Welcome to your sales weekly roundup for April 7-14. This week we’re checking out an awesome infographic on the science of winning sales conversations from Gong, 4 ways to better time your sales outreach, and compensation patterns of sales enablement leaders. Enjoy!
6 Elements of Winning Sales Conversations
Gong’s analysis of 257,967 B2B sales conversations reveals some fascinating data: the common elements of winning calls.
The next time you pick up the phone, keep these 6 tactics in mind:
– The longer customers are able to talk without being interrupted, the more likely a deal is to close.
– Keep your explanation of your company to less than two minutes. If you don’t, win rates will falter.
– Listen for timing signals such as “probably.” When buyers answer questions using this language, deals are more likely to close.
– When possible, use risk-reversal language such as “No Contracts,” “Easy opt-out,” and “Cancel Anytime.”
– Listen for and dismantle competitor mentions.
– Discuss price in the 40-49 minute window (this is what top-performing B2B executives do).
4 Ways To Better Time Your Sales Outreach
Timing is a critical aspect of selling, writes Head of Global Content Marketing at LinkedIn, Alexa Hisaka. In sales, those who get timing right are those who rise above the rest. So how do you do it?
– Up Your First-Mover Advantage. According to InsideSales, “50% of buyers choose the vendor that responds first.” However, just because you’re first doesn’t mean you’ll win the sale. You need to reach out with personalization and value (try pre-defined templates and a standard research approach). Plus, as Hisaka points out, all buyers aren’t ready to purchase as soon as they’re tagged as a lead.
– Take the Path of Less Resistance. Less than 90% of B2B buyers respond to cold outreach, and it’s no secret buyers’ inboxes are cluttered. Try a channel that has less noise, Hisaka suggests, such as Twitter DM’s or LinkedIn InMails. Here at Sales for Life, we’ve seen high response from video messages. They’re different, creative, and leave an impression on buyers’ minds.
– Reach Them When They’re Free. One of our SDRs booked a meeting with a highly sought out leader because he called her on a Friday afternoon and she happened to be picking up her son from soccer practise. Call it the Friday effect, or call it smart outreach, but catching buyers at unexpected times can sometimes play in your favour, as they’re less overwhelmed with everything they have to do during the work day. Just be sure to keep it brief; you don’t want to waste their time.
– Sync Outreach To Their Buying Stage. Marketing needs to do their legwork here to provide context to outreach. Depending on the warmth of the lead, it may or may not make sense to book a prospecting meeting. For example, if the lead is a little colder and still in the “awareness stage,” send them blog posts, eBooks or other assets that will move them closer to the consideration stage. If they’re in the consideration stage, send them reports or case studies to facilitate their buying journey.
Is The Pain Worth The Gain? How Sales Force Enablement Leaders Get Paid
Sales Enablement Aficionado, Analyst and Speaker Tamara Schenk dives into unexplored territory: the compensation of sales enablement leaders. The data is based on CSO Insights’ 2016 Sales Enablement Optimization Study. Here are some takeaways:
– Not surprisingly, organizations with annual revenues above $1B pay higher. More than 60% of enablement leaders earn between $150K and more than 200K. For all companies, that amount is only paid to 39.5%.
– On the other end of the spectrum, “small organizations with less than $50K in annual revenues, the majority (55.7%) pay less than $100K.”
– Schenk’s advice: “For ambitious sales enablement leaders, the size of the organization they work for does matter. And for those who are not yet paid as much as they would like, we strongly recommend these five steps to create significant and measurable sales results.”
- Assess the current level of enablement maturity
- Set up a formal enablement charter to have a solid foundation for setting priorities
- Align the customer’s journey to the internal processes
- Align your content and training services, at least on the value messaging level
- Design a coaching framework and develop your sales managers accordingly
