Category: Sales Advice

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Set Your Sales Team Up For Success By Implementing Accountability

Set Your Sales Team Up For Success By Implementing Accountability

Why is accountability so crucial for those who work in sales teams?

Accountability is necessary for sales team members to desire and maintain consistent performance. The key to understanding and increasing accountability is to start with a good, effective sales structure and policy. 

Accountability is a huge factor in sales and one you may overlook. If your prospect feels the need to report to someone or justify their actions, they will be more dedicated and successful in closing deals. This will only increase their drive to make the sale because they want higher approval ratings and are being measured by a third party.

As a sales leader, you must always know the process: who the customer was, what the product or service was, the communication plan, etc. Once a sales team understands what success looks like in the defined sales pipeline, it doesn’t take long to know exactly where they are at all times! Then, as a result of clear expectations from leadership and an understanding of their role and responsibilities and their customer’s expectations… they act!

Establishing Accountability in Your Sales Team

Establishing Accountability in Your Sales Team

That’s what we’re talking about today. Do you want to build a better and more engaged company culture?

Your monthly sales goals are in mind, and you’re happy to see how well your team is performing. But, unfortunately, something’s not right, but your sales goals aren’t being met! Your sales team is doing the work, but you can’t have a sound system to track their achievements.

A sales team is only as good as its goals, and accurate tracking is the key to setting and reaching those goals. A sales accountability system ensures that everyone on your team has a role in meeting your company’s sales quotas and hitting your revenue goals month after month.

Set Clear Goals

The best way to ensure that your sellers are on track is by setting clear goals, backed with objective evidence that they can be achieved. That way, when they fall short of their goals, there’s no room for confusion about whether or not their efforts were successful—and no excuses for why the project failed.

Clear goals also help guide your sellers toward better work habits and practices. If you want them to work toward long-term success instead of short-term gains, everything must be laid out clearly in advance, so there aren’t any surprises along the way.

Establishing Accountability in Your Sales Team

Give Them Tools to Succeed

Setting goals is a great way to keep your sales team focused on the most critical tasks. It’s also a great way to help you measure the success of each member of your team, as well as their individual performance over time.

But for goal-setting to work, you need to provide your sales team with the tools—like reports and dashboards—that will help them track their progress toward those goals.

You need to make sure they have the correct data, can communicate with each other and their clients efficiently, and have access to any other resources they may need—including training and support.

Specifically, this means:

  • You are providing your sales team with the right data. Data should be available at all times for them to be able to quickly assess trends and make decisions based on what’s happening in real-time, rather than having to wait for reports or downloads from other sources of information.
  • Giving them access to a communication platform that allows them to communicate effectively with their clients and other members of their team (and vice versa). This can include texting or email as well as phone calls or video calls if needed—whatever works best for each situation!
  • Giving them easy access (through an app or website) at all times so they don’t miss out on any opportunities.

Follow Up On Their Progress

Accountability is the key to success. It’s how you know your sales team is giving it their all and that they’re not just coasting on their previous achievements.

But if there’s no follow-through on accountability, the system falls apart. Your sales team will start taking shortcuts, relying on old tricks and gimmicks instead of finding new ones. They’ll get lazy and complacent, which means they’ll stop caring about their work as much as they used to—and then you’ll see your numbers start falling off.

Accountability is an essential part of any business, but it can only be effective when there are consequences for not following through with what you’ve promised to do; otherwise, it’s just lip service.

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Outbound Sales pipeline development Sales Advice Sales and Marketing Sales Management

Surefire Outbound Sales Strategies That Will Drive Your Growth

Surefire Outbound Sales Strategies That Will Drive Your Growth

Outbound sales, in a nutshell, is any form of traditional selling initiated by salespeople to the target customer – meaning they start and drive the interaction. Given the nature of selling and buying these days, it’s more appropriate to call it outbound communication. However, some proven strategies help an outbound effort be more effective while reducing attrition rates regardless of what you name it. 

Here are some tips that can serve as a guide for sales professionals who want to improve the execution of their outbound sales strategy:

Craft Your Ideal Customer Profile

Craft Your Ideal Customer Profile

Creating an ideal customer persona is a three-step process:

  1. First, identify the traits of your ideal customer.
  2. Understand their problems and how they’re currently solving them.
  3. Determine what makes your product or service superior to the alternatives for this customer and their particular problem(s).

