Barbara Giamanco

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How Does Your Sales Experience Stack Up?

By Barbara Giamanco 2 Comments

Creating differentiated, personalized customer experiences is a top business initiative for most organizations. Executives know that when exceptional experiences are delivered, they distance themselves from their competitors. The reverse is also true. When things don’t go well, the negative brand impact on your company has greater potential for damage that goes far beyond losing a sale or a current customer.

Every interaction someone has with your company matters. That is especially true when it is your salespeople.

The term “customer experience” is misleading. The use of the word customer suggests that your experience strategy begins once someone becomes a paying customer. But that’s not the case at all. The experience begins with the very first interaction someone has with your company. It could be a marketing interaction, and more often, that first touch starts with someone on the front lines of your sales organization. That touch could be a phone call, email, an in-person meeting at a business event or a LinkedIn connection request.

When companies are designing their experience strategy, that strategy must include the salesforce.

To me, that seems an obvious suggestion; however, I don’t believe that organizations are doing enough analysis to understand how ALL buyer interactions with their salespeople – starting with the first ones – are either helping or hurting pipeline and revenue objectives.

Gartner has defined Customer Experience Management as “the practice of designing and reacting to customer interactions to meet or exceed customer expectations and, thus, increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.”

I would revise Gartner’s definition slightly to say, “designing and reacting to prospect and customer interactions to meet or exceed their expectations and, thus, increase pipeline, revenue, satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.”

So, let’s talk about “aligning to the buyers’ journey”.

The most common strategy to engage new prospects starts with content. A lot of it. The idea is to deliver the right articles, white papers, case studies, videos or webinars at the right time in the buyers’ decision-making process.

Conventional wisdom says provide educational content that informs during stages when buyers are looking for products to solve their problems. Or, use content to provide insights into problems buyers’ may not know they have yet but are bound too, and they are more likely to book a sales meeting. Unfortunately, that may no longer be the case.

Content overload is creating a backlash to the buying experience.

Analyst reports indicate that buyers are inundated with so much content that the information overload is leading to the exact opposite reaction companies want. Rather than creating an experience that inspires buyers to more quickly engage with sales, they are opting to do nothing!

In a recent report from Gartner about how sellers can help buyers “make sense” of the overwhelming availability of high quality content; albeit, often with conflicting points of view, authors Neha Ahuja and Benjamin Hooker confirm that “when customers encounter too much information — even trustworthy, evidence-based information — they may stop learning. In such a scenario, customers reach a point of information saturation after which they can’t process new information.”

This leads to a point of diminishing return in the perceived value that information has to purchasing decisions. Rather than decisions being based on “quality data”, decision making becomes reminiscent of the days before the internet with buyers’ making decisions based on best guesses and gut feelings as opposed to rational, fact-based choices.

Which brings me back to the sales force. The people paid to sell to your products.

Information overload is causing problems. But so are salespeople with their messaging and approach, whether meaning too or not. Your sales team members are typically the first human exposure that someone has with your company.

What do you know about the experience those interactions are creating?

Unless what you sell requires little more than an order taker to seal the deal, evaluating what’s happening throughout the selling cycle when those interpersonal – people to people – sales interactions are taking place is a must. Often your salespeople are losing out on sales opportunities with the message they convey in the first email they send or phone call they make.

Another day we can debate why sales organizations spend an inordinate amount of time and money constantly chasing new logos. The reality is that they do. Empty pipeline phobia puts more pressure on salespeople to surface new sales opportunities any way that they can often without enough training and coaching to help them succeed.

Leaders own the fault here. When the default command is to do “more activity” to try and meet objectives, quality is bound to suffer and it does.

Banish magical thinking.

As I often do, I recently wrote another LinkedIn article about the need for salespeople and sales leaders to banish magical thinking and stop looking for short-cuts to engaging buyers. Cheap tricks in the form of subject lines, break up emails and other such nonsense simply reinforces that buyers don’t need sellers to help them in their purchasing decisions at all. There is a reason why 90% of the time buyers simply hit delete to rid themselves of constant deluge of sales spam.

Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes. Do you know what it is like to try and buy from you?

