You have been temporarily restricted. Please be more thoughtful when adding content for your portfolio. Your portfolio and digital media kit and should be reflective of the professional image you wish to convey. Accounts may be temporarily restricted if we receive reports of spamming or if the system detects excessive entries.
Membership
Publish your original ideas on the Thinkers360 platform!
This feature is available for Pro and Pro-Plus Members Only.
Speaker Bureau functionality whereby individuals can be featured speakers within our Speaker Bureau service and enterprises can find and work with speakers.
This feature is available for Pro, Pro-Plus, Premium and Enterprise Members Only.
Contribute to the Thinkers360 Member Blog and have your thought leadership featured on our web site, newsletter and social channels. Reach our opt-in B2B thought leader community and influencer marketplace with over 100M followers on social media combined!
You’ve reached your daily limit for entering quotes. Please only add personally-authored content which is reflective of your digital media kit and thought leadership portfolio.
Thinkers360 Content Library
For full access to the Thinkers360 content library, please join ourContent Planor become a contributor by posting your own personally-authored content into the system viaAdd PublicationorImport Publication.
Interested in getting your own thought leader profile? Get Started Today.
Timothy (Tim) Hughes
Co-Founder and CEO at DLA Ignite
London, United Kingdom
Author of de facto social selling book for Sales People "Social Selling - Influencing Buyers and Changemakers" - With new 2nd edition out now!
For your speaker, social selling advice or consulting engagements please contact me tim@dlaignite.com
10 years ago I embarked on an amazing journey with social media when I sent my first Tweet. In that time I've become (according to Onalytica) the number one most influential social selling expert and a top 10 influencer, as well as creating an amazing community of 178,000 followers on Twitter and 31,000 on Linkedin.
6 years ago I started DLA Ignite with my business partner Adam Gray, our vision is simple, to place social media / digital as a strategy in every business. In that time we have transformed business after business to using digital across sales, human resources etc. We do this by empowering people and creating a workforce who are digital at their core. Thus enabling them to take advantage of what digital processes gives us, in sales for example you can expect a 30% increase in sales and a 20% reduction in your sales cycle. In HR, you can expect to reduce the cost of recruitment consultants and job ads, while being the employer of choice at the same time.
Either way, by being digital you should be able to strip out cost from your business and make it more efficient.
Either way if you are looking to be number one in your market (regardless of your company size) or remove the competition from your market, this is what we do on a day-by-day basis.
If you want to start somewhere then buy my book "social selling - techniques to influence buyers and changemakers - 2nd edition" which is available on Amazon worldwide or wherever books are sold.
Brand 24 - 16th most influential marketer in the world - 2022
One of LinkedIn’s 8 sales experts to follow in 2021
Available For: Advising, Authoring, Consulting, Influencing, Speaking Travels From: London Speaking Topics: Social Selling, Digital Selling, Virtual Selling, Digital transformation
Timothy (Tim) Hughes
Points
Academic
0
Author
127
Influencer
287
Speaker
0
Entrepreneur
20
Total
434
Points based upon Thinkers360 patent-pending algorithm.
Media Experience: I was Media trained at Oracle Corporation
Last Media Training: 12/31/1969
Areas of Expertise
AI
AR/VR
Blockchain
Business Strategy
Change Management
Cloud
Culture 30.04
Customer Experience 32.78
Digital Disruption
Digital Transformation 30.03
Digital Twins 30.79
Diversity and Inclusion
Ecosystems
Emerging Technology
Entrepreneurship
ERP
Future of Work 30.09
HR
Innovation
Leadership 30.16
Management
Marketing 33.25
Mergers and Acquisitions
Metaverse
Privacy 30.09
Procurement 30.05
Sales 53.40
Social 47.38
Startups
Supply Chain
Personal Branding 53.59
Industry Experience
Consumer Products
Federal & Public Sector
Healthcare
High Tech & Electronics
Manufacturing
Media
Pharmaceuticals
Professional Services
Telecommunications
Travel & Transportation
Wholesale Distribution
Publications
64 Article/Blogs
What actually does the term "digital twin" really mean and how does it impact on your revenue creation?
LinkedIn
November 01, 2022
There is a term that is being bandied about in the world called "the digital twin" but what does it mean and did you know it has a revenue impact on your business?
We need to get higher in accounts, but how?
