Sales Art vs. Sales Science
Sales is a Science
We’ve all heard the saying, “Sales is an art”. It conjures thoughts of a master painter, effortlessly moving brush across canvas, as he paints a picture of a better life. Or maybe it brings to mind the styling of an accomplished story teller, who uses words to create an epic tale that lifts us from the dregs of the status quo to the soaring possibilities and excitement of untold fortunes and adventure.
Sales managers love to have the “sales artist” on their team. However, I would posit that between 1% and 5% of the sales population can truly be considered sales artists. These are the top performers who seem to effortlessly create relationships. It feels like they make contact every time they pick up the phone. These are the guys who throw in a line and the fish come flocking to their hook.
SALES IS MORE LIKE SCIENCE THAN ART!
While there are those successful few who do it on talent and charisma alone; the fact is, sales success is closer to science than it is to art. Scientific method is used to prove or disprove theories. The Scientific Method of Sales is how we prove, or achieve, sales success on a larger scale. This is extremely good news for sales managers. It means that you can provide processes and systems that will help your average sales people perform more to the level of your top sales people. What is the Scientific Method of Sales?
Research + Best Practices + Technology = SALES
Research
Companies like InsideSales.com and The Bridge Group have done all kinds of research for sales effectiveness. Just as in science, it’s important to understand what is happening and why.
Best Practices
Best practices are often derived from extensive research. Things like 31 Must Haves for Driving Leads, Appointments, and Sales and 7 Rules to Increase Sales Success will help you to see the processes and practices that, when followed consistently, will bring exponential increases in sales. Invest in training so that best practices and procedures can be learned, practiced, and implemented. Managers should invest in building the skill level of the team. Likewise, individual reps should invest in their own improvement as well.
Technology
The right technology will automate the mundane tasks that take up a sales persons time. Dialing, leaving voice mails, sending emails, and recording notes after a call are only a few of the time consuming things that distract a salesperson from actually selling. Get the right technology that will eliminate time wasters.
The companies and sales teams that follow the Scientific Method of Sales will always be more successful than those who don’t. It is the method by which average sales people become better and awesome sales people become legend!
By: Brian McFadyen
http://linkedin.com/in/briannmcfadyen
Inside Sales Compensation and Metrics
In the years I’ve spent in sales I have seen many organizations that claim to make a difference in the overall success of their clients and I have seen those companies that actually do. The companies that actually do make a difference tend to focus a lot on research.
One of the organizations that I have been privileged to call a partner as I’ve worked with InsideSales.com is The Bridge Group, Inc. They are one of those awsome organizations that DO make a difference. Given my latest post discussing the worth of great people, I wanted to share some research that they have done in the way of inside sales compensation and metrics. If you are a sales person worth your salt…this is good news!
The picture below shows the average compensation and metrics around Lead Generation teams, Inside Sales Teams, SaaS Inside Sales Teams, and Inside Sales Management. It also points to some of the top challenges faced by these teams.
As displayed in the image above, you can see that average compensation breaks down as follows:
Lead Generation:
- Average Base Salary: $47k
- Average Total Comp: $72k
Inside Sales:
- Average Base Salary: $53k
- Average OTE (on target earnings): $94k
SaaS Inside Sales:
- Average Base Salary: $57k
- Average OTE (on target earnings): $109k
The diagram is a visual representation of more in depth research that you can find by going to The Bridge Group site at http://www.bridgegroupinc.com/saas_metrics_insidesales.html?utm_source=ISDC
As I touted in my last post – Great People are Worth It!
By: Brian McFadyen
http://linkedin.com/in/briannmcfadyen
Newsflash: Great People are Worth It
Lebron James
If you’re like me, you’ve heard many times the adage “Actions Speak Louder Than Words.” It applies to people of all backgrounds and positions in life. It even applies to entrepreneurs and business owners. In my discussions with business executives nationwide (and across multiple verticals), I am often asked a recurring question “How do I GET and KEEP the best people for my organization?” My response is usually, “What expectations are you setting with your compensation package and culture?”
