Inbound Sales Day 2016

As a practice, sales has changed. Today's buyer is more sophisticated than ever before.  They are Googling problems, researching solutions, downloading best practices, and becoming more informed before ever talking to a sales representative. 

So how should your inside sales team adjust to these changes? Step one is to commit to learning. As processes change at a faster pace, committing to learning and improving will take you farther than ever before. 

That's why we're attending #InboundSalesDay

On September 14th, 2016, Hubspot is hosting a FREE event committed to helping you learn how to sell more. They'll have 5 live Q&A sessions, 12 executive talks, and 4 on-demand interviews all making up 10 hours of sales insights. 

You better believe we'll be attending this event and we invite you to join us too!  Click 'Save My Seat' to register:

Why I love working with startups

I recently sat down with a gentleman named Ed who recently started a hearing-aid business. He has investors, suppliers, and is ready to take his product to market and begin establishing some test data and case studies. He was referred to me through a mutual friend who said, "You need to talk to these guys - they're the experts at helping small businesses grow!"

When Ed and I sat down, he cast for me the vision of what he was hoping to do with his business. He's passionate and is confident that the viability and market-demand of his product means huge success for him and his company. He was also completely confident that he didn't know everything he needed to know about growing his business.

I wrote an article a few weeks ago around coachability. This character trait is, for the most part, a given with entrepreneurs and small business owners. They're smart folks, with a lot of passion, and their driven to achieve success. But they're also willing to take risks, fail fast, and learn from other, smarter people around them.

This is why I love working with startups. When people like Ed come in and say, "This is where I want to be in a year. How can I get there?" I know that we can help them achieve monumental success. 

On the other hand, when a new client comes on board saying, "This is exactly what I want you to do. I'm doing it now, and it works," it becomes extremely difficult to make recommendations and develop a partnership that sets both of us up for longterm success.

Whether you're a startup, a small business looking to grow, or an established, growing organization looking to supplement your ongoing business development strategies, it's important to take a step back from what you think you already know and listen to the people around you. Be bold, try new things, take risks and make big bets, and when it fails, be ready to up your ante, jump back in the saddle and keep going (tons of metaphors in there - pick your favorite).

Now Hiring: Sales Prima Donnas

Let's be honest - sales people can be a pain. I'm the first to admit that I'm probably not always the most fun to manage. I've recently gotten experience managing other "me's," and it's given me a bit of perspective, not only on the headaches I've undoubtedly caused my boss, but on the level of stress that must come with anyone looking to hire, train, and manage a sales team.

Nobody ever sets out to hire a high-maintenance sales diva, but that's essentially what many of the all-stars out there are. We're passionate, money-motivated, ambitious, driven, and aggressive, which means we're not afraid to speak our minds, ask questions that most people wouldn't, and call out injustice when we see it (ie. "How come Jim gets the nice cubicle?", "When do I qualify for a company car?")

If you're looking to grow your business, the last thing you need to add to your plate is managing a prima donna. The problem I run into the most, though, is that folks equate growing their business to adding the next all-star (aka diva) to their sales force, but those simply aren't the same thing. What growing your business actually means finding ways to fill the top of your sales funnel while spending your time on the most value-added activities, like nursing prospects through the latter segments of the pipeline and through the onboarding process - not, hiring, training, and dealing with a sales prima donna.

There are numerous ways to fill the top of the funnel without hiring a full-time headache. So before you post your job on Indeed, get outside the box and look into some alternative options like automated inbound marketing or outsourced inside sales. Find the right partner now, redeem your time, grow your business.

An epidemic of missed revenue...

I have written a lot recently about cold-calling and new customer acquisition. One area of potential revenue that continually gets sold short or overlooked, however, is that of lapsed customers. These come from a few different places:

1. They bought from you once, for one thing they needed at the time, and aren't aware that you have other things they could benefit from too. A good example of this is a small local publication we work with who primarily sell ad-space in their paper. The company, however, is a full-service marketing firm with the ability to help their customers grow their business using digital marketing alongside their print ads. They've recently seen a spike in new business by turning these customers on to the other things they have to offer. 

2. Customers get lost due to sales force turnover. If you use a CRM, you likely have certain customers assigned to specific sales reps, whether in a round-robin fashion, or on a first-come, first served basis.  I just talked to a gentleman yesterday who, after being on the sales floor at a Lexus dealership for two weeks, pulled a similar report from the CRM, and as a result, achieved his sales quota in his first month and every month thereafter. Had he not done that, there likely would have been thousands of dollars in missed revenue for the dealership.

3. They just forgot, and need invited back. You would be surprised about how many times we're talking to our clients' customers and we hear, "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about you guys. Of course I'd like to place another order." With such a distraction-heavy world, you can't afford to be out of sight, and out of mind, because it's leading to more missed revenue.

All of these potential customers are relationships you already have, or had at one point. You don't have to go find them. They don't need marketed to, or gimmicked.  They're already in your CRM, or database, and just need re-engaged. Do your customers know all the services and solutions you provide When was the last time you pulled a report of leads, prospects, and customers who are assigned to sales reps that are no longer with your company? Are you continually engaging one-off customers and staying top of mind?

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?