pipeline

Crush Quota With This Simple Funnel Formula

Let’s talk about your plan to CRUSH QUOTA using a simple funnel formula to help you build pipeline and revenue. If you prefer to listen rather than read, listen to the audio clip below.

Why do you need a formula?

Reps are almost always too optimistic about the ratio of their activity to opportunities on their path to close.

Take matters into your own hands using this formula that I learned about from Chris Bennett.

The funnel formula has 4 variables:

1. The number of opportunities on the go.

2. The average $ value of each opportunity.

3. Historic closing rate / if you are not sure, use 25%.

4. Average sales cycle time. Example: The # of opportunities x average $ deal size x average closing rate% divided by average time to close.

Look at a formula for a sales pro with a goal of $99,999 in gross profit.

100 deals x $10,000 = $1,000,000 x 25% = $250,000 divided by a 3-month sales cycle. This results in…

= $83,333 per month in sales x 10% GP

= $8,333 per month x 12 months

= $99,999 per year in GP.

Using this easy to follow formula, the sales pro made their plan. The beauty of this formula is that it keeps you grounded in the reality of what your pipeline really looks like and it helps keep you focused on the activities that will lead to you achieving your sales results. Don’t forget that you will regularly update your numbers during the month to stay on track.

Now, what would happen if you increased the top 3 variables – the # of opportunities x average $ deal size x average closing rate% – by just 10% and reduced sales cycle time by 10%?

Here is what happens:

110 deals x $11,000 = $1,210,000 x 27.5% = $332,750 divided by 2.7 months. This results in…

= $123,240 per month in sales x 10% GP

= $12,324 x 12 months

= $147,888 which is a 47% increase vs. the first formula that produced $99,999.

Watch the on-demand presentation that Chris and I delivered last year. Topic: 5 Ways Salespeople Can Create Compelling Value, Book Meetings and Build Pipeline. VIEW HERE

Avoiding Extinction: The Evolution of the Role of First Line Sales Manager with Jim Ninivaggi, Brainshark

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this episode, I talked with Jim Ninivaggi, Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark. Our topic was about how first line sales managers can avoid extinction.

We started by talking about what the first line sales manager role entails. Jim said it was actually 5 roles:

Leader, Coach, Trainer, Recruiter, and Manager

Which of these roles do you see managers doing well today? Where are they lacking?

Most sales managers really play one role – manager of the forecast and pipeline. The aggregate and interpret the data that reps report to them, they massage the numbers before they push them up to the Chief Sales Officer or VP of Sales. While this is important, the missed opportunities are the coaching, training, recruiting and leading teams that the role also requires.

Even from a coaching point of view, many sales managers simply assume the role of “super rep” – they join calls not to coach – but to be the hero – which makes them just another rep. This remains a pervasive problem as reps are promoted into the role often with very little, if any, training to help them be successful in their new position. Lacking training in how to manage and lead their teams, they default to what they know – closing the deal.

Our title starts with the words “avoiding extinction” – how are managers at risk for extinction?

Artificial Intelligence certainly puts sales managers at risk. Think about it. If their primary role is to gather and communicate the forecast and pipeline information, with artificial intelligence the forecast will no longer come from the field but from data.

Without that need for “human interpretation”, that role of keeper of the forecast goes away. And if that is the only role that differentiates a manager from a rep – the role is no longer needed.

So how do managers avoid becoming extinct?

Expand their role and develop their skills as coach and trainer to their teams. What gets in the way of these things happening, according to Jim is that these things are not expected, not inspected and managers often lack the ability.

To address these managers need both strategic coaching and performance coaching to be effective in their role.

Since I’m a believer in “learn 2 earn”, and I would suggest that if sales managers are not getting the training that they need to be successful, they should be accountable for investing in themselves.

Technology, including AI, can help in these roles with things like:

Leveraging video coaching technology to allow for asynchronous coaching.
Using AI to help guide managers to where they need to focus on coaching.
Using AI to create “sales simulators” in the same vein as “flight simulators” – allow a rep to simulate a call – and the rep and manager review their performance together.
Delivering “training in a box” digitally to help managers deliver learning to their reps during regular sales meetings.

There was a lot of meat in this discussion, so please enjoy the interview!

About Jim:

Jim Ninivaggi, Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark. Formerly an analyst, Jim led the sales enablement research practice at SiriusDecisions – helping, in many ways, to define the space, and working at the research firm for 10 years, while publishing 200+ research reports and briefs. He has more than 30 years of experience driving sales productivity and great tips, anecdotes and best practices to share.

