Sales Manager Life Savers

Coaching Culture

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Do I Have A Coaching Culture?

Last week, I got an email from an old friend and colleague. Together we launched the inside sales team in EMEA for SAP, and we’ve stayed in touch and had a few beers when I’m overseas – you know the drill. 

He emailed and asked, “How will I know when I have a true coaching culture?”

Love this question. Wish more leaders would ask it! Well, I instantly started forming a little “Cosmo quiz” in my head. Take it for me and let me know how you scored – even better, see if you can add a question!

If you’re not making the top half, click here to get a replay of my recent webinar with the Sales Management Association. 

Do I have a Coaching Culture? 
  1. I see managers prioritizing coaching sessions over other tasks and meetings
  2. I see reps asking for more coaching
  3. Managers can recite skills trends, like what newbies struggle with most 
  4. Training opportunities are offered abundantly at all levels
  5. I see new strategies being implemented smoothly and quickly (e.g. we all need to do XYZ on calls)
  6. We have libraries of different kinds of recorded calls available
  7. Reps feel comfortable having a third person in the room/call observing coaching 
  8. Everyone shares the same understanding of what “good” looks like on calls 
  9. Leaders regularly talk about coaching, rep development, and manager skills 
  10. Managers coach after the call, not during

Scoring
(you know I’m making this up, right?)

  • Yes = add 2 points 
  • Sometimes = add 1 point
  • Heck no = subtract 2 points

20 Points: Seriously impressive. If you don’t already have conversational intelligence tools like Chorus, Gong, or ExecVision, your team is worth the investment! You may even be ready to integrate sales skill and coaching scores into balanced scorecards, rep and manager reward & compensation. Chances are, you have more than 55% of your floor hitting quota. Advertise your coaching culture in job postings and keep nurturing it with your leaders and managers. 

12-19 Points: You, my friend, are middle of the pack. Chances are you come up average in floor quota attainment (about 55%), have some managers who are great at it, and plenty of reps who resist it. You may have great intent but be lacking in execution. There’s never really a coaching emergency, is there? Watch the webinar recording and pay special attention to strategy and process tips.

5-11 Points: In a sea of struggle, I’m sorry to say you’re rock bottom. I’m willing to bet there are more issues than coaching with the culture and you’re struggling with high turnover and “whack a mole” management. When we struggle to make the number, a focus on development never tops the priority list. Keep the resume updated, because it will be harder and harder to keep and attract talent.

So what IS a coaching culture? It’s hard to define, isn’t it?

Culture is how an organization feels when you visit it or are a part of it. It’s the company’s personality, right? I think culture is made up of pace (Factor 8 = super fast), formality (super informal), focus (results), attitude (an underdog with confidence) and language choice (you can probably guess, we’re not afraid of the F word at Factor 8).

Most leaders think culture is shaped by company values. To those leaders, I share the quote by Grunter and Whitaker:

“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.” 

Think of your top rep, your worst manager, the lazy guy in the next department. They show what is acceptable – it’s the bottom of the grading curve that shows where the curve really is. This is impactful.

Yes, the top of the curve matters too! But I can cite too many examples of top performers bending rules or operating in ethical gray areas. Can you? Is that tolerated where you are? Encouraged? Maybe even accidentally celebrated?

The thing about a coaching culture is that it implies all the feel-good areas of human performance, not necessarily hard numbers. To me, a coaching culture implies:

  1. A focus on skill development (is training provided?)
  2. Improvement over perfection (is failure celebrated?)
  3. An openness to give and receive feedback (does this happen at all levels?)
  4. A prioritization of people and their career development (are career paths defined?)

Implementing a conversational intelligence tool does not a culture create. In fact, I’ve seen it make cultures worse. Leaders used technology meant to aid development for compliance over coaching and “caught” reps who didn’t say required phrases. Ouch.

Right now, this is more important than ever. The generations we’re hiring have three top priorities:

  1. Opportunities for development
  2. Opportunities for advancement
  3. Access to leadership

Coaching helps check all three of these boxes, and if your team’s boxes aren’t being checked there are plenty of revenue jobs available right now. Attract and keep great talent with a coaching culture.

Want more tips on creating a coaching culture?

Fill out the form below to watch the recording from
our recent session on“Creating a Coaching Culture”

Step Down From Sales Management

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Should You Step Down from Sales Management?

