Lauren Bailey

About Lauren Bailey

Posts by Lauren Bailey:

lead qualification strategy

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How to Build an Account and Lead Qualification Strategy

Does anyone out there NOT have a story about working their tail off to reach a Decision Maker only to find out that it was a bum lead? Account and lead qualification strategies and categorization are topics near and dear to my heart because:

  1. Yeah, I’ve done it too
  2. I hate wasting time more than I hate wasting wine
  3. I fancy myself a strategic sales gal

It’s this third point that really struck me in a recent client site.  Reps were calling lists of 800 leads from top to bottom every day. At 8 am the next day, they started again at the top.  That’s actually physically painful to me, is it to you?

Create A Better Lead Qualification Strategy

If they employed a lead qualification strategy (and you bet they do now! :)) then reps would be speed-dialing through all 800 leads with the first goal of NOT reaching the DM, but instead reaching any “live body” to ask 3-4 quick questions and determine the account’s worth.

For this client, it was:

  • Size of company (employees)
  • Size of facilities (square footage)
  • Type of operation (manufacturing, warehouse, etc.)

With the right delivery, these 3 questions net the rep everything they need to know to classify this account as an A, B, C, or D opportunity.  Sure it’s not exactly right, but it’s close enough to build a strategy.

Now, Work Those “A” Accounts

How much harder would you work an A account?  I recommend you call it 15 times.  Odds say that you’ll connect with over 95% of leads after 15 attempts.  A “B” account would net about 10 attempts from me, and I’d throw a few Hail-Mary calls at a “C”.

What else could you capture while on the phone?  An email?  Another contact?

Then, We Have Reasons To Celebrate

Here’s another benefit of a lead qualification strategy:  when we break the cold call down into two stages (qualify it, sell it) then we actually set better expectations for our reps and give everyone more chances to win.  (celebrate the number of leads qualified for the day!)  Best of all, they’ll never call a list “from the top” or “alphabetical order” again.

A strategic seller is a successful seller!

Now, where is that leftover wine?

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How do I get promoted to Sales Manager

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How Do I Get Promoted to Sales Manager?

If you’ve decided sales leadership is right for you and you’re ready to get noticed for management, this blog is all about answering the question, “How Do I Get Promoted to Sales Management?”

Here’s where to start:

1. Go talk to your Manager (or another Manager or Director if you don’t love your boss) immediately about your desire. It goes something like this:

“Could we talk about a career path in our next 1:1? I think I may be interested in Sales Management and I’d like your input, your advice, and your help if you think it’s appropriate.”

We call this “raising your hand.” It does NOT mean you think you’re ready now. It does NOT mean you think you can do it better than he/she can. It means, “I’m interested. Please help.” This is a critical first step because you’ll get nowhere without internal support.

2. Find at least one internal advocate. This is a work mentor who gives you feedback and advice and assignments to help you grow. Equally importantly, they are your voice in the room when you aren’t there. 

Trust me, at some point every promotion decision comes down to a group of leaders in a room saying, “So, this person or that person?” 

You need a person in that room who can give your sound bite. Sound bite? Yup. You, like all great products and services, will have an elevator pitch. The 1-2 sentences that sum you up as you are seen by your peers, team, and advocates. Don’t leave that to chance, start helping all 3 groups get to know you and the kind of leader you’ll be. That brings us to the next point.

3. Go get to know people. Three groups: your peers, your leaders, and yourself. Build some rapport, have some coffee, pick their brain, get some advice, offer some help. Find a reason and work on building a bridge with one new person a month. If you’re feeling most comfortable doing this with your peers, then start with your leaders. You must get comfortable hanging out with executives, so start now. These are your people! You’re just as amazing…they’re just older! 😉

Did she really mean yourself? Yup. This is critical. The toughest people to manage in my entire career were because they had a skewed vision of themselves. Do a behavioral assessment, take a values quiz, go to therapy. The more you know and let yourself off the hook (you perfectionist, you), the more you’ll be able to meet your future team where they are, get along with peers, and not hijack your career due to some personal hot buttons. (Hot buttons are your own baggage that make you overreact in stressful situations. We all have ‘em, honey, so find yours and slap a nametag on them and own them; it helps.)

