Barbara Giamanco

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Hit the Bullseye: Know and Do the Most Meaningful Activities w/Kristina McMillan

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this episode, Barb talks to Kristina McMillan, VP of Research at TOPO about why it is so important to FOCUS on the right activities if you want to achieve the right sales results.

Focus – on the right activities that drive revenue goals – is always important no matter the time of year! Everyone knows that sellers need to prospect, qualify leads, demonstrate value and business acumen in their outreach to buyers, I kicked things off by asking Kristina what is happening in the market now that dictates what buyers want, so that sellers can better focus?

Sales activities should be driven by current data, trends and buyer expectations. With that in mind, Kristina shared her perspective and the research on the most meaningful revenue-generating activities & tactics reps need to focus their selling time on each and every day.

I asked Kristina what she thought the missteps were given that roughly 50% of sellers didn’t achieve quota in 2018.

As we think about how business and buyer expectations keep evolving, Kristina told me there certain critical skills that every seller should have and/or be developing to meet these evolving dynamics. Sales leaders should pay particular attention to this portion of the interview!

Kristina is teaming up with Jeremey Donovan, SalesLoft’s SVP of Sales Strategy and GM of the NYC office during a session at SalesLoft’s Rainmaker 2019 conference in Atlanta March 2019. You’ll hear what you can expect to when you attend the session. Kristina shared a couple of key takeaways. Meet Kristina and sit in on her session with Jeremey on Tuesday, March 12 @ 3:30pm for their presentation on Bullseye: Data-Driven Ways to Increase Pipeline. 

We closed the interview with a discussion about what Kristina’s business/sales journey been like for her. She shared her personal learning’s and guidance to other women in business and in sales.

Listen and enjoy and insightful, power packed interview!

BTW – Get your tickets for TOPO’s annual Summit happening April 17-18 in San Francisco.  Spend two days learning from the world’s best sales and marketing organizations. With over 60 sessions & workshops organized around six tracks, you’ll learn about the most important topics in revenue.  See the agenda and register before the summit sells out!

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.179/q7g.56b.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/WIS_KristinaMcMillanFinal_030519.mp3

Apple Podcasts  – Please subscribe so that you never miss an episode! Write a review for the podcast if you like the interviews.

Spotify  Stitcher  Google Play   Don’t use any of these platforms to listen? Listen to Episode 42 with Kristina above.

About Kristina:

Kristina McMillan is the VP of Research at TOPO. She leads the analyst and consulting teams for all of TOPO’s practices. Her organization develops and delivers frameworks and best practices that help clients cultivate world-class marketing, sales development, and sales organizations. She has worked with hundreds of high-growth companies from early-stage start-ups to industry giants, such as Google, Oracle, HP, and more.

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Thanks to our Sponsors!

This podcast is presented by our Elite Sponsor, Microsoft. Corporate Vice President and Channel Chief Gavriella Schuster, along with other female leaders in the company, are driving for change, trying to bring more women into the technology industry. Gavriella and Microsoft are committed to giving “young women better role models and a stronger voice to all women.” You can hear more from Gavriella and other Microsoft leaders, on the Microsoft Partner Network podcast. Or visit partner.microsoft.com 

SalesLoft, the leading sales engagement platform. Join them this March in Atlanta for 3 days of learning, networking, and inspiration at their annual Rainmaker conference! With over 100 speakers and 40 track sessions, their annual Women’s Breakfast and a performance from Grammy winning band Blues Traveler, this conference is not one to miss. Get your tickets today at rainmaker.salesloft.com.

Thanks to our Media Sponsor. Women Sales Pros has a vision for more women in B2B sales and sales leadership roles where there are currently male-majority sales teams. We help educate companies on how to do this, and we champion women on what a professional sales career can be. We also showcase the very top women sales experts who are speakers, authors, consultants, trainers and coaches. People can sign up to get updates HERE and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WomenSalesPros

Filed Under: blog, Women In Sales Tagged With: ABM, account based, b2b, B2B sales, BDR, focus, go to market, inside sales, leadership, product, sales, sales productivity, SDR

Trends in Selling with Allen Mueller, Miller Heiman Group

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

Much continues to change in the world of selling, and in this conversation, I talked with Allen Mueller, Chief Revenue Officer at the Miller Heiman Group about their data on what’s changing and what’s coming.

As I do with most guests, we started out talking about Allen’s history and she landed in a career in sales.

