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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Join us in Philadelphia Feb 5, 6 and 7: Eagles to the Super Bowl!

Our existing customers are rolling in the new year, and two new organizations have just brought us on board to help them to drive revenue. We will be conducting a Workshop in Center City Philadelphia from Monday, February 5 until Wednesday, February 7. 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.

As a lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, my family was THRILLED to watch the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings, and earn their third trip to the Super Bowl. Growing up in Pennsylvania, the Eagles were, and still are, a significant component of the community in that region.

13 years ago, I attended the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida as the guest of my close friend Tom “Coach” Hannum. We had an amazing experience during that long weekend. The attached picture is from the game; what memories!

This year, the Eagles will WIN-the score will be 24-19. Let’s GO EAGLES!!!!

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How to Hire Amazing Sales Candidates

Today’s post from SellingPower.com is by Jamie Crosbie, CEO and founder of ProActivate. ProActivate has a unique sales talent acquisition model that provides working and winning sales and leadership talent through an in-depth sales behavioral interview process.  

It’s a nail-bitingly tense moment. Everyone is holding their breath, focused on the drama of the launchpad. The countdown drones on. “10…9…8…”

Will the rocket shoot skyward? Or will it fail spectacularly? If you are a sales leader, you already know what pressure is. You live with it. Every. Single. Day.

One of the biggest sources of your stress is probably the performance of your sales team. You are accountable for everything that happens on your watch. Somehow, you have to hire them, pull everyone together, train them, and hold their hands if need be, to launch them into the sales stratosphere. To do that, you need to hire sales reps who burn brighter than the sun.

Where Are the Shining Sales Stars?

Let’s be honest here for a moment: top talent doesn’t respawn like a video game. It would be easier if they did. According to a recent infographic on Glassdoor, in which they asked 1,000 professionals about their plans to change jobs, 68 percent of the respondents stated that they plan to find a new job within the next year.

Only one in five said they had no plan to head for the exit sign anytime soon. Of course, this is a small study, but it dovetails nicely with a recent Bridge Group SaaS Inside Sales Survey that showed a massive 34 percent turnover rate in sales departments (20 percent of which was involuntary and not linked to internal promotions).

So, again, where do you locate talent?

Stop with the Job Boards

Here’s the deal. Hiring from job boards is like trying to find NASCAR drivers at the local  mini-golf course or go-cart racing track. The rocket man (or woman) you are looking for is not going to be skimming job boards. They are out there working (possibly for the competition).

To find and hire the real sales stars, you have to invest in sourcing and targeting them in a meaningful way. Skip the outdated recruiting methods and go into hyperdrive instead.

Step One: Figure out Who You’re Looking For 

First, you need to figure out what you are really looking for in a sales candidate.

What skills do your team members really need in order to succeed? Make sure to highlight those skills from the get-go. If you are advertising for a position, provide specific details about the qualifications. If you are not getting stellar results from a posting, do not simply keep re-running it. The results are likely to be more of the same.

Even though many companies want to slash training budgets, investing in your people should be a priority. Your team needs to be developed, but companies don’t always want to spend the time and energy required to grow their own. It may take a bit of convincing to prove the value of grooming your people to succeed.

Step Two: Go Forth and Find ’em

Next, go where qualified candidates are. There is no single silver bullet, but social media and niche market advertising are more likely to turn up those with “the right stuff” than a rehashed Craigslist ad. Your best bet is to create a flexible strategy rather than simply playing rinse-and-repeat with what doesn’t work.

Actively cultivate relationships by reaching into talent communities such as professional groups and education meetups. Millennials especially are more tuned in and, if you want them, you have to court them in the same way you seek to engage your clients – using market savvy to source and recruit them.

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Keep Your Sales Kickoff Simple

Over the course of a 30- year sales career, I have attended over a hundred Sales Kickoff (SKO) meetings. In some cases, I was the attendee; in others, I was a manager/leader within the organization. Over the past decade, I have often been a speaker/facilitator to help my customers get their year off to a strong start.

One thing I’ve learned that is sure to kill an SKO is when the organization tries to do too much in a small window of time. It’s easy to see how this can happen. Companies spend a lot of money to fly in team members from across the world, and it’s tempting to want to “take advantage” of having everyone in one room.

But, trying to jam too much information into one SKO almost always backfires. When attendees are bombarded with information from product development, customer service, operations, sales & marketing, strategic planning, learning and development and senior leadership; the result is a jumbled mess. Sales people walk away overwhelmed, confused and unmotivated.

Instead, here are a few ways to avoid information overload and create an inspirational and tactically beneficial SKO:

  • Require that pre-work be done by attendees: What information can be delivered virtually that doesn’t have to be presented via a PowerPoint deck?

 

  • Make the main session and breakout sessions fewer and shorter

 

  • Build in follow up/feedback from attendees: Don’t let the sessions be passive—require that attendees provide specific feedback on how they will use the information shared to win more opportunities and improve their overall performance as a sales team.

 

  • Coordinate Content: Have one person review all the content to make sure the material has clear connections and avoids redundancy

And last, but not least……

  • Limit the Awards Given: Nothing will bore attendees more than a drawn-out award event that gives out too many trophies.

 An extreme example of reducing the scope of an SKO is eliminating the event entirely. Some companies have gone this route, but I don’t recommend it. SKO’s have an important purpose in bringing a sales team together for face-to-face collaboration and learning.

So, here’s hoping that your next SKO adheres to my recommendations above. Some will say “more is better”. I suggest instead that “better is better”. If you can keep your content focused on painting an overall vision, providing tactical tools, and seeking to inspire, your SKO will be a success.

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