Coming to Detroit: Join Us for Sales Skills Improvement

Next week, we will be in Detroit to work with sellers and their Managers to improve results. Detroit has made a significant transformation over the past few years, and we look forward to being back in the Motor City after 15 years away. The home of the amazing Motown music sound, birthplace of the American automobile industry and numerous other cultural offerings, Detroit has a lot happening.

Our existing customers are rolling in the new year, and two organizations have just brought us on board to help them to drive revenue. We will be conducting a Sales Process Coaching Workshop on June 26 and welcome you to join us. Or, if you have free time, let’s meet for a coffee or a drink, or better yet for a live music session!

Please let John know to meet or join the Workshop for a view into how we help companies to drive revenue.

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On The Road Again: Chicago

We met with the Commercial Leaders from a medical device customer here in Chicago to build out the Coaching of sales skills through their Sales Management team. This is the crux of the sales process implementation, and we had a strong session to take reinforcement back to their teams.

How do you Coach sales skills? E mail me for a list of tips to help your sellers improve on any one (or all) of the six skills we help Management to embed: john@drive-revenue.com

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Join John in Chicago

Chicago is such a cultural, diverse, innovative and fun city-we are thrilled to be back there next week. The culinary, artistic and architectural gems are non-stop, not to mention a full dose of all music types to include The Blues!

Our existing customers are rolling in the new year, and two organizations have just brought us on board to help them to drive revenue. We will be conducting a Sales Process Coaching Workshop for Managers on the Magnificent Mile next Tuesday, May 22, and welcome you to join us. Or, if you have free time before of after hours, lets meet for a coffee or a drink, or better yet for a live Blues session!

Please let us now if you’d like to meet with John or join the Workshop for a view into how we help companies to drive revenue. By the way, The Rolling Stones start another European tour tonight in Dublin-amazing.

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Farewell My Friend: Scott Evans

“Don’t be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends”

Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

Scott Evans changed my life.

In 1992, Scott invited me to go with him to play volleyball in the Pro Beach Volleyball Australia tour. At the time, Scott was the Creative Director for I DIG Volleyball, a company he worked for that benefitted from his innovative and fun designs for beach wear. He had been to Australia the year before, and in a way that very few people I know could do, met up with and connected with some wonderful people, individuals who we are still close friends with today. So, when we arrived on their gorgeous shores, we were welcomed with open arms, and “looked after” like no other place on earth. Warm, genuine, fun-loving Australians; we had a ball, creating lifelong memories of those adventures.

Scott was a connector and wove that same network here. From his roots in Sacramento, to his new-found home in San Diego, there was always someone who I would run into, in a variety of circles, who knew him. They smiled when you said his name and were drawn to his enigmatic personality.  Whether it was through one of his many world class Pacific Beach parties, the contacts made in the beach volleyball community in two hemispheres, his entrepreneurial business spirit and drive, or the San Diego State University alumni, Scott was well loved. He received it because he gave it away and treated us all like the closest mates.

Every time I hear a Ramones song, I think of him. Any reference to Australia, and the legions of friends he has there reminds me. Pulling in and out of Pacific Beach-Scott. On return to Australia a few years ago, I went to an ATM for cash, and out popped a bunch of “orange drink vouchers”, the phrase he labeled to Aussie 20s. Laugh until you cry; I’ve done both in the past few days.

Last Friday, I had the distinct blessing to be with Scott for a few hours on his quick exit from this physical life. Chris Townson led the effort to help Scott in his transition. Chris, you are an amazing friend and helluva man. Your wife Linda is a great source of comfort and presence to us all. Rob Wilson rang from Australia to provide me the heads up on what was happening, and I am grateful to you for doing so. To Rod Kinross, Paul Badman, Kylie Atkinson and Margo Malowney, Scott knew you were with him in spirit, and I am certain is smiling at us all today. There are hundreds of others feeling this loss, and we will find a way through.

That amount of positivity and energy doesn’t just go away, it sticks with us. I believe Scott is still here among those that he touched, and I shared that sentiment with several of you on calls over the past 24 hours. We can all learn a lesson from his life, and as the quote says above from my favorite book, we will meet again.

 

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The Top 3 Criteria For Sales Success

Over the past few years, the majority of the work that we have done with customers is on defining (or refining) their sales process. This was necessitated by the dramatic changes exhibited in buying behavior during the economic downturn. And indeed, the most important aspect of our customer’s sales processes is that it mirrors how their customers buy from them.  During conversations in both a formal and informal settings, we are asked “how many steps should there be in the sales process?”  If we knew that exact answer for each of our customers, we would be retired and they would have Instagram-like success!

