 Business is good. Accounts keep coming in. Our team doesn't have any drama, and everyone works together well. The only problem is... I feel like opportunities are being missed because of my lack of organization. How do I get my sales team organized? Can you relate to the above thoughts? Many SMB owners who run successful companies have to face the "organization dilemma" at some point in their journey. Maybe it was easy to handle the day-to-day of sales when you were just starting out — but now you have an entire sales team to manage, and dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of accounts to maintain. Are you giving your reps the direction they need to succeed? Are you giving them guidelines and boundaries that will keep them focused? Has your sales process been broken up into defined stages or steps? Your business may be doing great. With a more organized approach in place, it could do even better. So we go back to the original question: Where should you start? Here are three practical tips that can help you keep your sales team organized, focused, and effective: 1. Get Intentional The first thing you need to realize as an owner is that unless your company has a designated sales leader... you are the sales leader. You're the one your reps will look to for clarity, structure, and support. You're the one who can either empower your team to exceed expectations... or hinder them from reaching their full potential. Bottom line? It starts and ends with you. And that's why it's so crucial to get intentional with your sales process. Being intentional means starting with the end in mind. In other words, you need to develop a clear "game plan" for your sales team. What exactly is their role in the overall process? For example:
It's important to define your main objectives, and then work out the details that go into each one. This is where the concept of "co-creation" can really generate a positive impact on your process. Communicate with your sales team. Lay out your vision for them to see, and then work with them on how best to make the vision a reality. If you can come out of those meetings with a process your team can get behind 100%, it's a win-win, hands down. 2. Ensure You Have the Right Tech Stack Let's say you've already defined your primary objectives, and have given structure to the overall sales process. All the documentation is set, and your team is onboard with your game plan. Now the challenge is to make sure that your tech stack supports your vision. The size, scope, and nature of your business should inform the kind of tech stack you have — as should the makeup of your sales team, and your recently defined goals. Companies in the SMB space often use CRM platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive (to name a few). The exact features and subscription plan(s) you'll need will depend on the intricacy of your sales process. Just as an example, imagine that you want your sales team to manage automated drip campaigns as part of their lead nurturing duties. You'd need to make sure that your CRM system offers email templates, the ability to set up automated email sequences, and a way to effectively segment prospects according to shared characteristics like funnel stage, company size, geographical location, and so on. Along with a robust CRM platform that meets all of your sales team's needs, you also want strong reporting built into the process. KPIs and other metrics can provide you with a helpful "snapshot" of your sales process' current status. Reports can also help you to identify bottlenecks in the pipeline, and even determine which reps could use some extra training. 3. Work, Review, Discuss, Iterate Okay, you have your process in place. You have the right tech stack to support your goals. What's the next step? Simple: it's time to work the plan. Working the plan is often that secret ingredient that separates a good sales team from a great one. Just stop for a moment and think about all the ways that a cohesive plan will enhance the effectiveness of your reps:
Of course, as you and your team work the plan, you'll inevitably identify opportunities for growth. So make sure to periodically examine the data you receive. Hold intentional meetings where you ask your reps for their feedback, and then discuss possible solutions. Don't be afraid to iterate your sales process — the next version may be at least a little better than the current one! True, it will take time and effort to develop and implement a more organized approach. But if you follow the three tips discussed above, your team will be more scalable, more focused, and ultimately more successful. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources. This book was a great collaboration with my friend Thomas Young. Together we spent about a year and half brainstorming, collaborating, bringing thoughts together, and capturing best practices related to sales and marketing. I invite you to download the book and give it a read if you are looking for ways to align your sales and marketing organization. And please reach out if you'd like to learn more or just have a conversation. Thank you - Karl Becker  Break down silos, get unstuck and succeed as a team! A practical sales and marketing management guide for small to medium enterprises.
In an evolving business world, previous sales and marketing practices no longer produce the outcomes they once did. The traditional model of siloed sales and marketing departments don’t either. Companies who can’t keep up risk falling behind. In Sales and Marketing Alignment, Karl Becker and Thomas Young draw on over fifty years of combined experience to help companies unite their teams to drive results. With a series of actionable steps, you will learn to bring strategies, processes and people together to multiply your marketing reach and maximize your sales.  Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with one of my clients about the classes his daughter should take in college. She had just graduated from high school, and the client had just come from her graduation ceremony earlier in the week.