Not sure you did the right thing pulling the trigger for the promotion? Miss your old customers? Not getting done working until dark? Losing your mind babysitting? Have you calculated what you make an hour now vs. when you sold for a living?

We get you. You aren’t alone!

In fact, over 50% of new sales managers don’t stay in their role. Some opt to take a step down from sales management, some are asked to leave due to poor performance. The sad part is that you LOVED selling, right?! Most awesome sellers are ambitious and competitive by nature like you. Of COURSE you investigated moving up! And yes, you probably should be a VP someday soon, but this interim gig of front-line sales supervision stinks.

Nobody cares as much as you do. Not a single week goes by with everyone actually showing up and working a full week. You’re saying the same things over and over. You spend your days fighting fires. It’s impossible to know where to spend your time. Useless meetings crowd your calendar. Remember the days where your own hard work determined your destiny and your paycheck? Where you could carry the number over the line AND win a great trip or bonus? Those were the days…

Now you’re thinking of leaving the company – throwing away all the product and service knowledge and years of experience…not to mention relationships and street cred! AHH!!

So, how do you know if you should stay or you should go (if you’re singing it in your head, you get it)? Only you have the ultimate answer, but in the meantime, I’ve created a fun little quiz to help.

Take the Quiz Below!


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inside sales call coaching

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Why Is Inside Sales Call Coaching Failing?

Call coaching has been ranked as sales managers’ #1 worst skill, according to the Sales Executive Council. Surprised? Me neither. Harsh, but fair.

According to data from Objective Management Group, only 7% of sales managers are capable of coaching their team. This is especially disappointing when you keep in mind that coaching salespeople at least 3 hours a month yields an average of 7% over the goal.

I struggle with inside sales call coaching myself. Why? Because it’s just so much easier to take over the call myself. Are you with me?

Here are some quick tips to help former sellers who are struggling to transition to a coaching role.

Your Inside Sales Call Coaching Isn’t Working. Here’s Why:

Sales management is THE busiest job in the world.

The line at the desk, backlog of emails, and cacophony of instant messages are real. Our best-laid plans go by the wayside as we attack the latest fire, and we take a reluctant loss in the coaching arena.

That means missed sessions, rushed sessions, and I-never-bothered-to-schedule-it sessions. So before we even attempt to execute good coaching, we’re upside down because reps come into our sessions feeling neglected.

Don’t buy it? Check out the study by ExecVision and The Bridge Group that cited managers report nearly 2x the coaching time that reps do!

The majority of call coaching that is happening is informal.

Think about your company’s own processes for a minute.

  • Do you have a call coaching guide?
  • Do you have a call coaching framework that’s mapped to the customer’s journey?
  • Do you have set call coaching appointments, and keep those promises?
  • Do you have a trend analysis where you can see how people are improving their skills?
  • Do you have clear, firm expectations about reps showing up and showing improvement?

According to the trends we’ve seen in the call coaching sphere, most likely the answer is “no.” Don’t sweat it. I’ve literally NEVER seen a team that answers “Yes” to all of the above. And yet it’s this level of rigor that is required to get the big, silver-bullet-level lift of sales results.

A best-in-class inside sales call coaching program can lead to a 10-60 percent increase in quota attainment (CSO Insights). Quite a swing in the results there. I unpack these stats a little bit more in an article for Selling Power.

All of the items above are components of a more formal coaching process that uses best practices. Accomplishing this in the real world will require support from a high-level sales leader:

  • A strategy team
  • Input from multiple support departments, like Customer Success, Quality, Training, and Marketing
  • Process documentation
  • External training resources
  • Follow-up – lots of it!

We just never learned how to call coach.

Truth: Great sellers are crappy coaches. Unless you study coaching techniques, take some skills training, adopt a meeting methodology, and get regular feedback, you’re probably making at least one of the insanely common (but sadly soul-crushing) coaching boo-boos we see daily.

And because we’re not experts, most of us wind up DEAL coaching, not REP coaching.  The result is that reps leave call coaching sessions feeling like crap or confused. Instead, they should walk out feeling like a freaking superhero. (You and I know that confidence sells.)

So now that we’ve convinced you that call coaching is a losing battle, please step back from that ledge. We should still try.

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At Factor 8, we teach The COACHN℠ Model for sales coaching success.

Here’s what it looks like:

1. Clarify Expectations

This is as simple as starting the meeting by saying, “We’re going to start a formal call coaching program where we’ll listen to some calls and talk about it.” Or, kick-off meetings by recapping what you went over last time, and outlining what you want to get out of the session today.

