The 25 to 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite of the year. It’s a time to give thanks, reflect, connect, prioritize, and execute.
In November you reap the rewards of work, the foundation, you put in place at this time last year.
It’s also a time where it makes sense to watch a couple of my favorite holiday movies. To celebrate this time of year, have a little fun, and share some lessons learned, we are kicking off 25 days of Sales, Business, and Life tips, in the context of some of my favorite holiday movies.
Each day, I’ll release a new video – keep an eye out for the details – you should see proper nods to the original movies.
I have a couple of goals with this.
Demonstrate the simple messages in movies that we love, and how they apply to the work we do
Get better with video
Execute on a daily commitment
Have fun
What’s Your Favorite One?
Let me know which of these episodes hit the mark for you. Which was your favorite and why?
3 entries will be drawn randomly, and will receive a Catalyst Sale t-shirt – the first one selected will receive a $25 Starbucks gift card.
If you like the videos – please check out the Catalyst Sale Podcast – We go into more detail about many of these concepts. If you have a question or have a suggestion about a video we should include in the series – just click on the live chat or fill out our contact us form – thanks!
Friction is necessary when you want to create, and build momentum.
Friction is less interesting when you want to maintain momentum.
Friction is part of the process of change.
Organization Friction
What about organization friction? How can it be used to create momentum?
Friction is a powerful tool if you want to create change, shift direction, or create movement. It is required. It is the reason we use cleats on the field, or sharp skates on the ice, tires that have grip. That fine blade though, one that does not have any rough edges, allows you to glide, and build up speed.
There is a bit of a dichotomy here, a yin and a yang, a balance that we want to achieve. This is necessary to start the forward progress, increase speed, and build toward results.
What about friction in your Sales Process?
Friction may be necessary in an early sales process, it may ignite the flame, or generate a catalyst to change. As the process gains momentum though, we want to reduce friction as much as possible to reduce the risk of stalls.
Something that can create friction in your Revenue Operations team, without you realizing it, is a lack of alignment. This lack of alignment may be driven by blind spots, or role/team specific goals. Marketing looks at the revenue generation problem through one lens. Operations, considers another lens. While customer success uses yet another. These various views create potential risk, however they can also lead to opportunity. In your role, you may have created a bias to a specific action, and you may be reinforcing blind spots.
One way to overcome blind spots, is to shift your perspective. You can do this by calling in other members of the team, bringing in outside resources, or asking questions. I like to start with a question, sometimes many questions. These questions can, and should provoke thought.
Let’s take a look at some questions specific to Sales Process.
What is your definition of Sales Process?
How does this definition change depending on who you ask?
How would your customer describe the Sales Process?
How would your rep describe the Sales Process?
How does your organization describe the Sales Process?
I know, that’s a lot of questions, all using similar words, and each shift the perspective a bit. Let’s start with the definition. The next two definitions are from Webster’s dictionary.
Sales (plural)“a: operations and activities involved in promoting and selling goods or services”
Process (noun): “a series of actions or operations conducing to an end especially : a continuous operation or treatment especially in manufacture”
Sales Process – (combined) operations and activities involved in promoting and selling goods or services in a series of actions or operations conducing to an end
Catalyst Sale Definition – the sales process is a series of stages used to identify progress in a sales cycle.
The definition above is organization/company specific. The sales process, as we define it through this lens, is intended to provide an accurate forecast. In order to exit a stage you should be able to answer a single question with a Yes. If you are unable to answer the question with a Yes, you are not in the next stage of the process and you cannot sit in two stages at once. Progress through stages may be linear, however you may fall back into a previous stage if new information is uncovered.
Let’s say we define the process from the perspective of the customer. This may be more similar to a decision making process or buying process. This could be a series of gates that the customer may need to go through to justify a purchase. It may be a series of gates the customer may need to go through to access or release funds. The decision process and the buying process may be directly related, may operate in parallel, or may be completely disconnected.
