Selling Power Blog

How to Create an Optimal Learning Experience for Sales Reps

Today's guest post is by Darik Volpa, founder and CEO of Rehearsal VRP.

 

 

What’s the best way to learn how to sell? Practice, practice, and more practice.

Yet many sales organizations are not creating an optimal environment for salespeople to practice and perfect their selling skills. This creates at least five problems:

1. Lost revenue. When salespeople aren’t ready to have conversations with customers, they’re more likely to lose deals. You also risk creating a poor impression of your company when you send unprepared sales reps into the field.
   
   
2. High levels of stress. Yes, salespeople need a tough skin to succeed in sales, but what manager wants to contribute extra stress and anxiety by exposing salespeople to trial-by-fire experiences or failing to help them properly prepare for selling situations? The sink-or-swim approach forces salespeople to learn, but it’s not very enjoyable or efficient.
   
   
3. On-boarding drag. The faster you can get new hires up and running, the faster you can see revenue gains. A lack of proper coaching and training only adds to the amount of time it takes for your new reps to ramp up.
   
   
4. Hiring difficulties. A great learning culture is a point of differentiation that can make or break your hiring effort. If your company becomes known for its poor learning environment, new hires might decide to take jobs at companies that invest in better training, coaching, and support. 
   
   
5. Slow response times. The traditional weekly or monthly coaching model is slow compared to the pace of business. When a competitor undercuts your price, you want a well-trained team that can respond swiftly.

This last point is especially important: a poor learning environment is not just a front-end issue that affects new hires; it is a pervasive problem that affects the sales organization at all levels. Why? Because selling is a continual learning process. Think of all the instances that create new learning curves, even for veteran and top-performing salespeople: 

• You launch a new product.
• You change your pricing structure.
• You open a new sales channel.
• You reengineer your selling territories.
• You move into a new market segment.
• You adopt a new sales methodology/process.
• You shift your marketing approach.
• You adopt a new tool (for example, a new CRM system).
• Your competitor does any of the above.

So what’s going to change the game for sales teams? I believe the answer is video role-play. Our clients use our video-based software, Rehearsal VRP, to help sales teams practice and perfect their selling and communication skills. The process is simple and requires only a Webcam and an Internet connection:

1. Salespeople watch a short video and then record a response to the question or role-play prompt from their sales manager. (For example, sales managers could ask reps to respond to a prospect’s price objection or a question about how their offering differs from the competition’s.)
   
   
2. Salespeople then submit the recording to their manager or mentor for review. The person who reviews the recording then provides video feedback, as well as a numerical score. 
   
   
3. The numerical scores are tallied, and the top-ranked responses are added to a leaderboard. This allows an organization to build a library of best selling practices from which everyone can learn.

Rehearsal VRP software poses a number of advantages. First, sales managers are able to quickly scale the learning environment. So when a competitor comes out with a new product, managers can quickly disseminate a role-play to all salespeople so they can start crafting a successful response to use during conversations with customers. 

Second, salespeople have a safe space to practice their skills. They can record themselves as much as they need to before sending their video for review. I’ve found that salespeople gain more confidence when they’re able to practice a skill on their own, as opposed to being put on the spot in front of a group. Finally, the leaderboard allows salespeople to learn from the best possible responses to your organization’s particular selling challenges.

Our clients are reporting that Rehearsal VRP is helping them get a better return on their existing sales-training investment. One sales leader at Clorox has reported saving $1,500 a week in travel and expenses. 

Today, there’s no reason to let your reps sink or swim. Click here to chat with us live, or sign up to take Rehearsal for a test drive and see how you can start creating an optimal learning experience.

How did you develop your selling skills? What tools and techniques are you using to create a supportive learning environment? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Why Inside Salespeople Make Great Social Sellers

Today's guest post is by Kurt Shaver, founder of The Sales Foundry. 