As we were talking about her electives, the client remarked that if he had the chance to go through college all over again, he would have taken Spanish and classes on cultures and religions. That remark really piqued my interest, so I asked him why he said that. He replied that over the years he's discovered how important it is to understand others. Find out where they are coming from. This is especially important as a business owner, and someone who directly communicates with leads and clients on a daily basis. Put another way: it's vital to make a connection, and really understand people. Thinking back on his remarks, I couldn't help but frame his insight in the context of sales. If it's important for business owners in general to understand their customers, how much more critical is it for salespeople who may interact with scores of prospects every day? Help Your Lead Experience Value The fact is, successful sales is all about helping the lead experience value from your product or service. But they can’t experience value if you don't understand where they're coming from. What problems are they trying to solve? And (perhaps most importantly) why do they want to choose your solution? The reality is, they want to improve. They need to see how your solution helps them do that. Sales requires a high level of empathy and understanding. When combined with adequate research, it can often result in a win, meaning that the salesperson is right for the lead and right for your business. With that in mind, I thought of four key questions that you could ask yourself when evaluating how well you're able to understand your clients: 1. "Do I intentionally take the time to go deeper?" Understanding doesn't happen by chance. There has to be a certain level of intentionality in place for someone to achieve a deep comprehension of what drives another person. You'd probably agree with this quote: "No one listens anymore; they just wait their turn to speak." I know I've seen the truth of that statement from my years of experience in the consulting sector. It's a trend that's become more and more pronounced over the years. But it's one you have to combat if you want to gain valuable insight into a client's thoughts and feelings. I like this question because it's a good starting point for some self-reflection. If we don't go into an intake meeting or even a coaching session with the resolve to truly listen and learn, then our relationships could easily stagnate. 2. "Do I ask more questions than I make statements?" Question #1 is largely about our mindset. This question provides us with a barometer with which to measure our success at proactively working to understand others: namely, our speech. It's often been said that the reason we have two ears and one mouth is because we should do twice as much listening as speaking. How are you measuring up in that regard? Granted, talking about ourselves, our company, and our solutions is often our "comfort zone" when meeting with clients. The problem is that such an approach isn't really focused on the customer's needs -- it's focused on what we think the customer needs. In contrast, asking a lot of meaningful questions is the key to understanding what the client wants, needs, and expects from the relationship. 3. "Am I inviting?" This is a big one. Having the right mindset and asking the right questions are both helpful tools in terms of understanding your clients... but what about literally inviting them to share their perspectives? When you sincerely invite someone to explain where they're coming from, your desire to understand them is no longer implied but is apparent to everyone. In the sales context, here are some examples of invitations that you can (and that I highly recommend you do) extend to your clients:
The point is, you want to really be curious (without being meddlesome) about what makes the client tick. It doesn't matter whether you are on a phone call, a Zoom call, at a conference, a networking event, a trade show booth, or in a face-to-face meeting. Stay in the present. Be mindful of what is actually being said, rather than mentally moving on to the next point you want to make. When you invite the client to share their perspective, be sincere about it. As a salesperson, it's true that you typically have your own agenda, and you have "boxes" on your list that must be checked off. However, you'll get a lot further with your clients if you set aside the agenda, put down the to-do list, and immerse yourself in their viewpoint for a while. 4. "Do I practice being present with the people I interact with?" Finally, it's good to periodically take stock of your mindset and performance during interactions with clients (and with everyone else, for that matter). Are you listening to respond, or listening to understand? Do you focus on furthering your own argument, or on discerning why the other person is reasoning as they are? Are your interactions just items on your checklist, or are they opportunities for discovery and even joy? In summary, it's true that sales is often a "bottom-line business." The attitude is: either you hit your quota or you don't. But what a lot of salespeople seem to miss is the value of understanding in achieving those tangible goals. When you come into a meeting with an open mind, ask more questions than you make statements, literally invite the other person to share their perspective, and stay within the moment, then you're much more likely to win over the business and the hearts of your leads and clients. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources. Karl Becker joined us for the 25th episode of Sales Gambit. Karl is a sales performance consultant, sales coach, author, and speaker who is working on a mission to improve sales organizations. In today’s episode of Sales Gambit, we are joined by Karl Becker. Karl has over 20 years of experience in the selling industry and runs a sales training firm of his own. He excels at selling high-value solutions to defined target audiences through an innovative and process-based sales methodology. He works with the vision of helping the sales team improve their sales performance.
Today, Karl joined us to talk about “How to Improve your Sales Team’s Performance?” We discuss:
 It's been said that "the most reliable way to predict the future is to create it." We could apply that to countless aspects of life. But let's focus on improving sales performance for the moment with a vital sales success tip. Wouldn't it be nice if you could not only visualize the ideal outcome for an upcoming sales meeting, client call, or coaching session, but actually work backwards to trace the steps needed to make that outcome a reality?
