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Archive for June, 2011

Steve Martin: Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Steve Martin, author of Heavy Hitter Sales Psychology and a contributor of Harvard Business Review recently wrote a very interesting article entitled, “Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople.” Having interviewed “thousands of top business-to-business salespeople who sell for some of the world’s leading companies,” Steve claims to have indentified what really makes successful salespeople tick.

By administering “personality tests” that measured five areas – “openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and negative emotionality” – Steve set out to truly analyze why some people just have that ability to not just sell, but sell well.

Here is the list of the seven traits:

1. Modesty

2. Conscientiousness

3. Achievement Orientation

4. Curiosity

5. Lack of Gregariousness

6. Lack of Discouragement

7. Lack of Self-Consciousness

Hmm…where is swagger, or confidence?

Click here to read the article and see a full explanation of the “Seven Traits.”

Don’t Be Afraid of Sales Technology

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Let’s face it, new technology can be a scary concept.  Who can blame us though? After all, how many times in our lives have we been pitched on products or services that our supposed to make our business life better, but end up miserably failing and just making things worse? The answer for many people seems to be “too many times.”

Not all technology comes with a side of snake-oil however, especially technology used to help you convert more deals. In fact, the right technology can have tangible, positive consequences on your bottom line. The trick is to use technology that is based on proven best practices and sound sales research, which allow you to maximize the effort you are already putting into selling. Even if what you are currently doing seems to be working for your business, you may not realize what more can really be accomplished by putting some faith into all the amazing things current technology can offer.

When looking at technology, you should ask yourself if it helps you accomplish the following things:

1)     Does it help me get in touch with my prospects faster? It’s been proven that the first person to establish contact with an interested party greatly increases the chance for a sale, even if the lead doesn’t purchase immediately or decides to look elsewhere.

2)     Does it help me maintain a positive relationship with my prospects throughout the duration of the sales cycle? Many times, sales cycles are long processes. A way to send automated reminders or a sophisticated way to remember to follow up is an important tool in your arsenal.

3)     Does it help you stay organized? The ability to recall notes on conversations that happened yesterday, or a month ago, is the right way you should be doing business.

4)     Does it enforce accountability? Having logs and statistics easily available helps you ensure that your operation is running as efficiently as possible.

It’s time to embrace the right technology and take your selling power to new heights. You can do it!

Getting the Right Lead to the Right Person

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Any sales manager will tell you about certain instances where specific members of their sales staff have seemed to “connect on a higher level” with a specific lead. The reason for the connection isn’t really something that can be readily explained, but the results of this connection are usually extremely favorable to converting a lead.

A recent study by Leads360 discusses an advanced distribution model called Skill Based Routing, or “SBR” that should revolutionize methods of lead routing to capitalize on these specific connections that can occur between a lead and a sales rep. The essential goal of SBR is quite simple: put leads in the hands of the salesperson most likely to close them.

There are a wide variety of different specialized “skills” that a salesperson can have that will help them sell more. Anything from being born in the same region as the lead to a specialized knowledge of specific products can give certain sales agents a predisposition to convert a certain type of lead. SBR takes the approach to lead routing that dictates that the most important aspect of the process is finding the right sales rep for each lead. SBR is reliant on data collected on every lead coming through your organization to isolate what “skills” your sales staff may have, then use the trends highlighted in this data to automatically route leads to the right sales person, maximizing your ROI and ensuring that every lead be given the best possible chance to close.

The benefits of SBR are immediately clear, particularly for those accustomed to more traditional methods of sales routing. There are different reasons for different methods of lead routing. Round Robin, where leads are evenly distributed amongst the reps in order to create equity in lead volume, is designed to balance the number of leads going to each rep. While Round Robin routing is excellent for promoting equality and fairness, it isn’t necessarily the best method for closing leads. Selective Routing addressing this by moving leads based on organizational structure and balance. It’s a method more suited to closing more leads by taking advantage of your team’s organizational structure, but it still doesn’t focus on routing leads based specifically on the characteristics that will contribute to closing the most leads. SBR, however, is a routing method with the specific and sole goal of ensuring that sales agents can convert more deals. SBR is driven purely by efforts to maximize ROI and ensure that every lead is given the best possible chance to close. In this way it’s superior to previous methods of lead routing when it comes to closing the most leads possible, and the data confirms this.

The newly released Leads360 research initiative reveals that, after the implementation of SBR, “skilled” reps saw a 111 percent increase in lead conversion over the previous year, and a 36 percent improvement over the previous 45 days. Quite interestingly, those reps that didn’t have a specific “skill” isolated also saw improvement in their numbers, with a 14 percent improvement over the previous year and a 17 percent increase over the previous 45 days. This means that, overall, sales staffs saw a 53 percent improvement over the previous year and a 37 percent improvement over the previous 45 days.

