 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. Unfortunately, most owners get stuck and never grow their businesses to the point to achieve this. They burn out or run out of money. I want to help you stop trading time for money. Each week I chat with an expert that is in the trenches of helping bootstrapped entrepreneurs grow. We focus on both the business and personal side of growth. I also share success stories and tales of caution. My goal is to dig deep and find out exactly what is working and not working and share it. We focus on growth strategies and tactics in the areas of sales, marketing, technology, and data. This podcast is NOT for professional fundraisers or venture-backed leaders. Summary 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.  For many businesses, the "gap" between their marketing and sales departments might as well be the Grand Canyon. Marketing and sales aren't on the same page. They live in "siloed" spaces — and they don't even like each other! If you're facing such a challenge within your organization, then you're far from alone.
The question is: Why is there a gap between these two departments? Ultimately, their goal is the same: to win customers and close sales. Yet, they often seem to be at odds with one another. Let's dig a little deeper, and see if we can discover some reasons why the gap exists. Discrepancies in Time and Space While there could be several reasons why your marketing and sales teams aren't in alignment, two of the most common ones have to do with what we'll call "discrepancies in time and space." Here's what we mean by that: 1. Time Sales reps often view time very differently from marketers. For them, speedy results are critical. They have quotas to meet, deals to close, and precious little time to do it! In contrast, marketers often take a more long-range view of the buyer's journey. They're interested in deploying tactics that may not have immediate results, but will have a cumulative effect on their target audience. 2. Space The sales and marketing teams occupy very different spaces — literally and metaphorically. They often come under the oversight of different managers, have different goals, and interact with customers in two completely different ways. For instance, sales reps spend a lot of their time working with prospects that are in the later stages of the sales funnel. On the other hand, marketers may spend more time interacting with existing customers as part of focus groups. When you combine these two factors, it's easy to see why a gap could exist between marketing and sales. Traditionally, they live on different (and sometimes competing) schedules, and see the consumer base from vastly different perspectives. Listen to Gretchen Lehman of The Carruthers Group and I discuss this topic in this video clip. How to Bridge the Gap Of course, knowing why the gap exists isn't going to change things in and of itself. The question is: How can you bridge that gap, and successfully integrate marketing and sales? Here are three basic tips that can help:
True, bridging the gap between marketing and sales may be easier said than done. However, with some time, forethought, and patience, you'll be able to successfully do so, and align the strengths of both teams toward sustainable growth. 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.  A solid sales pipeline is a key component for any successful business. Of course, one of the key objectives for a new business or startup is to build that pipeline and fill it with leads. In most cases, that means you'll need to hire a new sales rep — mainly because you won't be able to handle all the sales duties on your own!
Still, you may wonder: "Can I really afford to hire a new salesperson? How will I maintain my profitability with that added expense? Why should I bring another team member into the fold?" Let's discuss the answers to these questions in the information below. Why Some Hesitate to Hire a New Salesperson The decision whether to hire a new sales rep often presents a challenge for small business owners and entrepreneurs. On the one hand, you absolutely need sales reps to bring in more revenue. On the other hand, you need revenue to pay your sales reps' wages. The whole thing has a hint of the "chicken or the egg" dilemma about it. With that in mind, it's understandable why some business owners would hesitate to hire a salesperson to help grow their revenue stream. They may feel that, at the moment, they simply don't have the revenue stream to cover the expenses associated with a new hire: salary, insurance, training, equipment, etc. Granted, it is important to have enough money in the bank to cover the cost of a new hire (between 6 months to a year's worth of salary is recommended). However, this is a key point to remember: At the