LinkedIn
July 01, 2022
At a client we had two control groups, the first was taken through our "social selling and influence" program, which is you didn't know is now a full qualification and backed Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) the global trade body for sales.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Social, Marketing, Sales
Here is your 2022 sales and marketing plan
LinkedIn
August 24, 2021
In case you missed it, the Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch have banned cold calling and have moved all their people to social selling. This isn't some trendy tech company that might have decided to do this on a whim, this is a very conservative financial services company that has made a decision based on data.
Why being an analogue company is OK
LinkedIn
August 20, 2021
This week I spotted a conversation on LinkedIn where a bunch of cold callers got together in a huddle and talk about how great cold calling is.
We all love a bit of nostalgia. It reminded me of my parents telling me that the music was better in their day.
We often get salespeople coming to us day and day our asking for help. They say that all their leaders know about is cold calling and send emails and to get more pipeline is to make more calls and send more emails. And that dear reader is totally fine.
Accelerating digital skills is one of the top priorities for finance leaders
LinkedIn
August 03, 2021
In this article I explain how digital is impacting the Finance and Procurement departments and how the modern digital business needs to empower it's team(s) with digital skills.
Can social selling help me get past gatekeepers?
LinkedIn
July 28, 2021
Well in the past, you called people up and pitched your product or service or you sent an email and pitched your product and service or even before that you wrote a letter and pitched your product or service. Companies built "infrastructure" to stop these calls, emails and letters getting through and bothering company executives. A whole industry grew up in terms of trying to get your message in front of people. The gatekeeper was born.
Can social selling help me if my prospect list is out of date?
LinkedIn
July 21, 2021
Can social selling help me if my prospect list is out of date?
I was once given a prospect list and one of the companies had not existed for 10 years.
So what can you do if you are new to a territory or set of accounts and need to create desire for your product or service for the first time?
At the end of this article is a whole bunch of articles that you might also find useful.
If this article has been useful and you think it would be helpful to your network or individuals then please share it. Please also tag in the individuals.
Can I use social selling to sell into a territory?
LinkedIn
July 05, 2021
Many article are written about sales but they tend to assume either a sales person is selling into one account, or a handful of accounts. What if you are selling into 100s or 1000s of accounts?
The word I would always use when managing teams that had a territory of 100s or 1000s of accounts was "coverage". How as a salesperson do you get coverage of your territory?
How are you going to speak to as many people as you can in the short time you have, after-all the average salesperson has only 200 days to make their number.
Why Your Sales Aren’t Growing
Import from wordpress feed
July 13, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn We are often called into companies and what they say to us is the following:- We are operating in increasingly challenging market, suffering from declining pipe and increased pressure on margin. Previous strategies that relied heavily on our insta
The Five Cornerstones of Social Selling
Import from wordpress feed
July 09, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn When, Adam, Alex and I set up the business coming up to four years ago, we never thought that we would ever make so much impact to so many companies. There were a number of foundations to Social media that we decided on and still keep to:- All..
The Importance Of Salespeople Blogging in Times of Adversity
Import from wordpress feed
June 20, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn I watched Alex Low going a presentation today for the Association of Professional Sales (APS) it always amazes me how Alex can turn what is a “complex” piece of software like Sales Navigator and can break it down, so it looks so easy to use.
How Covid19 Changed The Modern Buyer and Changed Sales and Marketing
Import from wordpress feed
June 08, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn I’m doing a webinar on Thursday and I’ve just got off a practice call. It’s partly, to test the technology, (ironically a person from Huawei, couldn’t connect as they use an old version of Microsoft Internet Explorer), it was a
Why This Management Consultancy Chose Social Selling
Import from wordpress feed
May 29, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn In the Tweet that has been circulating, the question is asked “who lead the digital transformation of your company?” The choices being A) CEO, B) CTO and C) Covid-19 With Covid19 being circled. There is an irony about this that is very true. P
Why You Need to Make Your Product Strategic In These Difficult Times
Import from wordpress feed
May 18, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn I bet you are wondering why this article isn’t about working from home, managing people who work from home, new sales plans etc. Why would I write about making your product strategic? Well actually, it might mean the difference between selling a
Covid19 – So What Are You Going To Do to Get Out of This Mess?