 

 

The shift from using outside sales forces to inside sales forces has been going on for years. A 2013 study by InsideSales.com revealed that inside sales positions were growing 300 times faster than outside sales positions. Industry leaders know why: maintaining an inside sales force typically costs less, and the constant introduction of new technology allows inside salespeople to achieve results similar to those realized by outside salespeople. Communication technologies such as Voice over IP, CRM, email, and even videoconferencing bridge geographical barriers and allow inside salespeople to build personal rapport close to that enjoyed by outside salespeople.

In some instances, the more frequent interaction between inside salespeople and clients results in even stronger relationships than those developed by outside salespeople, whose large territories often mean they visit clients infrequently.

Social selling is the newest trend in sales. The Aberdeen Groups reports that teams using social-selling techniques exceed their quota 31 percent more than teams that don’t use social selling. In a social-selling pilot by IBM’s Cloud Services group, inside salespeople increased lead generation using Twitter and LinkedIn. The pilot resulted in a 400 percent sales increase, compared to a similar product launch, which did not employ social-selling techniques. It resulted in a decision to move forward with a roll out to all 1,700 inside salespeople.

Here are four reasons why inside salespeople make great social sellers:

1. Inside salespeople are at their desks. In this era of smartphones and iPads, outside sales reps are more connected than ever, but they still burn more hours in meetings, flying in airplanes with no Wi-Fi, or driving (no texting!) than their inside-sales counterparts. It is simply easier for inside salespeople to participate on social networks.

2. Inside salespeople are skilled at building virtual relationships. With onsite meetings, lunches, and golf outings removed from their schedules, inside salespeople have learned how to use the phone, email, and social media to communicate effectively. Imagine an inside sales rep in Seattle whose sales territory is Ohio. The rep can build a network of Ohio contacts and a good reputation by contributing valuable information to local LinkedIn Groups in which customers and prospects are members.

3. Inside salespeople are used to juggling many activities. Often, inside salespeople are responsible for a larger number of smaller prospect or subscription renewals. They are used to quick phone and computer interactions with many contacts throughout the day. This rapid-response skill is the ideal personality trait needed to succeed in the 140-character world of social networking.

4.  Inside sales reps are more likely to be “digital natives.” For many companies, the average insides sales rep is younger than his or her average outside-sales counterpart. That is because inside sales is often the training ground for a career in outside sales. Salespeople who have grown up in the digital era are comfortable, not only with the mechanics of social networking, but also with the philosophy of being transparent and sharing information online.

As more buyers spend more of the sales cycle online, it will be easier to engage them on social networks via an inside sales team. Can you think of any other reason why inside sales reps make great social sellers? Share your thoughts in the comments section. 

10 Leadership Secrets from Captain America

Today's post is by Bill Wallace, vice president of Revenue Storm, a global sales consulting and revenue acceleration firm. To hear more from Bill, visit www.revenuestorm.com.

 

 

The fictional character Captain America, a superhero and leader of the Avengers, a team of superheroes, may be a perfect exemplification of many of the fundamental leadership traits that are critical in today’s business environment. While Captain America honed his leadership skills over an exceedingly long lifetime thanks to genetic rewiring, you can learn and benefit from his approach in a much shorter time frame.

Below is a list of 10 leadership secrets I believe Captain America personifies. They illustrate that leaders are made, not born. Anyone can adapt and develop the traits of an effective leader.

1. Have a purpose and vision.Captain America is very clear on what he needs to do and accomplish. He understands that his purpose is to right wrongs, fight for justice, and complete virtually impossible missions. Knowing this, Captain America is able to create a strategy that accomplishes the mission and execute the necessary tactics to accomplish that strategy. As a leader, you must have an explicit purpose and vision for yourself, your team, and your mission. 
   
   
2. Be willing to both lead and follow. Captain America has an ego but will adopt a position of humility to advance the mission. He leverages the strengths of everyone on his team to accomplish the goal, allowing others to lead when their talents are stronger. He leads from the front, never asking anyone on his team to do something he wouldn’t do himself.
   
   
3. Let every team member shine. As leader of the Avengers, Captain America is surrounded by the world’s most powerful superheroes. He understands their strengths and leverages them to best accomplish the mission. He lets each team member have a chance in the spotlight and willingly embraces team members’ ideas. Every superhero on the team has a unique skill that he can’t match, and that’s OK. 
   
