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Bob Apollo

Bob Apollo
Bob Apollo is the CEO of UK-based Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners, the B2B sales performance improvement specialists. Following a varied corporate career, Bob now works with a rapidly expanding client base of B2B-focused growth-phase technology companies, helping them to implement systematic sales processes that drive predictable revenue growth.

Bridging the gap between marketing messages and sales conversations

I wrote late last year about the idea that "you can create brilliant content marketing and still miss the point", and I want to...

B2B sales: it’s your prospect’s proposal that matters, not yours!

In most complex B2B sales environments, a proposal plays a significant part in the decision making process. But it's not your proposal that really...

Data Driven Selling: Big Data or Smart Data?

It often feels nowadays that you can't turn anywhere without tripping over a Big Data message. Everybody seems to be jumping on the bandwagon....

Should sales people be problem solvers or problem builders?

The conventional view of a successful "solution sales" person is as a problem solver. But that traditional perspective is being questioned in a number...

Why it’s time we stopped “weeing” over our prospects

At an intellectual level, it's easy to accept that our prospects are far more interested in addressing their issues than they are in the...

Should B2B marketing be employing more scientists than artists?

That's the question implied by one of IDC's recently published "Top 10 predictions for 2013". Driven by a number of profound changes in both...

Sales qualification isn’t an event – it’s a process

Many sales pipelines include a stage labelled "qualified". But if - like most of the companies I work with - you're selling complex, high-value...

Why top sales people focus on priorities – not needs

When I started my sales career, I was taught that I should focus on identifying my prospect's needs. Later, when I started to work...

McKinsey: What can business learn from the software industry?

In a recent article ("Competing in a digital world") on the McKinsey website, authors Sarrazin and Sikes identify 4 lessons that they believe business...

Introducing the 21st Century Sales Warrior’s Guide to Mobility

I've been involved in some way or another in helping companies to mobilise their workforces for the past 15 years, and there's no doubt...

Why your sales people need to focus on the decision shapers

It's a common cliché in the sales process that you need to sell to the decision maker, and you would be foolish to ignore...

B2B Social Media requires a team effort between marketing and sales

Surveys of B2B marketing budgets consistently show that a higher percentage of marketing resources are being invested in content development, inbound marketing and social...

The real reason sales people struggle to close opportunities

Alec Baldwin has got a lot to answer for. And, no, I'm not talking about his appearance in "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the...

It’s hard to Cross the Chasm if you don’t know where you plan to land

Addressing the challenge of how to "Cross the Chasm" that separates early adopters from mainstream markets has become a critical rite of passage for...

How to turn every sales person into a top story-teller

What sets top sales people apart? What is it that they do better than the rest? There are, of course, a number of factors,...

If you’re a SaaS-based business, only 3 things matter

If - like many of the companies I work with - you have a SaaS-based business, then the choice of metrics you use to...

How agile organisations are enhancing the buying experience

Why do companies buy from your organisation? Is it because of the power of your brand, or the features and capabilities of your products,...

5 proven ways of improving your sales proposal win rates

Imagine how much effort and resource is wasted every year in creating and submitting sales proposals to prospects that end up buying nothing, were...

10 Trends every Sales Exec, Leader and CEO must know for 2013

Regular readers and clients will know of my enthusiasm for the principles contained in "The Challenger Sale" - which are in turn based on...

B2B Sales: Is your funnel fighting fit or fundamentally flabby?

The "funnel" is one of the most powerful metaphors in B2B sales and marketing. It describes the passage of prospects through a buying decision...

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