Not only should women have a seat at the table in sales and sales leadership, but your company is actually suffering without them. How much? Well, according to a study from Gong, women close 11% more deals than men. Yet, here we are in 2023, and the gender gap still exists. In this episode of Closing Time, Amy Volas, strategic advisor and owner of Avenue Talent Partners, breaks down the gender gap in sales and what we can do to bridge it. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.   Studies referenced during discussion: https://www.gong.io/blog/women-in-sales/ https://www.businessinsider.com/salesmen-actually-talk-more-than-saleswomen-2017-7 https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/8/5983287/women-management-gender-gap-workplace  https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace   Connect With:  • Amy Volas: LinkedIn  • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

What’s in between a ‘yes’ and a signed deal? It’s the proposal. The proposal is an opportunity to cement the deal or possibly lead it astray, so it’s crucial to get it right. In this episode of Closing Time, Insightly’s Chip House is joined by Keith Rabkin, CRO at PandaDoc. With more than 50,000 customers, the team at PandaDoc has some insights into what works – and what doesn’t – when it comes to proposals. Keith and Chip talk through the 4 keys to successful proposals (timing, format, customer focus, and analytics) that are proven to better engage customers and increase close rates. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM today!   Connect With:  • Keith Rabkin: LinkedIn • PandaDoc: LinkedIn // Instagram // Twitter // YouTube • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

80% of a B2B buyer's time is spent researching products and evaluating options independently, and only 20% is spent meeting with a sales rep. As information sharing becomes more readily available for buyers, will the salesperson's job eventually become obsolete? In 2015, Forrester predicted that 1 million B2B sales jobs would be eliminated by 2020 because of buyers’ easy access to information. But it never happened. In fact, the opposite happened: B2B sales roles actually grew.  In this episode of Closing Time, Todd Caponi joins us to explore the future of B2B sales, why it’s growing, and how sales teams should navigate the increasingly complex customer journey. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.   Connect With:  • Todd Caponi: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Account-based marketing (ABM) can be a more efficient way to drive higher-value deals, reduce lead lifecycle, and increase revenue for B2B businesses. The catch? Successful ABM strategies require complete alignment and support from your sales and marketing teams - and experienced go-to-market leaders know just how challenging that alignment part can be. John Short, CEO of Compound Growth Marketing, joins Chip House in this episode of Closing Time to talk about how your digital marketing team can power your ABM campaign, with the first and most important step being sales and marketing integration. With these tips and some help from SEO and paid media, you can launch a powerful ABM program in your organization. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM today!   Connect With:  • John Short: LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Too many salespeople use the same playbook for every buyer, every time. In 2023, that is a recipe for disaster or – at the very least – missing your sales quota. In this episode of Closing Time, learn from marketing and CX expert Jay Baer how to customize the three essential elements of sales follow-up communication – cadence, content, and channel – to turn more prospects into leads and more leads into sales. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stay up to date on the latest happenings in sales, marketing and customer success? Subscribe to the Closing Time podcast wherever you get your podcasts.    Connect With:  • Jay Baer: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Dave Osborne: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

You’re interrupting your prospect’s day. You have 10 seconds on a cold call to pique their interest and provide some sort of value before they inevitably say, “I’m not interested.” What is your response? According to Charlotte Lloyd, sales consultant and outbound sales guru, there are quite a few options available to you to not only respond but continue the conversation productively and increase your chances of landing that meeting. Turn your outbound around with these eight responses to overcome the dreaded "I'm not interested" objection. Watch the full episode on YouTube.    Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a demo of Insightly's CRM today: https://bit.ly/3sITbqV   Connect With:  • Charlotte Lloyd: LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Chat leads inherently have high intent. This person is on your website and wants to engage with your team - amazing! Do you know how to best align your sales and marketing teams to get the most out of prospect chats? Join Insightly CMO Chip House and Drift CMO Katie Foote for this episode of Closing Time as they talk through effective ways to thoughtfully route chat leads to maximize their potential.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Katie Foote: LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Your RevOps team is the key to launching and maintaining a high growth trajectory for your business. In this episode of Closing Time, Dave Osborne is joined by Eddie Reynolds, a RevOps consultant and CEO of Union Square Consulting, to hear about a model Eddie developed while working with high-growth businesses. Dave and Eddie will talk through sales ops, marketing ops, and RevOps. Then, they’ll break down the five aspects of the model and talk about how each step can be accomplished by your team. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Eddie Reynolds: LinkedIn  • Dave Osborne: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