Import from wordpress feed
May 13, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn I’m amazed how quickly the world has changed, I’m trying to get a meeting with a friend of mine and he said he would be free, after three in the afternoon. Strange, I though, because I had a pre-covid19 mindset. Dave has children, surely he wo
Covid19 – Why You Shouldn’t Furlough Your Sales People
Import from wordpress feed
May 04, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn A friend of mine, in sales has just contacted me, he’s been furloughed. I’m totally baffled why a company would do this, as I am, why a company has furloughed a marketing friend of mine. Sales and Marketing is the engine room of a company and
Covid19 – Investing in People During the Coronavirus
Import from wordpress feed
May 01, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn Just off the phone from a Senior VP and he shared some really interesting insight. Research shows that 70 – 95% of people are now working from home and his view was that with Covid19 we have “re-imagine work”. He joked that maybe we need
Why You Need Opinion Not Thought Leadership in Turbulent Times
Import from wordpress feed
April 28, 2020
by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn One of my team recently posted something on LinkedIn. A friend of mine said “that should split opinion”. It did, and that was a good thing. We shouldn’t be afraid of polarising opinion, the people that agree with you, will buy from you, th
Social Media Has Grown Up - But Have We Noticed?
linkedin
January 28, 2020
Social media has changed society and its changed business. Just think, the Arab spring, the ALS Ice Bucket challenge and turn on the TV News and it will be about who has tweeted. You may not like the freedoms that social media gives us in society, but the genie is out of the bottle.
Agent of Change? - It's Your Time
linkedin
January 20, 2020
Here at DLA Ignite we believe that Social Media has had a transformative impact on both society and commerce.
This is evidenced by the fact that we switch on the TV at night and the News is about who has tweeted this and tweeted that. In fact the news is often about what has been going on in social media, rather than actual journalism. As a person you may not like this, but it is the way that mobile, the internet and social media has changed the world.
5 Leadership Books to Sharpen Your Leadership Skills
linkedin
November 11, 2019
If you are a new manager, want to be a manager, or just want to deal with people "better" this is the book for you. Julis is no "management guru" there are no rules or laws, this is just simple, straight forward advice based on her experiences at Instagram / facebook. One of the things I like is her honesty, she does not make out she is some management superhero. We all make mistakes, right? She shares with you her mistakes and what she learned. I'm already implementing a number of her recommendations and suggestions.
What We Need in This World is More Love and Compassion
linkedin
November 07, 2019
Sunday night we went to see Elton John play the Sussex County Cricket Ground In Hove, next to Brighton in the United Kingdom. (Sorry, work pressures has meant this has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks. :) )
7 Sales and Marketing Books to Kick Off Your Fall!
linkedin
October 16, 2019
Mark is a honest writer, he writes about Marketing as it is in 2019. People are pissed off by being bombarded with marketing messages; adverts, cold calls, unsolicited emails. So what do we do? We filter this all out, either by using ad-blockers, just blocking cold callers on our iphones using standard technology or just using standard functionality in email to create rules so we are not bothered anymore. The smart marketers are those that recognize this and do something about it. and this is what Mark covers in his book -- You should be aware that Mark's book is a "why" .... he tells you why this is happening. It is not a "how", that is how you can do something about it. He does offer case studies (they are all B2C examples) of how people are trying to compete with this today, but does not give you a "kit bag" of things to do. The thing that worries me most about the book is I don't think Mark goes far enough. Some of the examples can be argued are still "old school". Anyway a must read for the modern marketer!
11 Books to Kick Start Your Start-Up!
linkedin
September 18, 2019
Every now and again you come across a book that is not just interesting, informative, insightful or educational, and not just changes the way you think, but changes the way you see the world. Mindset takes you through a journey of the differences between a "growth mindset" and "fixed mindset" what that means and how you can make a difference.
If You Go to San Francisco there is Social Selling in the Air
linkedin
June 27, 2019
Adam Gray and I are on a flight into San Francisco, we have been asked by a client to help them with their social selling transformation. We are also here to have meetings with some more clients, prospects as well as meet with some contacts.
6 Ways to Gain Influence With B2B Buyers
linkedin
April 16, 2019
This blog first appeared on the DLA blog here
I remember when I started in sales some 25 years ago. Buyers were painted as some mythical being that could make life or death decisions in some opaque way. Like the Roman term Pollice Verso (or verso pollice), a Latin phrase meaning “with a turned thumb“, that is used in the context of gladiatorial combat. It refers to the hand gesture or thumbs signal used by Ancient Roman crowds to pass judgment on a defeated gladiator. Thumbs up they lived, thumbs down they were executed.
Why Your Recruitment Process is Discriminatory?
linkedin
December 04, 2018
A good friend of mine is looking for a job. Long story, but she has just left a big US software company because she needs to focus on her family and not keep having nights away. Which is fair enough? She wasn’t fired, she left of her own accord and I will explain why.
Why Cold Calling is Like Drunk Driving!