What about the Sales Rep – Do they have their own process? I certainly hope so. The sales rep should have a predictable, repeatable process that they follow. This can be rep dependent or it can be managed and adopted across an organization. The objective with the rep process is to advance to the next step or “end”. That next step may be another call. It may be more information. It may be a demo, or a trial, or something else. The key here is that this repeatable process creates forward momentum that can be measured. If it cannot be measured or reflected on, it is not a valid process. It is not moving you closer to an end.
Next time you think or talk about “Sales Process” clarify the lens you are using to describe it. Are you thinking about this from a rep perspective, organization perspective, or your customer’s perspective? Does this perspective create the right friction or decrease friction? Is that positive or negative?
Back to Friction
Friction may be necessary in an early sales process, it may ignite the flame, or generate a catalyst to change. As the process gains momentum though, we want to reduce friction as much as possible to reduce the risk of stalls.
Understanding how you define your process, gathering clarity and consistency across the teams that are involved, analyzing data, and reflecting on these processes, can help you create friction where required and reduce it when necessary.
The questions you ask can be the catalyst you are looking for.
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra
This week we discussed the Catalyst Sale Account Plan template. This was the third in a series of discussions where we will focus on the tactical aspects of Sales. Many of the concepts discussed can apply to project planning, program management, and strategic initiatives within your organization.
Catalyst Sale Account Plan Template
What are some of the uses of an Account Planning Document?
Helps the account rep/account executive/account manager maintain focus.
It can be used as a project management tool
It can be used for reflection
It can support collaboration
It can be used as an Executive Summary
Revisit and Update Periodically
The Account Plan is a living document, it should not be static
Update your Account Plan periodically
The Account Plan is useful if the information is current and relevant
Looking for Ways to Improve your Planning and Execution?
Execution is critical for a high performing team. In sales, it is easy to determine success. Did you achieve your number or not? Forecasting is another important aspect. Accurate forecasts help your team with investment decisions, accurate forecasts create predictability in revenue, accurate forecasts build trust.
We discussed the importance of process and why your Sales Process and the Customer Decision Making Process are different, on the following episode of the Catalyst Sale Podcast.
Sales. A word and a concept which can conjure up images of people in suits, knocking on doors, and putting on elaborate shows with their wares (often knives or vacuum cleaners). Or maybe, if you were born after 1980, you think of an endless stream of cold calls and cold email campaigns that feel more like throwing darts in the dark than the carefully planned operations they are.
In reality, sales is a process that requires both skill and an understanding of how to sell a product to a person or company that genuinely needs it. From B2B sales lead generation to the moment when your prospect signs on the dotted line, you need to understand what value your goods or services are providing them.
This isn’t a matter of pitching a product in the dark. There’s a science behind sales that will turn a salesperson into the Sherlock Holmes of nearly any industry. They need to understand how the product or service they’re selling directly and indirectly impacts their targeted list of prospects.
Research is your friend.
According to HubSpot, it takes an average of 18 phone calls between the salesperson and the prospect before a sale is finally complete. So, what are you going to talk about?
The key is in understanding the product and how it relates to the target audience; this can all be accomplished through the use of careful research. B2B and B2C sales research happen in very different arenas and have different priorities.
B2B research means that you’re attempting to sell something to another company in a potentially unrelated industry. It’s like trying to learn a new language and become persuasive in it all at once. B2C sales allow companies to sell directly to a customer, and require a different research approach.
Market research is closely related to sales. More so than many people realize at first. It’s not just a matter of making a few calls and closing a new customer. In the B2B sales industry, the budget is a closely guarded piece of information.
The entire company operates within this budget, and spending money on anything requires justification. Before approaching a potential prospect, consider the following:
Undertake a holistic study of the industry
It’s not enough to read through the website of a quality lead that you believe will be a great sales prospect. A cursory glance won’t give you the information you need to really build the trust that inspires them to sign over any sum of money to your company.
You need to go into that sales’ call or meeting with an in-depth view of their industry. Not only does this improve your credibility, but it also allows you to understand how your goods or services can better benefit the company you’re trying to sell to.