From there we dug into her role as Chief Revenue Officer at Miller Heiman Group.

That was followed up by talking about the state of the sales and service industries today.

How organizations can optimize their sales enablement strategy and execution.

How organizations can leverage data and analytics to improve their sales processes.

And finally, we talked about what is driving the future of sales.

Also, during the interview Allen mentioned a new book being released which you can now purchase on Amazon called Sales Enablement: A Master Framework to Engage, Equip, and Empower A World-Class Sales Force. The book is co-authored by Tamara Schenk, Research Director at CSO Insights and Byron Matthews, President and CEO of Miller Heiman Group. For anyone in a sales enablement or leadership role, I highly recommend you buy a copy for yourself and your team!!

Enjoy the interview!

Apple Podcasts  – Please subscribe so that you never miss an episode! Write a review for the podcast if you like the interviews.

Spotify  Stitcher  Google Play

About Allen:

Allen Mueller is the CRO (chief revenue officer) of Miller Heiman Group. Mueller leads a global team of sales professionals and is responsible for the management of the company’s business solutions. Mueller’s ability to lay out a strategic plan, infused with data analytics, has enabled her to achieve a consistent record of sustained growth and overachievement during her career.

Before joining Miller Heiman Group, Mueller was the the managing director of sales and account management for The Corporate Executive Board (CEB) and head of vertical markets for Blackboard.

Mueller has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

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Thanks to our Sponsors

This podcast is presented by our Elite Sponsor, Microsoft. Corporate Vice President and Channel Chief Gavriella Schuster, along with other female leaders in the company, are driving for change, trying to bring more women into the technology industry. Gavriella and Microsoft are committed to giving “young women better role models and a stronger voice to all women.” You can hear more from Gavriella and other Microsoft leaders, on the Microsoft Partner Network podcast. Or visit partner.microsoft.com 

Thanks to our Media Sponsor.  Women Sales Pros has a vision for more women in B2B sales and sales leadership roles where there are currently male-majority sales teams. We help educate companies on how to do this, and we champion women on what a professional sales career can be. We also showcase the very top women sales experts who are speakers, authors, consultants, trainers, and coaches. People can sign up to get updates HERE and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WomenSalesPros

Filed Under: blog, Women In Sales Tagged With: B2B sales, miller heiman, sales, sales enablement, sales leadership

Inside Sales Challenges Come with Rapid Growth

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

Author’s note: This article was originally published in Top Sales World’s September 2017 digital magazine.

Inside sales is a popular high-growth sales model used by companies in a variety of industries. The Harvard Business Revenue reported that 46% of high-growth tech companies are growing through inside sales versus 21% using outside sales teams. The reasons for rapid growth of SDR/BDR sales teams vary but one thing is clear, buyers are fine with alternatives to face-to-face meetings. From an efficiency point of view, buyers prefer phone calls, video or web conferencing meeting options to minimize waste on their already overscheduled calendars.

The evolution of technology has made the inclusion of inside sales teams a core component of organizational sales strategies, as companies look for ways to decrease costs and improve their own operational efficiencies. PointClear reported that an outside sales call costs $308 versus an inside sales call cost of $50 making it clear how much more cost effective it is for a company to leverage an inside sales team to its fullest.

With growth comes challenges.

Though there is rapid growth in inside sales, there are also challenges facing inside sales leaders in achieving their sales objectives. In 2016 research conducted by CSO Insights and ClearSlide, they noted that core challenges faced are reducing churn among the sales ranks, hiring the right talent to fill inside sales roles, speeding up the time it takes to ramp new hires skills, reducing deal forecast slippage, improving opportunity qualification and ensuring that salespeople are adept at having business conversations versus pitching product features.

Training and coaching remain areas of opportunity and competitive advantage.

Two factors dogging inside sales team today are:

  • High turnover – 20% annually per the ClearSlide and CSO Insights research.
  • Slow ramp time with 33% of companies surveyed indicating that it takes more than 9 months to ramp new hires, and less than 13% of organizations can get their reps up to speed in less than 4 months.

Today’s buyers expect to work with salespeople who understand their business, industry trends, and competitive challenges. They don’t expect to be the on-the-job training vehicle for your inside salespeople. If there isn’t a solid plan to get salespeople fully competent quickly, you are leaving them at the mercy of learning by trial and error on the buyer’s time dime. Few executives I’ve ever spoken to have the time or the patience to be educating your sellers in how to sell to them.