2. Observe Behavior

This is the step where you actually give your opinion to the rep.

One simple formula to avoiding hurt feelings is saying, “I heard you did this on the call, and it seems like the outcome was this.” Keep it factual and nonpersonal.

3. Ask Questions

Ask at least five questions during the call coaching section.

The goal here is self-discovery for reps. The more they have time to answer questions the more the light bulb will go off and they’ll start learning things on their own. This doesn’t happen as readily when managers are simply telling reps what to do.

4. Commit

Wrap up the call with takeaways for your reps to work on before your next coaching session. Reference one of the questions they answered before, saying, “I really loved your suggestion; why don’t we work on that for next time?”

5. How Can I Help?

Offer your help! This can seem awkward at times, but there are some great ways to do it.

Try it by using one of these lines:

  • “Why don’t we role-play right now?”
  • “Do you want to give it a try?”
  • “Would you like me to review some more calls?”

This lets reps know that you care and are dedicated to their success.

6. Next Steps?

Assign tasks for your reps to practice before the next meeting.

Be sure to set them up for success by telling them exactly what you’d like to see. Here’s an example: “Send me three calls during which you think you put this into practice really well, and we’ll review next time.”

Stick With It!

Following The COACHN℠ Model reminds me to do all the important parts. Most important among those is asking questions and getting commitments.

Please note: Nowhere in this model did we say, “Here’s how I used to do it” or “Use this script!” Call coaching is tough. I hope these tips were fun and easy to implement. We’ll keep talking about this and how we can improve our techniques. Smart sales managers don’t give up on-call coaching.

Make a goal to get better at this each year. Buy some books or check out some on-site or online training like The Sales Bar to help you get there.

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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 Have Difficult Conversations at Work-01-01

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How to Have Difficult Conversations at Work

Difficult conversations are often dreaded and sometimes even avoided, but hey, let’s be honest, these are conversations that we need to have. Before I became Lauren’s sidekick (AKA Executive Assistant), I was in sales. I’ll be honest, I would find myself occasionally avoiding difficult conversations, sometimes at all costs, but that’s not going to help us grow and get results. LB was joined by four amazing ladies on a panel talking about how to overcome the temptation to avoid a conversation, how to prepare for the talk, and what to expect. 

Our panelists included:

Shianne Sampson who has been working with great startups and technology companies across the U.S. to help build out world-class sales teams. She’s currently the VP of Sales & Customer Experience at PetDesk in San Diego as well as a freelance consultant.

Wendy Mitchell-Covington, National Vice President of Sales Success at TriNet, who is a high-energy, polished strategist who builds and scales sales organizations. Wendy has spent the last 20 years in the HR outsourcing space funneling her expertise into helping America’s businesses improve and thrive.

Brenda Roper who is the VP, Global Sales Enablement at Thomson Reuters based in Minneapolis. She’s also held many sales leadership roles but her passion is seeing behavior change as a result of training – and she’s trained over 15K sales people!

Natalie Servino who is the VP of Marketing for Chorus.ai. where everyday she gets to help B2B sales professionals win more. She oversees all marketing and sales development for Chorus, including product marketing, demand generation, and communications.

What Mistakes Are You Making When Having These Conversations?
  1. People don’t address the situation or the problem – they address the person and sometimes it feels like a personal attack. Our job is to help them understand how to do it right the next time.
  2. Delaying the conversation – this is never going to help the situation as it can continue to spiral and get worse.
  3. Not setting clear expectations up front on what you are asking of them.
  4. Managers should not have the conversation on the fly – instead think about what you want to say, plan the conversation, and the desired outcome.

Lauren used the Factor 8 COACHN℠ Model framework as a guide. This model is used for all sales manager meetings to help leaders provide consistency and embody coaching best practices. For difficult conversations, it’s called the E-COACHN℠ Model. 