   
4. Focus on things that will have the biggest impact. Captain America has a laser focus on the important things that create the biggest difference. He doesn’t allow himself to be dragged into the small details that won’t make a major difference. Don’t get so wrapped up in details that you miss the big picture.
   
   
5. Be a risk taker but not reckless. The job of a superhero, as well as a leader, is inherently risky. The Avengers understand the risks and trust Captain America not to put them in harm’s way unnecessarily. This inspires loyalty among his team. While your circumstances are not nearly as perilous, you may need to take risks to achieve your mission.
   
   
6. Don’t be afraid to break rules when it’s necessary. When rules that were created with the best intentions yield unfortunate outcomes, leaders need to trust that their judgment and experience will help them make the right call. Many rules are made by people far away from the front line. While there may be a price to pay for breaking rules, leaders need to weigh the options and consider what’s best overall.
   
   
7. Share credit with those who deserve it. Captain America isn’t in it to advance himself. By sharing the credit, he gains the admiration and respect of his team; his team is willing to follow him into battle. Effective leaders recognize the contributions of their team members – and even their superiors – who helped make the mission a success. Building the currency of others doesn’t hurt yours.
   
   
8. Communicate clearly and openly. Captain America is clear about his objectives and ensures his team understands what is required. He praises openly and has the tough conversations privately. Instead of avoiding constructive conflict, he speaks up if he believes there is a better way to accomplish the mission. Captain America repeatedly communicates the necessity of actions and reviews the tactics with his team to ensure everyone understands his or her role and is focused on execution.
   
   
9. Admit when you’re wrong. Captain America takes responsibility for his actions and readily admits when he’s wrong. He doesn’t worry about losing respect or being seen as weak. When he makes a mistake, he owns it and acknowledges that he must consider other actions. Don’t let being right stop you from moving on productively. 
   
   
10. Be resilient. Captain America gets back up when he’s knocked down and never quits. He may get discouraged, but he is persistent and adaptable in order to find a way to win. He understands that intelligent actions, patience, and persistence are worth the effort.

Nothing that’s been outlined above is beyond the capability of anyone desiring to become an effective leader. If you follow the example of Captain America and work to develop the same attitude and skills, you’ll soon be overcoming challenges, creating greater results, experiencing success, and earning the respect of the superheroes who follow you.

Sales Reps, Stop Being a "Demo Monkey"

"I hate being a demo monkey!"

Have you ever heard your sales reps say something like this?

It can be frustrating for reps to deliver hundreds of demos and end up with nothing to show for their time and energy. That's why DemoChimp is taking a new approach to helping salespeople turn their presentations into closed deals by making demos more engaging and personalized for each prospect.

"We intelligently personalize the experience," says DemoChimp CEO Garin Hess. "When the prospect goes through your demo, we dynamically stitch together different video elements to deliver an experience that fits their needs rather than going through a straight demo the prospects might not be interested in."

Watch the video above to see how you can start automating your demos and cut down on your demo frustration.

Will You Meet or Exceed Quota in 2015?

Today’s post is by Jim Dickie, partner at CSO Insights. To take part in this year’s CSO Insights study on sales performance and receive a free download of the 2014 Sales Management Optimization Study Key Trends Analysis, click here.

 

Today, in many companies around the world, senior management is focused on determining what the firm’s sales goals will be for 2015. Let me take some of the mystery out of the process: the revenue targets will be higher. They always are. Raising the performance bar year-over-year is something we have come to expect in sales, but let me raise a yellow flag of caution.

Last year, the CSO Insights survey of more than 1,200 firms worldwide found that the percentage of sales professionals achieving quota dropped to 58 percent from the 63 percent reported a year earlier. When we look at what the study participants shared with us regarding the outcome of forecast deals, we uncover a key contributor to this drop in sales performance. As seen in the following chart, the average win rate across all the firms surveyed was a lackluster 45.9 percent. Put that into perspective: the odds of winning at the craps tables in Las Vegas are 49.3 percent.