start, building up your sales force is a balance sheet spend, not an income statement expense. Simply put, it's important to think of a new hire as an investment that will yield returns several months in the future. If you have enough available cash to make the hire, then you should consider doing so right away. Watch this short clip from an interview I did on this topic with Don Myers, Master Chair at Vistage Worldwide. How to Hire the Right Sales Rep Even if you have plenty of overhead to work with, this is the million-dollar question: How Can you find the right sales rep for the position? Here are seven tips that can help: 1. Look for a candidate who will fit your culture. This is especially important for small businesses and startups, since your culture may encompass only a handful of people at the moment. If you introduce a "disruptive force" into the equation early on, it could derail the efforts of your entire team. True, credentials are important. However, you want someone who will not only "play nice with others," but also shares the same core values and sensibilities that your company has. 2. Determine their level of knowledge in your industry. If the candidate already has a robust understanding of your industry, then there will be less of a learning curve for them as they adapt to your sales process. On the other hand, someone with zero experience in your industry will need that much more training. (Think of a sales rep who spent years in the automotive industry switching over to a marketing role for health and beauty products.) It's important to note that a good candidate may not need a background in sales, specifically. For example, they may have experience in fields like business development or marketing. The main thing is that they understand your product, and can sell it in a way that makes sense to them. 3. Find someone who's willing to work hard. This goes without saying, but any sales position involves a lot of hard work, perseverance, and resilience. Even though working with a small business or startup often contains an element of excitement, you'll want a salesperson who's willing to get down in the trenches and deal with the "daily grind" of reaching out to and qualifying prospects. 4. Look for a candidate who really enjoy sales. Any decent sales rep needs to be a "self-starter" when it comes to making just one more call, sending just one more email, and reaching out to just one more prospect. Reps who aren't natural-born salespeople can do it, with effort (and some coaching). However, in the earlier stages of your venture you'll want someone who really loves the thrill of selling to others, and thrives as a communicator. 5. Discern the candidate's level of confidence. Confidence is key to being a successful salesperson. After all, if you can't convey absolute belief in the benefits of your product, how can you persuade others to believe in it? In addition, sales reps have to wade through a lot of "no's" before they get to that "yes" they're looking for. A top-performing sales rep will maintain their self-confidence despite the number of rejections they have to face on a daily basis. Bottom line? If you're serious about capturing more leads and growing your revenue stream, then you need someone with a healthy amount of confidence — in themselves, and in the product. 6. Seek out a candidate who's willing to learn and adapt. Every new business will have its hiccups and growing pains. Your new salesperson will have to be adaptable, and willing to learn (and re-learn) their duties as the company grows and expands. It only makes sense that the ideal candidate would be ready and willing to roll with the punches, and keep moving forward. 7. Look for someone with a proven track record. The sales industry is tough, and there's no guarantee of success on any given day. For that reason, you'll want to bring someone with a proven track record of success onboard — either in sales, marketing, or a related field. Success breeds success, and you want to surround yourself with salespeople who have what it takes to move the needle. In Summary In summary, if you view your new sales hire as a necessary investment for future growth, and find the right person for the job, then you'll almost certainly start seeing good results within a year or less. At the end of the day, your sales performance will be better than ever, and you'll bring in more revenue than you did before. Who could ask for more? 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.  Is your entire sales process built around "solution selling?" Or do you solution sell at least part of the time? If so, then it's important to demonstrate to your prospect that you can create real value for them. Show you're committed to finding not just a solution, but the best possible solution to their problem.
