Recent Posts by Phil Mickey, VP of Marketing

Phil is responsible for the direction and execution of the comprehensive marketing, brand, and communications strategy for MarketStar. He leads the team that sets and maintains a fully integrated marketing plan that is fully aligned with corporate mission, vision, and key financial objectives. Phil is an avid reader, an expert audiophile, and a certifiable Star Wars geek. Before coming to MarketStar he spent a decade on marketing communications in professional sports. He is a proud Weber State Wildcat and a dedicated husband and father of three.

MarketStar Blog

The ROI Truth of Outsourced Sales

Everyone wants to save money, but there are times when you need to invest more to get more in return. You have undoubtedly heard the thread-worn platitudes “penny-wise and pound foolish” and “you get what you pay for.” They certainly apply when outsourcing sales. If you want superior results and a higher ROI, expect to pay a premium for expertise, technology, and service.

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Why Customer Success Should Be Data-Driven

You are being measured. How do you stack up? Are you proving your client’s return on investment (ROI)?

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How to Increase Sales in a Virtual World

The world of virtual business, including virtual selling, is here to stay. It’s an adjustment, but there’s no doubt that it’s happening. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, corporations have seen the ongoing value of working from home (WFH), and 74 percent of CFOs have already indicated that WFH will become part of their staffing strategy moving forward. To increase sales, tactics have to evolve to suit the new world of virtual work, and using outsourced support for B2B selling can help.

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5 Tips for Hiring Outsourced Sales Professionals

Hiring outsourced sales professionals can be a quick, cost-effective solution for bolstering your in-house sales team. Whether you’re looking to expand into a new market segment, add specialty sales roles, incorporate Customer Success, or simply empower your in-house team to do more, outsourcing sales is a powerful and proven way to significantly grow your team’s capabilities.

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4 Misperceptions About Sales Engineers

As the B2B buying process has evolved, sales teams have had to continually adjust their strategy to best serve their clients’ needs. Today, the sales process is less linear than it used to be, and it requires a new set of dedicated sales professionals, including sales engineers, to get the job done well.

Of all the specialty sales roles, sales engineers are perhaps one of the most misunderstood. However, it’s important to utilize sales engineers fully because they often play an important part in pre- and post-sales support, delivery and installation, deployment, testing, and even Customer Success

Let’s explore some of the most common misperceptions about sales engineers to establish a better understanding of how these sales professionals could fit into your team.

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The Difference Between a Sales and Customer Success Team

As business solutions grow increasingly complex, some buyers require additional assistance to successfully introduce new products or services into their companies. It’s no longer enough for business-to-business (B2B) sales organizations to sell a product or service and leave the customer to their own devices—today they need support and knowledge over the long haul. 

The need for longer-term success is why Customer Success teams are becoming increasingly common in B2B sales organizations. However, it’s important for sales leadership to understand that Customer Success is not the same as other sales functions. Here, we take a look at the key ways in which these two roles are different and why a Customer Success team may be exactly what your organization needs.

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How to Build a Sales Team with Specialty Roles

Today’s business-to-business (B2B) sales organizations are selling to increasingly sophisticated customers who are more informed than ever. The B2B buying journey has changed significantly, but customers still need help making the right buying decisions. That’s why we’re seeing a growing number of businesses incorporate new speciality sales roles to meet the needs of B2B customers at every stage of the sales cycle.

In this blog, we’ll explore how to best build speciality roles in a sales team to help your customers make the right buying decisions, while also supporting customer renewals and upselling customers to increase the value of every engagement.

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Why Customer Success Should Be Part of Your Plan While the Economy Recovers

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had an incredible impact on a variety of industries around the globe. There’s no doubt that it’s been a challenging year, and we’re still not out of the woods. 

But that means this summer is a great time to reassess your sales approach, determine what’s working and not working, and consider what your customers need, both now and in the future. 

As the economy regains focus amid and after COVID-19, Customer Success in particular should be part of your plan. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of a Customer Success team and how to best implement one in your company.

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4 Myths of Outsourcing Your Inside Sales Team

Sales as a ServiceⓇ continues to grow in popularity, with more and more companies outsourcing key sales processes to help meet their goals. Still, some sales leaders are hesitant to consider it, especially to support their inside sales needs.

We’ve noticed over the years that there are a few common myths about outsourcing inside sales—objections that many sales leaders seem to share. But we’ve seen for ourselves that these myths aren’t true. And for companies that are already leveraging Sales as a Service, these myths have been debunked in the form of a growing pipeline and increased revenue.

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Why Customer Success Is Essential to Your SMB Sales Plan

For many sales organizations, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) represent a great untapped market. However, these companies require a thoughtful sales approach that may differ from how you treat your enterprise customers. Customer Success is one area in particular that is essential to your SMB sales plan.

The United States is home to more than 30 million SMBs, which account for 99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses. Small businesses are those that generate less than $50 million in annual revenue, while medium-sized businesses sit between $50 million and $1 billion in annual revenue. These figures may be small compared to those of many enterprises, but they still represent a sizable selling opportunity that should not be ignored.

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