The B2B sales compensation market shifts quickly – how are you keeping up in 2023? In this episode of Closing Time, we’ve invited Amy Volas, strategic advisor and owner of Avenue Talent Partners, to break down what's driving the sales compensation market, risks to be aware of, and the importance of a strong sales hiring process. Why do A-players leave? Find out!    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Amy Volas: LinkedIn  • Dave Osborne: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

You’ve heard about ChatGPT in the news and online, but how exactly does it benefit Go-to-Market professionals? In this episode of Closing Time, columnist, author, and host of the Paychex Thrive business podcast Gene Marks joins Insightly’s Chip House on Closing Time to go over five areas where you can start using ChatGPT today to save on resources and time. Actionable tips for salespeople, marketers, and customer success professionals are included. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Gene Marks: LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Looking to supercharge your outbound sales strategy in 2023? Most sales leaders use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to fuel their outbound sales process. But, as we have learned, very few have mastered it. In this episode of Closing Time, LinkedIn Ambassador Sam McKenna, does a deep dive into LinkedIn Sales Navigator to showcase how users are underutilizing the tool and highlight features and tips most sales leaders are ignoring. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Sam McKenna: Website // Twitter // LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Are MQLs dead? Marketers have relied on generating Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) for years, using them as a critical metric to measure success. But treating all MQLs the same is a mistake.  John Short, CEO of Compound Growth Media, joins Chip House in this episode of Closing Time to talk about the paid media strategies that drive MQLs. He’ll also talk through how the source of your MQLs results from the level of intent and how bucketing them differently is the key to conversions.  Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • John Short: LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube     

Buyers – especially in B2B – learn about products and services in various ways. As social media platforms like TikTok continue to gain popularity, it becomes increasingly difficult for marketers to track web traffic and social engagement with traditional analytics tools. Enter the phenomenon of dark social – something that is guaranteed to impact your brand. Author and CEO of Zen Media, Shama Hyder, will break it all down for you in this episode of Closing Time. She's answering the obvious questions: What is dark social? How does it affect companies? How can I leverage it? Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Shama Hyder: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Happy Women's History Month! Female salespeople are statistically proven to have better outcomes (e.g. more wins) than their male colleagues, and yet the profession is still male-dominated.  In this episode of Closing Time, sales leader Charlotte Lloyd dives into this phenomenon, looking at what attracts and repels women from the profession and how women salespeople can find the right businesses to use their talents and succeed. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Charlotte Lloyd: LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

No one wants to receive a “check-in.” In fact, it might be the worst follow-up email to send (or receive). No value. No update. No bueno. Instead of the same tired cadence, the most effective salespeople use content marketing resources – blogs, articles, reports, podcasts, videos, and more – to generate interest, capture demand, and close more deals.  In this episode of Closing Time, Jay Baer discusses the latest tips and trends in content marketing so that every email, call, and text you send also makes your prospective customers better, smarter, and more ready to buy. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Jay Baer: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

How do you make a go-to-market plan? Which motion and strategy do you choose? Which is best for your business? If you've asked yourself any of those questions, then this is the Closing Time episode for you. Join Insightly CMO Chip House as he interviews Sangram Vajre, CEO of GTM Partners on the 7 types of go-to-market. They’ll review the growth lever associated with each and who is responsible for execution. Whether you’re inbound-led, channel-led, or product-led, you’ll find key descriptions and teams associated with your chosen go-to-market strategy(s). Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Sangram Varje: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube   

To connect with your prospects and convert them into paying customers, one of the most powerful stories you can share during the sales process to accelerate trust is a customer success story. In this episode of Closing Time, podcaster, speaker, and storytelling expert Ravi Rajani shares his "ACORN" checklist for crafting a compelling sales success story. Several key ingredients go into crafting a high-converting customer success story. Unlock Ravi’s ACORN checklist to take you and your team’s storytelling to the next level. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Ravi Rajani: LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Having trouble forecasting 1-2 quarters out? Feeling reactive rather than proactive? Hold out hope for big deals to save the quarter? You're not alone. In this episode of Closing Time, Sangram Vajre, CEO of GTM Partners, shares the results of a recent survey of 250 go-to-market leaders in sales, marketing, and customer service. He'll cover the top 5 go-to-market challenges and how you can enable your GTM team to overcome them in 2023. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Sangram Varje: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