The “E” reminds us to maintain an employee’s self-esteem. It also reminds us there are four legs of research to do:

  1. A private location
  2. Ample time (double your best guess)
  3. Data or examples
  4. Desired goal 

Once prep is done, we can follow the COACHN℠ Model to guide the conversation:

  1. Clarify Expectations: one sentence intro for the meeting – the “problem statement”.
  2. Observations: Talk about behavior you have observed, data you’ve seen. Not hearsay. 
  3. Asking questions: can the employee explain what’s going on?
  4. Committing to action items – this is where the employee decides and commits to fixes.
  5. How can I help? Great managers offer to get involved where appropriate.
  6. Next steps – nailing down when we check back and what will be done.
Download the E-COACHN℠ Model here.
Tips & Tricks For Having Difficult Conversations

The panel shared so many awesome tips and stories. Here were a few that stood out:

  1. Make sure that you are ending the conversation helping them come up with a solution for the problem. We can show our faith in them and be encouraging. This helps maintain esteem.
  2. Follow-through is critical. Get next steps on the calendar and be accountable for your own actions AND measuring their progress and actions.
  3. The most difficult conversations that you encounter aren’t just performance conversations. When we enter them with the intent to help and learn, they will turn out OK – even the really embarrassing ones!
  4. Don’t expect to have all the answers. It’s smart to ask HR, a mentor, or a boss for guidance and to practice before having the difficult conversation. 
Now for some GREAT Q&A between the audience and our panel:

1. How do you give feedback up the ladder? To superiors, leadership, or your boss.

Always start with your end in mind. What outcome are you seeking? Prepare, have an outline, have someone you trust review and practice. Ask your boss if you can have an open conversation to help propel the business, relationship or whatever it is further. Tell her or him that you have been hesitant to bring this up (if that is true) and that you are seeking to improve whatever it is you are going to discuss AND then go for it! 

Remember, your boss can’t read your mind. Everyone is human and makes mistakes. Be prepared to hear feedback that you may not want. How will you react? Do your best to take the feedback as a gift, even if it is something that doesn’t make you feel good.

“Feedback is a gift” – This came up many times during the webinar. What an amazing perspective to help all parties navigate giving and receiving feedback. 

2. How can you use difficult conversations with clients as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship?

Many difficult conversations with clients occur because the company that you work for can’t or won’t fulfill something the client wants or needs. Sometimes these occur because expectations were not met. 

Honesty and timely communication will actually strengthen a relationship, versus harm it. The worst thing anyone can do is avoid the crucial conversation.

3. What is the best way to have these conversations with your boss. For example if you disagree with an approach or need to “manage up”.

This one is tricky because it really depends on what type of boss you have, you’ll need to gauge your boss’s openness to feedback and these types of conversations. That being said, start with clear expectations. I use a simple format of expectation setting which is: Here is what you should expect from me, and what should I expect of you? They will almost always say the right things: support, transparency, accountability, etc. If not make sure they cover what you need by asking the right questions. Then, once expectations are clear you can use those expectations to align on feedback, similar to the roleplay we did in the webinar. Let them know where expectations aren’t being met and be specific with examples, then provide actionable solutions. The most important part of managing up is for YOU to come with solutions, don’t just come with issues and expect them to solve. If you disagree with their approach it means you are not aligned on what protocol/expectations should be, so start there.

4.  Do you have any tips on having difficult conversations remotely, e.g. via Zoom?

Eliminate distractions and make sure you plan as you would for face-to-face. Then always make sure that your video is eye-level and that you maintain eye contact. The rest conveys just as well through video as it does in person. If this is a conversation that is HR-related or could end in termination, you should have HR present or record the session for documentation.

5. How do you acknowledge a counter argument and listen without agreeing?

Depending on the situation, you might not have to agree, but you likely need to address the disagreement and how to move forward. So to start, you need to be OK with disagreement. If the disagreement is done the right way it can actually be productive and build trust! There is a time and place for rude and blunt disagreement, for example at political rallies and debates, however, for business professionals, the polite and respectful approach is always the right way to go. Here are some tips to make this type of difficult conversation productive:

  • First, you need to understand that your argument is stronger when you acknowledge an opposing side! It shows that you have thought deeply about your argument or position. 
  • Be respectful and listen intently. Before you disagree make sure you listen and ask clarifying questions. Sometimes the idea being discussed is good, but the articulation of the idea is not good. Either way, you must actively listen to the other person, don’t just be thinking about your response. Note: it is important to be aware that active listening can give the other person the impression that you agree with them even if you don’t.
  • Mirror the person who is disagreeing. A technique you can use is to respond by repeating what he or she has said. word for word. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but what you are saying is…” This helps people feel as though you have heard and understood them. This puts them in a position to listen more carefully to what you have to say.
  • Validate the person who is disagreeing. Another approach is to express that you understand what they are saying (but not that you are agreeing). “It makes sense to me that…”. This approach helps to lower people’s defenses so that they are more open to what you have to say. 
  • Finally, be prepared to articulate how you can both “agree to disagree”. This shows that you are willing to recognize the other person’s point of view, but you do not agree.