Well, the good news is: You can. And all it takes is a relatively straightforward exercise we call the "look back." What Is the "Look Back" Exercise? The "look back" exercise has been called different things by people in different fields. For instance, in chess it's known as "retrograde analysis." Others refer to it as "inversion," or "backtracing." Whatever you want to call it, the point of the exercise is, first of all, to see yourself in the future. Visualize yourself in the event or experience that you are planning. Then, work backwards from that future point to make sure the "current" you positions yourself for success when the time arrives. "Look back" exercises enable participants to clearly identify what they need to do in the present to prepare for future wins. As an added bonus, you can do your "look back" with your sales team, or by yourself! In fact, it may be helpful to train your team on the basics of this exercise. Try it during your next sales meeting! Then, encourage each one to use it as a self-coaching tool. Why Is It important? The "look back" exercise is a critical sales success tip because it helps you connect the present with the future in a coherent, intentional way. It can remind you that a successful outcome several weeks down the road is really the result of progressive, deliberate actions taken today, tomorrow, and each day thereafter. Put another way, a "look back" session helps you to develop a workable game plan for creating the future you want. How Does It Work? In the context of sales, a "look back" exercise can be used in several ways. Again, it is inseparably connected with visualization. You're seeing the best version of your future self in that meeting, in that coaching session, or on that sales call. So the two big questions that you must answer within an effective "look back" exercise are:
As you can tell, "look back" exercises can get very deep, very fast. In the sales industry, here are two common real-world scenarios in which a "look back" may prove extremely beneficial: 1. Sales managers preparing for team meetings. If you're a sales manager preparing for an upcoming team meeting, there are a ton of different factors to consider during your "look back" session besides the basic meeting agenda. For one thing, you want to give attention to how your team members perceive you. Do you want to be seen as a coach? Are you someone who is really understanding and approachable? What outcomes would you like to see? Upon reflection, you may see the need to spend more time with certain team members in the present, so as to get them in the right mindset when the meeting day arrives. 2. Sales reps preparing for client meetings. Conducting a personal "look back" exercise can be a great preparation tool for any sales rep with a big client meeting on the horizon. Think about the kind of experience you want the client to enjoy. Do you want to position yourself as a fun, engaging guide who's ready to contribute to the client's success? Will you be able to back up your proposed solutions with hard data? What would success look like for the client? Now is the best time to anticipate questions and concerns that may come up during the conference. As a result, you can outline effective ways to address each one. And if you find yourself hitting a wall, it may be a good idea to bounce your ideas off your coach. You could even do a "practice run" ahead of time. Who Should Use "Look Back" Exercises? The short answer? Anyone who wants to be a change agent and create high-impact meetings. Of course, in the sales world this definitely includes team managers who want to achieve optimal outcomes from their meetings. It also includes customer-facing reps who want to take advantage of each interaction with prospects to help them progress through the sales funnel. "Look back" exercises can be performed on an individual basis, or as a group. In either scenario, they are great ways to create intentionality by focusing on the desired outcome, and then mapping back to the present to start taking the required steps. It can be all too easy to go through professional life hopeful of positive outcomes. However, we're often unsure of how to influence them. "Look back" exercises are invaluable because they cut through much of the uncertainty. Use a "look back" in preparation for your next meeting. As a result, you're proactively thinking about what you can do in the present moment to make the future moment a success. In other words: You're doing more than just predicting the future. You're creating it. And when it comes to improving sales performance, either individually or as a team, it's hard to top that! If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources. Here's a quick video of our recent two day conference designed to empower managers to be the best they can be. The conference, Leadership Brilliance, is held three times a year in Colorado. Click here if you'd like to learn more or register for the next conference.
 One of the biggest challenges that a business organization may face is finding an effective way to achieve marketing and sales alignment. Obviously, both departments are important to the company's overall success. In fact, you could think of them as the two wings of a bird. Without either one functioning properly, there's no way your organization will be able to "fly," much less soar.