LinkedIn
October 08, 2018
This blog previously was published on the DLA blog here. (This blog was written before the 25th May 2018 when the GDPR regulations came onto statue. Little did I know how right I would be!). My friend Graham Hawkins published one of our articles last week and I was surprised by the response and it got me thinking.
The article was about GDPR, which if you didn’t know is new data privacy regulations in Europe. Data privacy isn’t new in Europe it’s just that the laws have been updated for a modern world...
How Companies Using Cold Calling Will Gradually Go Bust or Be Purchased
LinkedIn
October 05, 2018
This blog originally appeared on the DLA blog here. My co-founder, Adam Gray and I were both in Melbourne, Australia with Graham Hawkins of Sales Tribe. Graham explained how companies using cold calling, cold email and advertising were in slow decline over more efficient methods like social selling, where you can get higher faster. And the can get higher revenue results...
Why you are NOT Social Selling but Selling Over Social
LinkedIn
June 01, 2018
This article previously appeared on the DLA blog here
Cold calling, cold outreach call it what you will, if somebody contacts you or me and we don’t know them, regardless of “platform”.
It’s not about AI. It’s about Data & Data Science
LinkedIn
May 28, 2018
This blog was previously posted on the DLA blog here
If you are thinking about investing in “AI” as the new shiny tool that will save your pipeline, close rate, customer acquisition – I implore you, don’t.
If you are not connected, how will you know what your market’s intent is?
LinkedIn
May 24, 2018
We have a mantra at Digital Leadership Associates. Sell through your network, not to your network. What we mean by this is that you want to move your personal brand, content, sales story as far away from you as possible so that you can be found.
7 Books to Transform Your Thinking This Summer!
LinkedIn
May 22, 2018
If you know nothing about artificial intelligence and work in sales, this is a great "beginners" guide. It explains in detail the "why" artificial intelligence WILL become everyday (and already is) commonplace in sales.
Does Anybody Actually Know What Adding Value means?
LinkedIn
May 10, 2018
My co-founder, Adam Gray tells a story, he had to buy some radio advertising. The sales guy explained the ROI, etc and the impact. Adam asked, what do you mean by impact?
200 Blogs in 20 Months – What Have We Learned?
LinkedIn
May 06, 2018
In this blog, I’m going to take you through some context of what DLA is all about and why, how we go about marketing, how we generate content and inbound our ROI (return on Investment).
Why Salespeople Need to be Able to Read a Set of Company Accounts
LinkedIn
April 30, 2018
After leaving university I joined a company called International Computers Ltd (ICL), which has long been absorbed into Fujitsu, on their graduate scheme.
How as a Small Business We Became GDPR Compliant
LinkedIn
April 26, 2018
There are a lot of articles on GDPR which you can find on Google. But not all of them agree. In fact, the confusion is tangible. Many people think they can sit out GDPR or it does not apply.
Struggling to Get Your Emails Read by Journalists and Influencers?
LinkedIn
April 23, 2018
“Struggling with getting your emails read by journalists and influencers? Join this free webinar to get real life examples with email templates on how to get responses from any influencer, entrepreneur, or journalist and four actionable strategies you can apply immediately to build relationships!”
Why We Need a Social Selling Suite of Applications
LinkedIn
April 20, 2018
In the conclusion to my book “Social Selling – Influencing Buyers and Changemakers” (available on Amazon) I leave with this rallying cry: When will software suppliers legitimise social selling by supporting it with a suite of applications?
Three Technologies That Have Become Business as Usual in 2018
LinkedIn
April 15, 2018
From time to time I get asked to give my thoughts on a radio show that the German software company SAP runs. It’s always great to attend, partly as there are always great guests on there and also because Bonnie Graham the host is such a bundle of positive energy. You always walk away energised.
Social Apps Don’t Work? Try Changing Your Social Culture Instead
LinkedIn
April 08, 2018
I recently spoke at a sales kickoff and one of the things we try and do before speaking in front of a large audience is get an understanding for what that audience thinks about social media, especially in the enterprise B2B (business-to-business) space.
Why Digital Marketing Like Athletics Has Its Cheats. How To be Clean!
LinkedIn
April 02, 2018
The other day, somebody showed me an article along the lines that you couldn’t organically distribute content on Facebook without using ads.
Now we all know that what drives Facebook is ad revenues, so they will be delighted if you buy ads on the platform.