One great tactic that can help you take your solution selling to the next level is called the "trial balloon." Let's talk about how this simple, proven construct can really propel your conversations forward, and aid in your value-creation proposition. What is the Trial Balloon Strategy? The term "trial balloon" originated during the 1700s. The Montgolfiere brothers in France were striving to create a working hot-air balloon. Obviously, they didn't want to risk life and limb by taking off in a hot-air balloon without some assurance that it would actually stay aloft! Thus, they sent up trial balloons to test their design before finally committing to a journey of their own. In marketing terms, the basic concept is the same. The trial balloon strategy is a technique in which you put an idea "up in the atmosphere," and see what your prospect thinks about it. Most prospects don't want to quickly commit to a contract or agreement unless they first have some assurance that they'll get real value in return. As you "float" ideas to them, and they see the value in your ideas, their trust in you will gradually grow. This process gradually gets you much closer to a final sale. How Does It Work for Solution Selling? It's important to realize that sending up a "trial balloon" for your prospect may require some quick pivoting on your end. After all, if your prospect isn't enthusiastic about one idea, then it's vital that you transition to another idea before they lose interest completely. (This is why you should always have multiple ideas in your arsenal, especially in the initial stages of your relationship with the client.) So how exactly does the trial balloon technique work? Here's one possibility: Imagine you're talking to a new prospect named Rick. He's already told you about the main pain points he wants to address. You could say something like: "Thank you for sharing your situation with me. I really appreciate your straightforwardness. I do want to create some value for you, and I have some ideas. So what I'd like to do is get my team together, sit down with you, and share these ideas before we finalize a proposal. I just want to make sure that I'm on the same wavelength as you. Would that be okay?" Nine times out of 10, Rick is going to say "yes" to your suggestion. Then, after you and your team have strategized on which ideas to present, you can share those with him. Trial balloon ideas are like rungs on a ladder that ultimately lead to a sale — the more ideas Rick likes, the easier it will be for you to provide him with a customized solution to his problem. Each step increases the possibility that he'll do business with your company. Watch me explain this concept in this video tutorial. Trial Balloons Work at Every Stage in the Buyer's Journey The great thing about trial balloons is that they work all the time! Whether you're dealing with a current client, or with someone who's just entered your funnel, you can always use this technique to get a pulse on where they are, and what they're looking for. A "trial balloon" strategy should be part of your consultative selling toolbox. If you make good use of this technique, you'll almost certainly see your sales performance improve dramatically. 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.  Two of the most important elements of effective sales are (1) understanding your clients, and (2) offering a solution that meets their needs. After all, if you don't know who your end users are or what they need, how will you possibly convince them to buy from you? The process of getting to know your target customers and adapting your offerings to their pain points and goals dovetails nicely with the concept of ideation. Let's talk about what we mean by that term, and how it can help your team to improve their sales performance. What is Ideation? One definition of ideation is "the process of developing and conveying prescriptive ideas to others, typically in a business setting. It describes the sequence of thoughts, from the original concept to implementation." In plain English, ideation is the process of developing and implementing ideas. Ideation is a big deal because employees and leaders that are 100 percent focused on going through the motions of their job will miss opportunities to improve their products, services, or strategies. It takes time and effort to temporarily step away from the routine tasks of your job and meditate on new concepts. However, the rewards of ideation are well worth the investment. Just ask Beethoven, Einstein, and other geniuses of art and science who produced masterpieces through hours of deep thought. (But don't worry. You don't have to be the next Einstein to think up a great idea!) Examples of Ideation
There are several examples of ideation at work in the corporate world. Steve Jobs may immediately spring to mind. His innovative approach to consumer electronics was the result, in part, of focused meditation on what customers wanted, and how Apple's products could fill those needs. Google is another example (at least in its early days). At one point, the company encouraged employees to spend up to one-fifth (20 percent) of their time at work meditating on new ideas that intrigued them, and could eventually become solutions to real-world problems. Even toothpaste companies have taken advantage of ideation as a business strategy. For instance, back in the 80's the team at Unilever had to brainstorm ways to compete with the two "toothpaste giants," Colgate and Crest. The solution? The world's first baking soda and peroxide toothpaste, Mentadent, which sold very well as a "specialized" product. The point is, incorporating ideation into your business plan makes good sense, and can open doors for your team that you would never have known about otherwise. So now the question is: How does ideation specifically relate to the sales process? Integrating Ideation into the Sales Process If you really want to help your clients meet their business objectives, then it's important to lead them through the ideation process. This means taking them through two important steps: discovery and ideation. 