What a crazy year it’s been for salespeople! From crushing quota to getting emails delivered to the inbox, it was a constant struggle. No wonder, 2023 was full of ups and downs.
Google’s updates added a fresh layer of complexity, forcing us to rethink our strategies from every angle.
But we had tons of free resources from sales experts and companies to help us out!
In this blog, we’ve curated 13 top sales resources, tips, and recommendations from influencers and salespeople across the community. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or starting out, you’ll find each of them valuable.
Let’s get started 🚀
Best sales podcasts
1. ‘Make it Happen Monday’ by John Barrows
John Barrows, is a highly experienced sales professional. He interviews equally talented salespeople on his podcast – ‘Make it Happen Monday’ – to talk about sales.
In this episode, John invites Daniel Borodyansky, a strategic sales executive at Microsoft, to discuss the use of AI tools in sales.
Daniel shares his firsthand experiences with AI and gives a sneak peek into upcoming workshops. Exploring its integration into sales processes.
Together, they delve into how AI is shaping the future of sales and the potential for fully AI-driven sales platforms.
John offers practical advice on maximizing the benefits of AI tools. He emphasizes the importance of incorporating AI into real-world sales strategies.
Tune into this episode – “Daniel Borodyansky: From Zero Sales Experience to Top Performer in 2 Years Using AI”. Spotify | Apple
2. ‘Deliverability Defined’ by Alyssa & Melissa
Next up on the list of top sales podcasts is “Deliverability Defined” hosted by Alyssa and Melissa.
Picture this: You’ve crafted the perfect subject line, message, and call-to-action for your email, only to see it end up in the spam folder. It’s frustrating, right?
But did you know that several factors affect your email’s success that you might not even be aware of?
Alyssa and Melissa dive into things like bot clicks and verified sending domains (VSDs), in this insightful episode. Spotify | Apple
You can check out this article for more sales podcasts.
3. Best-selling sales book of 2023
There’s no denying that 2023 saw some incredible sales books hit the shelves, but one stood out from the rest. “Sales Superpowers – A New Outbound Operating System” by Justin Michael.
Justin Michael presents a method that revolutionizes prospecting. Also builds a thriving community of like-minded individuals seeking personal and professional growth.
The book emphasizes the importance of understanding human psychology. To tap into the true potential of outbound sales. A principle that has consistently delivered results.
If you are passionate about outbound sales or already on it but need some help to drive in the right direction, this is the book for you.
4. Top sales trends of 2023
Social selling
Social media platforms have become powerful tools for salespeople. In 2023, it gained such popularity that 78% of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media!
Account-Based Selling (ABS)
ABS is a sales strategy that focuses on targeting high-value accounts and customizing the sales approach to fit the needs of each account.
It has become popular in recent years, as more and more companies are looking for ways to target and win over large, complex accounts.
AI for sales
AI is everywhere now. According to Gartner, 35% of CROs will resource a centralized “GenAI Operations” team as part of their go-to-market by 2025.
AI-powered tools can handle most of a salesperson’s routine, allowing sales teams to focus on higher-value tasks.
Check out more sales trends in this edition from ‘The Daily Sales’.
5. Best sales pitch
A sales pitch is a way of talking to your prospects to persuade them to buy your product, book a demo, or move them to the next step of your sales process.
While there are different types of sales pitch structures, the underlying concept is to provide value to your prospects.
Here’s an interactive sales pitch example from Impact Rooms.
Best community & community discussions
6. Upcoming sales community of 2023
While there are many communities for salespeople to discuss and share insights, SalesHookup stands out as unique!
SalesHookup is a free networking community for sales professionals. You can set up 30-minute meetings with fellow salespeople. You can learn unconventional sales strategies, get feedback on things to improve, and keep updated with market trends.
7. Reddit and Quora discussions
Salespeople face a lot of challenges when it comes to email deliverability. With the varying situations, people are always on the lookout for new tactics to make their emails land in prospects’ inboxes.
Here are a few casual conversations from Reddit and Quora to help you understand what people are talking about these days –
Several subreddits talk about email marketing, but did you know there is a dedicated one for email deliverability?