Additionally, you can create a customer persona by asking yourself a few key questions:

  • Who are the people using my product or service? 
  • How old are they? 
  • Where do they live? 
  • What kind of job do they have? 
  • What is their annual income? 
  • Do they have kids? 
  • Do they own a car? 
  • Do they own a home? 
  • Are they married or single? 
  • What do they like to do for fun? 
  • How much time do they spend online per week? 
  • What search terms do they use when looking for products or services like mine?

Once you have all this information, it will be easy to develop marketing strategies targeting them directly.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Social media provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to reach consumers with relevant content that is easily accessible on their devices and in real time, making it highly effective at getting customers interested in what you’re selling.

The advantages of using social media are:

  • It’s a great way to build a community around your brand, which can help with customer retention, loyalty, and growth.
  • It can be used as a lead generation tool, where you can offer incentives to those who sign up to your email list or follow you on social media.
  • Social media is free! It could be a good option for you if you have time and resources available.

Here are some strategies to help you make the most of social media marketing:

  • Post regularly. Posting on your company’s LinkedIn page or Twitter account daily is essential for maintaining visibility and keeping customers engaged.
  • Use visuals. Visuals help attract attention with their bright colors and graphics, so include photos and videos in your posts whenever possible.
  • Focus on engagement. Engagement is critical in social media marketing because it helps you better understand what people want from you—and how they want to interact with your brand.

By sharing relevant, engaging, and helpful content, you will be able to attract new clients looking for a particular type of service.

It is also possible to use social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter to drive traffic to your website or blog so that potential customers can learn more about the products or services you offer.

Invest in Outbound Sales Tools and Tech

Invest in Outbound Sales Tools and Tech

Inbound and outbound sales strategies are not mutually exclusive—in fact, they work together to create a holistic customer experience that makes you stand out from your competition. But what is the difference between these two approaches?

Inbound sales focuses on attracting new customers through content marketing, SEO optimization, and other digital tactics that drive traffic to your website. 

Outbound sales focuses on attracting potential clients who are already in motion toward making a purchase decision; they require more active engagement with customers via phone calls or email campaigns, which can be automated through a CRM system.

It’s not enough to have a tool like Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, or others. You need to use it as the baseline for everything else you do—and you need to ensure it’s set up correctly from the beginning. Outbound sales teams will be responsible for driving your company forward, and if they don’t have all the tools they need, it will be much harder for them to succeed.

Outbound sales teams will rely on data for their success, so make sure that you’re making it easy for them with an intuitive interface and seamless integration between different systems (CRM and marketing automation). They’ll also want access to information about their leads’ behaviors and preferences to tailor their pitches accordingly. Finally, they’ll need access to customer data to anticipate what each person wants before they even ask them!

Final Words

If you want to increase sales, you need to start selling. Although most companies have moved to an inbound approach, they still struggle with inbound sales because they don’t understand what makes people buy something. Outbound sales techniques are still very effective at generating leads that convert customers because they focus on the right things.

Outbound sales is not about pushing people into buying something from you (although that can be part of it). It’s about building relationships with prospects so they know who you are when they need what you offer. 

By creating a relationship with prospects, you can build trust and credibility and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Show them how valuable their business is by providing helpful advice, free resources, or even just engaging them with questions about their business.

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4 Storytelling Techniques That Will Rock Your Sales

4 Storytelling Techniques that will Rock Your Sales

Sales professionals have always used storytelling to persuade and inspire. Abraham Lincoln used advertising stories to speak out against slavery with the help of the newspaper. Mary Kay Ash took part in personal development classes through storytelling. 

Today, salespeople and other professionals rely on marketing stories for different purposes such as sharing tips, inspiring, or even persuading customers. Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that Facebook was initially built because he wanted people to share their stories. 

Have you ever had a salesperson tell you how good a product or service was, and it just left you cold? You’ve heard the story before from another seller — the same features, the same benefits, the same story — and decided to buy from someone else. 

I’m not interested in telling you that my product will save your business $10,000 per month. I’d rather show you. This is the mindset you should always have when making your pitch.

How To Craft Stories That Sell

#1: Create a connection powered by relevance

Create a connection powered by relevance

Stories have the ability to create a connection between your audience and what you are trying to sell. It should be based on real-life experiences and not be theoretical or too much in the future.