6. How to disagree with your boss without getting fired.

We already know the complexities and tips to improve difficult conversations, but initiating one with your boss might be intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be! If you have a good manager, disagreeing should not be an issue, it should just be another constructive conversation that you have. However, if you do not have a manager that is open to others’ opinions, here are a few additional tips. 

  • First, pick your battles wisely… you can’t and shouldn’t fight every battle!
  • Carefully consider the time and place before you set up a meeting to discuss. If you believe your manager is not going to be receptive to your view, pick a time that is not stressful for him / her. Remember it is not just what you say, it is also about when you say it.
  • Tread carefully and don’t make it personal. Stay positive, address the issue and focus on the facts.
  • Use “I” statements. For example, “I see where you are coming from, but I am concerned about…”
  • Ask questions! This will foster a collaborative discussion, rather than just your point of view. It is important that the conversation is not one sided. Questions are crucial for making your opinion more of a suggestion or request, rather than a mandate.
  • Be prepared to confidently articulate the benefits of your position. You will likely be asked this so be prepared and be concise.
  • No matter what, respect the final decision. Go into the conversation knowing that your boss does have the final say and be prepared to let it go and support the final decision if it does not go your way.

I hope you found these tips helpful!

If you’d like to watch the recording for our webinar on “Having Difficult Conversations With Ease”, just fill out the form below!
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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20 Killer (Virtual) Sales Management Takeaways

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20 Killer (Virtual) Sales Management Takeaways

Belly up for some great virtual management tips folks.  This week we hosted OPEN BAR with 5 Friends of Factor 8 sharing advanced remote leadership ideas.  Way beyond WFH, these rockstars went top shelf! 🙂

We had a GM, Consultant, Front-line Sales Manager, VP of Enablement, and VP of sales on tap (it’s getting punny here…) and I’m sharing my 20 favorite takeaways below.

Really, I’ve been WFH for fifteen years and I took some big notes.

#1 Ditch the video and pick up the phone. Outside of the huddle and the team video chats, call your people 1:1 to see how they are. I thought I knew the score from team updates and then spent over an hour with one of my people after this tip. Make it happen ASAP.

#2 Virtual HH goes further with virtual games (whiteboard pictionary), two truths and a lie, meet the family, and my favorite… MTV Cribs where we take virtual tours of our space (what’s in YOUR fridge?)

#3 Be Real. Your job as a leader isn’t to just put on a brave face. Authenticity rules here. Share fears and struggles. There’s no better nor important time to be human.

#4 Do 1:1’s better.  NO multitasking and NO rescheduling. It’s critical right now.

#5 Don’t assume current schedules will work for everyone. Set an expectation of what a good day looks like + an afternoon check-in, but work with individuals on custom work schedules. We’re homeschooling too right now!

#6 Don’t assume everyone is OK if you’re not hearing from them. Virtual employees (during the best of times) worry more about how their performance is perceived. Check-in with every person on every level right now. (Call them!)

#7 Engage your training/enablement teams. Just telling people to use empathy is different than an interactive training on how to do it. Your internal enablement team may have virtual meetings and training experts at your disposal as well! (this week I learned to virtual whiteboard, stamp, and mark up slides).

#8 Video…then NO video. As leaders, you NEED to see what’s in the background. We heard stories of unmade beds, pajamas and worse. Take a look, coach the rep, and then give them a break. Back to back video calls are exhausting. Turn it off for some meetings.

#9 Schedule all meetings for 45 minutes. You’re welcome. Really, the stress many of us face now is the ALL OF IT at once with no downtime.  The juxtaposition of work, house, spouse, and kids with no time to eat or pee (OK, I added that one). Pre-planning 15 minutes between meetings is bloody brilliant.

#10 Use now to develop managers and reps.  For some, we finally have the time; for others, it’s just something that can be within our control. More training, more call coaching.  Don’t assume as leaders that it’s happening or happening well. Ride along, set the strategy, then coach the managers.

#11 Use your tools for visibility and accountability. Call coaching (Chorus, Gong, ExecVision) and gamification tools (Ambition, Level 11) are hot right now, but so are eLearning tools, advanced webinar tools, and even project tools like Trello or Asana.