The issue is that these two teams are often at loggerheads with each other. Marketing is upset that sales isn't sticking to their message. Sales is upset that marketing isn't giving them properly qualified leads. And so on and so on. You get the idea. Marketing and sales alignment is non-existent. Even when the two departments are at peace with each other, there may still be a lack of alignment between them. Strategies and objectives may differ. And there may be a deeply ingrained "silo mentality" within both teams. With all that in mind, how do you achieve marketing and sales alignment? How about this proposal: why not have someone oversee both marketing and sales on a macroscopic level? This person could bring everything together by developing and implementing a unified strategy. Their role defines primary revenue goals and KPIs, and ensures that both teams are in lockstep with the plan. Let's discuss how marketing and sales perform different functions within an organization. And we'll address why appointing a leader to head up both departments may be a winning play. The Role of Marketing Go back to the traditional paradigm of the "sales funnel." Marketing definitely owns the top of that funnel, and at least some of the middle. Of course, your marketing team's first goal is to generate favorable exposure for your brand. This typically involves all the high-level tactics and acronyms that are so popular today (SEO, PPC, SEM, and so forth). However, marketers are also interested in educating and conditioning prospects before handing them over to sales. Think of it this way. If you're walking into a meeting with a prospect you've never met, and know nothing about, how comfortable would you feel? But what if a colleague prepped you for the meeting? They might describe what the prospect is like. They may tell you what they're interested in, what pain points they're dealing with, and the solutions they're considering? You'd feel a lot more confident going into the meeting, right? In the same way, marketing's role is to educate prospects before they're introduced to sales. Marketers should give prospects an idea of what they can expect throughout the sales process. How does the company's product or service can address their pain points? Of course, a well-aligned marketing department will also give the sales team the info they need to successfully close the deal. The Role of Sales Once the MQL has turned into an SQL, it's time for the sales team to take over. Their job is to interact with the qualified lead, answer questions in detail, and help the prospect make a well-informed decision as to whether your product or service is right for them. They may have a stake in the middle-of-funnel "evaluation" stage. And they definitely own the bottom-of-funnel "decision" stage of the buyer's journey. In some cases, your sales reps may also serve as account managers, especially if your customers have a long lifetime value (LTV). Regardless, your sales team is focused on forging strong, ongoing relationships with clients, and proposing in-depth solutions for each one's particular needs. Of course, they also want to close the sale in a way that's mutually beneficial for both parties. If you frame the roles of these two departments in baseball terms, marketing is like your starting pitcher. And your sales team is your closer. The problem arises when they're both trying to be on the mound at the same time. And this is where having both departments answer to one person starts making a lot of sense. Where the VP of Revenue Fits Into the Picture t's true that marketing and sales usually operate independently of one another. However, there are a ton of areas in which their activities could overlap. For instance, what conditions determine when a lead transitions from marketing-qualified to sales-qualified? How in-depth should a marketer go into a product's features before introducing a sales rep to the prospect? Who should determine the company's UVP (unique value proposition) for a major service offering? Without a centralized authority figure in place, it can be extremely difficult for both departments to get on the same page. In contrast, appointing someone to whom both the director of marketing and the director of sales must report to -- the title could be VP of Revenue or Director of Revenue, just as a couple of suggestions -- can be a huge help in building an integrated team. We include "revenue" in the proposed title because the point of this position would really be to avoid trapped revenue in the funnel. When you have marketing and sales alignment in terms of strategies, tactics, reporting, accountability, and assigned tasks, the ultimate effect is a smooth experience for the customer. There won't be any more friction points that send a lead flying out of the funnel, or messaging inconsistencies that lead to "closed lost" situations. Instead, your company will become a lean, mean, revenue-generating engine. Final Thoughts on Marketing and Sales Alignment To sum up: marketing and sales each have distinct roles within the overall sales process. There may be challenges to alignment. However, appointing someone who's responsible for both departments is one excellent option for getting (and keeping) everyone on the same page. Whatever you call the person (Director of Revenue, VP of Revenue, or just Director of Marketing & Sales), you can expect them to look at revenue holistically. In addition, they can make sure that the entire buyer's journey is a smooth progression through the sales funnel, and work with directors and team leaders to address any bottlenecks they identify. If you're looking for ways to improve your organization's sales performance, and alignment between marketing and sales is a key issue that needs to be addressed, seriously consider implementing this solution. You may find it's the best way to integrate both teams into a unified whole. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  Your Sales Foundations define the core elements of your business. As their name suggests, they're the fundamental structure on which your sales and marketing efforts are built. Without strong foundational messaging in place, it will be extremely difficult to maintain a coherent narrative with your prospects, leads, and clients - and that inconsistency could cost you their business.