Getting the Right People on the Bus:
I recently had the pleasure of re-reading the Jim Collins book “Good to Great.” What an insightful book! It shares research on what truly great companies have done to grow from a good company to an absolutely great one. He talked about the first thing that the extraordinary executives in these companies did when preparing to make this transition. Simply put: They put the right people in the right seats on the bus even before finalizing the direction they would take.
It sounds counter intuitive, however, as Collins points out “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” He goes on to state, “In a good-to-great transformation, people are not your most important asset. The right people are.”
You have to have the right people, holding the proper positions, in your organization in order to realize the full vision of what your company can achieve. Not only to realize, but to then maintain prolonged success.
Keeping the Right People on the Bus:
There are many variables that go into finding and retaining the best, most skilled, employees for any organization. Articles abound pointing to benefits, culture, location, brand prestige and more. In reality, they all contribute. However I’ve found, especially in a SALES environment, that the variable overarching all of the rest is COMPENSATION.
Collins sites compensation as being very important while making a great distinction as to how it should be used. He states, “The purpose of a compensation system should not be to get the right behaviors from the wrong people, but to get the right people on the bus in the first place, and to keep them there.”
Over the past 15 years working in and with sales teams I’ve noticed that the organizations who pay well seem to attract the most qualified, skilled, and driven individuals. This lends enormous credence to the idea that you need to pay your people in a manner equal to the output you desire they achieve. In a sales environment, if you want someone who is a six figure sales person, then provide them the six figure compensation. If you offer on target earnings (OTE) of $60k, then you will attract a $60k performer. Put another way, you can’t attract a Lebron James by paying a Mark Madsen salary.
Adam Grant addresses this idea in his book “Give and Take”. The company must evaluate what they are willing to pay for TOP Performers and then compensate their people in this manner. It will attract the top performers and keep them for the long haul.
Beware – don’t feel like you are “getting a deal” by hiring a six figure performer at a $60k price. That individual will not last long with the company and will likely be unhappy and less productive in that time. If the worry over money is removed, the right people can, and will drive amazing results for your company.
What About the Wrong People:
Of course, there will be those who just don’t fit the top performer compensation you offer. Jim Collins states that you should make a change quickly, but in a calculated manner. Perhaps that person is a driven, capable individual who might shine in another area of the organization. Make the move and bring someone else in to fill the vacated role. Get the RIGHT PEOPLE on the RIGHT SEATS. If it turns out that they truly are the wrong person for your company, then it’s best to let go so they can move to something more suitable to them, and the company can focus on filling the seats with the right people.
Ultimately, the choice is yours as to what you’ll do to attract and keep the best talent in your organization. But from what I’ve seen and researched, the best way to find and keep the right people is to remove the money barrier, get them on board, and find the right seat. Like Lebron, they’ll bring the HEAT!
By: Brian McFadyen
The InsideSales.com Solution: It’s not ALL about the technology!
When companies look for a solution to improving their sales revenue, they often look to technology. However, it takes more than technology to drive exponential growth.
Insidesales.com provides the best lead management and dialer technology available today. The technology provides increased efficiency, high visibility, and exponential output. Companies using any combination of the insidesales technology are experiencing 5 times increases in their results…sometimes more. How can you not with amazing products like PowerDialer, LocalPresence, PowerStandings and PowerSocial
As I survey the sales floor at IS.com I hear the constant buzz of 22 business development reps, and close to 40 sales reps answering questions and sharing demos of this phenomenal technology. It is a major reason for our huge growth. We’ve more than doubled in size since this time last year and expect to double again by the end of 2013.
Yes, InsideSales.com technology is unmatched in the marketplace. But, what many don’t see, or sometimes don’t understand, is that InsideSales.com is a full sales solution that includes training and consulting for organizations who want to transform the productivity and professionalism of their sales teams.