4. Get control of your time. Like fast. Nothing will ruin your sound bite faster than being the guy who doesn’t turn things in on time, no-shows for meetings, or is always promising but never delivering. You’re picturing that guy in your life right now, aren’t you? We all know one. Don’t be that guy! This is why we created the “Own Your Sales Management Day” course and ALWAYS put it in the first three classes for clients. We need to move you out of reactivity and into proactivity ASAP because proactivity is where you shine. That’s you being in charge of your day and what you get done, not succumbing to the whims and pressures of the world. Your ability to organize, delegate, schedule, push, and delete the stuff that doesn’t matter is what will create the time and space for you to rise. 

You managing your time is what will create the time and space for you to rise.

5. Start training. Management is a whole new set of skills. You wouldn’t move from BDR to AE closing without studying how to demo and close, right? Don’t think for a second the move to management is just a natural transition either. (Sorry). 

Even as you continue to rise up the ladder, the transition from Rep to Manager will remain your hardest change.

It’s time to drop our closing skills, our competitive streak, our natural speed and adorable sales style. This is a whole new bag. And in it we have to put better listening skills, patience, planning, delegating, organizing, and coaching. Be clear, it’s a big bag. You want to start filling it right away. Look for tactical sales management skills, because “Being a Leader Coach” is NOT the same as how to conduct a tactical call coaching session. Leadership theory has its firm place (so inspiring, new ideas!), but it’s the hard job skills that will make or break your first year. Nobody will look to you to inspire the next generation if you can’t conduct a basic sales huddle.

If you know leadership is right for you, but aren’t sure how to get promoted to sales manager, then take our Sales Management Certification! It’s a 6-month virtual certification training program for new or aspiring sales managers that teaches the tactical skills you need to thrive as a sales manager!


If you’re looking for a job in sales management, check out Jooble!

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Is Sales Management Right for You

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Is Sales Management Right for You?

Recently, one of the awesome women in #GirlsClub shared that she wanted to move all the way up the sales ladder before trying management. She wanted to be credible to her future team. She had also learned the hard way that just because she could DO sales didn’t mean she could TEACH sales. I was so freaking proud of her at that moment. She knew her strengths and she was not blindly reaching for the promotion. It also gave me pause.

Do we need to do every role in sales before managing? I didn’t. I sold for a short time and then leap-frogged into sales (see my story here). 

Truth is, management is not a fit for everyone – regardless of your sales prowess. In fact, maybe because of your sales prowess. I’ve seen top reps make horrible managers and “B” reps be amazing coaches.

It’s really more about your natural behaviors and values than skills. Our (amaaaazing) Marketing Director at Factor 8 is very actively NOT seeking a management role. My bestie says the same thing, “Hell no! Life is better when I’m in charge of my own destiny and not in charge of anyone else’s crap.” My bestie may have a mouth like mine. 😉 

So if you’re wondering, “Is sales management right for me?”, start by asking yourself a few questions:

  1. Am I a natural teacher? If you love mentoring the new kid, lending a helping hand, and being shadowed, this is absolutely your first clue that management is a good direction.
  2. Does answering lots of questions annoy me? If your daily highlight is being the go-to person, it’s another good clue. (In contrast, my bestie says, “Stop freaking Slacking me! Figure it out yourself! What am I, your mom!?” Not so much someone who’ll love management…) 
  3. How important is control to me? This one’s a double-edged sword. Most great managers have a high “D” factor in the DISC assessment or “A” factor in Predictive Index. Those behavior traits that say things like, “driver, in charge, authoritative, assertive” (in my case…competitive, pioneering, sometimes arrogant. Wait, what?!) When you strive to lead, actually having the title really helps. You feel more in charge of your own destiny and less likely to go crazy based on what “they” are doing above.

Flipside: As a manager, you actually have LESS control over your daily life, workload, task list, end results, and paycheck. You’re basically being judged by and paid on the average performer on your team. If that last sentence gave you hives, keep driving your own sales car; don’t trade it in for the sales school bus.

If you’re still not sure if sales management is right for you, join me (or watch the recording) for a free session on “Tips To Get Promoted To Sales Manager” where I’ll share my top tips to help you determine if management is meant for you and, if it is, how to get that promotion.

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How to Get Your Field Reps Selling Virtually

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How to Get Your Field Reps Selling Virtually

Excuse me, BUT SHOULDN’T THIS BE OVER BY NOW?!