Connect with Jim on LinkedIn Connect with Jim on Twitter

Discover The Amazing Key to Rapid Pipeline Growth with Chris Bennett

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

This episode is all about building rapid pipeline growth, a challenge facing many salespeople today. My guest, Chris Bennett shared his strategies for building the sales pipeline that delivers sales results.

We talked about:

Why so many salespeople struggle to build the proper sized sales pipeline/ funnel.

The one type of question that is designed to fuel the funnel with the right kinds of sales opportunities.

The characteristics of a good challenge question that you need to be asking.

Chris shares examples of what a good challenge question sounds like.

Through his examples, Chris reveals that it is relatively easy to ask the right kind of question and yet, he talked about why more reps don’t do it.

You’ll learn what happens when salespeople are trained to use these questions properly. And Chris shared examples of actual sales results.

Finally, we discussed what sales managers can do to support their salespeople in this process.

Enjoy the interview!

About Chris:

Chris Bennett heads up Chris Bennett Sales Training. Chris has been helping businesses increase pipeline and crush quota for 24 years. He always measures for hard financial results. He has worked with companies like Dimension Data, CDW, SHI, Bell Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, TELUS, Cisco, AT&T, and others. The core of his teachings are built upon the foundation of; understanding, helpfulness and creating real measurable business impact. He believes in relentless follow up. He is happily married and loves recreation such as; fishing, skiing, golf, tennis, squash and mixed martial arts. He is an avid Chicago Bears fan and listens to classic rock turned up loud.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.

Questions Sales Needs to Ask

By Barbara Giamanco 1 Comment

I wrote in my last post about ways to gain executive buy-in for the integration of social media into a sound sales strategy. Rather than replace the tried and true, social tools can augment great sales efforts today. Used effectively they can also help your sales folks reduce sales cycle time by building relationships early and quickly through social communities. Yes, you can still attend in-person networking functions and you should – provided you are attending the right ones. Easy enough to burn hours of time that get you nowhere for the right events, much less attending the wrong ones. Instead invest some of your sales time each day to participate in online spaces, like LikedIn to connect, source business opportunities and prepare for your sales calls. Welcome to the world of social selling.

As I’ve observed companies considering how social media applies to them, I’ve also seen a tendency to want to short-cut the process. This is a big change and you need to prepare yourself up front for success. Asking and answering these types of questions should be the first step.

Are your sales leaders prepared to adopt new sales communication approaches and tools?
Will your current processes support a smooth integration to using new technologies?
Have you established sales communication guidelines and social usage policies?
What kind of training will your sales people need to make the shift?
How will you hold people accountable to using new media as part of their sales day?
Is your IT organization prepared to assist you in integrating the right social tools with your sales goals?
Do you use customer data, survey’s and focus group feedback to update services, policies and processes on the fly?
How well is your team “listening” to online conversations happening on the various social sites?
How ready is your sales team to respond to negative commentary?
What does your competition’s social media presence look like?

Don’t be seduced by the promise of number of followers = sales. Twitter isn’t for everyone and neither is Facebook for that matter. Think carefully about your strategy. It will make the difference between floundering around and achieving sales results.

Pick Yourself Up and Move On

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

We’ve all been there. We thought the sale was closed and then bam! out of the blue our clients tells us that the deal is off. Blah!

Just such a thing happened to me yesterday. A project that was given the green light was pulled just as the work was beginning. It wasn’t anything that I did wrong, it’s just that the business climate changed and an executive changed their mind as a result. Of course losing a sale is a bummer for anyone, and it is especially painful if you are a business owner like me. This sort of unexpected lost sales puts a real ouch in the revenue projection and cash flow.

What I’ve learned through the years is that you have to pick yourself up and move on to the next opportunity. It serves no purpose to become “angry” about the client’s decision. It is so important to deal with these kinds of surprises with grace and dignity. There will be other opportunities that come your way, but not if you handle the change in direction badly. Bottom line – you’ve got to maintain a positive attitude and quickly move on. Otherwise, you risk getting stuck in victim land and that won’t serve you at all.

Situations like these also illustrate the importance of keeping your sales pipeline full at all times. You just never know when revenue you counted on might suddenly dry up. Remember to be continually selling and marketing what you have to offer even when the sales are flowing in steadily. That way you’ll always be prepared for the unexpected.

Best Sales Blogger

Top Podcast

Innovation

Sales Efficiency