#12 Double shot of positive right now. Overcorrect on the praise and be specific. We all need this.  A lot. (I’m seriously fishing for compliments from my KIDS these days. Won’t happen – until I start playing Fortnight) 

#13 Beware of micromanagement. It’s easy to watch the dashboards and immediately react.  Yeah, reps can become numbers just that fast. Instead set expectations and check at the end of the day. It’s enough and keeps you off the whack-a-mole micro-management train. 

#14 Beware assumptions. Misunderstanding happens in the best of times, and the remote + stressful atmosphere probably means more than half of what you’ve said is misinterpreted. Get out of meetings and micromanagement and call everyone to check in and check understanding. Ride along on calls to be sure customer messaging is understood as well.  

#15 Prospecting fails. Nope, not many folks interested in cold calls right now. So stop bashing the quantity and get into the quality. Celebrate conversations and learning. Then. . .

#16 Share customer stories in morning huddles. This shows your focus on care and conversations AND gives everyone else stories to tell their customers/prospects about what is happening out there.  

#17 Use Stephen Covey’s powerful model that talks about “circle of concern” and “circle of influence” right now. Also, try Kübler Ross’s model about stages of change here and get into leading change and whole-humans vs. numbers or reps.

#18 Don’t manage team meetings the same way. I usually meet once a month with my team and I’m making it more often. When it’s virtual, you need to pause for ten seconds to wait for responses or chats. Let folks know you want them to come off mute or chat instead of just being disappointed if it doesn’t happen.

#19 Watch for the disappearing rep. You don’t get the visual cues you did in the office. Video off a few times in a row? No comments, chats, or emails? Something’s up. Call and check-in. Do it with empathy rather than a focus on slipping numbers or attendance. They could have someone personally affected by COVID, they may be depressed, we just don’t know.

#20 Don’t assume it will all go back to normal. We just NAILED virtual, y’all. Can we keep this going for those who want and need it? Remember how small your hiring pool felt 6 months ago? The walls just came down. Let’s embrace this opportunity. 

Thank you again to our incredible Friends of Factor 8 who stepped up to make it a fun and really helpful session.  I’ll drink with y’all anytime!

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5 Tips For Sales Manager’s To Improve Time Management

One of my go-to “truisims” when speaking about inside sales is that frontline sales management is THE busiest job in the world. I find myself saying this over and over because “Give it to the Sales Managers” seems to be a go-to phrase in leadership, but sadly is oh-so-wrong. Why?

Managing a team of 10-15 front-line sellers requires an above-average proficiency in interviewing, coaching, problem-solving, team building, customer service, motivation, babysitting, and juggling.

If you’re new to sales management or coaching those who are, here are my top five tips to get your house in order fast:

Create your cadence 

We’re all familiar with a sales process, but not many have a set management process. The management cadence is your series of meetings and touchpoints with your team. It consists of sales huddles, performance reviews, pipeline meetings, team meetings, call coaching and more. If we don’t proactively decide what we’re covering in each meeting, who attends, how often they happen, and the prep required from all parties, then we wind up covering all of this information 1:1 and reactively. What’s wrong with reactive management? Two things:

  1. The line at your desk
  2. The people waiting for you at home

A management cadence helps you get control of your own day and stop firefighting. It remains the number one favorite class Factor 8 teaches and has held this position for over five years. Make your plan, inform your team, get it into outlook, and then hold on to the plan for dear life. Why? Because it will seem that your entire team of reps, your peers, and your director are conspiring against you in your first two weeks it’s in place. Great segue to the next tip…

Teach them to fish

That line at your desk? It’s full of customer issues, product questions, sales stories (we all have the rep who needs to tell you the complete blow by blow, right?) and more. And EVERYONE thinks their request is urgent, right? So it’s up to you to teach them when you will be handling these requests (hint, it’s NOT right now). For example:

Rep: Help! I have Janet at Bensley Co on the line and she said that she tried to use the discount code and it didn’t work…

Manager: I know that’s important to her – and a good customer of yours. The procedure is to get customer success on the line with her and walk through. . .

You have to teach your team how to work with you. What should be brought to a meeting? What can be delegated to another department or team member? What should the Rep solve themself? Salespeople are like water. We will ALWAYS travel the path of least resistance. 