Nine, six, and three months ago no fewer than 10 field sales VP’s told me they and their teams were “waiting to get back to normal.” I heard things like…

“Some markets are already back face-to-face.” 

“My prospects aren’t in their offices anyway.”

“My team is too tenured to be compared to virtual or inside sellers.”

Well, we’re going on month 12, and things have changed – by not changing. We’re still not business as usual, and it looks like the industry hit hardest will be corporate Real Estate as more and more industries realize that virtual will always be a part of their ongoing strategy.

In fact, only a few of us still have our heads planted in the sand by saying we don’t have to adapt how we sell. I’m hearing the most grizzly, bag-carrying, face-to-face veterans embracing virtual tools and methodologies now and calling it a competitive edge. That means there’s still some time left to get out in front of your competition, and the smart money is on adaption (I’ll credit that one to Darwin.)

So if you’re with me, dear field sales leader, but still struggling with the resistors on your team, here are a few ideas from a reformed field to virtual seller to help get some buy-in:

1. Virtual does NOT mean telesales

(also known as “Telemarketing, inside sales, call centers, virtual sellers, or those 20-something flunkies wearing ball caps and baggy jeans to work”).

Instead, liken the change to the adoption of the internet. We used to send letters. We still do, but we call them emails. Sales calls used to mean face-to-face, now it means cell phones. Face-to-face used to mean over lunch, now it’s suit on top and sweats on the bottom because it\’s a video conference. In other words, all that has changed is the technology folks. Don’t be a grandma.

2. The efficiency is undeniable.

What seller wouldn’t like more time in his or her day? Same quota but triple the potential daily meetings = higher earnings. A great field seller could meet with 2-3 (MAYBE 4) clients or prospects a day. Yeah, that’s with a tight geographical area, lots of advanced planning, and all green lights. Put that same effort into digital scheduling and outbound calling, and we can double it – MAYBE triple it. It’s like buying them a jet plane instead of a bicycle. They can literally be in any place in the WORLD at any time during the day. This is freedom! This is a bigger commission check.

3. Their competition stinks.

Last month I met virtually with my financial planner. Those 75 minutes were in my top ten most painful should-have-been-an-hour-meeting-but-ran-long-due-to-poor-planning experiences of my life. I experienced:

  1. Bumpy camera (think broadcasting from a mountain bike)
  2. Microphone interference and knocking
  3. “Can you see this?” at least 20 times
  4. Him trying to hold up a paper copy and point to it
  5. Clear lack of confidence as he routinely explained what he “usually does”
  6. Elementary PowerPoints being explained as if he had a Ph.D. and I was a preschooler
  7. An obvious sales script and process that railroaded the entire conversation
  8. A tour of their portal that included every SINGLE corner and square inch
  9. A follow-up email that read like the first chapter of “War and Peace”
  10. Zero action items, agreements, or follow-ups set (lucky me)

I really want to go on just so I can paint this picture for you, but I’ve probably conjured enough of your own painful experiences that you get it. Yeah, your highest-paid sellers probably resemble about half of this list right now. It’s how I look when trying to play Fortnite with my kids. (“What button do I push to walk again? Oh, that’s me in a corner, I thought I was over there!”)

Most enterprise sellers, field sellers, or experienced sellers use relationships, charm, swag, and deep knowledge to close deals. They look good, they sound good, they’re respected and polished, they know the industry and their product/service better than anyone and it’s WHY you put them on the big-money deals.

And this all means bupkis if they make the mistakes above. And they’ll still fail if we don’t teach them how often to call, how to get people’s attention on unexpected phone calls, how to get the follow-up meeting, how to really engage without face-to-face environments.

The message is this: 

They aren’t changing how they sell, they\’re adding tools, technology, and techniques to make their existing gifts outshine their competitors virtually. Because some of their base will always prefer virtual thanks to this pandemic, and if they get there first they will not only beat their external competition but perhaps even the internal reps who don’t adapt. No reason Joe in Idaho can’t cover Susan’s accounts in Michigan anymore.

Once we get some buy-in, I suggest we start building some new baselines. Can you and your team answer these questions:

  1. What percent of your book (or lead list) were you able to connect with last quarter?
  2. How many calls does it take to get someone on the phone?
  3. How long is your average phone call?
  4. How many calls does it take to close a deal?
  5. What trends do you see in the customers/prospects who closed?