Go through every step of the journey as a buyer would. Download white papers or attend a webinar, and then experience what it feels like to be hounded by a salesperson through email, phone calls or LinkedIn connection requests. Evaluate the messaging that salespeople are using to try to book sales meetings. Are the messages focused on the issues relevant to the buyer or simply another attempt to sell with your product pitch? Engage directly with a salesperson and experience what it feels like to have features, benefits and a product demo pushed on you. Record sales calls and listen carefully to how your salespeople are representing your offering.

It is easy to toss around phrases like “improve the customer experience” or map your processes to the “buyers’ journey”, but in truth, the effort to transform existing processes isn’t easy.

But that doesn’t mean the transformation effort shouldn’t be undertaken. In fact, I believe it must be a strategic imperative!

We are about to enter the 4th and final sales quarter for most companies, and I can guarantee that the “do more” mantra will reach a fevered pitch with the end result being largely the same. As it has been for the past decade, roughly half of all sales teams will still not meet quota goals. Same activity = same results. Denial doesn’t change reality!

Filed Under: blog, sales Tagged With: customer experience, experience, Prospecting, quota, sales, sales leadership, sales management

Getting to the Top 1%

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this interview, I talked with Cynthia Barnes who is recognized as one of the world’s most influential Women in Sales Thought Leaders. The former Top 1% saleswoman founded the National Association of Women Sales Professionals, the world’s only organization dedicated to helping its members reach the Top 1% and Dance on the Glass Ceiling™.

Cynthia is someone that I’ve admired for some time now. I admire her positive, fearless, can do attitude, and I very much appreciate all the work she does to support women in business.

When I talked with Cynthia I wanted to find out:

Why we need women-centric sales training and professional development.

What the biggest mistake Cynthia sees women sales professionals making.

What can managers and leaders can and must do to create a workplace where women in sales thrive.

Why Cynthia started started NAWSP (National Association of Women Sales Professionals.

Finally, we closed by talking about what Cynthia believes the future holds for women in sales and leadership roles.

Cynthia and her organization host #WomenInSales events around the country. To check out upcoming events in your city or one near one, check out the Ascend 2019 schedule HERE.

As always, another insightful interview! Listen and enjoy!

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.179/q7g.56b.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/WIS_cynthiabarnes_121418_Final021419.mp3

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About Cynthia:

Cynthia Barnes who is recognized as one of the world’s most influential Women in Sales Thought Leaders. The former Top 1% saleswoman founded the National Association of Women Sales Professionals, the world’s only organization dedicated to helping its members reach the Top 1% and Dance on the Glass Ceiling™.

Cynthia’s unique understanding of what it takes for women in sales excel has made her a sought-after influencer on women-centric sales training and coaching, having appeared in over 250 major media outlets around the nation – including appearances in the Wall Street Journal.

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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: leadership, sales, sales leadership, selling, women

Sales Hacks Are Not Working!!

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

Sometimes I feel as if I’m living in an alternative universe where things seem so glaringly obvious to me but not to others.

I think about the sales and marketing professions a lot. Sales, in particular.

I listen, although that is sometimes hard to do when we have certain factions in the sales training and coaching world arguing with each other about WHO owns the better approach to selling these days. News flash… no one does. Still, the egos rage.

Here’s a tip from me to you…test and refine. Test different sales approaches related to prospecting, social engagement, meeting presentations, writing proposals and more. Figure out what works for you AND DO THAT! Don’t worry about this or that expert trying to convince you that their way is the only way. Just. Not. True.

I make it my business and have for 25+ years to always be learning and adapting. Learners are earners, and frankly, I don’t know of any other way to succeed in sales, business and in life than to keep growing and developing your skills.

As the world continues to change in fast moving ways, you’ve got to keep up and adapt to today’s world. Not the world that existed 5, 10 or more years ago. That world is gone! Some selling strategies never go out of style, of course. But not everything that worked 10 years ago works now.

I think back to when I started selling and how things have evolved since then.

The changes, the improvements, the technology, the opportunities are mind blowing. IF sellers and their leaders are willing to change their mindset.