For example, if you’re selling advertising space for a website, don’t talk about how great it would be to have an unlimited supply of targeted traffic. Tell them what happened when your client ran out of targeted traffic and couldn’t afford to pay their bills.

If you sell medical insurance, tell them about a client who lost her job due to an illness and had no way to pay her medical bills.

If you sell financial services, tell them how you were able to help someone get out of debt or plan for retirement by using those products.

#2: Compel through concrete storytelling

Compel through concrete storytelling

When we tell stories, we’re not just recounting events — we’re building connections. A story is a way of showing the kind of person you are and the values you hold.

When you tell a story, you’re doing more than just sharing an experience — you’re creating an emotional connection with the other person. And when they connect with you, they see themselves in your story and realize that they can relate to it as well.

To make your stories memorable, use concrete details.

In order to make your stories more powerful and compelling, you need to be able to tell them from different angles. That’s why most people have a hard time telling good stories. They can only think about one angle at a time.

But when you understand how stories work on multiple levels, you can change your perspective on any given story and see it from many different angles. This will help you make your stories better and more engaging for your audience.

#3: Honesty is still the best policy

Honesty is still the best policy

Storytelling is an art form that can be used to connect with your audience, create a sense of community, and prompt them to take action.

The best sales stories are simple, authentic, and memorable. They’re told in a way that feels natural and relatable to the listener.

Stories help you connect with your customers on a deeper level by getting inside their heads and making them feel something genuine — empathy, excitement, or even fear.

But too many salespeople fall into the trap of using canned or trite phrases when they try to tell a story. This makes it harder for listeners to relate to what you’re saying because it doesn’t sound like something they would actually say.

A great way to illustrate concepts or processes is by using examples from your own life or from other people’s lives. For example, if you’re selling software that helps businesses track their inventory, talk about how this software has helped other businesses reduce costs because they didn’t have to ship out extra inventory when they sold out of a particular item. Or if you’re selling an online course on personal finance management, share stories about how people have been able to pay down debt by setting up savings accounts for emergencies and sticking to their budgets.

#4: Tell your story with flair

Tell your story with flair

Storytelling is about more than just telling a tale; it’s about sharing an experience that connects with the audience. And this is how you get customers to buy from you: by making them feel something.

So if you want to be an effective salesman, be an effective storyteller first!

Here are some storytelling techniques that will help you sell like a pro:

  • Use vivid details
  • Tell stories that reflect your audience’s concerns (and not yours)
  • Create characters with whom people can empathize
  • Focus on what matters most to your audience

Storytelling is an art form that engages people at an emotional level — it’s not just about facts and figures. It’s about connecting with people as human beings who have problems they want to be solved or desires they want to be fulfilled. When you tell stories in your presentations, you make yourself approachable as a person instead of just another vendor trying to sell something.

Alternatively, use analogies and metaphors to explain complex concepts more clearly.

Conclusion

Storytelling is an ancient art form.

It’s been around for thousands of years and has been used to tell all kinds of stories. The Bible, for example, is full of stories about people’s lives, struggles, and triumphs. Ancient Greek mythology is full of tales about gods and goddesses. And today, we are still telling stories through books, movies, television shows, and more.

But storytelling isn’t just for entertainment purposes — it can be a powerful tool in business as well. If you haven’t already realized this, then you need to start incorporating storytelling into your sales process immediately!

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4 Tips on How to Get Past The Gatekeepers

4 Tips on How to Get Past the Gatekeepers

If you’re in B2B sales, you’ve probably battled a gatekeeper. They can make or break your sale. This is especially true of B2B mid-market sales. Gatekeepers hold the keys to the kingdom. If they don’t see an opportunity, they can ensure no one else sees it either. That’s why we call them gatekeepers.

Without a doubt, B2Bs hate gatekeepers. They frustrate salespeople and hurt business relationships. The real trick is finding ways to overcome these obstacles. If you’re interested in selling to B2B companies in the future, it’s essential to know how to get around gatekeepers.

4 Ways to Get Past the Gatekeeper

You can’t just pick up the phone and call to accomplish this. Gatekeepers live to prevent salespeople from getting through. Here are four ways to bounce over, under, and around gatekeepers to reach prospects you otherwise couldn’t.