Of course, even if your Sales Foundations are already well-established, it's important to make sure that your team members understand and are in agreement with them. If you're a sales manager, you play a crucial role in promoting this type of alignment. One practical step that you can take in that direction is to host a 30-minute workshop during your next sales meeting. The ultimate objective of the workshop is to make sure everyone is aligned with your company's foundational messaging, and has at least a high-level grasp of how to use it when interacting with leads and clients. How To Lead the Workshop In simple terms, establishing your foundational messaging is all about asking and answering the right questions. With that in mind, have your sales team come into the meeting with their individual answers to these key questions:
As the sales manager, your job is to facilitate discussion, and promote alignment and agreement with your entire team. Get out the whiteboard. Go down the list of questions. Point out commonalities and differences with each answer that's given. By the end of the discussion, your team should have a consensus on these vital questions (e.g., whether your company creates value through its competitive pricing or its high quality of service, and so forth). In addition, invite marketing to the meeting as observers. This helps them understand where sales is coming from. In turn, they can take that knowledge back to their department. When marketing and sales are aligned towards the same basic messaging, it makes the entire customer's journey much more seamless, especially during transitions from one stage of the sales/marketing funnel to the next. What if there isn't alignment at the start of the workshop? Well, this is a golden opportunity to jump-start the alignment process. In fact, you may even uncover valuable insights about your company as team members share differing viewpoints. The Goal: Focused and Clear Messaging In the final analysis, focused and clear messaging ultimately serves the customer by taking friction out of the sales funnel. How? It keeps your team on the same page and presents a consistent narrative to your consumer base. Ultimately, it all starts with the establishment of your foundational messaging. Take 30 minutes out of your day to make sure everyone is in agreement with that messaging. It’s worth it! If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  Time is an invaluable resource, and you need to make the most of it at every opportunity. The only thing is that there is no exact method to calculate how fruitful you are with time. That probably explains why 34 percent of salespeople indicate that the effectiveness of their efforts is only minimal.
However, measuring sales pipeline velocity can be the first step to increasing your company’s revenue and optimizing your sales process. That means building a more efficient, cohesive sales team and bringing targeted changes to your sales process is possible when you optimize your pipeline velocity rate. Having precious leads sitting in your CRM is not enough. That’s because when leads reach the top of the sales funnel, roadblocks may emerge, preventing the average salesperson from hitting their quota. This happens because prospects tend to move sluggishly for longer than they should and appear to never reach the bottom of the funnel. In part, that explains why optimizing sales pipeline velocity is something you cannot afford to overlook. What Is Sales Pipeline Velocity? Simply, sales pipeline velocity refers to the speed at which your prospects move from the top of the sales funnel to its bottom. Note that the metric applies regardless of whether you lose or win leads. In other words, it is a measurement that helps you understand the speed at which you are making profits. You can also view pipeline velocity as the value of every individual lead over a specific period. As such, a formula is what matters in this case and not just a single parameter. The following are the components of that formula.
The Importance of Pipeline Velocity First, understand that realizing a smooth transition of prospects through all the sales cycle stages is a challenge if you do not have a healthy pipeline. That implies that the slightest change in how you operate can improve sales pipeline velocity and increase your revenue as well. So, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to monitor your pipeline velocity from time to time. Sales and revenue forecasting are part of the essential aspects of every enterprise. As such, understanding how fast leads move through your pipeline and the value of each can help you improve those numbers. The bottom line here is that pipeline velocity can help you realize higher conversion rates by accurately optimizing each stage of your sales process. What Is the Goal of Sales Pipeline Velocity? It is worth mentioning that pipeline velocity can help your sales teams because its goal is twofold. Indeed, part of the priorities of your sales team is increasing qualified leads and reducing the number of unqualified ones in the pipeline. On the other hand, sales leaders focus on moving deals through the pipeline as fast as possible. In that case, pipeline velocity can help you assess the effectiveness of both goals. Additionally, sales pipeline velocity will prove instrumental when setting realistic sales goals and quotas. That, in turn, allows you to gain insight into your daily returns. Insight Into Improving Pipeline Velocity Monitoring your pipeline velocity regularly allows you to grow your enterprise and help it thrive. This metric helps you discover how to accurately optimize every stage of your sales process to increase conversion rates. Here are a few tips for improving pipeline velocity. 1. Consider Nurturing Your Leads With Value Driven Content Emailing or calling your leads numerous times with high value messages allows you to move them through your sales pipeline. The focus here should be reaching out to leads proactively in a way that creates value and builds trust. Do this by making sure your content touches them through social media channels, and by simply remaining in touch with them to demonstrate that you care, are thinking of them, and that building relationships is important to you and your organization. For instance, you can send your leads a blog post (protip - that can be generated by your marketing team or something your team did not write but is valuable). Include a message like, "After coming across this article, I thought you would find it useful." By doing so, you are nurturing your leads with value versus trying to nurture them constantly with sales focused messages. The intention, in this case, is to be a resource that understands your leads, what is important to them, and what will provide them value versus a constant buy now drumbeat. Once your prospects discover that your primary objective is providing value, they will be more receptive to investing more and more of their time to learn about you, your company, and your offers, ultimately unsticking leads in your sales funnel and increasing your sales pipelines’ velocity. 2. Streamline Your Sales and Marketing Departments Aligning sales and marketing plays a significant role in optimizing pipeline velocity. That is the case because if your marketing unit sends unqualified and half-baked leads to your sales department, your sales pipeline will be clogged and slow. As such, improving communication between the two departments can improve the lead qualification process. Ultimately, that will increase the speed of moving leads through your sales pipeline. 3. Prioritize Qualified Leads Indeed, giving every possible lead a chance is advisable, but it may not be practical if you have a large population of leads. Plus, not all leads are created equal. Leads will be in different stages of the buyer's journey. Treating them all the same is ineffective and inefficient. To increase pipeline velocity think about:
Conclusion Prioritizing sales velocity is critical since a full pipeline does not necessarily mean you will realize a desirable outcome. Measuring your pipeline velocity regularly and tracing anything that may affect it is paramount in this case. Identifying your ideal company profiles and personas allows you to target prospects with greater chances of converting to buyers. So, you need to remain creative. And working with other units within your entity is not an option in this case. Doing so supports your sales cycles, which makes them more efficient. Also, remember that high-quality leads are an indispensable factor when it comes to speeding up your conversions. You will only find success once you identify what makes your sales velocity spike. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.