The tendency is still to go for the hacks, a fancy term for short-cuts, promoted by companies with a clear agenda – sell their service. With all the advances in technology, training methodologies, sales enablement approaches, research about what buyers want from salespeople and more, roughly 50% of salespeople will not achieve quota, which has been true for the past 5 years, according to CSO Insights. Anyone but me think that’s a problem? Isn’t it time to shift your selling approach?

On marketing’s side, their world has shifted dramatically too. There used to be a clear path to leading an interested buyer down the sales/marketing funnel to closed business. Not anymore. Buyers can come into the funnel in multiple ways and from multiple channels. Yet, often, marketers struggle to adapt their marketing approaches to today’s modern buyer. Doing what they’ve always done (just like sales) is easier, though missing the mark on effectiveness. Not only do they need to adapt their marketing campaign approaches, they now must become technology and data experts at the same time. Tough gig!

So, what are sales and marketing teams to do to shift how they approach today’s modern buyer? First, they must work together. If they don’t have an aligned strategy, things do not improve. One group is no more important than the other. Working in silos, approaching buyers in different ways isn’t working. Buyers are looking for great experiences when interacting with sales, marketing or anyone in your company.

Recently, I was one of 9 speakers from The Sales Experts Channel to participate in a sales summit hosted by BrightTALK. My topic? Achieve Account-Based Selling Goals Solving the Alignment Dilemma. In the webinar, I discuss updated research on the challenges and opportunities that sales and marketing must be thinking about.

Listen/watch the on-demand recording HERE. You can also find the presentation deck here on SlideShare.

After checking out the session, I’d love to hear your thoughts? Learn something new? Already undertaking a sales/marketing alignment strategy that is working in your company? Let’s hear it!

BTW – check out one of the best books I’ve read on sales and marketing alignment – Aligned to Achieve

Filed Under: blog, More Favorites Tagged With: alignment, hacks, marketing, sales, sales leadership

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.

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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

Digital Transformation of Sales – Where Culture Meets Technology with Debbie Dunnam, Microsoft

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

This was a really exciting conversation for a lot of reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is that my guest, Debbie Dunnam, Corporate Vice President of Inside Sales at Microsoft, walks her talk. Her passion, enthusiasm, leadership, and authenticity shines through. In this post, I’ve summarized key highlights from my conversation with Debbie. Tune in to hear the entire interview!

How did you get started in sales, Debbie?

I always find it fascinating to learn how my guests end up in a career in sales. In Debbie’s case, she started in sales at General Motors selling auto parts to pay her way through college. Debbie then transitioned into technology sales with the help of a friend in the early days of the technology revolution. I can relate to Debbie’s story because I had started in an Inside Sales role in tech in the early 80’s too, and I never looked back.

Digital sales transformation requires a shift in mindset.

From Debbie’s point of view what customers want is an experience that is channel agnostic, extremely consistent and relevant – relevant to them. And, they want the experience to be on their terms, which means simplification, customization, available anytime. Buyers want a trusted partner that can guide them through a process, which means sellers and their managers have to shift from thinking about selling something to thinking about how to build relationships that lead to doing business together.

How do you go about making that mindset a reality in your own organization?

To make this a reality, Debbie said that it is important for sales organizations to do business with this new mindset at the forefront, but it is also important to transform management practices, policies, structure, end-to-end processes and think deeply about how to drive customer engagement that delivers the right kinds of results.

Debbie was quick to point out that the sales transformation also includes other departments like legal, finance, operations or HR, which means that everyone involved must commit to that mindset shift along the journey. Never forgetting that the most crucial part of the shift is your culture.

How should we be thinking about the role that culture plays in this 4th industrial revolution? 

In this era of the 4th industrial revolution, it is a time of global economic and technology uncertainty that requires leaders to think much differently. It certainly is not about simply being tech savvy. In order to thrive in this new era, it means bringing everything – people and technology – together.

Debbie cited a Duke School of business study that said, 92% of CEO’s and CFO’s said improving company cultures would increase organizational value. Debbie noted that it was surprising in that this belief wasn’t coming from HR but from CEO’s and CFO’s, clearly demonstrating how important culture is to the business bottom line. Forbes also suggested that culture should be part of every company 2018 budget. Investing in culture must be a key priority for every business.