1. Discovery In the first phase of the ideation process, you want to learn everything you possibly can about the client. Many companies will ask: "What's the main problem the client is facing?" and stop there. While that is a key question you need to answer, you have to go deeper than that. For one thing, you want to divide that question into two parts. What challenge is the company facing? And what challenge is the individual (or team) facing? It's important to delve into both of these factors. Even if you have a "big picture" solution in your back pocket, it may not resonate with your client until they understand how it will affect them and their team personally. Ask the "magic wand" question. In other words: "If you could wave a magic wand and instantly solve all of your business problems, what would that reality look like?" And this is key: listen to their answer. (It's amazing how much of effective sales is listening to the client, versus talking to them.) When you're in the discovery phase, come armed with basic questions like:
This process of discovery is critical. You'll not only understand exactly where your client is coming from, but the answers to these questions will also set you up for step #2: ideation. 2. Ideation In the ideation phase, your main objective is to throw as many ideas as you can into the hat. In order to do that, you want to bring together as many stakeholders as you possibly can. This includes everyone from your original discovery session, plus any domain experts, the client's production team (if applicable), and so forth. Think of it as a mass brainstorming session with a clear focus. Once everyone has assembled, draw a 2x2 matrix on the whiteboard. Mark your first column "individual;" your second column "company;" your first row "problems;" and your second row "solutions." Start with the problems row. List out all the challenges and pain points that you identified in the discovery phase, both for individuals and for the company as a whole. (And remember, discussing individual challenges is a huge difference-maker throughout the entire process). Ask your audience if you missed any questions or pain points in the original discovery session. If they come up with any, write those down for future reference. Next comes the fun part: brainstorming solutions to the client's problems. It's okay if your team comes up with ideas that are completely nuts! The point of this exercise is to explore all the options and opportunities that are open to your client, and think about ways to implement the best solutions. At the end of this process, you need to make sure that there's follow-through in two key areas:
The entire ideation process can take anywhere from half an hour to a full day. But if you take the time to go through it, your team may come up with some truly amazing solutions. And your sales performance will improve as a result. 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.  When building a house, it's absolutely vital that your foundation is rock-solid — but in order to lay a rock-solid foundation, you have to dig deep. It's similar with your sales team. Your Sales Foundations define the core elements of your business. But if you want everyone on your team to have a clear idea of who you are, and what you stand for, you'll have to lead your team in some "digging exercises."
When laying your sales foundations, there are five key questions you need to answer. Or rather, five questions that you and your team need to answer together. Let's talk about them one by one, and see how you can get everyone on the same page. 1. What Problems Do You Solve? This usually isn't a difficult question to answer. But you need to make sure that there's alignment on this point before moving on to the next sales foundation question. Every company is in existence to solve a problem or fill a need. Which customer needs does your company fill? You could start the discussion by asking questions like:
Ask your team members to provide as many answers as they can. Then, compile those answers into a bulleted list. After that, organize the answers under different "umbrella" categories. For example, if you run an SaaS company, you may be able to segment the problems you solve into three areas:
2. What is Your Value Proposition? Every time you solve a problem, or fill a need, you also create value. Your value proposition is a clear statement of the value you can bring to the table when customers do business with you. In fact, as far as your customers are concerned, your value proposition represents the most important part of your company. Ask each member of your Improvement Team what they feel the company's value proposition is. Then, have them define any ambiguous terms that come up along the way. If there's any misalignment on the value proposition, keep digging until a consensus has been reached. Finally, suggest two brief summaries of your value proposition: one that's 25 words long, and another that's 100 words. The 25-word version should encapsulate your value proposition in a way that any salesperson can internalize and repeat to customers. The 100-word version should serve as the basis for just about all of your marketing messages moving forward. 3. What are Your Key Differentiators? It's true that there may be a hundred companies in your industry that basically provide the same product or service that you do. But none of them do it exactly like your company does. So the question is: What makes you unique? And then the million-dollar follow-up question should be: Why would someone buy from you instead of one of your competitors? You may need to start the discussion with your Improvement Team by asking: Why have customers bought from us in the past? Whatever answers you get, make sure that you're especially careful with your terminology here. For instance, one salesperson may consider a product "great" because it's extremely reliable. Whereas another sales rep looks at the same product and calls it "okay" because it's not cutting-edge. 4. What are Your Offerings? Now we're getting into the weeds a bit (but just a bit!) Your offerings are the specific products and services that your company provides to customers. They're the how of your value proposition. By asking this question, you don't want your team members to just list off the different offerings your company has. Instead, you want to connect those offerings to the needs, wants, and interests of your customers. As an example, think of a seafood restaurant. Imagine that the restaurant only offers flounder to its patrons. But most of them want shrimp. Even if it's the finest flounder in town, the restaurant's offerings don't match the preferences of its customers. In the same way, it's important to periodically revisit your offerings to make sure they really align with the needs and wants of your customers. You can use this three-step process to get some clarity and alignment on your offerings:
5. What Experience Can You Promise and Deliver to Customers? As the final "building block" for your Sales Foundations, you need to move beyond the "X's and O's" of concrete problem-solving and enter the realm of human interaction. Your customer experience promise defines the kind of experiences you want to create for your customers. In other words, how you want them to feel before, during, and after an interaction with your brand. Have your team members generate a list of keywords and phrases that they feel would best represent that "ideal experience" for the customer. Once you've compiled that list, whittle it down until you arrive at the top three or four concepts that everyone agrees most closely match your company, and are most integral to the value you deliver. Your Sales Foundations and Foundational Messaging Once you and your Improvement Team answer these five key questions, you'll be able to use them to shape your company's foundational messagin. In other words, the narrative that each sales rep should walk a customer through (in whole or in part) as they consider whether to buy from your brand. A coherent foundational message will sift out prospects from your pipeline who aren't really a good fit. They help your team to win over those leads that will yield the highest value. The bottom line? When your team knows who they are as a company, they'll be able to stay on message, deliver a consistent experience, and ultimately improve their performance. That's the power of rock-solid Sales Foundations. 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.  As a sales manager, you want to be a friend to your team members. After all, you're all working towards the same goal. Effective sales leadership involves creating an atmosphere where your reps are comfortable coming to you with their questions and concerns.
On the other hand, you also have a job to do. Sometimes that job may involve having difficult discussions with your sales team, whether the topic is prospecting, closing sales, meeting quotas, or anything else. What can you do to maintain trust with your team when you have to address serious issues? Here are four tips that can help. 1. Put in the "Pre-Work" Trust is developed over time. That's why you should work on developing a measure of trust with each team member before a difficult topic comes up. In most cases, it only takes an extra minute or two to show some personal interest in your reps. If you schedule one-on-one time with your team members on a regular basis, they'll eventually grow comfortable with you. The result is a team that will gradually start sharing their thoughts and concerns with you as a friend, rather than an employee. 2. Distribute an Agenda Ahead of Time In terms of the actual discussion you need to have with your team, it's always a good idea to set expectations early on. With that in mind, think about distributing a meeting agenda well in advance. This will accomplish at least two important things:
3. Use the "Hat Trick" Sometimes feelings can get bruised if there's a perception that you've suddenly "gone cold" toward one of your team members. One way to navigate around this pitfall is to use the "hat trick." Here's how it works: Whenever you need to "get down to business" and tackle a serious issue, always precede your words and actions with a statement like: "I'm wearing my VP of Sales hat right now." That signals to your team that what you're about to say and do has nothing to do with your personal feelings toward them. You're simply doing your job, and addressing an important issue in a straightforward way. We humans have an amazing ability to compartmentalize our life, and our feelings. Using the "hat trick" can help your team to do that smoothly and without pain, even when your discussion is especially difficult. 4. Always Thank and Commend No matter how serious or difficult the subject of your meeting is, you can always find something to thank your team members for, and something to commend them on. Research shows that praise and commendation from managers is a top motivator for performance, even beating out financial incentives. The wonderful thing about giving thanks and commendation to someone else is that it won't cost you a dime. That being said, always start and end your difficult discussions with sincere expressions of gratitude for the work your team does, and appropriate commendation for their efforts. Giving your team a nice "commendation sandwich" (commendation on both ends and constructive feedback in the middle) is one of the best ways to maintain trust with them without pulling your punches. Sales Leadership is About Balance At the end of the day, some discussions are never going to be easy, no matter what. You must balance being a friend and a boss. However, if you put these four tips into action, you'll likely receive a positive response from your sales team. And, you'll help them to keep improving their sales performance, individually and as a group. 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.  Lead generation is critical for small and medium enterprises to enable them to grow their businesses. Increasing leads indicate growth in brand awareness and interest in your products or services. However, choosing a reliable lead generation tool is a challenging task.