Sales people are like water. We will ALWAYS travel the path of least resistance. 

If you have a line at your desk, it isn’t because you’re the best manager on the floor. It might mean you’re being a bigger pushover than the others. Teach them to fish…and be vigilant with when you hand out fish to protect your cadence – and your sanity.

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Team go-to sheets

If you’re new on the job, there’s a LOT you don’t know yet. And unfortunately, most companies don’t budget for new sales manager training. So quit going it alone. Work with your team to develop your internal areas of expertise and list them out! 

The story goes like this. I was 23, the new manager of a B2B Outbound Enterprise Sales Team in the Tech Industry. I was hired from outside the company and received no new hire training. This means I didn’t know the product, systems, people, processes…NOTHING. (wondering now why they hired me). So every request that came to my desk was met with, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” I ran myself into the ground. I cried driving home. I drank a LOT of wine. Enter team go-to sheets.

Sean was incredible and getting decision makers to call him back

Randy could configure the solutions

Melissa knew the people in product management to get specs

Pat knew the folks in operations to get deals invoiced

Tammy knew the CRM inside out

I invite you to do a better job naming your reference sheets & also to do some team building around it. Create a team name! Do this offsite with some beer! The outcome was amazing. We felt less helpless, we bonded together, and when one of us was going to miss quota, we all worked together to get them there. It’s good for the team AND for you.

Don’t treat requests equally

Everyone’s favorite class in #GirlsClub was “Own Your Day.” It’s time management for sales managers and all about carving out more time to be proactive with your strategy and less time being reactive. The foundation of this course is the Urgent vs. Important matrix (often called the Eisenhower Box). For every request, ask yourself:

  1. Is there a deadline associated with this? (Urgent)
  2. Does this activity lead to revenue? (Important) 

Your questions may vary slightly, but you get the gist. 

If it’s urgent AND important, you do it now. 

If it’s urgent but not important (e.g. customer complaint), you try to delegate it. 

If it’s not urgent but important, you schedule it (e.g. rep coaching)

If it’s not urgent and not important, you delete it (e.g. watching the cat video Larry sent you)

It takes some practice, but I now attack every to-do list this way. How do I decide what requests to take and meetings to reschedule? Is there a deadline (could be a monthly target) and what will help me meet goals the fastest. 

A clean pipeline is important

We all have pipelines full of crap. Why? Because cleaning them out is neither urgent nor important (see what I did there)? But my tip for new manager is to establish that it IS important to you. When we let the pipeline get out of control, we stunt our upward mobility as sales leaders. Why? Because you can’t forecast the number and you don’t know what levers to pull when you get behind. The very best sales managers are consistent sales managers who have their business managed within an inch of it’s life. If you’re hitting your numbers but didn’t know what deals saved you, you have some work to do here because hope is not a good long-term strategy. How to do it?

  1. Move your pipeline meetings to team meetings. Use the team tension to show who’s doing it well and who is messy. They’ll clean it up fast!
  2. Do 5 spot checks a week on deals. Pull it up, check the close date, check the stage, and call them out.
  3. Start every performance 1:1 with a pipeline cleanliness review
  4. Quiz the team during huddles. Give the situation and have them tell you the stage. Then reward the team member who did it right. If your culture can handle it, also call out the one who didn’t. 

Word will spread fast that you expect the stages to be decided on consistently, all deals to be updated, and each member to know his or her business. 

Now, your pipeline can be a management tool/resource for you. Where are deals getting stuck? Who is having the most trouble closing in stage two? Where do you need some marketing coverage? Where do you need coaching and training? And when is it time to pull in the performance improvement engine or the sales contest engine to hit the number. With a clean pipeline, you can analyze and make smart decisions – before it’s too late!

Like these tips? You might also like our step-by-step guide to better intros. Grab it here.

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call coaching training

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Call Coaching Training To Improve Agent Performance

Is call coaching getting you the results you need? 

Most sales leaders will admit that coaching on call is definitely an area for improvement.  And let’s be honest, do we really set up our sales managers for success in this area? Most are managing more than 12 people, running custom reports, talking to customers, and attending meetings.

However, we have a solution to all of your call coaching training troubles — enter call coaching.  We call it “Coaching As A Service.” A client asked us to develop it.  We did, and it worked.

Now, it’s available to you. Check out the video below for a more in-depth understanding on what it is and why you should use it.

In the meantime, here are your FAQs answered:

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