Last week my son made his first sales call. For an inside sales thought leader, you have got to believe this was big in my house! My brave six-year-old D.J. read the school script to relatives & friends and got pledges for his APEX fundraiser.
Watching a little human do this for the first time made ME nervous – and OH. SO. PROUD. It reminded me of a few truths we could all keep in mind when preparing new hires to take to the phones for the first time:
Don’t assume anyone can do this
ANY human will get nervous asking people for money over the phone. Let’s all keep this in mind when we ask for more dials and results. His brother BAILED after one call (and he’s the extrovert in the family!!).
Set up small wins early and celebrate BIG
The small wins he got (and we celebrated big time) energized him to make more calls. He was pulling aunties out of the woodwork! When we set up small wins early and celebrate BIG, they’ll be hooked.
Do a better job teaching rejection in new-hire training
When he got his first “no” he totally rolled with it and still wanted to make another call. Why? Because we set it up ahead of time that it would likely happen, why, and what to say. Special shout out to Uncle Shawn who agreed up front to say no to a six-year-old so we could teach this lesson (THAT wasn’t easy!). More “NO” in role plays and more help in why they happen and how to handle them.
Remember that just like a first grader, our new hires watch us to determine how to act. It’s good to show some nerves, to celebrate small wins, and to get right back up like a “no” doesn’t sting a little. I know that the next time I’m in class I’ll be a little less tough on the 23-year-old making their first calls.
By the way, my proudest moment was when he DITCHED THE SCRIPT and felt confident enough to use his own words. I can’t believe I didn’t record it!
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In my line of work, I spend a lot of time on sales floors around the world watching Reps, Managers, Directors, and VP’s try to drive the number. I see well intentioned organizations and leaders spend countless hours and dollars trying to unlock the secret that will bring in more customers and keep them coming back for more. The problem is that they are trying to run before they can walk.
If you’re behind the number for 2017 or wondering how you will turn things around for next year, maybe you need to start with the basics. Are the steps you are taking going to provide a clearer path to success, or are you making changes for change’s sake? Here are five of the most common ways that I see companies fail their salespeople, and it’s killing their numbers.
Poor Compensation Plans – You’ve heard the phrase that salespeople are coin operated…so why do companies continue to design compensation plans that limit their reps ability to earn? Are you really going to punish your sales team for closing “too big” of a deal? Think through your comp plan enough to ensure that it can account for big wins. When someone on the sales team closes a huge deal there should be bells ringing, applause breaking out, and the leader on the floor slapping high fives, not in her office worrying about how that deal will push them beyond the commission budget. The second common failure related to compensation plans is the overly complex comp plan. You want to account for every contingency and every activity that you want to incent, and end up creating a 7 page document that requires four Excel sheets and an advanced degree in mathematics to calculate commissions. If you want compensation to drive behavior, make it simple enough so that your team can figure out on the fly how each deal/lead they close is going to impact their check.
Putting people with no sales experience in charge of sales – This one always shocks me. Would you make someone with no financial background your CFO? I’m not sure if companies don’t view sales as a “professional” department that requires experienced leadership, or if they think it’s a good way to round out an executive’s resume, but it can put your revenue generation machine in jeopardy. Fair or unfair, salespeople have a hard time following someone that’s never done the job. It’s also very difficult to make sound decisions around things like territory planning, sales process, compensation, and tools when you haven’t experienced the good and bad that sales has to offer.
Information overload – While it is usually done with the best of intentions, too much information can be paralyzing to a sales team. Resist the urge to jam every shiny new Salesforce plug-in down your team’s throat. Information without intelligence is useless to your sales team. Almost every salesperson I know would rather have one or two actionable nuggets of information than 100 potentially relevant pieces of data. I would also argue that, in many cases, the amount of data out there is making salespeople lazier. If a lead doesn’t come across with a bright flashing arrow showing the exact path to the sale, the process grinds to a halt. How can I possibly pitch this customer without knowing which direction his office desk chair faces? Your sales leadership team needs to be an advocate for the reps here. Establish a process for determining what information makes its way to the rep’s desks and why. Filter it hard. And when something does go through to the team, take the time to explain what it is and how they can use it to sell more effectively. If you can’t connect those dots, they don’t need it.