In summary, SBR benefits all of a team’s sales reps which translate to more conversions. Converting a high volume of leads isn’t easy, and sales reps need every advantage they can get to ensure that each and every lead is given its best chance to close possible. Implementing an SBR approach is an excellent tool for sales managers looking to find ways to squeeze that extra value out of their marketing buy.

Reach Them the Right Way

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

As far as places to shop go, it would be hard to beat the world wide web for convenience. It’s a great place to do business. Not without some drawbacks, but overall, it’s pretty great. On the positive side, there’s near boundless competitive forces to drive prices down for customers. There is an abundance of information buyers can consult before spending dollar one. And consumers have a loud, lasting voice with which they can sound off on their experiences with different companies and products.

But one of the reasons why there is so much competition is because the barrier to entry for creating a business on the internet is relatively low. When it’s easy to create businesses, more people do it; more earnest business people striving to build a lasting business with a satisfied clientele and more unsavory characters engaging in questionable practices.

But since the web is by nature a work in progress, the good guys are always coming up with ways to empower consumers to avoid zeros and do business with the heroes. In addition to giving users a place to do research and contribute to the public record about how well companies are serving them, there are many clever solutions that help consumers get the best possible experience.

One such solution that is available for business that are eager to win the business of this new empowered consumer is lead management software. There is simply no quicker way to respond to a consumer who has requested information about what you offer. But it’s not just speed. With skills-based lead routing it is possible put sales reps on the phone with consumers with whom they are most compatible.

The old ways of doling out leads to sales reps randomly who churn through them when they get around to it are dead. Consumers expect to be contacted immediately, and not just by anyone, but by a person they are going to enjoy dealing with.

Maximizing ROI in Solar Sales

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

It’s clear that, as the 21st century moves forward, the expansion of the renewable energy industry is a necessity and an inevitability.  As such, solar sales represents an excellent opportunity in a real growth industry.  However, getting the most out or your sales team and converting interested prospects into satisfied customers is always a challenge in any industry.  Making the decision to install solar panels on your home or business is an exciting investment, but it is also a big one.  Leads in solar sales have to be treated as valuable.  Each sale represents a major decision for the lead in question and, therefore, sales representatives can expect that their leads will take time with their decision and do all the requisite research.  With an informed, cautious pool of leads, it’s all the more important that sales teams know how to most efficiently contact, nurture, and close their leads.  In finding the sort of efficient, organized approach to sales that will ensure maximum ROI for every lead, there’s no better ally than a Lead Management System like Leads360.  Leads360 will bring automation to your sales process, ensuring that your sales team can focus their efforts on selling and that each and every lead is given every chance to close.

It’s true for all industries that the internet has permanently changed sales.  Anyone can now access all the information they need about any product they’re thinking about.  This means that, particularly when considering a decision that is as costly and important as the installation of solar panels, closing leads is about Best Practices.  For any sales team, there are a series of approaches for each and every lead that will maximize the chance at closing.  However, sometimes isolating these practices can be a murky and confusing process.  How many times should a sales rep attempt to contact each lead?  How long should one wait between calls?  How many nurturing e-mails is ideal?  How should leads be routed to each lead and how does one determine which leads should go to which sales agents?  Without an organized plan of attack, a sales manager can easily get buried in these and dozens of other questions.

A Lead Management System, or LMS, can provide an automated and data-driven approach to answering all of these questions.  Leads360 has collected data from millions of transactions and analyzed it to help determine what Best Practices are for sales in any industry.  What’s more, the software is designed to collect data from your sales team in order to customize a specific approach to your business.  Nurturing e-mails are sent automatically and sales representatives are given automated prompts and which leads to call and when in order to get the best results.  Your sales team can rely on the automated sales system to direct them to the right leads to work and stay focused on selling and closing leads.  What’s more, nurturing e-mails help to educate leads about the product.  Leads360 provides a specific, focused, and efficient approach to sales that automates the process and insures that no lead is allowed to slip through the cracks.

Solar Sales is unlike sales in other industries like Insurance in that the available pool of leads is much smaller.  There are far fewer potential leads due to demographic and regional limitations, and this means that each and every lead needs to be worked as hard and as smart as possible.  What’s more, unlike selling a service that people know that they need and then competing only with other companies, selling leads on solar also requires a sales team to convince the lead that solar is right for them.   Sales agents truly have their work cut out for them.  There are fewer leads to go around, and sales teams are not only competing with other companies, but they have to also work to convince leads that solar is the right choice for them.  With all of these potential pitfalls, it’s all the more important that every sales team be utilizing Best Practices.  You company simple cannot afford to miss out on a lead because of something as careless as a missed phone call or the failure to get a nurturing e-mail sent at the right time.  Leads360 allows your sales team to get the most of every lead, not just by working hard, but also by working smart.