Given that SDR’s and BDR’s are often the first personal experience a buyer has with a company, without proper training, coaching and reinforcement of basic selling skills, these front-line sellers are impeding sales progress, or worse, doing damage to the company brand. And, if as has been reported by CSO Insights that sales leaders see lead volume and quality as more important than skills training and process, I think there is a disconnect. Could this be a factor in why only 46% (2016 Sales Comp Survey, Alexander Group) to 67% (the Bridge Group) of inside sales reps are achieving quota?

Lack of training and outdated sales approaches lead to a steady stream of no’s, and the frustration that breeds, along with the inability to achieve sales objectives has a domino effect. Higher turnover among the sales ranks. Some reps will choose to leave on their own. Others will be asked to move on, which hardly seems fair if they haven’t been given the training, coaching, and tools they need to succeed in their role.

The second-best thing to getting a yes, is getting to a fast no.

A top challenge I often hear when talking to sales leaders is that there need to be more leads and better-qualified sales opportunities reported in the pipeline. To which I come back to the importance of a solid training program that is more than a motivational speech at a sales kick-off meeting.

Poorly forecasted sales opportunities and deal slippage in the pipeline can be improved with proper training, coaching, and skills reinforcement. Salespeople are notorious for being overly optimistic about when deals will close. The CSO Insights and ClearSlide data showed that 70% of reps don’t validate prospect interest during the sales cycle. If salespeople are not effective at qualifying opportunities, and that includes qualifying no’s quickly, pipeline is muddled and conversion rates are diminished. As Jeff Schmidt, SVP of Global Sales and Services at ClearSlide said, “Qualifying out is a critical practice and will lead to better pipeline conversion and deal visibility.” Without the proper training to help reps understand what constitutes a qualified lead, a lot of “maybe’s” and “never will buy” end up in the CRM pipeline.

Stop pitching product features, solve the buyer’s problem.

Salesforce’s State of Sales report noted that 83% of buyers want to work with salespeople “focused on helping achieve their company’s needs, not just making a quick sale.” This is where inside sales teams can score huge competitive wins. Leaders must be willing to let their salespeople drop the script, ditch the pitch and back away from the reliance on demos to sell the product or service.

Inside sales teams can create amazing sales experiences from the very first interaction, and that can only happen if salespeople are taught how to demonstrate to buyer’s that unlike their competitor’s, their focus is on helping buyers achieve their goals first and foremost. In the end, the ability for inside sales teams to achieve their goals depends more on how they sell, not what they sell.

Filed Under: blog, prospecting Tagged With: B2B sales, BDR, inside sales, sales, SDR, social selling

Status Quo is Your Biggest Competitor

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

Stand out of a crowdWhen CEB reported that 57% of the buyer’s journey was happening without the engagement of sales, it led to the mistaken assumption that sales had no role in the early part of the buying decision. Similarly, when SiriusDecisions reported that 67% of the buyer’s decision-making journey happens digitally, once again the assumption was that sales had no role in the process. Yes, buyers do leverage online tools to do their early stage due diligence and research when they believe they have a business problem that needs addressing. How that became translated into buyers never talk to sellers at that stage is interesting.

I never viewed either of these statistics as something to be afraid of, instead, I saw it as an opportunity for salespeople to find ways to be out in plain sight when buyers were in that early education and research phase. How to engage buyers online whether through content or direct interaction has been the subject of many of my blog posts and that of many others in the sales profession. When it comes to improving sales pipeline or what to do to move deals along to close, what isn’t talked about enough is that your most challenging competitor is the status quo.

Planning for status quo.

Status quo is Latin for existing state. Typically when buyers decide to maintain the status quo, they are often resistant to the risk associated with doing something differently than they do today. If your deals are stalling out because buyers do nothing and stick with the status quo, one reason this is happening is that the risk they associate with making a major change to a new solution was not mitigated. That’s where you have an opportunity to help them. If the perceived risk of making a change is greater than staying with what they’ve got, you won’t close the business. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you will help buyers assuage their fears with data to back you up, which then positions you more strongly for moving a sales opportunity along to close.

Let’s talk about ROI.

A key theme that emerged from Demand Gen’s 2016 B2B Buyer’s Survey Report was the subject of ROI. That’s an important hurdle that salespeople have to help buyers get over. Overwhelmingly respondents said they are feeling the pressure of financial scrutiny from corporate.  And when asked how their purchase process had changed over the past year, the survey revealed that 61% said they “conduct a more detailed ROI analysis before making a final decision.” Now that company leadership has increased scrutiny on the financial side to justify purchase decisions; it is easy to see why buyers proceed with caution.