Where to Start Your Sales Tech Tool Search The market is awash with various CRM tools that promise the best results, but they are not created equal. Picking a lead generation tool should not be a matter of trial and error. Instead, develop a strategy for lead generation. This means before you start the process of searching for sales tech tools, you must:
It's crucial to work on these factors before embarking on a search for the best tech tools. The next step is to identify the tools you need for each lead generation stage. For example, are you trying to create awareness about your products or services? Do you want to gain valuable data about the visitors to your site? Is your aim to make your leads more engaged with your business? Depending on what you want to achieve, there are various tools you can use at each level. In this guide, we classify them as foundational, research, and outreach tools. Let's delve into each category. Foundational Lead Generation Tools Having a customer relationship management tool is not just an application of technology, but a strategy to understand your customers more deeply. It helps you identify their needs and behaviors, enabling you to create stronger relationships with them. An effective CRM provides the significant benefit of allowing you to develop better relations with new customers, leading to:
Pipedrive One highly rated and effective CRM tool is Pipedrive. It comes with advanced features to help small businesses achieve efficient reporting. In addition to being a customer relationship management tool, it also works as an account-management tool. It can assist your business with the entire process of marketing and sales. Its ability to visualize the sales process from start to finish is one attractive feature that every small business should leverage in lead generation. The tool has a straightforward user interface that is simple to pick up compared to the time and expense other software require for onboarding. Its pricing model comes in three tiers, each with different provisions. Other CRMs we think are comparable include:
Research Tools in Lead Generation Market research is vital as it helps you enact improvements in your lead generation activities. It provides you with the information you need before implementing any business decision. However, acquiring the figures and facts you need is a different story altogether. This is where marketing tools come in to do all the work of collecting raw market data. They help you determine who is visiting your website and how long they stay on certain pages. This data helps you identify the information that appeals to them the most. Some recommendable market research tools in lead generation include: Sales Navigator This tool from LinkedIn is effective for lead generation. It features Google-like search for leads relevant to your business. It makes your lead generation work easier through the Lead Builder feature. Here, you can enter the criteria for your leads, like job titles and location. The title will create a list of all potential prospects, which you can save for later use. By integrating the tool with Salesforce, all the data will easily flow into your CRM for seamless access. You may also use specific keywords to find leads that are not obvious but who might be interested in your products. This information is valuable for creating personalized pitches for your prospects. LeadFeeder LeadFeeder is a B2B website tracking software that shows you the companies that are visiting your site. You'll also learn how they found you, including the search terms they used to get to your website and the pages they liked. It is a lead generation tool that also provides account-based marketing and sales intelligence capabilities rolled into one. The best part is that you can easily integrate it with other tools like:
Outreach Tools Outreach is one tricky part of lead generation, but you can achieve your business goals with ease when using the right tool. Most tools are designed for email outreach campaigns, but others can help with social media outreach. Here are a couple of examples. SalesLoft SalesLoft is a platform that creates an engine for your sales team to navigate the sales process and communicate with customers for ongoing success. The tool guides and automates the sales process by providing the insights your business needs for exceptional outcomes. SalesLoft is not a CRM or marketing tool, but is specifically designed for sales engagement. Use it to orchestrate mail, schedule meetings and calls with potential clients, and interact with them from anywhere. With this tool, you can automatically track and log your tasks and engagement data to your CRM. This way, the sales team can focus on selling, operation teams can focus on strategy, and managers can focus on coaching. Sumo This tool comes with a whole range of useful social media and traffic tools to help you improve your marketing strategy. One of the outstanding features is the social share function that allows visitors to your site to share your content to social media. The tool also keeps track of the number of shares. Final Thoughts on Lead Generation Having the right tech stack for lead generation can help your small business grow in leaps and bounds. Foundational, research, and outreach tools help you reach your prospective customers depending on where they are in their buyer journey. However, don't expect tech tools to fix all the deficiencies on your sales team. While they can greatly increase your efficiency, real sales success starts much deeper within an organization. Read one of our recent sales tip posts entitled: "Don't Believe in a Miracle Cure" to learn more about how to bring real change to your sales organization. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve the lead generation process, contact us or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  It's no secret that an organization has to enjoy alignment across all of its departments to really grow (or at least grow in a sustainable way). The problem is, it's common for departments, teams, sales managers, and even individual team members to be misaligned with one another.