These questions subtly set the expectation that they need to get to know their business in a different way. We can’t just count the wins anymore, we’re going to have to get to know the process because the process has changed.

Finally, I’ll leave you with good news. The skills they’re missing aren’t terribly hard. Good voicemails aren’t rocket science, nor is call bridging and pre-call planning, even online demos. If a 20-year old punk telemarketer can do it, so can your team. 😉

Get more insights by watching a recent webinar I did with a few hundred traditional sellers where we covered key techniques for a digital advantage. And consider helping your team adapt by subscribing them to The Sales Bar where we have over 100 digital selling skills on tap.

Want more tips on how field reps can sell virtually? Read these articles:
How Do I Sell If I Can’t Meet My Customers?
How Do You Transition From Field Sales To Virtual Engagement?

 

Need some help training your field reps to sell virtually?

That’s one of our specialties! Fill out the form below for more information

How to Make Negotiation Your Super Power

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How to Make Negotiation Your Super Power

Wow! What a great webinar on “Making Negotiation Your Super Power!” This was near and dear to my heart as honestly, I don’t feel very confident in my negotiation abilities. So, I collected some awesome nuggets thanks to my panelists below. Read their insight, watch the recording, and please support our sponsors who made it possible by hitting their links (I mean come on, we ALL need the dashboarding and engagement platforms to stay relevant as sales teams). 😉

Thank you to our panelists:

And of course, my team at Factor 8 and #GirlsClub who made this awesome! 

Our Favorite Nuggets:

  • Negotiation is truly a conversation, just talk it out – be transparent
  • Understand what all the levers are that are going into a specific deal or situation
  • Have a “cards on the table” conversation: How do we come together to make this work? 
  • It is ok to pause and say I will get back to you if you are unprepared for an objection or counter
  • Take your time – sometimes people are tense and nervous during this conversation
    Check out Michelle’s story on what she negotiated successfully! (~12:00)
  • Know your bottom line so if it goes back and forth, you know when to walk away
  • Start with what you want – anchor high and anticipate objections. Don’t negotiate against yourself in the planning and preparation and wind up starting lower than you want
  • Ask questions when negotiating pay to better understand pay ranges or bands in the company including the requirements to earn the next level. Try: Can you walk me through the compensation structure and what that band looks like? How do I get from one level to another? Do I get evaluated quarterly? When do we have these conversations?
  • There is a LOT on the table beyond base salary. Get creative with:
    1. Equity
    2. Remote Work Set-up – If I’m WFH, help with the setup
    3. Title
    4. Bonus Structure/Amount
    5. Ability to Grow – If I do this, what happens next?
    6. Agreed upon evaluation times.
      Listen to Michelle’s phrasing at ~34:00 
    7. Investment in professional development and 1 on 1
    8. Paid Time Off
    9. Job Scope

Tips on Negotiating Sales Contracts:

  • Go in knowing what you want, and also what\’s reasonable. Anchor where you want to be. Be the one to make the first offer
  • How important is this to them/you? Find out what they value, why, and how much
  • Have levers/asks/offers in your back pocket when going into the negotiation but don’t lead with them
  • Find non-financial kickers that can be thrown in to sweeten the deal (e.g. more training)
  • Be transparent about how you work, price, and value-add
  • Focus on the payment cycles (eg. monthly payments?) and timing, volume, service, etc.
  • What DOESN’T work with the CFO is explaining they got a standard discount vs. proving the value
  • Recommended Book: Todd Caponi, The Transparency Sale: How Unexpected Honesty and Understanding the Buying Brain Can Transform Your Results (Chapter 11 specifically)

If you read this far, you got some value, so show the love to our sponsors:

  • Outreach – Need help adapting to the new remote selling world? Request a demo of the #1 sales engagement platform that closes more deals faster — so your reps can achieve revenue goals from anywhere. Companies that choose Outreach can expect a 387% return on the investment over three years and an 11% increase in sales productivity (valued at $6.9M). See what the #1 sales engagement platform can do for your business today.
  • LevelEleven by Ascent Cloud – Ready to see what LevelEleven has to offer your organization? Request a demo today! LevelEleven provides a variety of solutions that help leaders of customer-facing teams drive the key behaviors that lead to better productivity and results. 
  • #GirlsClub – Are you ready to make the leap into a sales leadership role? Then join #GirlsClub – an inclusive 6-month leadership program for women who are either an aspiring sales manager ready to advance their career or existing sales manager who needs more skill development, mentoring, or support. Applications are open for Generation 3, which kicks off in January 2021. Apply today!
Fill out the form below to watch the recording of 
“Make Negotiation Your Super Power.”
What Skills Do Your Sales Reps Need to Keep Deals Moving?