How do you build a culture of collaboration and trust with a workforce that is geographically dispersed?

Creating a culture of trust is what leads to building a foundation for innovation. That foundation is what leads to the digital sales transformation you seek. It requires real authenticity that leaders need to bring to the table. People in the organization must feel safe in bringing forth their ideas about how to innovate or do things differently. Without trust, your organization will not be able to innovate quickly enough to remain competitive. Debbie strongly believes that leadership is about creating a culture of autonomy, respect, encouragement, and appreciation that are the foundational values of the culture. Every employee should be able to see those values modeled consistently by all leaders they interact with every day.

What about geography?

With 8 sales centers, 22 languages supporting multiple time zones around the world, the team knew they needed to find a way to be sure that everyone in the inside sales organization felt connected and shared a strong sense of purpose. The approach they took was treating everyone like family. This connection and shared sense of purpose are reinforced in every way possible – email, town hall meetings, and Debbie believes in this philosophy so much that when new employees come on board she writes a handwritten note welcoming them to the team.

Through instant messaging, email, Yammer, employees can share good news and congratulate each other. Then in a beautiful accident, a member of the team ended a congratulatory communication with the hashtag #LoveThisTeam. It went viral inside the organization and has become a mantra for the team.

Diversity and inclusion is an increasingly important part of corporate culture today. How does this make a difference in your organization?

Debbie and her leaders have strived to create an environment where all employees feel accountable for constant improvement and empowered to make it happen. They value the business success and innovation that comes from embracing the diversity of thought, talent, and culture.

Inside Debbie’s organization, the team members are not checking the “diversity box”, they are actually embracing diversity each day. Teams from different parts of the world get together regularly to get to know each other personally. The value that comes from better understanding each of their teammates has led to greater success on the job. That value, of course, also translates into financial value for the business, as well as delivers a stronger customer experience because team members are able to better relate to the various customers they serve.

We know that Millennials are now the largest generational employee group and they bring unique perspectives to business. How do you go about inspiring and retaining this very different workforce?

Millennials participate in “reverse mentoring” programs so that everyone can learn from each other. This certainly requires putting biases aside about the different generations. Leveraging the diversity of thinking, ideas, and points of view lead to a more open culture of collaboration and trust. It also leads to a culture that fosters loyalty among team members.

You inspire and retain by appreciating the fact that what millennials want is to feel that they are making a difference, says Debbie. They want to be in meaning and impactful roles. They want to feel that the company is investing in helping them build their skills and career, and Debbie talked about an onboarding program they’ve created to demonstrate from the onset that Microsoft is vested in their success.

It is so important for leaders to be authentic and accountable. The Millennial generation, perhaps more than others, don’t tolerate a lack of integrity in leaders. Debbie says that it is important for leaders to remember that you won’t have all the answers, and don’t assume that younger workers can’t help you.

It was quite motivational and inspiring hearing from Debbie about how she and her team have worked together to build a wildly successful inside sales organization in the span of two short years!!

Listen to the interview HERE.

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About Debbie Dunnam

Debbie Dunnam, Corporate Vice President of Inside Sales at Microsoft. Debbie is a proven technology industry leader with a track record of driving innovation, delivering revenue, and building strong, collaborative leadership teams. As an experienced sales, marketing, and operations strategist in some of the world’s foremost technology companies, Dunnam delivers deep insights into how to succeed in fast-paced, global, customer-driven businesses. Dunnam joined Microsoft in 2016 to drive the creation and acceleration of digital sales, enhancing and leveraging rich analytics and data through rapidly evolving omni-channel engagement platforms and models. Her approach to leadership encompasses three key principles of authenticity, diversity and accountability to deliver clarity, generate energy and enable success.

Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.

We’d like to thank our Elite Sponsor, Microsoft. In particular, we thank Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President and Channel Chief at Microsoft, for her dedication to supporting women in technology, and making this podcast possible. 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. Visit the Microsoft Partner Network.