It all starts with Google—as simple as that sounds, an initial internet search can expose residual information about a company and the larger industry that it’s a part of. Just looking at their website can give you an idea of how they’re presenting information to their target audience, but it can’t give you much insight into what that audience is actually looking for.
Take notes and prepare a brief report on the industry, why it matters, and where it’s going in the near and predictable future. Take the time to understand the target audience of your target audience, and you’ll be able to lead a more convincing sales call.
Discover how your product will improve their competitive advantage
Once you have a better understanding of the industry, it’s time to take a look at their top competitors. Ask yourself why these companies are doing better in the same industry as your sales prospect. Why do they have an advantage?
When you can clearly explain how your goods or services will help your prospect become more competitive to decision makers, you’ve found a way to address their pain points. Gaining that market share and overtaking competition leads to an increase in revenue, and this is always a positive selling point.
Speak their language
As you get deeper into industry research, you should be prepared to learn and adopt the jargon. This industry jargon will help you to establish a better relationship with your sales prospect. It’ll also show them that you understand the needs of their industry, and care enough to do your research.
Believe it or not, one of the best ways to see this jargon in action is through social media. Look at message boards and social media accounts of industry related companies and topics. The banter can also provide additional information on the pain points that may not be apparent at first. There’s nothing quite like getting the research straight from the source!
When in doubt, ask.
Industry research doesn’t have to be cold and impersonal. If you’re struggling to find the information you need, consult with industry insiders; this can be a contact from the company you’re targeting or someone who works within the field and has a proven track record of expertise.
Ask about pain points, and how your goods or services can help address them. This is the solution that should be presented during the sales efforts. The better prepared you are at the very beginning of the sales process, the faster you’ll be able to convince your prospect to go through with the purchase.
If you don’t have the resources to do it right, get help.
Not everyone is a born salesperson. If you’re struggling to train and maintain a sales team, it may be time to call in the experts! Reach out to Catalyst Sale for more information. We use a system of personal accountability to help you and your team learn to be more effective.
Thought leadership has become a common topic in content marketing circles. But, do you really know what it means? One of the best definitions comes from Denise Brosseau’s Thought Leadership Lab:
“They (thought leaders) are changing the world in meaningful ways and engage others to join their efforts. They create evolutionary and even revolutionary advancements in their fields not just by urging others to be open to new ways of thinking, but when they create a blueprint for people to follow – they provide a method, process, guidelines or a set of best practices.”
That may sound overwhelming, but you’re probably already doing these things within your company. Thought leadership just means sharing that expertise with the outside world. And why do you need to share your learning with the world? Used correctly, thought leadership marketing can be a great way to jumpstart business growth and sell your products and services.
How can thought leadership marketing grow your business?
Getting your thoughts out of your head and into the world to build thought leadership can help your business to grow in several ways. These are just a few of them.
1. Building trust
People who aren’t sure of what they want or need usually love to have an expert let them know. And, if that expert shares knowledge freely, it builds personal trust. Your goal should be to become the go-to source in your field, the authority people turn to when they have questions.
Consumers who count on your thought leadership pieces for guidance are more likely to choose your product when they’re ready to make a decision. If you’ve been engaging with them on social media and answering questions about challenges they’re facing, you could (for example) even invite them to give you or your sales team a call to discuss how you can help more directly.
2. Gaining a better understanding of your audience
Your market data is a valuable asset, but it’s not the same as engaging with your target market on a personal level. This is why politicians host town hall meetings—so they can look at their constituents face-to-face and hear about their concerns straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth. When you engage with your followers directly, you’ll learn about their thoughts, questions, and points of view in their own words.
3. Shaping the conversation
You can also use thought leadership marketing to shape the conversation about topics of interest to the company or industry—for example, advocating for or against proposed regulations by explaining what the impacts would be. That’s thought leadership at its most powerful—not just establishing yourself as a subject matter expert, but guiding interested parties in the direction that is right for them.
4. Gaining exposure
Successful thought leadership creates a self-perpetuating cycle. The very best get calls from industry publications asking for quotes, and get invited to speak at conventions and seminars or to participate in panel discussions. That third-party recognition increases your status and authority even more.