Yes, there is. In the subreddit- r/emaildeliverability, there are a couple of good discussions that happen time and again. Follow the forum for any questions that you might have on the topic.
Here are some examples:
- Looking for an email deliverability service. A user seeks advice on improving email deliverability for their startup. He discusses the technical aspects and segmentation of the email list.
- A couple of easy ways to improve your email deliverability. This post discusses the importance of improving email deliverability. It recommends tools to help assess and maintain a good sending reputation
- What’s up with email deliverability? A user in the marketing subreddit shares their challenges with email deliverability. She seeks input on the topic
- I need help troubleshooting email deliverability, please! A user in the sysadmin subreddit seeks assistance with troubleshooting. About an email deliverability issue related to bounced emails.
Quora
Similarly, we found some interesting pieces about deliverability on Quora as well. Check these out:
- How does an email warm-up help improve email deliverability? This post emphasizes the importance of email warm-up on email deliverability.
- What are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and how do they affect email deliverability? The author of this post talks about the 3 crucial parameters of the tech foundation. Set these up before you start sending emails.
Follow this space- Email Marketing– for more insights on how to grow your business and revenue with email marketing.
Best research report
The path to the prospect’s inbox is getting more and more complicated. Evolving customer preferences and pain points are keeping us, the senders, on our toes.
Here are two reports that talk about how email deliverability was in 2023 –
8. The state of email deliverability 2023
Mailgun published a research report last year- ‘The state of email deliverability 2023’. IIt talks about –
- Email Deliverability basics
- Challenges and Measurement
- Email Authentication,
- List building process
- Best practices for deliverability and more…
9. Email Deliverability Benchmark Report
This email deliverability report by Validity has all the information you need to learn. About why global deliverability in 2023 is more challenging than ever and how senders should respond.
It also has detailed benchmarks on email deliverability for 2023 and the following insights –
- Analysis of global deliverability. Including inbox placement, spam placement, and missing rate by region.
- Guidance to achieve strong deliverability at major mailbox providers.
- A breakdown of email deliverability by industry.
Check out these reports to understand what worked and what didn’t work in 2023 regarding email deliverability.
10. Best newsletters
Have you heard of ‘email deliverability optimization’?
Believe us, there is such a thing!
Lisa Heay from Heinz Marketing has spent a great deal of time in 2023 investigating email deliverability and optimization. Including what to send, when to send, and how to send the emails so that they land in recipients’ inboxes.
Take a look and see how it helps you, your sales team, and marketing team.
Also, if you are more into outbound or looking to start with it, you should check out the sales newsletter ‘Outbound Simplified’.
11. Best YouTube video
Eric Nowoslawski dropped 41 YouTube videos for the ‘Outbound Cold Email’ course in 2023.
There’s one video – ‘Email Deliverability Overview End of 2023’. He explains an email infrastructure approach that is scalable, reliable, and results in the best ROI.
Check it out now!
Best LinkedIn posts
12. 7 simple steps to use AI in prospecting
If you’re in the B2B Sales space, you must have come across posts from Kyle Coleman. He’s currently the CMO at Copy.ai and an exceptionally talented sales and marketing professional.
In this post for ‘AI-powered workflow for prospecting’, he shares 7 simple steps to use AI in prospecting. Check out the post now.
13. 3 ways to stay spam free in 2024
Another most liked LinkedIn post of 2023 has to be about Google’s update!!!
You know that the email world is set for major changes from February 2024. If 3 out of 1000 you send are getting reported as spam, you’ll get blocked.
Yuri Veremchuk studied Google’s email deliverability update thoroughly and suggested 3 ways to stay spam-free in 2024.
Check out these posts and you will find something valuable!
Bottom line
In a world filled with endless sales resources, the so-called ‘top sales resources’ highlighted here are just the tip of the iceberg!
Let’s face it – as sales professionals, we constantly seek guidance and support at every turn of our sales journey.
While some resources cost money, there are also lots of free ones like the ones mentioned here.
Give them a try – you might discover some new tricks or even start something cool in your sales approach!