The prospect has the budget. They have the authority. They have the need. But timing? “Sorry, we’ll have to push this project for six months.” Overcoming this lack of urgency is tough – but not impossible, and Closing Time has got you covered. You’ve got to help them recognize the negative consequences of their current state. In this episode, we hear from Doug Landis, former Chief Storyteller and VP of Sales Productivity & Enablement at Box, on his game-changing tips to overcome a prospect’s lack of urgency. You’ll learn the skills to get your prospects to articulate why the status quo isn’t working and is costly. You’ll do this through connection, credibility, and empathy. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Doug Landis: LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

60% of well-qualified deals will end in no decision due to the fear of change or choice paralysis. Why? Salespeople fail to turn sales discovery calls into actual business conversations. Doug Landis, former Chief Storyteller and VP of Sales Productivity & Enablement at Box, joins us for this episode of Closing Time to review the steps to building a real business conversation before the call. He'll also share tips for perfectly executing the discovery call and how to help buyers overcome status quo bias. FYI: This requires homework. This proven process will get you past the “why change” question and set you up for success in the next discussion – the “why now.” Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Doug Landis: LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Does the traditional sales negotiation process almost feels like a hostage situation? We build trust and form a relationship, then when the customer says "yes," the gloves come off. As a sales leader, we know you’ve been there. In this episode of Closing Time, sales expert Todd Caponi will provide simple techniques to improve your sales negotiation skills, build trust, and create a better overall sales experience. The result? You’ll discount less and make all of your deals more predictable. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Todd Caponi: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Building an SDR or BDR program from scratch can be daunting. What metrics can help you determine if the time is right to start an SDR program? Do you have the right size team, deal size, and sales cycle to justify it? How will your tech stack need to change? Do you need to hire SDRs with experience or recruit from different industries? What’s the best way to begin? In this episode of Closing Time, sales expert Sam McKenna answers all those questions and more to ensure you're prepared to launch a successful SDR/BDR program in your organization. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Sam McKenna: Website // Twitter // LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

How is your sales team’s relationship with the marketing department? According to the latest research - it’s probably not great. In fact, 87% of the words marketers and salespeople use to refer to one another are negative (good luck reaching the quota in that environment). But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode of Closing Time, Jay Baer shows how smart organizations are building that bridge through unified CRM systems, aligned success metrics, KPIs, and proactive mechanisms to build relationships and eliminate surprises. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Jay Baer: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Dave Osborne: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

To retain, grow and inspire your sales team, your culture is everything. But how do you motivate a sales team that stays, performs, and advocates in the Great Resignation era? Sales expert Todd Caponi would argue it has to do with maximizing intrinsic inspiration. In this episode of Closing Time, we'll discuss the six categories of sales motivation and inspiration (also referred to as the PRAISE model), along with easily actionable ideas to help you maximize them in any sales environment. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Todd Caponi: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

Sales and marketing professionals – it's time to optimize your LinkedIn profile. With over 830 million users and 4/5 of them being decision-makers, it's more important than ever to utilize LinkedIn to its fullest potential. In this episode of Closing Time, LinkedIn expert Sam McKenna dives into a few of the latest components of LinkedIn profile optimization, the logic and structure of the Linkedin algorithm, and even a few things that might be limiting your success on LinkedIn. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Sam McKenna: Website // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

How can aligning go-to-market teams help to elevate and deliver a fantastic customer experience? Research shows that aligned sales and marketing teams produce 400% higher average annual growth rates than teams that aren't aligned. In this episode of Closing Time, Jay Baer explains the philosophy of "Youtility" and the importance of building relationships and creating value that "transcends the transaction." He also provides actionable tips for B2B go-to-market teams to help them achieve alignment and enhance the customer experience.   Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests. Watch the episode on YouTube.   Connect With:  • Jay Baer: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

The sales tech stack continues to grow and become more powerful. But is that a good thing? Or is it getting in the way of viewing the world through the eyes of the buyer? In this episode of Closing Time, Todd Caponi will use sales history as a guide to optimize our tech stack decisions, talk about building a winning tech stack that’s right for your team, and restore the sales profession to its once-admired roots. Watch the episode on YouTube.    Want to stock your bookshelf on us? Enter the giveaway to win a $100 Amazon gift card to purchase books authored by Closing Time guests.    Connect With:  • Todd Caponi: Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn • Val Riley: LinkedIn • Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube