Do you need to tighten up your hand-off?

I ran the 4 x 400m on my track team in high school, and I was reminded today of how critical the hand-off is. The valuable seconds that can be gained or lost in the passing of the baton can be the difference between winning by a few strides and losing... by any distance. 

This seemingly simple concept is something that carries with it implications from business management to sales and marketing. As you continue reading, I challenge you to think through areas where you could save valuable time and money by tightening up your hand-off.

In my line of work, the most critical hand-off happens between sales and operations. It doesn't matter how hard sales representatives work to bring in new business; if the hand-off to operations isn't seamless for the client, you risk losing potential business. So here's some quick things to consider:

1. When does it make sense to pass the baton? If after a contract gets signed, the client is immediately shunted over to an account executive or program manager, make sure that you're providing a smooth transition for the client. If I throw the baton to the next runner in the race, and he drops it, we're disqualified. Make sure operations is ready for new business to come on, and if they're not, make sure you're setting proper expectations with your clients regarding the timeline of next steps.
2. How does the hand-off take place? Is it a face-to-face introduction with the next guy in line? Oftentimes, the clarity around such a hand-off can be lacking. Clients go back to the sales rep to ask certain questions or make requests that should likely be handled by their operational contact. Keep your sales reps focused on selling by developing a strong internal protocol surrounding the hand-off, and train your sales reps on how to delegate back to their ops counterparts so they can stay focused on new business.
3. Does the baton ever move backwards? In certain industries, it makes sense to bring the sales rep back into the conversation. For example, I was recently tapped to help talk through setting up a new program for an existing client. Since I have the expertise of negotiating contracts and onboarding new programs, I was happy to support. Make sure that everyone is on the same page throughout this entire process in order to ensure an excellent customer experience for your client.

Another implication of this metaphor is executive leadership handing off responsibilities to their employees. Have you been intentional about surrounding yourself with people who can carry various batons of your business for the next leg of the race? And have you communicated clearly enough this hand-off process and expectations moving forward? 

What about outsourcing? Have you considered passing certain batons to a competent partner? I was always the third leg of the race. I knew exactly where I needed to be in line at the point of exchange in order to set up the anchor for a win. That was my job. That was my expertise. The first leg needed to get us into the lead. The second leg needed to hold the lead and gain a few precious strides. There are others who do certain aspects of your business as their core business. Passing these batons effectively could significantly decrease internal cost and drive new revenue, improving your bottom line.

Where else have you seen folks nail the hand-off?

"Sales isn't my thing..."

I was at an event the other night, and I met a CPA. We got through names, and 'What do you do?'s", and when he learned that I oversee a team of on-demand sales experts and help small businesses grow their sales funnel activity, his response was, "Sales isn't my thing."

Sales isn't your thing? 

I gave a quick shrug and laughed it off to keep the Sarcastic Monkey in my head from blurting out, "You know that sales literally pays everyone's bills, right?"

Obviously, I knew what he meant - that he isn't the type who can walk up to a stranger and try to convince them they need what he has, and handle rejection after rejection, day after day. But let's talk about that; I mean, is that really anybody's thing? 

I'm sure those people exist, but I'm in sales, and the way I just described it (the way most people think about 'sales') sounds absolutely awful to me too!

What's the alternative?

Early in my sales career, I was given advice that I employ at every sales call, networking event, and social gathering I can: Ask, "What's your story?"

The things I've learned since utilizing this approach have been remarkable.

Stories open up opportunities for sales.

Stories have characters - your prospect, their stakeholders, yourself. And every good story has a conflict - a problem that needs solved.

If you are listening well to your prospects' stories, you won't need to convincethem they need what you have. They'll tell you themselves in the story of their business.

Your story is the happy ending.

You then have the opportunity to tell a different kind of story. Telling your own story is a non-invasive way to write the resolution to your prospects' stories. 

Whether it's telling the story of how you solved others problems like theirs in the past, or how your company is the sort of partner that your clients enjoy working with, tell the happy ending story that comes when your prospect chooses to work with you.

Maybe sales "isn't your thing." But we all tell stories. Make telling great stories your thing.

Hubspot's take on why cold calling is dead

I recently published a post called Cold calling sucks.

As I was surfing LinkedIn and other sites today, I stumbled upon Hubspot's take on the same topic, titled, "6 Data-Driven Reasons Why Cold Calling Flat Out Sucks." 

Their research is sound, and their data doesn't lie. In fact, it takes my emotional rant about how much the actual action of cold calling sucks, and adds a lot of data behind why the practice of cold calling doesn't actually accomplish what you want it to accomplish.

I, however, disagree with the fact that cold calling is dead. I'm more prone to line up under another post written by Mike Schultz at Rain Sales Training, where he explores, as I did in my previous post, the various reasons why.

Without regurgitating his entire blog post, I'll wrap up here by saying, just because it hasn't worked for you yet, doesn't mean cold calling doesn't work.

If it's not your forte, accept that, and find a partner who's an expert in inside sales.

If it's too expensive, find a way to hire someone cheaper, or look into developing a well-structured co-sourced sales strategy.

If you're focusing on networking events, writing a book, speaking engagements or other high-octane methods of driving funnel activity, awesome! Fill up the spaces between these events with time-tested, well-executed prospecting.

Where do you fall on the scale of "cold calling's dead" to "cold calling works"?

Cold calling sucks.

There it is – I said it.

Cold calling flat out sucks. It always has. It always will.

It’s probably the best way to generate consistent, quality leads.

But it sucks.

It’s a time-tested way to clean up your old database and find new business from old customers.

But it sucks.

It’s the quickest way to test the waters in new markets.

But it sucks.

It’s an absolutely necessity to keep the top of the sales funnel filled so your closers can focus on closing.

But it sucks.

It’s a way to supplement the slower drip marketing campaigns that generate inbound leads.

But it sucks.

It’s a safe way to gain initial traction when launching a new product.

But it sucks.

It’s an efficient way to qualify prospects and deliver higher-quality leads.

But it sucks.

It doesn’t matter how many positives there might be, cold calling will always be a necessary yet terrible aspect of your marketing and sales process. It sucks because it’s hard to find someone who will make dozens of calls a day while representing your company well. And it’s hard to staff for seasonal demands, not to mention if I do get someone good, they’re valuable enough that they want to move up in the company or find a better opportunity elsewhere. Or the other problem – they’re just not good, but you can’t afford to pay someone more to attract higher talent.

And it just sucks.

Should associations co-source their member engagement?

I’ve spoken with a number of Directors of Member Relations at various associations. One of them was one of an eight-member staff. Another works with 17 other people, and a third works with more than forty staff members in the corporate headquarters of an international organization. Their member engagement goals for 2016 vary, and their strategic marketing initiatives are vastly different, but the one thread that connects them all together is the need for a more focused member retention strategy. The ways they’ve done it before – sharing responsibilities between staff with already-full plates, sending out email reminders that may or may not get opened, or bringing on part-time temps or interns for targeted, short-term campaigns – are simply not as fruitful as they need to be. The result is associations bleeding members at a faster rate than they can recruit, which means annual revenue falls, budgets get squeezed, and strategic initiatives get bottle-necked, sending them on a year-after-year downward spiral.

It’s time to pull up out of the dive and join association-industry thought-leaders in modeling the successful strategy of customer engagement in the software/technology industry. It’s time to explore co-sourcing.

Get the most out of your talented staff

Tech companies have already moved to a model where they find the most effective and profitable pieces of their customer engagement continuum to co-source. This allows their highly skilled experts who are well-equipped to handlethe most value-added activities. These experts no longer waste their valuable time resetting passwords, addressing billing concerns instead of doing what they were hired on to do – be experts.

You were hired in as Director of Member Relations or Member Engagement Coordinator. By following leaders from other industries in your own member-engagement systems, you’ll not only find more valuable time available to your internal teams, but will also discover new ways of turning fixed costs into variable ones and driving new revenue. You could turn the tables as an innovator in the associations industry.

There are many great partners who can assist in handling inbound/outbound phone calls, social media concerns, or even email inquiries. By using a partner to co-source your level-1 member engagement, you can optimize your membership experts’ time and energy.

Drive revenue from seasonal fluctuation

Customer service at a tech company requires being a thoughtful planner and an execution specialist in order to handle planned and unplanned spikes in call volume due to holidays, server issues, or acts of God (the East Coast recentlymissed countless customer-engagement opportunities due to inclement weather shutting down the customer service and tech support operations).

In the same way that tech and E-Commerce companies build in redundancy to handle these seasonal fluctuations around major holidays, annual software license/subscription renewals, and unpredictable external circumstances, associations should be planning ahead for predictable and unpredictable seasonal changes in member engagement demands:

• Contacting previous conference/expo attendees to drive event attendance/sponsorship
• Responding to time-sensitive pre-conference email inquiries
• Making anniversary-based calls every month to expiring members to drive retention
• Fielding weekend/after-hours emails and calls (especially if the office is closed unexpectedly)

By building in member engagement redundancy, you guarantee that your members can reach a live membership specialist when they need one, and that you don’t miss out on critical member touchpoints throughout the year.

Lead generation is expensive and time-consuming…

I recently found this quote that compared marketing cut-backs to stop a clock – budgeting for Marketing costs more money, but not budgeting for it costs even more.

Many companies are finding new, affordable ways to keep lead generation and prospecting initiatives happening year-round without breaking the bank.

Associations need to seriously examine their member prospecting initiatives. By not taking the time and, yes, spending the money to mine for new members, you end up costing the organization potential revenue by missing out on the dues and non-dues contributions made throughout the member lifecycle. Again, however, consider how you’re using your internal experts’ time.

Co-sourcing your recruitment/prospecting is a good way to mine your database of non-member contacts for potential new members. Then, follow up on warm leads internally and close the deal!