 

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: culture, debbie dunnam, digital transformation, inside sales, microsoft, millennials, sales, sales leadership

Ready or Not, Here They Come: What the Arrival of Gen Z Means for the Future of Business with Josh Miller

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this episode, I talk with Josh Miller, CEO of Deciding Edge and certainly the youngest CEO I have ever had the pleasure of interviewing. I have always been a believer that we should NOT box people in with our generational biases. I believe we can learn from anyone, anywhere and at any age.

During this segment, Josh and I discuss his Gen Z research in partnership with XYZ University. The study was conducted with over 1,000 Gen Z’ers, and the findings will likely surprise you, as they did me. And, like me, I think you will be inspired by Josh’s passion and enthusiasm for the work that he does.

While Millennials remain a focus given the fact that they will make up 50% of the workforce by 2020, Gen Z is coming right up behind them and it is NOT too early to get ready.

I started by asking Josh what inspired him to become an entrepreneur at 16 years old.

Josh nails down the definition of Generation Z.

We discussed the research and studies Josh has been doing on the topic.

Josh shared some of the biggest insights that came out of his recently published white-paper. I found some of the research very surprising!

We talked about effective sales strategies to use for Gen Z members of your team.

Finally, I closed by asking Josh about his goals for 2018.

Download your copy of the research report here.

About Josh:

Connect on LinkedIn

Josh Miller is a 16-year-old student, entrepreneur, and thought leader on Gen Z. He currently serves as the CEO of Deciding Edge and Director of Gen Z Studies at XYZ University. He has spoken in front of some of the powerful leaders in the business world, been mentored by top executives, and discussed marketing strategy with Fortune 500 companies.

His work has been featured in prominent national publications. Equipped with a passion around leadership, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy, Miller founded Deciding Edge with the mission of creating a platform for organizations to better understand how to recruit, retain, and sell to Generation Z. As a regular 16-year-old, he enjoys playing basketball, tennis, and spending time with friends and family. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: gen z, millennials, sales, sales leadership, social selling

How Working for an Israeli Start-Up Has Made Her a Better Leader with Bridget Gleason, Logz.io

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this Women in Sales Leadership segment, I talked with Bridget about her leadership experience working in Israeli start-up Logz.io. During this episode, you’ll first hear how Bridget got her start in sales. Then we talked about her experience working for an Iraeli company.

How her experience working with an Israeli company is different from other start-ups she has worked with.

You’ll gain some perspective on Bridget handles the time difference and what that means for communication among the leadership team.

Bridget shared a few of her biggest surprises.

Finally, Bridget shares her advice would to women in sales roles who want to move into leadership positions.

Enjoy!

This episode is sponsored by Hubspot.

Don’t miss out HubSpot’s annual sales event – Inbound Sales Day – on June 6th! 30 leading sales experts will be sharing their knowledge and expertise. Register now for FREE at hubspot.com/inbound-sales-day

About Bridget:

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales at Logz.io and manages the company’s worldwide sales organization. She was most recently VP of Corporate Sales as well as Executive Advisor at Sumo Logic. Prior to Sumo Logic, she was VP of Worldwide Sales at Yesware and Senior VP of Worldwide Sales at Engine Yard.

Connect with Bridget on LinkedIn and Twitter

 

 

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: culture, management, sales, sales leadership, startup

Sales Management: 5 Traits to Building Predictable Revenue with Ken Thoreson

By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this episode, I talked with Ken about how to build predictable revenue in their sales organization. It all first starts with hiring the right people every time. Ken also talks about the importance of having a solid recruitment process in place to be building their talent pipeline consistently. We also talked about taking the emotion out of hiring, how to build a solid process, the elements of great onboarding, sales assessments and more.

Enjoy the interview!

About Ken:

Ken provides keynotes, consulting services, training and products designed to improve business and revenue performance. His company Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 17 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for organizations throughout the world.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: emotional intelligence, emotional leadership, sales, sales leadership, sales performance

Sales Enablement Growth and Declining Sales Performance with Tamara Schenk

By Barbara Giamanco 3 Comments

Sales enablement as a discipline is growing although it still means different things to different people. In 2013, only 19% had such a program, function or initiative. And in 2016, 33% reported having an enablement program, initiative or function. But at the same time, quota attainment is decreasing (from 63% in 2012 down to 55.8% in 2016).