More decision makers also increase the odds of status quo winning.

Another contributing factor to overcoming status quo is the number of decision makers now involved in buying decisions. This new reality is especially true if you are selling into a complex B2B environment. CEB has said their research indicates that 6.8 people are involved in the decision-making process these days. I would say that those numbers are conservative because there are far more people inside an organization who have influence into the ultimate decision than you may realize. The stakeholders involved in these buying decisions are in a variety of roles, work in multiple geographies or regions, each with a unique perspective on the challenges and pains that a particular business problem may be causing. They also have their unique opinion on what will be the right solution to correct the situation.

There is good news.

The challenges of beating your toughest competitor in any deal situation – status quo – provides an opportunity for salespeople who understand this challenge and plan for ways to overcome it.

In Demand Gen’s Report, there were four top reasons why buyers ultimately choose a winning vendor. They are:

98% – Timeliness of a vendor’s response to inquiries

97% – Demonstrated a stronger knowledge of the solution area and business landscape

94% – Demonstrated a stronger knowledge of our company and its needs

90% – Provided content that made it easier to show ROI and build a business case for purchase

Notice that these buyers didn’t say, we choose a winning vendor because of their product pitch! The salespeople who “ditch the pitch” and focus on demonstrating their consultative business value to buyers have a greater shot at kicking status quo out the door to win deals more often.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: B2B sales, sales, sales enablement, sales management, status quo

Breaking Barriers with Elinor Stutz

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

elinorstutzElinor Stutz broke through barriers long before doing so was popular. Against all odds she defied the theme, “women can’t sell” to become the top producer at every company she ever worked all the while ignoring attempts to get her to quit.

While on a stretcher with a broken neck predicted to be irreparable, Elinor saw two visions come to her. The first presented a report card showing it was her duty to begin empowering communities, and the second showed she was to become a worldwide speaker. She vowed with all her heart that she would rise to the occasion. Being the sales pro, she negotiated the outcome of healing 100%. The entire medical staff came to her recovery room to meet her and exclaim, “You are a walking miracle”. Stutz’ motto became, “Believe, Become, Empower.”

Moving full steam ahead six months later, she created Smooth Sale. Next steps to include ignoring all negativity:
• Her first book, Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building that Gets Results, is an International Best-Seller featured in TIME Magazine and on CBS-TV news.
• The Smooth Sale blog is distributed among corporations, entrepreneurs and media.
• Kred declared Elinor to be A Top 1% Influencer

Filed Under: blog, business, sales Tagged With: B2B sales, sales, sales process, strategy

Are You Selling or Engaging?

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

salesAs an early proponent of social selling, I’m also now concerned. Actually, I’ve written about my concerns these last two years, because the decibel level of the hype only keeps increasing.

My biggest gripe with the latest crop of experts is that their platitudes would have you think that social selling somehow stands apart from the entire sales process. Social selling is not an entity unto itself. Social selling merely represents the use of a set of tactics – using social channels – to aid sellers in their networking, prospecting, referral building, lead generation and research activities. Done right gets you in the door. What happens next all depends upon your sales abilities. In large part, that means – how well you listen, solve problems and communicate value from the buyer’s point of view.

Activity is NOT the same thing as effectiveness.

Experts want you to believe that social selling tactics are all you need. The problem is that social channels are just that – channels.  They are alternative communication vehicles. If email and phone calls aren’t working, using LinkedIn strategically might do the trick. Then again, depending on your approach, it might not. Pitching through bulk emails and phone calls is not the answer. Learning how to engage with people in a relevant and authentic way, that’s the answer!

You need a strategy, skills and consistent execution.

If you aren’t following an organized approach that is integrated into the rest of your sales process, results will suffer. Start with a plan of action to follow. If you never created one, these questions will help.

  • What are my objectives for using social selling to achieve my sales goals?
  • Who is my target buyer? What do they care about?
  • What social channels are they likely to use?
  • How will I track social interactions and nurture relationships?
  • What problem does my product or service solve? Hint: NOT features!
  • How will I communicate my message?
  • Are my sales and technology skills top notch? What training do I need?
  • How and what will I measure and track? Is it net new sales meetings? More referral sources?