Lack of investment in rep development – When I hear reps tell me that their onboarding process consisted of 3-4 days of HR paperwork, systems training, and online selling modules, I wonder how the company expects anyone to succeed. There are too many organizations that strive to constantly reduce the time and money invested in onboarding salespeople because (a) the turnover is high so why waste the money, (b) an untrained rep is better than an empty seat, or (c) every day they spend in training is a day they’re not selling. I’ll tell you this, an untrained/poorly trained rep can do a ton of damage to your bottom line and your reputation….and they’ll still leave. Especially if you are hiring entry level salespeople, you need to provide them with sales training specific to your organization and customers. Show them what good looks like and give them a chance to sharpen those skills in a safe environment. If you don’t have the people internally to do it, bring someone in from the outside. You can’t afford to screw this one up. I won’t even get started on the lack of ongoing development…a rant for another day.
Spreading sales managers too thin – I can’t tell you the number of times that I walk on to a sales floor and see a flurry of rep activity and not a manager in sight. When I ask the reps what interaction they have with their manager, I get responses like: “we’re supposed to have weekly 1:1’s but they usually get postponed”, “she’s always in meetings”, or “I try not to bother him because he’s so busy.” The sad part is that when I ask the managers what they would do if they could change one thing, I almost always hear that they want to spend more time with their reps. Unfortunately, they are pulled in a hundred different directions by partners, bosses, and other departments, and their reps are usually the piece that slips through the cracks. Front line sales managers are some of the most impact people in your entire organization. They are responsible for translating senior leadership’s vision into daily action. They are the close enough to the customers to know what’s going on in the market, and high enough in the organization to do something about it. Take the administrative crap off of their plates and keep them on the floor!
If you caught yourself cringing while you read this list or a few (or all!) items hit a little too close to home, you’re not alone. The good news is that it’s not too late to make some changes and get things heading in the right direction. If you’re not sure where to start or what changes can make the biggest impact, I’d love to have that conversation with you.
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Think of your very best rep. Like ever. Pulled deals out of the air like little cloud gifts from heaven at month end. Broke new business, mastered the upsell, just couldn’t TOUCH their results. Was she a little high maintenance? Always had an emergency? Bet he never quite did the “I – dotting and T – crossing: like he was supposed to? Man, what a salesman.
Do. Not. Promote. Him.
Really.
Top reps (very tippity top Reps) make lousy managers. Sure they want it! But that’s because they like to WIN, get RECOGNIZED, get PAID.
What they don’t like is administrative crap, coaching other reps, and putting the rest of the team before themselves. Hint: these might be critical skills.
If you’re looking to promote internally, here’s a list of a few things I use to spot future super-managers. I hope you’ll add to the list!
B rep. Really. Your “A Reps” are probably making too much money to stay in management anyway.
The volunteer. The one who doesn’t mind you delegating a task like putting together a presentation, training the team, or researching a product.
The mom. You know who loves to care and feed the young. That’s the nurturing spirit a manager needs!
The coach. NOT the preacher (the “Here’s-how-I-do-it” guy) but the person who loves to be shadowed and then spends 30 minutes asking questions and checks back later.
The accidental leader. Who sets the culture on your team without trying? Who do people look to for approval or answers but who isn’t officially in charge? A natural.
Your turn! What do you look for in a Rep that tells you she might be your next manager?
PS here’s a link to a quick video about sales management and how it’s a different job.
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When I moved to the Southwest during college, my “friends” introduced me to amazing recipes with Hatch green chilies. “Be careful Iowa,” they’d say, “It’s the chili that burns you twice.” Blank stare from LB. . . and likely from many of you – count yourselves lucky.
But you probably do recognize the double burn of promoting a top rep to Inside Sales Manager. Yes, they’ve asked for it! Yes, they’re fantastic at the job! If they could teach the team HALF of what they do…
But you’ve lost your top performing rep and it’s a really tough transition for the entire team. This is what a recent CEB study found:
“Employees often take on significantly bigger and broader responsibilities when promotions do occur. As a result, nearly half of promoted employees (46%) face a traumatic transition because they are unprepared and then underperform up to 18 months after their transition.” – CEB, April 2016
Don’t Get Burned
So, how do you ensure that you’re promoting the right reps and then how do you set them up for success?