In a nutshell, only one-third of all enablement initiatives meet or exceed their expectations, but two-thirds are not. That’s a problem, and Tamara shared her views on why that is happening.

Enjoy the interview!

About Tamara:

Tamara Schenk is research director at CSO Insights, the research division of Miller Heiman Group, focused on all things sales force enablement, frontline sales managers, and collaboration.

She enjoyed more than twenty years of experience in sales, business development, and consulting in different industries on an international level. Before becoming an analyst in a research director role in January 2014, she had the pleasure to develop sales enablement from an idea to a program and a strategic function. At T-Systems, a Deutsche Telekom company, she the global sales force enablement and transformation team.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: sales, sales enablement, sales leadership

Sales Messaging and the Sales Experience

By Barbara Giamanco 3 Comments

“The greatest inhibitor to sales effectiveness is the inability to communicate a value message.” – SiriusDecisions

Sales organizations make huge investments in hiring salespeople, getting them upskilled and productive quickly, implementing sales enablement and technology solutions, but when it comes to focusing on the quality of activities that create the sales experience from the very first touch point onward, there is a gap. A pretty big one.  I’m talking about the sales message that is delivered either through email or phone calls.

Automation has made it easy to crank out large numbers of emails each day, and often this is where salespeople start when they are pursuing their target list of buyers. Probably for a very obvious reason. Someone ignoring your email feels less like personal rejection than when making the phone calls. Still, most sales leaders tend to have a KPI (key performance indicator) that measures the number of phone calls made, in addition to the number of emails sent. And, I’ll just say right now that I think the focus on these two measurements as sales performance indicators is off base. Here’s why.

What does it matter if I call 100 people each day if this activity doesn’t result in a higher percentage of booked sales meetings? The answer is pretty simple. It doesn’t make sense.

If you are a salesperson who knows your sales performance is largely measured on calls made and emails sent, you’ll likely do whatever you have to do to hit those numbers. You may have checked the KPI boxes, but what you end up with is a lot of activity that wasn’t very effective.

On Dave Kurlan’s Blog, Understanding the Sales Force, I read a recent post of his that makes it clear that salespeople are having a difficult time bypassing gatekeepers and getting to the decision makers. His research indicates that when salespeople do not begin with procurement, they can only get through the gatekeepers to decision makers 13% of the time. But Dave filtered his research data even further to focus on salespeople brand new to sales and that percentage drops to 1%. Though it isn’t the subject of today’s post, ponder for a moment that many of the salespeople hired for Sales Development or Business Development Roles are brand new to selling. They are expected to reach decision-makers and set up the appointment for the account executive, but they get through to the targeted person 1% of the time.

When salespeople are making all those dials and sending all those emails, why aren’t sales leaders evaluating more carefully when the activity isn’t converting to actual sales conversations. Though I don’t have hard research data to back it up, my observations suggest that what happens is that sales reps are just asked to do more. Doing more of the same, however, isn’t going to lead to a better outcome. In Cracking the Sales Management Code, authors Jason Jordon and Michelle Vazzana tell us that “success is no longer found in making enough sales calls to reach your quota. That is a trial and error marathon that you may or may not win. Success is now found in making the right sales calls to achieve the right Sales Objectives to reach your quota – a quicker and more predictable path to the winner’s circle.”

The big problem isn’t the activity itself. Instead, it is the quality of the activity. Poorly conceived subject lines. Messages that do not contain an ounce of value for the target buyer. Messages that include gimmicks to get attention. Sales emails and phone calls more often than not are sender oriented, and usually, include a mix of look how great we are and a laundry list of features. Survey after survey confirms that buyers say these messages do not engage them. Rather than standing out, the salesperson’s message goes in the delete pile with everyone else’s. But, the cycle of poorly constructed sales messaging rages on.

Throughout the course of the sales experience lifecycle, many things can go wrong but if you can’t even get on first base, where do you go? What salespeople say in the first interaction with a potential buyer is critical to moving from touch to sales conversation. Maybe it’s time to stop wasting the opportunity!

Filed Under: blog, prospecting Tagged With: email, marketing, sales, sales leadership, sales message, social media, social selling

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