Had a great time during my interview with one of my clients, AVentPro. This client produces events both virtually and in-person. The last few years have dramatically shaped the events industry and I am super proud of the smart pivots, learnings, hard work, and growth at AVentPro.
In their Spotlight Series we talk about being an effective speaker (presenter) and the importance of bringing audiences together to create connection. The main lesson is that no matter what, there is tremendous value in bringing people together. This can be smaller groups like leadership or company wide meetings or making it a point to attend conferences to grow, expand your knowledge, and make new connections. If you run a sales organization I highly recommend revisiting how you bring your teams together and use time together to inspire, share knowledge, create community, and get into action.
AVentPro Spotlight Series - Interview with Karl Becker
 Too often, the concepts of sales funnel and marketing funnel are used interchangeably. The truth, though, is much more complex than that. Each are unique concepts. However, both also have to be integrated with each other for a truly successful sales and marketing operation.
That doesn't always happen. We've often worked with clients who have had to close a gap between marketing and sales. Or, they treat the two departments as identical. So, in this post, we'll explain the differences and unique aspects of sales and marketing funnels. And we'll dig into how to make sure both work together for maximum sales and revenue performance. Just the Basics: The Marketing Funnel The marketing funnel drives audiences from the first time they become aware of your brand. They are pushed through whatever process or system marketing has developed to prepare and prime these leads for a transfer to sales. This involves all the steps and stages from bringing the lead into your CRM until they are ready to consider purchasing your product or service. Within that basic definition, the marketing funnel usually includes a few crucial steps as the audience narrows down from your entire potential customer base to marketing and sales-qualified leads:
Just the Basics: The Sales Funnel The sales funnel takes sales-ready leads in the CRM, and drives towards a customer conversion (i.e. a sales transaction). That includes a few important steps to narrow down the audience over time:
Where Sales and Marketing Funnels Intersect Based on the unique processes and differences between marketing and sales funnels, it's tempting to keep the two separate. Unfortunately, that can cause some significant issues. Bridging the gap between marketing and sales is absolutely necessary for a consistent, integrated customer experience. That's especially true because, as clearly distinct as the definitions for each might be, they also clearly intersect. In fact, the bottom of the marketing funnel is typically synonymous with the top of the sales funnel. Marketing often ends with lead generation. But this should not be the case. These leads immediately need to be nurtured, starting with the first email they receive to thank them for their contact information. Interest naturally flows into the more conversion-oriented process. In turn, the sales team looks to engage these leads when they either raise their hand or demonstrate activities that indicate they are primed and ready to interact with the sales team. While the emphasis might be different, it pays to think of the marketing and sales funnels as an integrated whole. They both benefit from one another to maximize opportunity. The whole, in this case, truly does become bigger than the sum of its parts. 5 Opportunities To Integrate Your Sales and Marketing Funnels Fortunately, once the marketing and sales funnels are viewed as a larger whole, integration possibilities become more visible. These five opportunities are especially easy to implement as you look to build a better customer journey for your audience. 1. Sales Insights for Marketing Strategy What does your sales team know about prospects as they move through the funnel? What types of prospects are most likely to convert to customers? Marketing can use this information to better target its efforts, from different demographic targeting to the channels chosen for promotion. 2. Lead Generation and Nurturing Overlaps The traditional marketing funnel ends with lead generation. Conversely, the traditional sales funnel begins with lead nurturing. In reality, though, the two concepts are almost necessarily connected. For audiences, they're likely seen as a single process. Thus, a mutual planning effort to make sure that any lead generation messaging and channel strategy matches with its lead nurturing equivalent is vital for a more consistent, successful strategy. For example, sales teams can call prospects that might not be hand-raised leads yet, introducing themselves and setting the stage for later nurturing efforts. 3. Marketing Content To Improve Sales Efforts The job of the marketing team is not necessarily done when a new lead is generated. Lead nurturing, and even the pitching process, can often benefit from additional resources that marketing can provide to support the velocity of leads moving into and through the sales funnel. For example, blog posts, short videos, or even private LinkedIn groups can all help sales in their efforts to convert new customers. 4. Integrated Messaging Throughout Both Sales and Marketing Integration is the name of the game. And that's especially true for messaging throughout both funnels. Experienced marketers already know that the language and selling points of awareness-based ads have to match up with landing pages, conversion messaging, and more to truly make an audience impact. It's only natural to conclude, then, that this consistency can't stop at the marketing-sales hand-off. The more one core message drives the strategy from awareness to customer conversion, the more convincing that message will become. 