Solar sales is a difficult business, and converting leads is a lengthy process.  In order to maximize ROI and sustain success, sales teams need to know that they’re doing everything possible to close each and every lead and that they’re working those leads as efficiently as possible.  Wasted time and effort cannot be tolerated, and Leads360 provides a sales manager with a reliable and adaptable software system that automates the sales process and maximizes results through data-driven specifications.  Any sales team intent on knowing that they’re getting the most out of their leads should seriously consider a LMS like Leads360.

What is that Voicemail Really Saying?

Monday, June 27th, 2011

When you call a new lead for the first time and you get their voicemail, it may sound like is this: “You have reached Joe Jones. I can’t take your call. Please leave me a message.” But what you should really be hearing is: “You have reached Joe Jones. One of your competitors reached me first. I’m not calling you back.”

If you are leaving a lot of voicemails, it is probably because you are reaching leads after your competition is. You may be wondering, “How could this be? I’m fast. I call leads that are assigned to me right away.” And you probably are. It’s not you. The fact of the matter is that there is one way of getting leads from the “online inquiry” stage to the “assigned lead” stage that is faster than all the others. That way is by using lead management software.

If you are leaving a lot of voicemails, your competition may be using lead management. When integrated with an intelligent lead dialer, lead management software can effectively turn an online inquiry into a phone call. When a prospect submits an inquiry online, the inquiry posts instantly to the lead management system. The phones of all available sales reps ring. The first to respond picks up the phone and is connected to the lead. So new leads are distributed immediately; to the person who is prepared to work them.

So when you reach a prospect’s voicemail, read between the lines. You may be accustomed to thinking that getting a prospects’ voicemail means that the prospect is busy. Or that they you are being screened. But in all likelihood, what it means is that you are too late. Take the hint: start using lead management and be first on the phone.

Competition is a Constant

Friday, June 24th, 2011

When engineering any kind of system, like an engine for instance, it’s necessary to take into consideration the nature of how things work. It’s necessary to leverage the forces that are always going to be in play, like gravity, the behavior of vacuums, the explosive nature of combustion, etc. For an engine to work, it’s designer must work with these forces, not against them. It’s also necessary to leverage the natural properties of the materials you are working with. Are the materials liquid or solid? If they are solid are they rigid or flexible? How will they behave in different temperatures, and under different degrees of stress?

Some of these factors can be tweaked to behave a little differently, others are immutable constants. When designing an engine, or any kind of system, the way to maximize performance and efficiency is by setting up the systems in such a way that allows these constant forces to express themselves fully.  They should be unhindered, to yield maximum benefit to the overall system.

If the engine you are building is a sales organization, one of the immutable constants in your system is competition; from both outside and in. Focusing on internal completion, sales teams have always leveraged the competitive nature of the team members. Writing sales numbers on a whiteboard and sponsoring sales contests are two common ways of harnessing the power competition. Competition is a constant in your equation. And it contributes a lot of power to your team performance. It can also be thought of as one of the most abundant sources of fuel in your sales engine. People want to get paid, and they want to be able to take pride in what they do, but almost above all that, they want to beat the guy sitting next to them.

Sales managers are increasingly turning to technological solutions to help gain an advantage against the outside competition. And as they do, they are in some cases adopting tools that harness the competitive instincts of their sales teams. One such solution is an intelligent lead dialer. Dial-IQ, Leads360’s intelligent lead dialer has a feature called Shotgun Connect that rings the phones of all available sales reps when a new lead enters the system. Only the quickest will win the lead. Given that the lead posts to the system within seconds of the prospect making an online inquiry, there is no quicker way to get a member of your sales team on a call with prospect. Without Shotgun Connect, a sales rep may able to talk himself into contacting his brand new lead when he gets back from lunch. With Shotgun Connect the new lead only goes to the person who is most eager to make the connection.

Looking Back and Spotting Trends

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Here’s an article on a subject that is near and dear to the heart of Coffee for Closers; it is called “What did you learn from the last sale you lost?” The author talks about the importance of doing a quick post-mortem on a sale that you lost, asking some key questions to help understand exactly how things went south. The purpose of this inquiry is to avoid repeating whatever missteps led to the sale being lost. It is important for sales people not to dwell on the past, especially past failures, but there are some nuggets of wisdom in past failures that can improve future performance.

This article talks about making inquiries, or post-mortem exams, on lost sales at the individual sales level. The inquiry involves asking questions of yourself, and when applicable, asking questions of the prospect. This is a great idea, he writes, not only because you stand learn from the lost sale, but also because you have a chance to build the relationship with the prospect for next time.

This approach is smart, and great for the individual who is honing his individual approach, his unique set of skills. But this approach to learning from the past should not be applied by only individual sales agents. It should also applied by sales managers and small business owners. Also, striving to learn only from failures leaves a lot of learning opportunities on the table, successes yield their own set of insights.

