I've read. Webinars I've attended. Conversations I've had. On-going part of my weekly routine.
When a 'flash' moment occurs, I'll pull from these resources a string of 'dots', write a piece that connects them around a theme, and ... more

Online Marketing

May 19, 2011

John Cousineau and 6 other people answered this question

What are the metrics that should be analyzed when effectively managing pipelines?

My two bits: suggestions offered are all valuable. Metrics that help us understand what's being achieved are valuable.
The missing piece, IMO? Metrics on Return on Effort, delivered in real-time. Metrics that show the causal connection between what salespeople are doing and the buyer actions, ... more

Sales Management

May 13, 2011

John Cousineau and 9 other people answered this question

Do sales people "hide" behind technology?

IMO, it's not so much that sales people 'hide' behind technology as that we bury them behind it. Likewise, I don't think buyers 'hide' behind technology as they find it's one of the only paths they're offered via which to get the one thing they ... more

Information Technology

April 21, 2011

John Cousineau and 1 other person answered this question

How is Sales 2.0 transforming your sales department?

Dave: As ever, I agree with your take on things. Sales 2.0 is less about gee whiz software and more gee whiz sales performance. IMO, the path to the latter is paved with the effectiveness with which sellers create buyer value, not the speed with ... more

Sales 2.0 Success

Sales Department

April 15, 2011

John Cousineau and 12 other people answered this question

Agree or disagree: Is it easier than ever to reach prospects on the phone?

My two bits: it's tempting to think reach (with the click of a mouse) will convert to revenues (with time). It's also tempting to conclude that the more emails we send, the more conversations we'll get. Not so fast.
Who truly knows what combination of email, ... more

April 1, 2011

John Cousineau and 2 other people answered this question

What are some really great data visualization sites out there?

Amanda Cox's work at the NYT is both usefully explained + illustrated here: http://nyti.ms/eebWyf

Content Creation

Data Visualization

March 31, 2011

John Cousineau and 10 other people answered this question

What is the best way to train sales people to better understand their customers needs?

Customers are too busy to commit further time to a sales person who hasn't understood their needs (or tried hard enough to do so). So ... give your sales people feedback, in the form of buyer action metrics, that let your people see + understand ... more

Sales Development

Sales Management

March 30, 2011

John Cousineau and 4 other people answered this question

What are the biggest pain points in your sales enablement processes and how can you identify them?

My two bits:
@David : I agree with your view that an outcomes-based enablement model is key, and best achieved with alignment + measurement. @Tamara : I agree with your view that end2end is key. @Michael: I agree with your view that we need to help ... more

Enablement Strategies

Sales Enablement

March 25, 2011

John Cousineau and 4 other people answered this question

What are some examples of "noise" that is hurting the ability of sales people to work better?

I would add to the above, what I'll call 'button noise'.
Walk by a sales person's desk sometime. Ask yourself what the ratio is between their button clicks with their mouse + the number of times they're 'clicking with a customer' (ie hitting a hot ... more

Anthony Iannarino

March 21, 2011

John Cousineau and 17 other people answered this question

What are the top 3 skills sales people should develop today to be competitive with the new buying?

1/ listening
2/ asking
3/ thinking
In that order. - John

March 10, 2011

John Cousineau answered this question

How do you measure the so needed collaboration between marketing and sales?

Laura: IMO, the key to this is metrics that bridge the lands of these two divides, creating a common language with which to understand what's being achieved in Sales from what's being done by Sales + Marketing. Best example: the time + effort it's taking ... more

Marketing Accountability

Sales Performance

March 10, 2011

John Cousineau and 7 other people answered this question

What were your biggest take-aways from the Sales 2.0 2011 conference?

The themes I heard were:
1/ iterative experimentations (do, observe, analyze, adapt) are a key way in which firms are striving to optimize their sales performance. Resonated with me as the equivalent of what Eric Ries talks about in his new book The Lean Start-Up.
2/ ... more

Following 3 Topics

Sales Analytics

Sales Management

Following 9 People

Followed by 23 People

Knowledgeable in 29 Topics

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Sales Performance

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Customer Retention

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Sales Enablement

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Sales Operations

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