The exceptional software is developed by the need for sales organizations to adhere to best practices that drive contact rates, qualification rates, and sales revenue. These best practices are derived from extensive research spanning many years, thousands of companies and billions of sales data points.
Certification Training
Training and consulting is provided as a way for clients and other organizations to master the research and best practices. It helps companies take the 5x gains derived from the software and increase it another 8x. I’ve never met a CEO or VP of Sales that didn’t want to see a 13x improvement in the results they get…no matter how good the already are.
- The Certified InsideSales System Administrator (CISA – I) certification provides full knowledge and expertise on the technology and how the best practices are served by it.
- The Certified InsideSales Operations (CISO) certification provides the research, models, and strategies to drive exponential sales in any sales team.
Information on these programs can be attained at www.insidesales.com/certification.
Consulting
Insidesales.com takes their industry leading research and best practices and combines it with their technology to help organizations build, improve, or save their sales organizations. Through a process of analysis, design, implementation and evaluation, we have helped many organizations accelerate sales and exceed revenue goals.
See www.insidesales.com/consulting
Really, any organization that purports to help improve your sales team has to provide you an entire solution. Without the research, best practices, and the technology to incorporate them, you are missing the opportunity to improve your sales results EXPONENTIALLY!
By: Brian McFadyen
Sales: It’s All About The Leads
In my last post, Building and Improving a Sales Team Through Consulting, I mentioned a study that highlighted the “The Top Problems of the Inside Sales Industry”. The study is very enlightening as it provides insights on the top obstacles faced by both sales managers and sales reps. Take a look at the research and see if the same things are keeping YOU up at night:
Top Sales Manager Obstacles
Sales managers have a lot to worry about. They are responsible for hiring the right people for the sales team. They have to equip, train, and compensate them. They must monitor and report on their ongoing results. All of these tasks occupy the mind and the calendar. However, the study clearly showed that the top concern sales managers face is providing their team with good leads.
Top Sales Rep Obstacles
The top 4 obstacles expressed by sales reps have to do with leads and the ability to contact those leads.
I personally have found this to be the case in my career. Finding and making contact with the right leads is the most difficult part of the sales process. I would venture to say it is also the least enjoyable part.
Companies who want to produce greater sales revenues need to help their sales managers and their teams address these concerns. BUT HOW?
- Focus marketing resources on finding the right lists. Go after the best lists you can afford. The lists MUST focus on your target industries, companies, and decision makers by title. Remember that the best lists will be the hardest to find. But, if you spend the time testing and searching, those lists will be worth their weight in sales gold!
- Provide your sales team with the tools to increase contact rates! InsideSales.com has had a 92% contact rate for nearly 3 years. This is due to the technology and sales models that focus on the 7 ways to increase contact rates: immediacy, persistence, optimal response, time of day, day of week, direct dial number, local presence. These same technologies and sales models have helped companies like Lexis Nexis to see a 13x increase in their sales productivity.
If leads are the top concern of our sales managers and sales reps, then why wouldn’t that be a major focus of the organization? Ken Krogue, President of InsideSales.com, continually and rightfully sounds this clarion cry of the successful sales organization…”It’s all about the leads”.
By: Brian McFadyen
Building and Improving a Sales Team through Consulting
A recent research study titled “The Top Problems of the Inside Sales Industry” highlighted the issues facing sales managers and their teams. The biggest problems shared by sales managers revolve around finding the right leads and hiring, training, and retaining the right people. The front line sales reps reported that their largest issues dealt with making contact with busy decision makers.
When companies contact my team for help, we are often asked the same questions:
- How do we get more good leads?
- How do we get good people?
- Will you do it for us?
These three questions are the basis for the training and consulting services we provide. We do this because so many face these issues. We do this because, so often, all a company needs is a little time to learn how…or remember how…to focus on and work efficiently around these issues.
Why is consulting so important?