Skills come next. This is the point where personal reflection and brutal honesty are needed. It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been selling, you need to keep upping your game. As Marshall Smith talked about in his book of the same name, what got you here – won’t get you there.

Where is improvement needed?

  • Networking effectively
  • Prospecting
  • Qualifying opportunities
  • Planning for sales calls
  • Presenting your solution
  • Negotiating terms
  • Closing deals

What about the technology? Do you understand the benefits of using the various social channels to fit your specific goals? Do you understand if your target buyer is likely to engage there? Contrary to some expert wisdom floating around, you don’t necessarily need to use every channel out there. And, don’t assume a great profile or clicking on a few buttons will lead to sales results. More likely, it will only lead to you proclaiming that social selling doesn’t work.

Finally, execution. Here is where the rubber meets the road. It requires disciplined behavior to engage in the right activities consistently and use social channels in the right way. You are as much a brand as your company. How you choose to represent yourself online will lead to sales opportunities – or not!

Connect and Close?

Maybe if you sell at $10 widget. Social selling is part of the bigger strategic picture, which is simply known as selling. I combine social activities with offline approaches like speaking at events or on webinars.

In the end, if you don’t follow a process, you keep using social channels to pitch or your sales skills have dulled and rusted, using a few social selling tactics won’t do you much good!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: B2B sales, sales, social engagement, social media, social selling

Put the Social into Selling: A Sales Mastery Interview with Ago Cluytens

By Barbara Giamanco 1 Comment

As I’ve been writing and speaking for the last 7 years about Social Selling and why salespeople need to adapt to changed buyer behavior, it still comes back to one key point:

If you keep trying to sell the way that you’ve always sold, you lose most of the time!

I have a number of kindred spirits who think as I do regarding this changed world of selling, so it was with great delight that I sat down with Ago Cluytens to talk about his views on what salespeople need to do to succeed in today’s complex B2B sales environment.

Ago shared some practical tips that salespeople can put into practical application now. One of my favorites is Ago’s three golden rules for sales success using social channels to sell. It all breaks down to:

  • 40% sharing
  • 40% listening
  • 20% talking

Given that I’m observing a lot of sales (and marketing) people spend 80%-90% of their time talking about themselves and what they want to sell – and I am being kind with my percentages – I want people to take Ago’s advice to heart. Using social channels to crank out generic sales pitches just do more harm than good and people WILL turn you off. Another time, I’ll tell you about the person I had to shut off on Facebook, because I had finally had enough of the constant self-promotion.

Anyway, as I always say, it is great interview with a sales thought leader who has amassed years of experience on both the marketing and sales side of the house. I know that you are going to enjoy my conversation with Ago, as much as I did!

Let me tell you about Ago…

As Practice Director EMEA at RAIN Group, Ago Cluytens specializes in helping clients sell complex, high-end professional, financial, and technology services to senior decision makers and C-level executives in the Fortune 500.

His early track record as a management consultant with “Big 4” professional services firms Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen (now Deloitte) made him intimately familiar with “selling to the C-suite.” Spending over a decade as an executive with Fortune 50 financial services firm ING helped Ago develop a unique insider’s perspective of how corporations really buy and make decisions.

As former Global Head of Marketing (CMO) for the Private Banking division, Ago is a former CxO – with a deep understanding of what other CxOs look for when evaluating providers.

He has worked with corporations such as Ernst & Young, Toyota, Telenet, Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, ING, Keytrade, JP Morgan, Accenture, Procter & Gamble and Firmenich, as well as dozens of smaller firms.

Ago is a regular contributor to industry research and a panelist and speaker at conferences hosted by organizations like Brits in Business, Executives International, Wealthbriefing, Dukascopy, Marcus Evans, Terrapinn, and the Financial Times (FT).

And to ensure his insights stay current, he hosts an online TV series called the Coaching Master Series – learn more at www.coachingmasters.tv.

When you listen to my conversation with Ago, you’ll learn:

  • What buyers are really thinking about during the buying process and how they determine who gets the meeting and who doesn’t.
  • How social fits when selling in complex B2B sales situations.
  • Why Ago made the leap to social selling.
  • About several great social selling tools.
  • What a former marketer who has now crossed over into sales has to say about the difference between social selling and social media marketing.
  • Ago’s tips for getting started.

And more…

Enjoy the interview!

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Filed Under: blog Tagged With: B2B sales, lead generation, sales, social media, social selling

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