In other words, they may have very different ideas about the value the company provides, the selling points that help to convert leads, and the typical journey that the ideal customer takes. Misalignment can be a major problem for any business. Think about it: If one of your reps is selling based on price, and another one is selling based on customer experience, then where does that leave brand consistency? How can you focus on the prospects with the highest potential value if your reps aren't even sure who they are? The point is, sales management involves working out any misalignment issues within your organization as soon as possible. It may not lead to immediate, explosive growth. But it will stabilize your processes and revenue stream. That is the foundation you need for your company to really take off. This is where the revenue equation comes into the picture. What is the Revenue Equation? If we were to express the revenue equation as a mathematical formula, it would look like this: Sales Foundations + Sales Design + Sales Infrastructure = Revenue Stabilization and Growth When those three key elements on the left side of the equation are completely aligned across the entire organization, the inevitable result is stabilization, and ultimately growth. The question for sales managers is: Do you understand the revenue equation for your company? And if you do, how about the rest of your team? We've talked about these three elements in this recent blog post, but let's just remind ourselves what each component involves:
For sales managers, defining these three elements is the easy part. The trick is, making sure everyone on your sales team (and within your organization) is on the same page when it comes to these "pieces of the puzzle." If each sales rep has a different idea about what your company is all about, then many of them are selling for an imaginary company — the one that exists in their mind, not in reality. Understanding the Revenue Equation is Vital to Sales Management In practical terms, the main issue is how to get everyone on the same page. If you're the Change Agent, then you'll need to lay the groundwork for the Improvement Team to achieve that desired alignment. That means you'll have to dig in and ask some probing questions. Throughout this entire process, you'll also need to be guided by the three key qualities of the Change Agent: Hold the Vision Remember, the ultimate objective of your meetings with the Improvement Team is to work out any alignment issues. This is critical to stabilize and grow revenue. You can't forget that — and you can't let your team forget it, either. Think of it like a family road trip. You need to figure out where you're going (not just the main destination, but any "sub-destinations" along the way). How will you get there? What's expected of each family member? In the same way, with each meeting you need to be upfront and intentional about the main goal (your destination), as well as any "stepping-stone goals" along the way. Of course, sales managers also need to be clear about how you're going to get there, and what's expected of each team member. Consistently Cultivate Trust Depending on the dynamics of your company, you may need to do some pre-work before your team members start opening up to you. Create opportunities for them to express their true thoughts and opinions. This may mean multiple introductory meetings at the start, several one-on-one sessions, and even meetings without the team's direct supervisor (just to give the participants some space, and with the supervisor's approval). Here's another thing to keep in mind: Sometimes team members, in the middle of a meeting, will experience what we'll call a "tangential epiphany" — a really great insight that has nothing to do with the topic at hand. It's important to handle those occasions with care. You don't want to derail the meeting. But you also want to demonstrate your respect for the team member's contribution. The best way for sales managers to deal with that situation is to put the participant's idea "in the parking lot." Set aside time to loop back around to it at the end of the meeting. Alternatively, you could have a quick one-on-one with the team member afterwards to flesh out his or her idea. That's a great way to build trust, and gain more insight into your company's Revenue Equation at the same time. (In fact, sometimes those "tangential epiphanies" are the most valuable insights that come out of a meeting!) Seek to Understand Once sales managers have established a baseline level of trust, and everyone in the meeting knows why they're there, you can really dig into the details of your company's alignment issues. You can easily identify which areas need attention by simply having each participant rank, on a scale of 1 to 10, each of the following components is within your organization. The ranking should be done based on how well-defined each component is in the mind of each sales team member. 1. Sales Foundations
2. Sales Design
3. Sales Infrastructure
After you get those preliminary scores, you can explore the discrepancies and areas of confusion you find on a deeper level. Effort Pays Off It takes some effort, and it definitely takes some commitment, to work through this process. But the light at the end of the tunnel is a deeper understanding of where misalignment exists, and the beginnings of a game plan to fix those issues. If you and your team really understand the organization's Revenue Equation, you'll be able to work together to refine it, stabilize it, and eventually use it to improve your sales performance. Gain more insights and effective sales leadership techniques for your SMB by signing up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars. |
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