B2B Reads: Feeling ‘Salesy’, Team Dynamics, and Self-Perceptions

In addition to our Sunday App of the Week feature, we also summarize some of our favorite B2B sales & marketing posts from around the web each week. We’ll miss a ton of great stuff, so if you found something you think is worth sharing please add it to the comments below.

How Conversion Funnels Create a Better Customer Journey + How to Optimize Yours
Conversion funnels are a fundamental concept in sales. Customers take this journey through your company’s conversion funnel when evaluating whether or not to buy from you. You have to pique their interest, build trust, and encourage them to take action. Thank you for the great read, Katrina Kirsch.

Selling Without Feeling ‘Salesy’
The salesy terminology conjures up the worst images, including the sleazy manipulative stereotypes portrayed in movies. That back slapping, joke telling person feigning interest, just to get some of your money. But now when we look at buyer analysis and their attitudes of sales people. They have an evolving definition of being too salesy that might entail more than you realized. Thank you,David Brock, for the insightful read.

Jargon vs. Lingo
They might look similar, but the intent is what matters. Thank you for the mindful read, Seth Godin.

Employee Wellbeing Is A Shared Responsibility
More recently, it has become increasingly apparent that a key component of well-being is mental health, and the pandemic has highlighted the need to focus on the invisible risks to employees, as well as the more obvious physical dangers. After all, healthy, happy employees are more productive. Thank you for the great read, Martin Gill.

Should You Go Back to the Office?
After months of experimenting with remote work, your company is calling you back to the office. What is it going to look like? What is it going to feel like? The amount of variables to consider feels infinite. Thank you, Rachel Feintzeig, for the mindful read.

It’s Not Where You Work, It’s How You Work: Team Dynamics in a Hybrid Environment
Even as offices reopen, 82% of company leaders said they plan to continue allowing employees to work remotely at least part time. To build the healthy team dynamics that lead to success in a hybrid environment, both your team and your leadership must practice emotional intelligence. Thank you for the insight read, Roberta Moore.

Four Ways to Use Interactive Content to Succeed at Virtual Tradeshows
Here are four approaches that will make it easier for you to communicate your product’s benefits via a virtual platform while adding interactive elements to make your presentation more engaging. Thank you, Thomas Sugar and Emma Conlan for the insightful read.

Leadership Identity – Self-Perceptions Determines How You Lead
Competence enjoys challenge, but when you see yourself as incompetent, challenge ignites anxiety. Focus on the incompetency of team members creates reluctant teams. Identity shapes how you experience the world, when you say “I’m a leader”, what identity do you choose? Thank you for the great read, Dan Rockwell.

Best Practices In B2B Demand Gen According To Branch, Axonify, BetterUp, Lessonly, And Airtable
As SaaS matured, the playbook for acquiring clients became well known and copied. But are the B2B demand generation tactics that minted unicorn companies in the past decade still effective? See what’s working now for several B2B SaaS marketers whose companies are achieving extraordinary success. Thank you, Kevin Kruse, for the great read.

B2B Buyers Are Back: Three Ways Your Marketing Team Can Profit
Although B2B buyers seem willing and eager to spend, marketers are struggling to keep up in the altered marketplace. Adapting to the new B2B buyer reality means rethinking KPIs, pivoting quickly, and getting creative to salvage every marketing dollar. Here are a few ways to help your marketing team. Thank you for the article, Palmer Houchins.