Whether a receptionist or an account manager, a gatekeeper is designed to keep you out. They’re tasked with filtering visitors, calls, and emails from prospects and determining if the person you want to reach will be willing to listen to what you have to say.

Respect the Gatekeeper

#1: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

A gatekeeper has control over whether or not you can speak with your prospect, but they don’t have to be the end-all-be-all of decision-makers. Most gatekeepers are just doing their job—managing their boss’s schedule and ensuring they don’t get interrupted by unnecessary people.

You can win over gatekeepers by showing them that you value them as an essential part of the process and that you’re not just trying to get past them so you can sell something. You need to have a sense of empathy for their role in the company and understand how much they must be juggling on any given day. That way, when they say no, it won’t feel like a rejection from someone who doesn’t want to hear from you at all—it’ll feel like a rejection from someone who does want to help but just doesn’t have time right now!

#2: Make It Personal.

1. Handwrite a note.

If your prospect is someone who cares about personal touches, this can be an excellent way to break through their defenses.

2. Make an appointment in person.

If you’re able to arrange an in-person meeting, do so! It’ll help show that you’re serious about wanting to have a conversation with them, which can go a long way toward getting past their defenses (and gatekeepers).

3. Send swag!

If your prospect is the type who responds well to gifts or small tokens of appreciation, send them some marketing swag as soon as possible after making contact with their gatekeeper—it’ll help show that you’re serious about wanting them as an account

Changing Your Perspective.

#3: Changing Your Perspective.

Every gatekeeper is a resource. Each of them has access to valuable information. They know where your prospect is, their schedule, phone number, and much more.

You must view each gatekeeper as a resource rather than an obstacle. Viewing each gatekeeper as an obstacle can lead to some frustration if you’re not careful. Asking for the name of someone’s assistant can be an excellent way to get around this problem and make sure you have the right person on the line when you call back.

You should also try to be polite and respectful when dealing with gatekeepers. Remember that they are people too and may be working in an uncomfortable situation themselves (for example, fielding calls from angry customers). Don’t take it out on them just because they’re not letting you through!

If you’re having trouble getting through to someone by phone, try sending them an email instead or following up later in the day when their schedule might be less busy.

Bypass the Gatekeeper.

#4: Bypass the Gatekeeper.

If you have a sales team, they probably spend most of their time on the phone and emailing leads. They may be spending more time doing this than they are selling.

You should be if you’re not using a CRM (customer relationship management) system to track your contacts. But even with a CRM, there are still plenty of people who aren’t using it as effectively as they could be.

Gatekeepers will always exist in some form or another — whether it’s a secretary or someone else who answers the phone or screens your emails — so it’s vital for you to find ways around them if you want to get through to decision-makers

The most effective way to bypass gatekeepers is to invest in sales data. Partner with a B2B data provider, such as Pipeline Signals, to secure your most important prospects’ direct dials and email addresses.

Once you have these contacts, send them an introductory email explaining who you are and why you’re reaching out. If they respond, it’s time to start building rapport and working on establishing a relationship over time.

Another approach is to research your prospective company and find out what their employees are talking about online. Look for groups or communities where they participate and join those groups yourself. This will allow you to engage with them online in a more organic way than sending an email cold call — which could see it as spammy or intrusive (and therefore not read).

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How Sales Automation Can Help Your Sales Team Be More Creative

sales automation

Sales have gone a long way and taken on a new shape from the earlier years when they were overpowering and time-consuming. Selling has been more straightforward, precise, and fulfilling in recent years, thanks to the emergence of solutions that assist in streamlining the entire process.

The truth is, you will never be able to increase sales if you try to accomplish everything on your own. 

To compete at the top level, you must implement sales automation.

One huge misconception is that creativity and innovation suffer when a process is automated. But this isn’t the case. As you assign more difficult everyday activities to a sales automation tool, it stimulates creativity among your sales team. You’ll have more time to brainstorm, which means you’ll be able to develop more innovative methods to market your items and tailor your offers.

sales automation

What is the definition of sales automation?

A sales automation technology may increase efficiency, increase sales, and increase income by minimizing time-consuming and redundant work and saving you vast amounts of time. Then your sellers can focus on generating prospects and attempting to close deals instead.

Due to inventiveness and cutting-edge technology, nearly every company has exposure to automation tools and approaches that make marketing easier, smarter, and more efficient.