How to get started with thought leadership marketing
Thought leadership marketing should be part of your overall marketing strategy, have its own place on your editorial calendar, and integrate with the rest of your marketing stack. Remember, the end game is to drive business growth by capitalizing on the fact that consumers feel more confident buying from someone with proven experience, knowledge, and vision.
Here are some of the most common channels for thought leadership marketing:
Bylined articles
Bylined articles are an extremely effective type of thought leadership marketing. You’ve probably read dozens of them in publications like Entrepreneur, Inc., etc. Rather than being written by a staff reporter, they’re written by a “contributor”—a thought leader offering expert insights on a topic that’s timely and relevant to the target audience.
Since these publications often have strict guidelines for the articles they accept, many bylined articles are written by a ghostwriter. The key, however, is to make sure the content and the “voice” are those of the thought leader; the ghostwriter’s job is to write the content in a way that will get it past the editor’s desk (instead of being thrown out for not adhering to their guidelines) and garner serious consideration.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is another great place to publish thought leadership blog posts as well as to engage with other users by making comments or answering questions. Lastly, don’t overlook LinkedIn Groups, which provide plenty of opportunities to engage with others who share your interests.
Social media
Social media is perhaps one of the quickest and easiest ways to offer thought leadership. For one thing, you can use it to promote your latest content. But, an even more effective use of social media is to engage with other users: join conversations, answer questions, and ask questions of your own to learn more about what your audience is interested in. You can even provide a link to one of your posts for additional information. Get some brand awareness and continue to build trust.
Webinars and podcasts
Webinars and podcasts have become increasingly popular, especially when they’re published on a regular schedule, because then the audience knows when to come back for the latest industry news, a deep dive on a particular topic, etc. Another good tactic is to participate in a well-known series on another site, like Moz’s Whiteboard Friday.
Using thought leadership marketing to drive business growth
Thought leadership marketing can help drive business growth by building trust in both your organization and in you as a leader. Moreover, taking just a few extra steps can turn it into a real growth machine:
Send your sales team every piece of content (preferably in a digital format they can share) before it’s published. That will give them time to absorb it so they can discuss the information with leads.
Provide them with a schedule of upcoming events, such as the dates of conferences where you’ll be a presenter or attendee.
Since they’re in direct contact with customers every day, ask them for suggestions on future thought leadership topics.
In a time of content overload, true thought leadership stands out like a guiding light, something real and substantive that makes customers want to do business with you. We here at Catalyst Sale can show you how to use thought leadership marketing to drive business growth, and we’ll be right by your side as you do it, adding our expertise to yours. Give us a call today to find out more.
“None of us is as smart as all of us” – Ken Blanchard
Have you ever felt like you were the only one struggling with your current challenge?
The collective intelligence and experience of your peers will help you shift perspective and overcome blind spots. Masterminds are a great catalyst for change, provide an awesome opportunity to network, and a chance to think differently about the challenges you are facing.
This year we will kick off a series of Masterminds in select cities.
Our first mastermind will be held on August 17th in Orlando.
Do you know where your sales growth will come from in the next 6, 12, 18, 24 months?
Are you struggling with clarifying your message within the marketplace?
Is Sales, Marketing, or Revenue Operations a black box in your organization?
How can a team of motivated professionals help you succeed?
You are not alone. Most sales and marketing challenges are a function of understanding your organization and how you execute, understanding your customer and how they identify problems and uncover solutions, or understanding your customer-facing team and how they repeat success.
Let’s stop overcomplicating things, and execute.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead
Join a group of highly motivated CEOs, Founders, Business Professionals who are interested in thinking differently about addressing the challenges associated with marketing and sales.
We hope to see you there.
Jody & Mike
Looking for Ways to Improve your Planning and Execution?
Execution is critical for a high performing team. In sales, it is easy to determine success. Did you achieve your number or not? Forecasting is another important aspect. Accurate forecasts help your team with investment decisions, accurate forecasts create predictability in revenue, accurate forecasts build trust.
We discussed the importance of process and why your Sales Process and the Customer Decision Making Process are different, on the following episode of the Catalyst Sale Podcast.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017 showed an increasingly high birth rate for startups: 415,266. However, most startups fail—while there is currently some debate regarding the startup failure rate, most sources put it somewhere between 60% to 90%. That’s a huge gap, but it still serves to remind us that there are many factors that contribute to success or failure, and a highly disruptive idea alone may not be enough.
There are, of course, many factors that cause businesses to bite the dust, starting with perhaps the most obvious: products and services that people don’t want to buy. There are many good ideas that don’t gain traction, however, and one of the key factors for failure in these cases is a lack of focus on marketing and sales strategy from the beginning. Poor market research, for example, is often cited.
The problem is that many people think of marketing purely in terms of messaging: Getting the right message to your customers at the right time to achieve great sales. But this type of thinking is that there are two other groups of stakeholders startups have to market to in addition to their potential users and customers. And, if they get those wrong, startups can risk never getting off the ground.
Investors
Not all startups need investors; Craigslist is one example. It’s relatively simple to start, self-funding the equipment and tools needed to get it up and going. However, the more complex your idea is, the more assets and equipment you need, and if you want to scale your startup fast, it is likely you will need external funding.
So how do you convince investors that your idea is worth their money? Effectively, you are selling it to them just as you will sell it to customers, taking a slightly different angle. Whether you’re putting together a deck or an in-person bells-and-whistles presentation, there are specific things they’ll want to know. (The bonus is that going through these steps will help you solidify your business plan and sales process). A good way to go about it would be to ask yourself the following questions.
What is our product/idea? What is it designed to do, and does it do it well?
What pain point does our product or idea solve? Is there a need and/or desire for it (or do we just think it’s cool)?
Are there similar products? If so, what makes ours better and/or different?
Who is our target audience, and how big is the market? Is there enough opportunity to be profitable? Will there be an opportunity to expand to additional markets down the road?
Will our target customers be willing to pay enough to allow us to make a profit?
Is our idea scalable?
How much money do we need to get this off the ground, and when do we expect to be profitable?
What obstacles can we expect to encounter, and how do we plan to solve them? Case studies can come in handy.
In a nutshell, you won’t have to worry about marketing or selling to customers if you don’t start by selling to potential investors. And, while you may think you have a brand-new, disruptive product that your target customers will gobble up, competition for funding is fierce. You’ve got to have a sales and marketing plan that’s on point from the start.
Beta testers
Although many people think of beta testers as something that only tech startups need, that’s not really true. Authors frequently seek people to read a draft of their book before it goes to market, seeking constructive criticism and/or a quote that they can use on the cover. If you’re making a “high-quality indestructible toy that dogs will love,” you’ll want to round up some testers to see how your toy performs in the jaws of a real canine.
This requires marketing and market research, starting with defining your ideal clients.
First, you’ll have to find testers that most closely match your intended market. That’s not a huge challenge for tech products, because there are entire websites where you can post your beta product and accept applications from people who want to test it. Dog toys are a little different. If your dog toy is supposed to be indestructible, testing it with a five-pound fuzz ball won’t provide you with the information you need. To do that, you’ll need to prepare “marketing” materials that clearly explain what your product is, who it’s for (in this case, a large dog with strong jaws), and what pain points it will resolve.
Once you’ve identified your beta testers, you’ll need to convince them that your product is worth their time. You’ll also need to communicate what it’s supposed to do and what kind of feedback you’re looking for. That part is important. Are you willing to go back to the drawing board if your product doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do? If so, you should ask for feedback on how to improve the product.
Alternatively, you may already know that you want to go to market with the product as it is and want your testers to give you feedback on how accurate your description was and whether the product met the expectations that were set.
At this stage, “marketing” means figuring out whether your product works and how to package and present it so that you’ll get the feedback you need to successfully take it to market.
Customers
This is where most startups start thinking about marketing and using sales strategies to accelerate business growth, but, as you can see, it’s really the third step. There’s a lot of work to do first! Putting in the required effort in the first two stages will set you up with the knowledge (and perhaps the funds) required to launch excellent “traditional” marketing strategies.
Right from the beginning, you will need to develop your brand voice and aesthetics. A strong marketing and sales strategy starts with planning: creating customer personas, thinking about colors and design for your content, setting up social media channels and choosing the language you want to use when making sales. It should be thoughtfully considered at each and every stage of starting up your startup.
Get your marketing started
The startup life is packed with both thrills and challenges. To paraphrase a common saying, “it ain’t for sissies.” Fortunately, there are experienced professionals you can turn to for guidance and a helping hand.
At Catalyst Sale, we can offer processes that have been proven to provide accelerated, predictable growth. Each business is unique, so we tailor our advisory services, sales training, and tech tools to what you need to succeed in your startup—right from the beginning! Get in touch to find out how we can help.
If you’re like most business leaders, you keep a close eye on sales—not just the numbers (that goes without saying), but the process, as well. You want your sales staff to be as efficient as possible. You know that technology is the answer and that the choices are endless, with new solutions and services being launched all the time. Even your salespeople frequently advocate for their favorites.
No wonder it’s so hard to resist the lure of each new release that promises to solve all of the problems that keep you up at night.
But it doesn’t take too long for that sales technology stack to get tall and wobbly. So instead of focusing on the things that drive your business, you find yourself in a never-ending game of Jenga, trying to keep that stack from collapsing even as you add more pieces to it.
Relax. It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s possible to have a technology stack that works for you rather than the other way around.
If you’re starting from scratch, your job is pretty easy, because you have nothing to undo. But if you’ve already got an unwieldy skyscraper on your hands, we can help you keep the things that support your strategy and get rid of the things that don’t, all while keeping your sales team functioning as usual.
The secret is in deciding what you want your sales stack to do (other than play nicely with your customer relationship management [CRM] process, of course). According to Smart Selling Tools, today’s offerings solve almost 50 different pain points, with multiple contenders in each category. The best way to sort through them all and design a coordinated stack is to identify your particular pain points and make sure your technology stack includes the right solutions.
Which tools should be in your technology stack?
Some things are just non-negotiable in today’s environment. A tool that doesn’t offer these capabilities isn’t worth the investment.
The non-negotiables
Playing nicely with your CRM: Sure, you can change your CRM system if you hate it. But most companies have invested a lot of time and money into their CRM processes, and they are too effective to ditch them and start over. If that’s the case for your company, anything you add to your technology stack should integrate smoothly with your CRM solution.
Keeping you compliant: The internet (including cloud services) is becoming increasingly regulated, both from privacy and security standpoints. Organizations that operate in more than one country have the additional burden of multiple sets of requirements (some of which might be contradictory). Any tool you add to your stack should be able to easily prove its compliance, because if one of your tools is non-compliant, so are you.
Freeing sales staff from mundane tasks: There are simply too many opportunities for sales and marketing automation to have your sales employees doing mundane, repetitive tasks. If any particular solution doesn’t help move your staff from low-revenue to high-revenue tasks, it’s probably not worth bothering with.
The ones that resolve your particular pain points
Like Grandma always said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If your team is exceptionally good at a certain part of the sales process, leave it alone. There’s no point in adding cost and complexity to something that’s working well just so you’ll have the latest in digital wizardry.
At the end of the day, building your sales stack is about identifying your pain points and finding the remedies that best fit your organization and your CRM program.
Most organizations can build a technology stack that fills their needs by concentrating on the following pain points.
Inaccurate customer data
Everything from typos to double entries can bog down our sales processes. So can the outdated data that results when someone changes jobs and your contact information is no longer accurate.
If this is affecting your sales staff, look for tools designed to clean up your customer information. Solutions like Cloundingo and Ringlead work in the background, standardizing the format of entries, eliminating or merging duplicates, verifying contact information, etc. Cloud-based CRM software and applications are always a good bet. Some solutions even have permissions-based logins, so that only authorized people can make changes to records, eliminating the possibility of erasing critical records.