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What Skills Do Your Sales Reps Need to Keep Deals Moving?

We’re all thrilled that the world is opening more and more and business is getting back to normal. The vast majority of sellers and leaders I talk to say the same thing:

Deals are coming in again (whew!)…

But they’re really sticking at the one-yard line (boo!)…

I’ve experienced this myself at both Factor 8 and #GirlsClub. We sell critical skill development that helps companies improve performance, gain new customers, and retain employees. But it isn’t mission CRITICAL services that keep doors open, ensure customer retention, or bolster WFH initiatives. These are the deals getting approved right now.

How do I know? The CFO’s blocking your deals told me. There’s a nearly 100% spike in senior executives approving company spend – and it’s almost always the CFO. Of COURSE this is true, right? Didn’t your company limit spending? Maybe lay some people off? Stop paying the office coffee bill? We’re spending again, but we’re doing it cautiously.

I smell a challenge. This is a unique global opportunity that none of us in sales has faced before. Naturally, I want to solve it. I’m getting closer. Allow me to share what I’ve learned so far and I invite you to join me on the next leg of the adventure.

SALES LEADER PERSPECTIVE:

In our Executive Open Bar (senior-level friends of Factor 8) last month, we shared some strategies that have worked. Some are finance tools, sales tools, a few pivots in GTM, and rep focus + skills. 

I’ve put their top three in this download and I interviewed them live at the AA-ISP Virtual Summit.

I’ve tried a few of these myself and frankly felt foolish that I hadn’t done so earlier. They’re working!

Next, I decided to ask some CFO friends their opinions on the strategies I’ve learned – and their POV on spending, approving, and when we’ll get back to normal. OK, to be honest, I don’t actually HAVE any good CFO friends. Sales leaders and finance leaders living in harmony is a bit like cats and dogs… we try to make money, they try to save it. The universe has pitted us against each other for all time… OK, I’m getting off track here. I asked some clients and some friends and soon had a panel of their VERY smart finance leaders.

I feel like I’m holding the answer key. They answered: What WILL you spend on? What ARE you approving? What do you need in order to say yes? And, what do you wish sellers would do better? Again, I put a few tips in the download, but I hope you’ll join us live and get your question answered (or watch the recording). 

FINALLY, we heard from both groups that sellers needed to raise their game. We weren’t asking enough questions, nor the right ones. We weren’t justifying the spend the right way, and we had no idea what our finance friends cared about.

Wait, what? A skill challenge! I’m ALL OVER this one. So the Virtual Sales Masterclasses were born! We dropped 3-4 eLearning courses, 2 live training sessions, and an assignment focused on helping reps get executive leadership meetings and rock them. All with the focus of unsticking our deals! We’re going to cram this into 4 weeks. I am pumped to get after this together and raise our games – and our end-of-year commissions.

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Why Your Customer Care Agents Should Be Upselling

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Why Your Customer Care Agents Should Be Upselling

Sometimes an upsell is obvious. The kid at the movie theater register (MAN, I miss the movies) has obviously been scripted to say, “How about some Red Vines or nachos with that?”

That’s NOT what you want your customer care agent doing. To keep the analogy going, a great customer care agent might instead ask, “What are you seeing today?” and engage the moviegoer in good conversation while the kids are picking out candy or while the (always slow) popcorn machine is working.

This may lead to a conversation about whether or not they’ve seen a similar movie now playing, an upcoming special throw-back feature, or a kids’ summer movie pass. All great cross-sell upsell opportunities. She may ask the kids about their favorite type of candy and share hers – uncovering an unstated need for chocolate and now we have an add-on opportunity. You get it.

From a sales perspective, your care agent has nearly unfettered access to your buyers, your users, your influencers. They have unguarded conversations about the user experience, the chance to solve problems, the chance to CARE. If a sales rep called into the moviegoers with these questions after the movie, the buyer is wondering why the theater is calling them and they’re preparing their defenses for the pitch. 

There are four major ways to add revenue to an install base:

  1. More buyers buying the same/similar product 
  2. Add-on sales to the existing buyer
  3. Cross-sales to the existing buyer
  4. New buyers buying different products

Not all of us have all four opportunities in our install base, but most of us have at least one. Our job as leaders is to:

  1. Identify the top opportunities
  2. Detail how these opportunities may relate to the caller (“I buy that”, “I know someone who does”, “I have information about how we use that”, etc.) 
  3. Create some pre-set questions and conversation starters that may uncover this relationship
  4. Train reps to execute the questions, follow-up questions, and identify potential opportunities and then bridge this call to your sales team or close themselves depending on the scope and skill of your team. (here is the big lift)

It might go like this in a technical care opportunity:

The customer is calling in with an issue with their internet outages/bandwidth now that they are homeschooling (this MIGHT be fresh in my mind). The customer care agent identifies they are using an outdated modem and begins to troubleshoot.

  1. The opportunity here may be a new modem, new wireless router, router booster pods, increased bandwidth, higher package (e.g. a business package), or even bundling better internet service with phone, cable, etc.
  2. The caller in this B2C model is likely a user and a buyer for their home and may be in need personally for better service as well as know the frustration of their kids glitching during video calls.
  3. Care agent asks questions like:
    1. “Tell me about how your household is using the bandwidth. Has this increased lately?”
    2. “How important is uninterrupted service and bandwidth? Do you see this need and priority continuing?”
    3. “Are there certain rooms in your home that are better or worse than others?”
  4. Care agent introduces a value-add service like this:
    1. “We are going to get your modem fixed today, but you might also benefit from some additional bandwidth and even our new router pods. Are you familiar with these?” 
  5. Care agent begins to educate and sell or passes to sales like this:
    1. “Well, your current bandwidth is great for occasional work at home, but I see you now have 10 devices hitting your service, and I think you just need more juice. This should dramatically improve everyone’s experience. And the network pods help keep service in those dead corners in your home. At mine, it’s the kitchen. It’s simply too far away with too many walls between it and the router in the office.”

OR

    1. “For many of my customers this makes all the difference. May I suggest that we bring my team member on the line to walk you through these options before we fix your modem? You may not need or want the fix at that stage.”

Seems simple right? Be clear, I still don’t understand why my son just lost connectivity during virtual band (VIRTUAL BAND!?!), but I did buy more bandwidth, a new modem and router and these pod deals in the past month, and I was infinitely grateful that my care agent suggested them.

Does this seem like a big lift for your care agents? Try the workaround where you stop at #2 and the care agent enters a potential opportunity for sales to call back. CRM says:

“Customer has frequent outages, modem fixed, may need more bandwidth or pods.”

Now our job as sales leaders is to work with the sales team. At this stage, a call to an internet customer who just spent an hour with tech support could go either way, right? See which scenario you’d appreciate as a home internet user:

  1. Salesperson: “I understand you are in the market for increased bandwidth services, our premiere package is an additional $50 / month.”
  1. Salesperson: “I’m calling to make sure the service you got last week on your modem has fixed the problem. Any more call drops? Dead areas? Now they start back at #3.

This is how you maximize every touch. Remember, making suggestions to clients is true selling. It’s how we become that trusted adviser and consultative seller. Unfortunately, our sellers have less and less opportunity to be in front of customers to identify opportunities to do so. Read more about customer touches in my blog on the 3 questions customer care agents should be asking to help generate revenue. 

Not all your care agents will get it, excel at it, or even like it. Part of the training we like to provide here is a mindset shift. Solving problems is their job, your products and services solve their problems. The “Did you know we also?” conversation goes a long way and in our experience, they’ll get a few bites a day.

How many care agents do you have that could be funneling a few leads/day to your sales team?

Bonus: The agents that DO get it are a great hiring pool for your next sales position!

Ready to train your customer service agents to sell? We’ve got you covered.

Fill out the form below to learn more.





Tips for Virtually Onboard New Sales Reps-01

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Tips for Virtually Onboarding New Sales Reps

In July, our Executive Open Bar topic was Remote Training Best Practices. This was a high-demand topic for obvious reasons with so many workforces now at home.