To answer that, I will share a story from our group here at InsideSales.com. Our President Ken Krogue was called on to consult for PeopleWise, a division of Lexis Nexis. They had experienced a couple of years of stagnant growth and were looking for a way to break the cycle. They had 4 lead gen reps, 4 inside sales reps, and 12 field sales reps. Ken started with a benchmark of their current process and results. He noticed that the lead gen reps were making 20 calls per day and only averaging 1/2 an appointment per rep per day. He decided his focus would be the lead gen folks and helping them perform. By so doing he could impact the sales reps in a huge way.
Ken worked with the management to find and test the best lead sources and incorporate the technology to drive efficiency. Using InsideSales technology they improved their calls per day to 170 per rep ( an 8.5x increase). However the appointments per day only went up by 5x to 2.5 per day. With the effort improved, the results needed to then be addressed. Ken taught them the CLOSER Model, the First Call Sequence, and how to build credibility via the Trust Ladder. His training and consulting lifted them to 170 calls and 6.5 appointments per day (a 13x total increase).
The client realized 3 record sales months in a row because of an increase in contact and close rates. Consulting had ended their 2 year stagnancy.
Consulting has a huge impact on companies in 3 categories (and every company is in one of these categories):
- Set up – a company who is building their sales department
- Accelerate – a company looking to accelerate and improve sales performance
- Turn Around – a company who has experienced declines and is looking to turn it around, rebuild, and grow.
Whatever your situation as a team or company, the question to ask isn’t “should I bring in a consultant?” The question to ask is “What effect will the additional success a consultant brings have on me and on my company?”
By: Brian McFadyen
Knowledge is PowerDialer
You and I have heard, many times, the old adage “Knowledge is Power!” We can’t argue with the truth inherent in this statement. Education is key to personal and financial growth. Of course, i know there are those who, lacking a college education or degree, have earned comfortable livings and even amassed wealth. However, these people also tout ongoing learning of other forms. Knowledge truly is power!
InsideSales.com not only believes this to be an irrefutable fact, but has gone so far as to train and certify all employees from day one on the systems they provide. By so doing they have empowered their employees and provided them the knowledge to be more productive.
Did you know that research in certification shows that putting two people through the exact same training and then having only one of them take an exam and certify yields 20% higher productivity by the individual who certified over the individual who didn’t?
Why mention all of this?
Certification is the difference between proficiency and mastery!
When a client first starts, they are implemented and trained to be successful with the systems. The systems, within a short amount of time, yield improved results and positive ROI. InsideSales has taken things even further by offering the Certified InsideSales.com Administrator and Certified InsideSales.com Administrator for Salesforce certifications.
These certifications are designed to take your CRM admin or your sales ops person from proficiency in the systems to a completely knowledgeable in-house expert. You understand the ins and outs of PowerDialer (or PowerDialer for Salesforce), ELF, LocalPresence and more. In fact, you can go to www.insidesales.com/certification and see a video testimonial of people who have attained this mastery!
The minimum 20% increase in productivity that comes from certification provides an additional boost to the entire sales team that uses the system. Where else can an individual and a company see improved productivity in just a few short days?
The concept of “knowledge is power” is taken further still with a new Sales Operations Boot Camp (Certified InsideSales.com Operations certification), a new Marketing Boot Camp (Certified InsideSales.com Marketer), and a new Lead Generation Boot Camp (Certified InsideSales.com Lead Gen) that have been developed by Ken Krogue, one of the top marketing and inside sales minds in the nation.
Ultimately, the more knowledge you, our clients, have about the systems you use and the strategies around inside sales, the greater the success you achieve. Our success is dependant on you and your success.
It can truly be said in a sales world that knowledge isn’t just power, Knowledge is PowerDialer!
By: Brian McFadyen
How to be Miserable in Sales
I recently read a book by a gentleman named John Bytheway entitled “How to be Totally Miserable”. It’s a fantastic little book that gets people to think about the things they do to either make themselves miserable, or to make themselves stay miserable. Of course, I finished reading and thought about how it could apply to those of us who have made sales our living. Here are some of his more salient points and how you and I can be Miserable in Sales:
1. Use your Imagination to Worry
How often have you and I sabotaged ourselves by imagining the most elaborate ways for a project or proposal to go south? I worried so much about one deal that I pictured the signed contracts burning up in a fiery crash on I-80 because the UPS truck veered off the interstate when the driver fell asleep. This scenario had a complete back story as t0 why the driver was sleepy and everything.