If we are going to raise quotas yet again for 2015, what can sales organizations do to help their sales teams meet or beat those higher expectations? To start providing answers to that question, CSO Insights is conducting its 21st Sales Performance Optimization study. We will be collecting more than 100 metrics to help identify the challenges facing our sales teams, why those problems exist, and more importantly, how companies are effectively leveraging people, process, technology, and knowledge to successfully address those issues.

As always, if sales executives are willing to take part in the study, CSO Insights will analyze the data, surface the key insights into how to optimize sales performance, and send back a complimentary copy of the analysis (more than 150 pages). You can leverage current metrics and best practices surfaced from the study data to fine-tune your sales and marketing strategies for 2015 and maximize your ability to meet or exceed plan.

To take part in this year’s study, simply click on the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WPBM6LN

As an immediate thank-you, you will be able to download the 2014 Sales Management Optimization Study Key Trends Analysis upon completing the survey.

The 3 Mistakes Salespeople Make with Decision Makers

Today’s post is by Ron LaVine, CEO of Accelerate Your Sales Results Sales Training Inc., a live-prospecting-call, sales-acceleration training firm in Oak Park, CA. For more information, call him at 818/991-6487 PST.

 

Many salespeople make three mistakes when dealing with decision makers:

1. They assume that the person who has inquired about their solution through social media or the person they’ve called is the decision maker without confirming this beforehand.

2. They deliver an need-solving message that is not targeted toward the customer or prospect but is based upon the benefits and corresponding measurable results produced by the rep’s other customers. 

3. Once sales reps have reached decision makers, according to one study, almost 85 percent of inside sales reps fail to ask for a time- and date-specific action step at the end of every call.

How can you fix mistakes like these? First, call the prospect’s company and ask someone in upper management who is responsible for making decisions about acquiring your types of solutions. Then see if the recommended person is the same person who inquired or you plan to call.

Next, take the time to go through you customer successes and see if you can quantify the results they realized in terms of money, time, and/or resources. Once you have defined the decision maker’s typical personal and professional characteristics, then you can determine what types of short customer stories will resonate with this person BEFORE you speak with him or her.

Knowing your industry and the customer’s marketplace and competition should help you further narrow down your message to one or two succinct sentences. Consider an opening benefits/results value statement like this:

“[Decision maker’s first name], we work with other [title, such as CIOs] like you in companies such as [three of the prospect company’s competitors, well-known customers of yours, or your customers who are located near the prospect company that the decision maker would probably recognize] to help them [a specific faster/slower, easier/harder, less expensive, or better benefit]. This means they’ve been able to [either an increased or decreased measurable numeric result in terms of money, percentages, time, or resources].”

For example:

“Tom, we work with CSOs like you in companies such as Your Competitor 1, Your Competitor 2, and Your Competitor 3 to help them speed up the qualified sales that make it through their pipelines. This means they’ve been able to increase their sales by 55 percent or more within the last six months while decreasing the costs of acquiring those sales by more than 22 percent.”

Finally, the sales rep needs to get in the habit of asking for a time- and date-specific action step – but not just once. Studies show that the likelihood of getting a decision maker to agree to action goes way up when a sales rep makes at least three requests for action. You might say something like this at the end of the conversation: “If we could help you do something similar, would that be of value to you?” The key to getting the next step is asking questions until you find out what the decision maker values or finds important as related to your solutions.

Using a well-constructed opening benefits/results value statement directly related to what the decision maker needs will get you a yes or a maybe. After the decision maker responds, immediately follow up with a recommendation such as, “What I’d like to do is to set up a brief [phone or face-to-face] meeting to introduce myself [or associate] and understand more about how your company does business. Then I can determine if we can be of service to you [or produce similar results for the decision maker’s company]. Do you have your calendar handy?”

Or you might ask, “When would be a good day and time for us to get together to discuss possible next steps? Is this typically a good time to reach you?”

Then ask, “Do you have your calendar handy?” or “What is your email address so I can email you a meeting invite with the purpose of the meeting and my contact information?”

Remember these tips and you will become more effective and efficient at producing measurable sales results and boosting your bottom line.

How do you influence decision makers? Share your thoughts in the comments section.