Lost leads
If your database of leads and contact information is static and not interacting with other data, you’re missing out. The same is true if your sales staff ignores the leads generated by marketing campaigns, deeming them a waste of time. If that’s happening in your business, your technology stack should include a lead-scoring solution. These tools score leads on a number of hard and soft data points:
Hard data
Company size and revenue
Industry, product, and market
Products and solutions already in use
News articles, press releases, etc.
Soft data
Completing online forms
Downloading white papers, ebooks, podcasts, etc.
Signing up for a demo
Activity on your website
Email clicks
Engagement with your social media efforts (shares, likes, mentions, etc.)
If your sales and marketing team isn’t understanding the value of your data, you need a solution like DataHero (designed to work with Salesforce) that combines data from a variety of hard and soft sources and turns them into a list of scored leads, as well as providing additional insights, like the best times and ways to engage them.
This is where another helpful integration comes in: Your content management system (CMS). The right tool uses insights about leads and their position in the sales funnel to match specific pieces of content, like blog posts or white papers, with the buyer’s journey. The content should, at the very least, be easily accessible for the salesperson to use. At best, it can be automated.
Difficulty closing sales
While some organizations conduct business completely online, many need the human touch to close a sale. Your technology stack has an important role to play there, too. It starts with letting your sales staff know when it’s time to pick up the phone based on insights gleaned from your analytics.
But even when it’s time to get a real person involved, the right technology stack and CRM platform can make things easier.
Apps like PandaDoc integrate with many CRM tools and help you submit professional-quality proposals
Calendly, which integrates with the most popular calendar apps, lets sales staff share their schedules with prospective customers, eliminating the need to play phone tag just to set an appointment.
Tools like DocuSign enable electronic signatures, eliminating the need to chase people down to get them to sign documents by hand.
Get stacked
Whether you’re building your sales stack from scratch or trying to gain control of one that’s on the verge of collapse, the key is to build it around the specific pain points affecting your bottom line. Reduce friction and make it easier for your salespeople to identify qualified leads and turn them into customers.
So if you’ve got a lot of junk cluttering up your sales stack, it’s time for some spring cleaning! Get rid of anything you’re not using and/or don’t need. If you’re not sure, don’t hesitate to give us a call at Catalyst Sale; we’d love to discuss the possibilities!
Is this a job for Coaching, Training, or Mentoring?
Getting better every day is something that many people discuss, however they fail in execution. The greatest athletes in the world rely on coaches every day – do you?
It is one thing to aspire to grow, aspire to improve, it is another thing to take action. Action starts with a single step, it requires movement. How do you know which direction to go? How do you know if you are taking the right actions?
“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” – Abraham Maslow
A coach could be the critical tool in your toolset, but like most projects, you need to assess the situation and determine the best tool. It has been said that when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Other tools for consideration include training and mentoring, but how do you determine which is the best fit for the situation?
When I think about coaching, I think about finding someone who can help me make the subtle adjustments necessary to improve the things I do well today. This could be as simple as foot position on a bike pedal, or as detailed as body language and voice inflection when speaking in front of a crowd. A coach is there to help you see the things that you cannot see yourself. Sure, you can look in the mirror, but that is one perspective. The mission of the coach, from my perspective, is to accelerate growth and performance. This happens by improving technique. In order to make these improvements and recommendations, the coach must be there.
Talk with a Coach
What if it is too soon for a Coach?
Sometimes, you are too early in your career progression or the skill development progression to leverage the value of a great coach. You may be just starting out with a new skill or in a new role. If this is the case, training may be a better fit. Training provides a structured opportunity to learn a new skill or capability. The training should be focused on the reason behind the skill. It can be designed to introduce you to the topic, create an environment to put concepts into practice, and test retention. Training can work really well 1:1 or 1:many. Coaching, on the other hand, is better in a 1:1 environment. Even with large groups or teams, the specific coaching you receive is personal.
What about a Mentor?