Don’t waste your creative faculties on the wasteful obsession we call worrying. Use that creativity to spark interest and create sales!
2. Believe Things Will NEVER Change
We are people driven by belief, you and I. What we believe can happen drives our actions. If we ponder on how things will never change we become less inclined to do anything. This makes it extremely likely that things either won’t change, or they’ll take a turn for the worse. Spend your time and energy being an agent of sales change. If you want things better, go make it better. Things can change, and will if you take action.
3. Don’t Do Anything
If you want to feel uninspired, worthless, and tired…don’t do anything. Literally doing nothing will not only guarantee you don’t sell, it will guarantee you don’t succeed. That is misery! If you don’t feel like doing anything…make a call. It’s amazing how talking with a prospect, or getting a mentor on the phone can help you get the perspective you need to keep moving.
4. Blame Everyone and Everything
Regardless of our political leanings, you and I can agree that President Obama blaming Bush and Republicans blaming President Obama and Democrats has been a major reason for the rise in political apathy over the past few years. Most people don’t like to hear excuses. Pointing the finger doesn’t help individuals to move forward. It doesn’t help nations advance. It certainly won’t help you and I make sales. Skip the process altogether and work out your success!
5. Be a breath of Stale Air
This one is great! I’ll bet you know someone who spends the majority of their waking hours complaining. In fact, they probably dream in negative tones and they allow that to be an excuse (see point number 4) to be miserable throughout their day. They refuse to let people cheer them up and are “content” in their misery. Do you like to be around them? I know I don’t. So, DON’T be one of these people. You don’t have to be the life of the party (though it’s great fun). You need only be someone who encourages others and shines through example.
In sales, as in life, we can bring about negative outcomes. Ultimately, you and I are responsible for our own success. Avoid these steps to being miserable in sales and watch your sales grow!
By: Brian McFadyen
Make it memorable and avoid the Closing Ceremonies syndrome!
Photo credit: Dailymail
Like so many worldwide, I spent a fair amount of time over the past couple of weeks watching the 2012 Olympics in London. I tuned in for the opening ceremonies and was impressed by the presentation and theatrics. It was packed with talent, spectacle, comedy, and insight. A great start to what turned out to be a great games!
I found myself getting excited for the closing ceremonies. What would they present? Who would perform? Two weeks had an amazing buildup to what would certainly be a great celebration at the end. Well, the buildup was there, but the celebration waned. The London 2012 Olympics will be remembered for its great start and the intense competition throughout. However, there was no punctuation at the end.
This same phenomena occurs in sales from time to time. How many times have we earned the right to present our product or service through a well presented prospecting call, built a great presentation, only to have the sale stall. Often it is the direct result of a weak finish to an otherwise strong presentation.
Buying, no matter what the product or service, is an emotional thing. How will I be affected? How will I feel after buying? Does this iPhone make me look fat?
So, how do I avoid the London 2012 Closing Ceremony syndrome in order to get the deal? Open your presentation reminding your prospect of why they accepted the meeting by explaining the outcome it will provide them. Present the features, functionality, and references to support your claim. Finally, close by once again hitting on what it will do for them.
A VP of Sales wants to increase sales in his organization. If you sell a sales automation platform like InsideSales.com that is geared toward increasing contact rates and increasing sales, you want to focus on the fact that such a platform can double and triple their contact rates…potentially increasing sales by that same rate. That VP of Sales will be a hero to the other executives and to the board of directors, his bonus increases, and his marketability grows. Paint that picture to close and you’ll be signing contracts in no time.
By: Brian McFadyen
Communication Tools To Drive Exponential Sales
Insides sales is all about communications – by phone, by email, by social media, by fax. Communicate with more prospects, close more sales. Communicate better with those prospects and the number of closes increases even more. Rocket science? No.