Solution 2: Target the B player instead. Look for the team “mom” or “dad” who folks go to for help and who always have time for a question. These are natural people developers. That’s the critical piece missing from most top highly-competitive reps.
Put these into practice and you’ll skip the double burn. Unless you like the burn and in that case, I’ll send you some recipes.
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This month Factor 8 turned 8 years old. I’d have missed it completely if I hadn’t gotten your LinkedIn Congratulations. Thanks you guys! So it’s on this auspicious occasion that I want to publicly acknowledge the complete tool that I used to call my boss. My friend, you drove me right into entrepreneurship.
Can you picture him or her? If you’ve been to one of my leadership seminars, you could actually picture MY boss (you BET I show his picture!), but how about YOUR worst boss? The worst jerk you ever reported to? Got his or her picture in your head? See how it makes you feel in the pit of your stomach? I actually still get a little involuntary sneer on my face when I do. Now answer this question:
How many of these guys or gals work for you today that you don’t know about?
Inside Sales Managers are some of the very worst offenders in the crappy-boss arena folks. We’ve taken young and inexperienced sales reps and promoted them. Then we gave them little to no training and let’s be honest, not a lot of great role models (we do have a pretty young profession). So this is it, I’m going on record to blatantly say:
Poor Sales Managers are THE NUMBER ONE REASON that you have high turnover on your inside sales team.
And believe me, they appear completely differently to you than they do to their team. Here are a few nuggets to consider:
Who has the highest turnover and lowest? If you’re not tracking this, start!
Who has the highest number of reps making quota (vs. just percentage of the team to quota that can be carried by one or two sellers)
How are your managers doling out leads, inbounds or web inquiries? Is there an objective process in place?
Do each of your managers have regular 1:1 meetings with every single person on their team?
How soon do your managers reach out to your employees after they’re hired (hint: Before they start and day one are best practices)
How often do your managers touch your customers (the good ones, not just the ones that are pissed).
How much training have you given your managers?
Call to action 1: Folks, you need VIRTUAL SALES MANAGEMENT training – not just the good touchy-feely stuff from HR. Check out my LBTV posting on what training you need here.
Call to action 2: Consider re-appropriating your rep training budget for your managers (you’ll get more ROI from your rep training that way).
Call to action 3: If you have under five managers, check out the online training from AA-ISP. Sure online training isn’t as good as live, but this will take you a good way down the field.
MAN that’s a lot of calls to action. Hope this was helpful everyone! And boss man (you know who you are): You were really truly awful.. Thanks! 🙂
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It’s so simple, so obvious, you couldn’t help but be drawn in. Bob is your top producer. Bob knows the systems better than anyone on the team. Bob can sell with his wireless headset tied behind his back. So when the time came to hire a manager for the team you had no doubt in your mind. Bob was the choice. Now you’re 6 months into your “Bob the Manager” experience and it’s a complete disaster.
Bob is frustrated, his team is frustrated, you’re frustrated, and the numbers are tanking. How can this be? You keep asking yourself…what’s wrong with Bob?
The answer is that you hired Bob based on his abilities as a rep, not his ability to be a manager. They are two different jobs, and being good at one does not automatically make you good at the other. Think about when you first hired Bob out of school. Did you hire him because he was a good student or because he showed the skills, attitude, and characteristics of your top sales reps?
You didn’t assume that because he was doing well at his current job (student) that he would automatically be good as a sales rep. You hired him because he was able to display skills that were consistent with people who are good at sales and then you trained him to do the job.
You need to take the same approach when hiring a Manager – screen and hire candidates based on how well their skills and abilities match up with the profile of a strong sales leader. And by the way, then you need to train them! (Doh!) I mean really, do they need to be a strong closer or an accurate forecaster? Truth is, great sales reps actually have to UN-learn some skills to be a great sales manager. . .and they’re not going to know how to do it without some development.
I’ve attached a clip from last year’s AA-ISP Leadership Summit that talks about why this is such an important topic, and what you can do about it. And the fact that it made my Top 10 list means that you can rest assured that you’re not the only one that’s made this mistake.
Here’s a sneak peek at the 4 tips for Sales Manager development, watch the video for all the details:
Provide Management training and job training (yeah, they’re different!)