The advantages of sales automation

Never-ending improvement is one of the most significant traits of a successful entrepreneur. These businesses are always seeking new methods to maximize their profits. Spending money and effort in B2B sales automation is one of those investments that have the potential to transform a company for the better.

To help you get started, here are some ways your company may utilize sales automation to generate leads and increase revenue.

Improved client management

While some clients are concerned with product or service consistency, others choose a brand because of good relationship management, mainly when all stages of the buying process are appropriately managed. This is why businesses are increasingly using chatbots to manage client care.

AI-assisted support employees can manage customer service inquiries with ease. This allows you to free up your sellers to focus on more complex tasks and deal with more in-depth customer support issues.

Email marketing with a personal touch

Because they assist you in standing out from your rivals, personalization and customization are more crucial than ever. Personalization, however, can be pretty demanding. This is where email marketing automation can help you.

An auto-reply based on the data a sales automation tool has acquired can ensure that prospective clients receive a timely and tailored email response, resulting in a considerable increase in sales.

Artificial intelligence may also help you better understand your audience by analyzing your website visits. This will have an impact on judgments made in the future.

If you put up the correct automated procedures, you can maintain delivering personalized emails and answers even as your list grows. This sales automation saves you money and time and takes some pressure off your marketing team.

Faster document creation

Sales automation can assist you in generating the necessary documentation and contracts for your business. All terms and conditions and other details can be offered to the consumer and clarified on the spot without much effort. 

Contracts can also include electronic signatures. Quick data, such as periodic reminders, can be generated and provided to clients to notify them of any type of renewals.

Simpler client segmentation

It is possible for businesses to segment clients more simply with sales automation technology. The sales automation technology assists in identifying individual clients to cut marketing efforts and increase sales.

A more efficient lead generation process

The most significant advantage of sales automation is that it streamlines the lead creation process. Prospects and contacts are assigned to marketing automation software based on their selling readiness. It also boosts exposure, generates higher-quality leads, and automates follow-ups. 

When your business starts generating a consistent supply of qualified leads, a sales automation tool may update their sales-readiness ratings regularly and nurture the leads by sending out material targeted to their stage in the buyer’s journey, resulting in greater conversion rates.

Streamlined internal workflow

The ability to streamline internal processes benefits automation that is often overlooked in B2B selling. Internal workflows are created to improve the efficiency of current processes. For one, you may build up a workflow instead of having a seller constantly monitor the email every day after somebody completes a form on your webpage.  The system immediately tells the salesman when the form is completed, allowing for a quick response.

Conclusion

Before it’s too late, think about investing in sales automation technology to boost your sales and expand your company’s success. Sales automation will always aid in the development of more innovative brands. Many companies know positive outcomes within just the first six months of using automation effectively.

Remember: taking your company to the next level involves more than just putting in long hours at work. Sales automation will enable you to escape the drudgery and diversify your revenue streams. You’ll be able to build a long-lasting business with the efficiency that sales automation delivers.

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Do’s and Don’ts for your 2019 Sales Kickoff

Having participated in 100’s of tech company Sales Kickoffs (SKO) and witnessing the thousands of dollars to the multi-million dollar events, I thought it would be timely to share my observations, tips, do’s and don’ts in a blog.

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Why do Sellers Lose Key Accounts?

One of the worst nightmares faced by sellers in B2B sales is when a key account goes from an active stage to a closed stage, in other words when it is lost to a competitor.

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How Do I get Started with my 2019 Sales Plan?

Calling all sales leaders! 2019 is right around the corner and that means your 2019 revenue number is probably bouncing around your head right about now. Questions like:

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What Sales Reps Should Say When They Call a Prospect

Although many have speculated about the viability of cold calling in the face of social selling and digital selling methodologies, it seems as though even the cold call has been retooled for the modern sales department. Nothing is “dead” except for single-channel prospecting.

Establish a daily routine on social platforms to find, educate and authentically engage buyers. 

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5 Things to Do before Your Prospecting Calls

Although many have claimed cold calling is dead, the only thing that’s gone by the wayside in the sales department is the idea of single-channel prospecting. Today’s sales leaders know the importance of moving prospecting to multiple channels.

Establish a daily routine on social platforms to find, educate and authentically engage buyers. 

Continue reading “5 Things to Do before Your Prospecting Calls”