So instead of trying to pinpoint the exact number of steps in a sales process, here are the must have, Top Three Criteria that each team/seller must have in place to assure success. Please note that very few of our B to B customers have only 3 milestones (or stages), but when pushed to the wall, here are the 3 you can’t live (or sell) without:

1-     Access to the Key Players (Decision Maker): there is nothing new to the notion that you must get access to all of the key players, but the budget scrutiny that many organizations have placed on all expenditures since 2008 has made this step even more difficult. A clear articulation on how all important titles would benefit from the usage of your product/service is a mandatory requirement for completing this stage.

2-     Clear Understanding of Value: once you have the access as described in #1, can the individuals understand the value that your offering provides. Without this, you will be dancing in the dark when it comes time to go into the evaluation phase.

3-     An Approved Implementation Plan: approved as you co-develop the opportunity with your customer/prospect, not after the deal is signed. This sole step can help you to determine your “pole position” deep into opportunity development, and the seriousness of the participant’s gauges how “sticky” your solution will be thereafter.

 

What are you or your organization waiting for to drive more revenue? Let us help you to define (or refine) these steps and start picking up incremental revenue now!

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Join Us in Dallas, TX This Week

With just 3 weeks left in Q1 of 2018, many sales organizations are in full stride on the tactical execution of their commercial strategies. We help our customers in this capacity, and break the tactics down to one conversation at a time, enabling sellers to help their customers and prospects to identify value in the use of their products and services. Also, we provide first line Managers with the tools to help coach sellers in these critical conversations.

We continue our sales process workshops this week in Dallas. Please let us now if you’d like to meet with John or join the Workshop for a view into how we help companies to drive revenue in these capacities.

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On The Road Again: Philadelphia and Tucson

In this month’s OTRA, John was in Philadelphia during the Eagles Super Bowl victory parade as well as leading a sales process workshop for one of his new clients. As a native Pennsylvanian, it was a fantastic experience to be able to celebrate this event. He also checks in from Tucson, AZ.

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Improve Your Sales Skills with a 30 Day Free Trial

Creating a well-defined and adopted sales process for your sales team is vital to the sustainability and growth of your business.

If you struggle to see improved revenue and are looking for ways to refine your sales process, sales team training is the next logical step.

In our Online Learning Portal, we provide you and your team with the tools to gain a deeper understanding of buying behavior and hone the skills necessary to close more sales and improve revenue.

Our portal includes access to:

  • Training videos for 6 stages of the sales cycle
  • e-Toolkits and online quizzes to reinforce learning
  • Support with live coaching sessions, and more.

If you’re interested in improving your sales team’s skills and driving more revenue through a better sales process, fill out the form to start your free 30-day trial of our Online Learning Portal today.

drive revenue

 

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2018 Plans are Set; It’s Time to Execute!

We  just finalized work with three of our customers on their 2018 sales plans. The contributions we made fell into one or more of the five categories you can see below. Companies generally spend hundreds of hours to build sales organization plans defining managerial responsibilities, territory coverage, product introductions with cross selling opportunities, compensation, and strategic and key account designations. Usually these plans are delivered in January at a kickoff meeting, and the fanfare around their rollout contributes to the excitement for the coming year.

To ensure that all critical items are in place for a successful 2018, here is a checklist that can be utilized by senior executives and sales leaders.

1- Strategic Plan Communicated: One particular sales leader with whom we work says that the summary of the strategic plan should be no longer than 2 pages, and should be reinforced on a monthly basis with all employees. The plan’s brevity forces key players to make decisions on which channels to market, key strategies to penetrate each, and which team members will be assigned.

2- Clear Expectations Set: All players on the team must know what their revenue targets are, where their “patch” is to work, and how their success will be measured and compensated. There is nothing like ambiguity to distract from full concentration and effort. A sales process helps transform the overall strategy into a tactical execution plan, providing all customer-facing roles with clear direction on how to take each opportunity from lead to revenue.

3- Managerial Cadence on Reviews Scheduled: All of the front line sellers should know when and how they will be reviewed to discuss opportunities, accounts and overall pipeline. This schedule should be “cast in stone” and should include the information that sellers need in advance of the coaching session. Reviews that are done on an ad hoc or catch you soon basis are a recipe for failure.

4- Information Dissemination: You must establish how customer-facing roles will share information within the organization. For most companies, this centers around the use of a CRM system, but other tools such as configure/price/quote tools, customer service updates, and product inventory updates should also be documented. Marketing and sales must be on the same page here to ensure the message the customer receives is effective, and if not, to develop a feedback loop to course correct.

5- Identification of Leading Indicators: Clear, simple metrics should be in place to help sellers and their managers know if there is enough activity in the pipeline well in advance of the upcoming month or quarter end.

We hope these tips help your senior leaders to develop and communicate a clear, effective and actionable sales plan for 2018!

 

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