If you’re new to the “Open Bar,” this is a Leader-only sharing forum where friends of Factor 8 talk about what’s working, what’s not, and share challenges and best practices. 

*Sorry you missed the discussion. Watch our webinar on virtual training best practices to learn what great virtual sales training looks like. 

During this session, I got to put on the expert vs. facilitator hat on as most of our participants were Sales Leaders and not one on the call had a learning department helping with remote learning.

Say What!?

It’s a sad truth, but one we hear a lot. Sales Leaders are doubling as Enablement Leaders and their Sales Managers as Trainers. So let’s start here:

If you have more than 25 people onboard, it’s time to start investing in an internal enablement department. And if you have 25 salespeople, you’ll need a dedicated sales trainer or coordinator and a budget of at least $1500 / rep per year. 

Sales Leaders need new hire and ongoing learning for their sales reps and their sales managers. Their jobs are too busy to hire, train, coach, and manage these teams.

OK, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here are some tips we shared to help these busy folks:

1. Make New Hire Onboarding as Self-Paced as Possible. 

A very common mistake is for leaders to assume we own 100% of the learning. We try to download everything a newbie needs in multiple video sessions and drive ourselves crazy with post-it note reminders of stuff to add between meetings. Here’s the deal: you’re working too hard and they won’t retain it. 

Instead, try making a list of what a newbie needs to know and turn it into a research assignment. Have them use the website, intranet sites, knowledge centers, teammates, etc. to fill in your blanks and bring you questions for the rest. In fact, could their assignment be to create a presentation of this relevant information you could use next time? (See point 3) 

Now your video hour together can be an interesting story you share, Q&A and you quizzing them on what they learned.

Expert tip: beware of boiling the ocean. Do they need to know the whole history of your product set or the three key differentiators?

2. Capture for Posterity.

Another common mistake is “Groundhog’s Day” with newbies. If you’re hiring one or two employees every few weeks or months, you may feel like you’re starting over every time. Once you’ve made your new hire assignment like above, capture a blank page as a Google doc or save it to a new hire drive so you’re set for next time. Take ten minutes now to write out instructions to go with each assignment – even save them in order like day 1, day 2, etc. Your future self will thank you.

3. Use Free Bandwidth.

Because most people retain more information by DOING vs. reading or listening to you explain something, take advantage of their bandwidth. After researching relevant company history, what if they create a five-slide PPT and present it to the rest of the newbies (and save it in Drive for the next hires). Rather than just researching your top five products, perhaps they could make a video introducing them to the market. Each assignment is a better-fit learning activity AND a future resource.

4. Make Freebies Better.

There are lots of free guru videos, live streams, webinars, etc., out there. Yeah, you’ll have to listen to some product pitches along the way, but we’re looking for free training, right? So here’s how you make what’s out there better:

  1. If you attended and liked it, download / upload the video replay to your new hire training folder.
  2. Make a list of gurus you align to. There are lots of self-proclaimed experts out there, and helping your peeps align with your culture can be as simple as telling them a few folks to follow (and who to avoid).
  3. Surround the free events with pre and post-meetings. You can’t expect folks to attend a live webinar and then leave with changed behaviors or habits. In fact, your team will think it’s all optional unless you work with them afterward on what to apply, how to apply it, actual examples, and some role plays. Make it even better by setting expectations before the session and coaching on the key skills afterward.
5. Outsource What You Can.

Of COURSE, they love you, their fearless leader… but you’ll do well to mix it up. What internal experts can you leverage to teach topics? And what can be instantly outsourced to expert vendors?

Hint: There are five major areas where reps need training. Only two and a half are eligible for outsourcing:

  1. Product. What are your products and services, when and why do customers need them, how are you different from the competition? Use product leaders, marketing folks, other reps, case studies, testimonials, customer training videos, and customer success…
  2. Process. Think, “How a bill becomes a law.” What do reps need to know about getting orders processed, customers served, their timecards approved… you know, it’s how to get S#$* done at your company. Use operations leaders, support departments, other reps, the intranet, and the super-tenured folks who’ve been around forever.
  3. Systems. Don’t assume reps know how to use your tech stack. The average rep uses over 7 tools, do yourself a favor and buy the training from your vendor vs. teaching reps every step yourself. You’ll thank yourself later when you don’t have every person using the system in different ways. Best practice is when you have a professional training team that is utilizing a practice or sandbox system and incorporating timed system drills (e.g. end of day one, look up these customers in under five minutes, and end of day five we’re adding customers in under 2 minutes…)
  4. Acumen. Customer, business, industry. The big 3 used to be assumed when we hired a college degree. No such luck anymore. Your reps need to understand your industry, your customers’ industries, trends, terminology, acronyms, and basic business. Want them to talk ROI with the CEO… got to teach it first. Try using videos using your own internal experts. Some vendors can help here as well (Factor 8 teaches basic business acumen and has developed custom industry acumen courses for clients to use for all posterity.)
  5. Sales. I know, you hired for sales experience. Haven’t met a rep yet who can walk in ready to execute your sales process with your customers and your industry… have you? Even tenured reps need updates, brush-ups, reminders, best practices and help translating their sales experience to your situation. For example, did they ever sell virtually? Were they prospecting or managing existing accounts? A BDR skill set is vastly different from an AE and Account Manager skill set (check out how our certifications target different skills and outcomes). This is one you can outsource. I know a great company 😉 

If you found this blog helpful and you HAVE or ARE the training department, watch our session on what good virtual sales training. The world has progressed FAR beyond the video and narrated PowerPoint, aim higher with us and let’s help eLearning suck no more.

virtual sales challenges

How to Be a Good Virtual Sales Coach-01

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How to Be a Good Virtual Sales Coach

Coaching is a tough skill for most sales managers. But if you’re used to being in the office and are now managing a virtual sales team, you have some added hurdles. These tips are for you.

(Be sure to keep scrolling to hear my manager coaching tips at the bottom of this article)

#1 – Clearly Define Coaching.

In sales, we use the term coaching too often. We mean it for leaders who use a question-based or learning-based approach. The helpers and askers vs. the domineering tellers. Coaching as a style is different from dedicated rep, skill, or call coaching. When we clearly define when we’re doing sales coaching vs. our regular role of answering questions, running a huddle, or doing a 1:1, it’s easier to identify when to activate coaching skills.

#2 – Dedicate Time for Coaching.

When we were in the office, we could “drive-by coach” when we heard sales reps on the phone doing the good, the bad, and the ugly on calls. Now we need a dedicated hour with each rep one to four times per month. How often, exactly? Coach new reps and “B” reps at least twice a month. Prioritize your “A” and “C” reps next, with the “D” reps coming in last. Beware, focusing on the squeaky wheel!

#3 – Leverage Recordings.

If you don’t have call recording in place, prioritize it now. It will cut the time required for coaching by more than half. Have reps find their own recordings for coaching, mark them, and bring them to the call coaching session.

Listen to an example of a great call coaching session right here. 

#4 – Coach the Rep, Not the Deal.

If you reframe coaching into time to build your reps’ skills, their engagement, and your relationship with them instead of winning deals, you’ll be on the right side of call coaching and have higher-quality interactions and outcomes.

#5 – Use Video.

Zoom works best for playing call recordings. Listen to the call, then do the call coaching. Using video will allow you to connect with the rep, gauge their facial expressions, and have a “face-to-face” conversation where you’re building rapport, not just skills. 

#6 – Rinse and Repeat.

Schedule recurring meetings so you can keep the conversation going. We have a new BDR on the team who gets coached 2-3 times every week. We work on 1-2 skills at a time until we have it mastered and then we move on.

#7 – Use a Standard Model and/or Tool.

If you don’t have a great coaching tool like Ambition, ExecVision, Chorus, or Gong that keeps you aligned to a scorecard and standard of what “good” looks like, create your own scorecard and model. Go nuts and do it with a few managers, if you have access. For every rep skill we teach in The Sales Bar we include a mini Q&A scoring form and coaching questions. We also teach the COACHN℠ model – a standard approach to every coaching interaction that helps things become routine and easier.

DOWNLOAD: The COACHN℠ Model

#8 – Get Some Skill Training.

You know I sell training right?! Seriously, the number one most difficult skill to train sales managers is call coaching. So get some help deciding what to coach, how to coach, who to coach how often. Build some confidence in your ability to coach (remote or face-to-face) and you’ll look forward to it much more. Funny how it will get prioritized that way.

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