5. Comprehensive, Action-Based Insights Finally, sharing analytics and reports can be a significant boon to both marketing and sales in improving their efforts. Insights from sales can help marketing adjust their efforts, while marketing insights can provide a crucial background for sales to optimize theirs. Knowing whether a lead came from social media or a Google search can help to optimize the sales pitch, and vice versa. In short, the natural gap between marketing and sales needs to be as non-obvious as possible for audiences. That's only possible with a direct integration between marketing and sales funnels, all working towards the shared goal of optimizing customer conversions and revenue. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  BizOwner360 Podcast Interview Karl was recently interviewed on the BizOwner360 Podcast by Brett Trainor. BizOwner360 is a podcast dedicated to helping bootstrapping business owners & entrepreneurs breakthrough and grow their businesses to $10 Million which provides optimal flexibility and freedom. There is no one-size-fits-all solution when your sales organization stalls. So when you face this problem, what should your focus be? Today, I welcome Karl Becker, CEO and Founder of Improving Sales Performance and author of “Set Up To Win: Three Frameworks to a High-Performing Sales Organization.” In this episode, we dive into the revenue equation he came up with which helps businesses diagnose problems in their sales and marketing strategies to further optimize them. This conversation has been long overdue and I’ll definitely have Karl back to provide us more valuable wisdom about revenue growth so be sure to not miss this one! We’ll talk about: Introduction [00:00] Recent changes in the B2B world that Karl has observed [5:03] A powerful story about delegation from Karl [9:18] Karl’s concept to the revenue equation [12:29] Why your value needs to be clear to scale [17:39] What’s next after you got your messaging aligned? [23:43] Understanding the buyer’s journey [29:59] Empowering your team and interacting better with your leads [31:52] Salespeople don’t like uncertainty and buyers don’t like risks [38:30] Resource Links:
 Positioning yourself as a thought leader is a great way to enhance your company's reputation, and develop your personal brand at the same time. It's been said that good executives are nice to have, but thought leaders are indispensable. The fact is, when a prospect looks to you as the voice of authority in your field, you're already one step ahead of the competition in terms of closing a sale.
The big question is: How exactly can you build your reputation as a thought leader? It certainly doesn't happen overnight. However, there are actionable steps you can take - steps that are completely within your control - to start laying the foundation of your thought leadership credentials. Let's discuss six of them below. 1. Start Creating Content The first and most important step you can take on the path to becoming a thought leader is, well, to simply get started! Start creating content that showcases your subject matter expertise. This could be something as simple as writing a short blog post or posting a 30-second video to your website. Whatever the case may be, the key is to get the car moving. It will pick up momentum with time and practice. 2. Write a Book For many thought leaders, this is the logical outcome of step #1. Granted, it will take time and effort to write a full book in which you share your insights and experiences within the sales industry. However, writing (and ultimately publishing) a book with your name on it will work wonders for your reputation as a thought leader. It should also be noted in passing that, even if writing is not your strong suit, there are plenty of resources available that can help you crystallize your thoughts and transform them into words on the page. For instance, you can research your options in terms of hiring a ghostwriter to facilitate the process. Whatever the case may be, don't shy away from considering this form of thought leadership as a real possibility. It's been said that every person on earth has at least one good book in them. So why not get to work on yours? 3. Be Consistent in Messaging and Distribution When you're building a reputation as a thought leader, consistency is vital on two major fronts: your messaging and your distribution cadence. When it comes to messaging, you may have to do some soul-searching to discover what the core of your message actually is. You may need to answer questions such as:
In addition to consistency around your messaging, it's also important to be consistent in when and where you deliver content to your audience (aka, your "distribution cadence"). Stick to a posting schedule that's reasonable for you. Make sure that you are able to keep up with all of your major posting platforms. This includes your website, social media accounts, and any other sites where you regularly contribute. Remember: consistency is very often synonymous with professionalism. And in order to be viewed as a thought leader, you must be viewed as a professional. 