Every week, I talk with far too many inside sales organizations that are not optimized in their communications with prospects. Some use spreadsheets. Some use CRM’s. Some use both. I think we both can agree that if you are still using spreadsheets to organize your clients, prospects, and leads, you are less effective as a sales organization. It’s like trying to lubricate an engine with canola oil. It might work for a very short while, but eventually it’s going to end…and not well.
What are the best systems and practices to follow if I am to communicate easily and often with my current customers, prospects, and leads? Here are a few ideas derived from personal experience, research, and client experience.
Using a CRM provides a degree of automation to your sales force and allows you to nurture your leads through email campaigns, scheduled calls etc. I have used everything from Goldmine (I hear you laughing) to Salesforce and everything in between. Salesforce is the 800 pound gorilla in the CRM space; and rightfully so. While they are not the cheapest, they certainly are the sexier and more capable of the CRMs. I have used Salesforce successfully for many years. InsideSales.com has a CRM called STA (Sales Team Automation). It is not as sexy as Salesforce, but it is extremely capable and surpasses most other CRMs when it comes to supporting sales teams.
While a good CRM is a must for any sales organization, it is incomplete as a tool for driving communications with prospects and clients until you integrate telephony features. Many companies try to fill the gap by using predictive dialer technologies. If you are in B2B sales, and are doing so…stop. It’s inefficient. Have you ever received a call where you picked up the phone and heard dead air? This is a predictive dialer. It first dials the prospect, dials the available sales rep and then connects the two. Nothing screams “HERE COMES A SALES PITCH” like dead air before the rep says “hello”. If you are anything like me, the rep doesn’t have a chance to get on the line because I’ve already hung up the phone. You can’t sell if you can’t say the first word.
The technologies that drive true success by increasing contact rates and shortening the sales cycle are automated workforce tools. One such tool is called ELF (Electronic Labor Force), a powerful task automation tool when combined with PowerDialer, an auto-dialer platform with many other task automation functions, plus contact activity tracking, reporting and intelligent list creation features. ELF is a product of InsideSales.com. Both are used in conjunction with either the STA CRM or the Salesforce CRM.
Those who use these types of technologies are seeing quantitative gains in time and money. A great example of how to use a task automation tool to improve efficiency in the sales process is from one of my clients in the Financial Services industry. They use ELF to provide a series of automated “nurture” emails that are scheduled to go out at different intervals. This keeps them in the mind of the prospect and is a main factor in doubling their sales since becoming a client.
I have seen client situations where PowerDialer, alone, has increased dialing efficiency by more than 200 percent over manual dialing. Inside sales reps who were making 30 to 50 calls-per-day are now making 75 to 100 calls in three hours. What’s the net effect? They reach more prospects and close more business quickly.
PowerDialer is a powerful telephony tool that integrates with the Salesforce and STA CRMs. When a sales rep is on the system, they can receive inbound or make outbound calls. The outbound call is initiated right from the CRM record. It first connects with the sales rep’s line. Once the rep is on the line it then dials the prospect. In other words: no dead air when the prospect picks up. If there is no answer, the rep can click a button and leave a pre-recorded voicemail, in their own voice. While the message is being left, the system is already dialing the next prospect on their list. Additionally, based on the custom search criteria used to create the call list, the rep is focusing on the best prospects at the most effective times to call. PowerDialer automatically logs all contact effort in the CRM. Now that’s efficient!
One of our clients in security and home automation sales moved their inside sales reps off of a predictive dialer and over to PowerDialer. The reps liked their predictive dialer and didn’t want to transition. However, their trepidation was unfounded as PowerDialer helped them triple their individual sales.
If your sales operation is still functioning at the manual level, maybe it’s time to step away from those inefficient processes and investigate whether today’s sales automation tools can improve your sales operation. What have you got to lose … but more commissions?
By: Brian McFadyen
Brian McFadyen 