Stay away from vague management / leadership theory
Whenever you train your reps on a new skill, train your managers on how to recognize and coach it
If you’re not already planning to attend, there is still time to register for the AA-ISP Leadership Summit where there are LOTS of great tips on developing your management team.
Let me know if you’re attending and we’ll get you hooked up with a discount!
And if you want to get more sales management development tips, follow us on LinkedIn . . . by clicking here or check out our website!
LB
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In the twenty years I’ve been at this, I’ve found one singular topic that lights me up the fastest:
Rep ramp time.
I wish I could tell you that every client and every event focuses here with me, but the truth is they don’t. I’m a bit of an island on this one, but I think that’s only because we’re not all exactly sure just how much slow ramp is costing us (or could be saving us) – more on that in a second.
According to the most recent research from my friend Trish and her team at The Bridge Group (full report here), the average ramp time for an Inside Sales rep is 4.4 months. Let’s be honest, Trish works with awesome tech companies, and they’ve been doing Inside Sales longer than anyone. If you’re a distribution company, an outsourcer, big box retail, or manufacturing, chances are you average 6 months until Reps start paying for themselves (or “six months ramp”). If your training department is less than 5 years old and/or reports up through HR instead of sales, chances are you’re north of 9 months.
When you are spending 2-3 times the rep’s annual salary to onboard him, every extra week it takes to get him to start paying that back is a big deal. Especially when 1/3 to 1/2 of them will be gone within the year. So which costs more…attrition or ramp? Well this blog is about rep ramp time, so I hope you guessed it. Man I bet you were surprised. But wait till you hear how much more!
We modeled it for a little company called Microsoft.
They were hot about the cost of attrition with some outsourcers, so we ran a model comparing the cost of their industry-average attrition vs. best in class, and then compared that against their industry-average onboarding vs. best-in-class. It’s basically a magic wand question – If you could fix either, which saves you more?
Cutting the ramp time saved nearly DOUBLE than cutting attrition
(BONUS ALERT: help reps make money faster, you’re also going to impact attrition).
The money is in the green seat. The what? The cost of having your customers worked by a rep ramping. The same book or leads worked by a tenured rep produces double or triple that of a green rep. Multiple that by the six months that your rep is green. Ouch. NOW assume that 20-50% of your floor is “green” due to attrition, and we’re talking big dollars.
I don’t know your numbers (email me if you want to plug them into our model). But I’m betting big money that cutting your ramp time in half would be like adding an extra sales team to your numbers.
So, how do we do it? GET TO IT LB, right?
Well, I often like to blame your training team, but ramp time is a function of a lot of different groups: Are you recruiting the right candidates? Is your hiring process designed to identify the attributes that align with your most successful reps? Does your new hire training provide practical experience that mirrors what reps will see when they hit the floor?
Here’s one trick that I think is CRUCIAL to cutting ramp time: Use Call Recordings! But not the way you think. They don’t even have to be those green Reps’ calls; any calls will do. When used right, recorded calls simulate experience. Months and months of it! It’s the reason all Factor 8 sales training uses call recordings and live floor time: simulate real experience.
(Here’s the secret sauce folks)
Simulated experience is crucial because the key isn’t really about WHAT skill to apply. . . it’s about WHEN to apply it.
This is what takes so darn long to collect and thereby ramp.
So infuse it as often as possible using the Pause Game. Check out the video on how to do this:
(I think I filmed this one in my front courtyard, so enjoy the stupid plane overhead that just wouldn’t land!)
Personally, I’m a fan of hands on engagement from Sales leaders here. Have your Supervisors grab a bunch of recorded calls and pull your new hires into a room for a few rounds of The Pause Game. Then sign them up to do it every day during new hire training.
The more real life situations you can expose new reps to, the faster they can build up their bank of experiences. That experience bank is what will get them ramped and producing faster.
Man this was a long one. I’ll work on that. I hope this is helpful!
ACTION suggestions:
Forward this to your lead Manager / Supervisor and tell them to make it happen
Forward this to your New Hire Training Manager and tell them to make it happen
Ask both of them to invite you to the first one.
Email me if you want to plug in your own numbers or learn more ways to reduce your ramp
Here’s to you (and your ramp),
LB
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