4 Awesome Books for Easter!
LinkedIn
March 28, 2018
in marketing this is really worth a read. Jillian is a Dr (in fact the first PhD in Social Media). She discusses through a case study, how brands are getting it wrong on the web with their web site design.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Networks
LinkedIn
March 26, 2018
Ever since I started in work some 25 years ago I’ve been creating networks. In the early days that meant a folder that I put business cards in, my paper diaries, the people I met, my friends and my family.
How To Get Higher, Faster With Social Selling
LinkedIn
March 22, 2018
On our recent business trip to Australia, I was lucky enough to meet up with John Smibert. In this interview I talk with John @johnsmibert about how you get "higher, faster with Social Selling over legacy sales methods" like cold calling, cold emails, advertising etc.
“I Perceive There to be a Lot of “Noise” on Social Media”
LinkedIn
March 20, 2018
I recently spoke at a sales kickoff and one of the things we try and do before speaking in front of a large audience is to get an understanding of the audiences attitude to social media, especially in the B2B (Business to business) space.
13 Things to Ask Your Marketing Department
LinkedIn
March 08, 2018
Whatever your business, these are the questions you should be asking your marketing department, especially if you work in sales. And if you’re in marketing, drop everything and do them now!
Why 2018 is the Year of Change in Digital Marketing!
LinkedIn
February 26, 2018
I know digital marketing hasn’t really changed that much over the last few years. For example, we changed our website, so it could be accessed via mobile.
Using Sales Navigator in Q4 to Smash your Q1 and Q2 Number!
LinkedIn
February 22, 2018
We have just won a piece of business with a large global company. While I cannot tell you the name of that company, I can share with you their business issues and the solution.
Social Selling Techniques to Influence Buyers and Changemakers
Kogan Page
February 03, 2020
As the digital landscape has changed buyers' habits, it's increasingly difficult to reach them early enough in their decision-making process using traditional sales methods. Developing relationships with decision-makers through social networks has become an increasingly critical skill - enabling sales professionals to engage early on and 'hack' the buying process. Social Selling provides a practical, step-by-step blueprint for harnessing these specific and proven techniques including:
- How to use networks purposefully to build social trust and create a high quality community
- How to develop real influence and authority in your subject area and connect with change-makers
- How to scale the social selling strategy across an organization including maturity and investment models, risk and governance, and technology platforms.
Written by Tim Hughes, a thought-leader and renowned practitioner in social selling, and Matt Reynolds, one of the UK's leading technology sociologists, this is essential reading for sales professionals, digital sales directors and SMEs who want to embrace the power of social selling in their organisation. The book is also supported by eight bonus 'how-to' articles, giving more depth on how to run the processes discussed in the book.
Tags: Customer Experience, Social, Sales, Personal Branding
1 Founder
Co-Founder and CEO at DLA Ignite
DLA Ignite
July 01, 2016
Our Story: Building a Global Organisation
Tim and Adam formed DLAignite when they saw the effect that social media could have and realised that in the future social media would probably play a crucial role in the effectiveness of all organisations. They founded DLAIgnite in September 2016 and were almost immediately joined by Alex. As the business and clients grew they decided that, rather than recruit more and more staff, they would turn their consulting, sales and training expertise in to a series of programmes that could be delivered by associates and partners. This offered the ability to quickly scale and to offer local language/cultural versions of proven methods around the world.
We have a series of acknowledged experts in industry verticals as well as social disciplines and these resources are spread across the world so we can offer our clients deep sector expertise as well as implementation expertise.
To date through our associate and partner networks we operate in territories covering well over 40% of the world’s population and are constantly expanding this.
"Social Selling and Referral Selling is all you need" Tim Hughes (TALKING SALES 247)
Sales Leader Forums
February 12, 2019
Tim Hughes is challenging our thinking in this series of discussions.
In this one he says we don't need to be doing anything except leveraging social selling and referral selling to fill our pipeline.
He is saying forget about cold calling, emailing, In-mailing and any other method of prospecting. He says they just don't work effectively any more. All you need to do is leverage social and conduct referral selling.
Location: Anywhere Date Available:
April 12th, 2018 Fees: To be discussed.
Submission Date:
April 12th, 2018 Service Type: Service Offered
Speak at sales kick offs on the changing world of sales. How the internet now drives the buying process and what we need to do as a salespeople to meet this buyer disfunction. Presentations can be 20 minutes, 50 minutes or I can do a 2 hour workshop.
Join Thinkers360 for free! Are you a Reader/Writer, Thought Leader/Influencer (looking to increase your earnings), or an Enterprise User (looking to work with experts)?