4. Be Detailed, but Accessible Creating content that's full of generalities won't help anyone. However, offering specific insights will help your audience to apply what they've learned in real-world scenarios. That's what you want to become known for: your willingness to bring people "behind the scenes." Show them what works and what doesn't work. In fact, you can even relate your own experiences as supporting proof for your conclusions. When it comes to details, though, there is a balancing act you must maintain. Your objective is to educate and benefit your audience. It's not to dazzle them with high-sounding language that they can't understand or apply. With that in mind, make sure you use simple, accessible language in your thought leadership content. In fact, consider developing easy-to-navigate, step-by-step guides for your readers/viewers. The truth is, if you can explain a complicated concept simply and accurately, then people will recognize you as someone who's mastered their craft. Or in other words: a thought leader. 5. Look for the Thought Leadership Gaps in Your Industry Put another way: answer the questions that no one else is answering. It's not just about spreading ideas and insights that you've already formulated. Instead, be willing to search through industry-specific content (even from your competitors). Find those gaps where customers are asking questions, but they're not receiving any answers. If you can position yourself as the person/company that provides a satisfying answer, then you've gone a long way toward solidifying your reputation as a thought leader. 6. Spread Your Message as Widely as Possible Successful thought leadership isn't just about the knowledge you have on a certain subject, or how valuable your insights actually are. It's also about how widespread your message is, and how much exposure you receive. Think of it like a song on the radio. No matter how pretty the song is, it won't do anyone any good if they can't hear it. So how can you "turn up the volume" on your message? For one thing, make sure you post content on as many platforms as possible. That means expanding out from your core platforms to new, even unfamiliar forums. (For example, posting on TikTok or joining a podcast.) Your consumers should be able to see you answering their questions via several channels, not just one or two. In addition, keep looking for ways to expand your professional network. If you know the right people, and gain access to the right platforms, then you'll be able to spread your influence across a wide range of customer segments. In summary, it may take some time to establish a firm reputation as a thought leader. But you absolutely can do so. It's within your control. The ball is in your court. Invest some time and effort into becoming a thought leader. As a result, you can expect your company, your team, and even yourself personally to experience the associated benefits. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  Have you ever found yourself in a scenario where you thought: "I know this task is important, but I'm not quite sure if I'm the one with the authority to handle it? Besides, someone will surely take charge of the situation. I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and see what happens." What was the outcome? If you're like many of us, odds are the task didn't get done at all.
What's the Point? Simply this: when everyone thinks someone else has ownership of a task, no one takes the initiative - and nothing gets done. And this is where the importance of meeting recaps come into the picture. When we use the term "meeting recaps," what are we talking about? Well, if you're running an effective meeting, then you're not just dispensing information with no actions attached to it. Instead, there are going to be next steps, owners of tasks, and timelines that must be met. So a meeting recap is more than a brief summary of the meeting. It should provide clarity on what tasks need to be done, who's going to handle those tasks, and when they need to be finished. Keep Your Recap Simple Draw attention to it with a strong subject line, even one that includes the phrase "meeting recap" in it. Don't clutter action items with a lot of unnecessary detail. Bullet point everyone's responsibilities. Use messaging like: "Here's what we agreed on; I/we will follow up in [x] days; if you have any questions, reach out to [x]," and so forth. What Does a Recap Accomplish? First of all, a recap ensures that everyone is on the same page. When the client is aligned with your sales team, and everyone is in agreement about next steps, it can take a lot of tension and uncertainty out of the relationship. In addition, sending a meeting recap demonstrates your commitment to moving the project forward. Think of yourself as a guide. You not only point the client to their preferred destination, but you also help them navigate the path to get there. You're showing that you care, you're organized, you take pride in your work, and you believe in accountability - both for others, and for yourself. More than anything else, an action-oriented recap shows that you're a professional. And professionals want to work with other professionals. It's that simple. If you're a sales manager, how can you train your team to send out effective recaps? Consider this option: Conduct a team exercise in which each salesperson submits a sample recap email (perhaps one based on a recent meeting). Review the recaps at your next sales meeting. Let everyone discuss what they liked about each recap, what they would change, and whether it accomplished its purpose. You can use this as an alignment exercise for your team, as well as a valuable training opportunity. If you know how to compose and distribute meeting recaps, you'll impress your clients, add value to your relationships, and keep everyone involved with a project in alignment. Not bad, right? If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources. |
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