So, as the sales rep performs his post-mortem exams on individual lost sales, the sales manager should be executing his own set of inquiries at a higher level. Using lead management software, a lot of data is generated by closed leads, and lost sales alike. It is possible for Sales Managers to make inquiries into the comparative performance of different lead sources, marketing efforts, sales agents, etc…  Lead management empowers the sales manager not only to look into why individual sales fell apart but to take a higher view and spot trends around why certain groups of leads are closing under certain circumstances and not others. Using the Business Intelligence reporting engine, it’s easy to run pre-configured reports to quickly gain insights. It is also possible to easily create custom reports to round out the picture of every aspect of your teams performance.

We should all try to learn from our failures and successes. Whether, you are a sales rep whose sphere of influence is the individual prospect or the sales manager who looks after the entire teams performance, there are tools to help you know what works.

Challenges with CRM Adoption? Try Lead Management

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Last week this blog published an article called Hammering Nails with Screwdrivers, about the results of using the wrong tool for a job. Using the wrong tool for the job never yields results, and the example that was explored was using CRM to manage leads.

Understanding that CRM is not designed to manage leads gives one an insight to one of the most common challenges associated with using trying to implement a CRM solution: Adoption. So often, the proponents of CRM say something along the lines of, “If everyone just uses this, it’ll be great.” So it’s not a case of “If we build it they will come.”  It’s a case of “If we build it AND if they come, then we’ll see some results.” Companies implementing CRM all too often buy into the all that CRM promises and make pledges to commit their teams to its ongoing use.

Meanwhile they’re so deep into the cost and effort of CRM that abandoning it would create unbearable amounts of cognitive dissonance. But that’s throwing good money after bad.

But trying to get sales reps to adopt CRM for lead management is a losing battle. It doesn’t work for the task at hand, so it’s a drag on employees. It’s a drag on their efficiency and a source of frustration. It’s red tape. It’s a tax they pay on their time.

Lead Management is more of an “if you build it they will come” experience.  Why? Because when you use it, and you use an intelligent lead dialer, sales reps phones ring, and lead info pops up on their screen.

It is easy, efficient, and it makes them successful. They want to use it, because it brings up their contact rate, qualification rate, and close rate. And when all the sale agents want to use it, that means adoption is up.  With lead management, you get out what you put in.

If you are using CRM to manage leads and you don’t believe the premise that CRM is for customer relationship management and not for lead management, ask yourself this, “Where am I having more difficulty getting my sales staff to use the CRM solution? The account managers who deal with established customers? Or the new sales team that is in charge of turning prospects into customers?”

It’s definitely going to be the part of your sales team who deals with leads, not established customers that is lagging on CRM adoption.

Blaming your sales reps for not using the wrong tool for the job is just adding to the drag they are experiencing. Unleash their potential by giving them a tool that really works: Lead Management.

Last week this blog published an article called Hammering Nails with Screwdrivers, about the results of using the wrong tool for a job. Using the wrong tool for the job never yields results, and the example that was explored was using CRM to manage leads.

Understanding that CRM is not designed to manage leads gives one an insight to one of the most common challenges associated with using trying to implement a CRM solution: Adoption. So often, the proponents of CRM say something along the lines of, “If everyone just uses this, it’ll be great.” So it’s not a case of “If we build it they will come.” It’s a case of “If we build it AND if they come, then we’ll see some results.” Companies implementing CRM all too often buy into the all that CRM promises and make pledges to commit their teams to its ongoing use.

Meanwhile you’re so deep into the cost and effort of CRM that abandoning it would create unbearable amounts of cognitive dissonance. But that’s throwing good money after bad.

But trying to get sales reps to adopt CRM for lead management is a losing battle. It doesn’t work for the task at hand, so it’s a drag on employees. It’s a drag on their efficiency and a source of frustration. It’s red tape. It’s a tax they pay on their time.

Lead Management is more of an “if you build it they will come” experience. Why? Because when you use it, and you use an intelligent lead dialer, sales reps phones ring, and lead info pops up on their screen.

It is easy, efficient, and it makes them successful. They want to use it, because it brings up their contact rate, qualification rate, and close rate. And when all the sale agents want to use it, that means adoption is up. With lead management, you get out what you put in.

If you are using CRM to manage leads and you don’t believe the premise that CRM is for customer relationship management and not for lead management, ask yourself this, “Where am I having more difficulty getting my sales staff to use the CRM solution? The account managers who deal with established customers? Or the new sales team that is in charge of turning prospects into customers?”

It’s definitely going to be the part of your sales team who deals with leads, not established customers that is lagging on CRM adoption.

Blaming your sales reps for not using the wrong tool for the job is just adding to the drag they are experiencing. Unleash their potential by giving them a tool that really works: Lead Management.