Mentoring is much more relationship-driven than coaching or training. Sure, a coach should have a solid presence, however, it is not critical that you get along with your coach or the trainer. The relationship you build with your mentor is critical. This relationship is mutual, it evolves over time. The mentor is there to help inspire thought, provide guidance, and share their personal and direct experience.
This is the first post of a series of posts focused on the differences between coaching, training, and mentoring. Share your comments and personal experience with us at hello@catalystsale.com.
Interested in learning more – please check out this episode.
The Sales Development Representative (SDR) role is another level of specialization within the sales function. Some organizations have adopted this role and successfully integrated the position into their teams, while others struggle with success. Many of the organizations who struggle with success have identified a breakdown in transition process between the SDR and the Account Executive role. Sometimes this hand-off feels forced and is not customer focused.
This week on the Catalyst Sale Podcast, Morgan Ingram, host of the SDR Chronicles joins us to discuss the SDR, the evolution of the role, mindset, and being persistent.
What is an SDR?
SDR stands for Sales Development Representative (SDR) this is the tip of the spear from a sales team perspective. In many organizations, the SDR is the first person the prospect speaks with. The SDR is responsible for gathering initial qualification data from the customer. Who are they, what do they do, what brought them to your website, what are they looking to accomplish, etc.
Once the initial information is gathered, the focus moves to establishing next steps, including scheduling the next call and transitioning the prospect to an Account Executive.
Where Does the Transition Fail
This seems pretty straightforward and should be seamless to the customer/prospect. However, this is where things can get awkward. Think about those times when you are working with customer service, you speak with the first rep, they escalate to the second or the third, and each time you have to repeat your story. Don’t make this your customer’s problem.
Share clear notes with your teammates, set expectations with the customer/prospect, and execute.
Onboarding a new SDR/AE
When onboarding an SDR within your team, or an Account Executive, start with clarifying success criteria and expectations. Each AE/SDR will have their own personality to apply to their role. If you are an SDR and a new AE has joined the team, schedule a 1:1 conversation with the new rep. Gain perspective from them regarding what type of data they would like to see on each customer as part of the hand-off. Find out why the information is important to them, and how they plan to use it.
If you are a new Account Executive in an organization, and the SDR role is part of the structure of the sales team, get to know the team. Ask what has worked in the past when it comes to SDR/AE transitions. Be clear about your expectations, and how the information that is transferred impacts the sales process.
Remember you are a team – teams perform well when roles are defined, communication is clear, expectations are set, and adaptation is allowed to occur based on changing information.
Building Rapport
Building rapport is a skill, a skill that is customer focused, and requires that you take a personal interest in others. Who are they, where do they live, why do they do what they do, etc? This is not about pitching your product, you’ve not earned the right. Take a breath, and learn about what is important to your customer. (Dan Tyre talks about this in a previous post)
Making the transition from Colleague to Manager
The transition from colleague to manager is common. Unfortunately, many people make this transition for the wrong reasons. If your transition is driven by ego, and not based on a foundation of service, you are likely setting yourself up for failure. As you make the transition into leadership, focus on how you can work for others. Leadership is a service, not a mandate or right.
Success
Throughout this Morgan shared a number of concepts that have led to his success. Some of these are mantras we all may want to consider integrating into our approach.
Consistency Brings Results – If you don’t show up, you can’t show out. You have to be there to be successful. Yes, it’s a grind, but if you don’t show up, you cannot succeed.
Sweat the details – the little things count
Expand your view of Data – Monthly data may skew your perception of results, look at the quarterly numbers to help minimize the impact of anomalies.
Steady mindset – good things will happen, or bad things will happen – know that the one constant is change. Trust your process.
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In every business, in every opportunity, there is someone who can help you navigate the internal challenges and close the deal. There is a Catalyst. We integrate process (Catalyst Sale Process), technology and people, with the purpose of accelerating revenue. Our thoughtful approach minimizes false starts that are common in emerging markets and high-growth environments. We continue to evolve our practice based on customer needs and emerging technology. We care about a thinking process that enables results versus a process that tells people what to do.
