CSO Insights surveys hundreds of B2B sales leaders every year with a simple question: what are your top sales effectiveness initiatives for the year. Their head of research, Barry Trailer, tells us that “Revising/enhancing our lead generation programs has been #1 for 5 years in a row and each year the delta to #2 gets bigger.” Translation: companies need help at the top of the funnel, and the problem is getting worse each year relative to the next biggest headache. I encourage you to take their surveys and read their reports. They always surprise with several counter-intuitive findings that are actionable for Sales VPs.B2B sales and marketing is completely different now than it was even 10 years ago – this we all know. We are so fortunate to live in an age of great research based sales training companies like Huthwaite (creators of SPIN Selling), Miller Heiman, ValueSelling, and the Corporate Executive Board’s Challenger Sale to name a few of my favorites. All of these sales training companies do a fantastic job of teaching you how to take a qualified opportunity through to close. They show salespeople a sales process methodology from the first appointment, through needs development and questioning, to demonstration of capabilities, to navigating the politics of an organization, and finally to a client commitment. Collectively we are very sophisticated at bottom of the funnel sales training.
The problem is that sales process methodologies presume that you have a qualified opportunity in the first place. Sure, each of these sales training companies has some module on prospecting where they tell you why it’s so important and how to create a prospecting plan. But by and large there is a massive void when it comes to top of funnel sales training. No one teaches you how to find qualified opportunities in the first place or how to more efficiently and effectively convert more of your marketing leads into appointments with decision makers. And if what you are selling is pricey enough, no appointment means no sale. This is true if you are selling in person, by phone, or via web meeting.
The focus of sales training on the second half of the sales process sits at odds with the CSO Insights research findings. If we as sales and marketing leaders struggle more every year with lead generation programs, why do we continue to ignore sales training for lead generation? What’s the point of investing more dollars and time in yet another sales process methodology refresher? Most B2B sales reps who hunt for new business or cross sell existing accounts end up spending an inordinate amount of their time doing prospecting phone work. These are typically expensive salespeople who – hate to break it to you – aren’t nearly as good on the phone as they once were or could be. Their prospecting techniques aren’t optimized for the 21st century and definitely do not include enough social media savvy.
So where do you start? Please see below a very comprehensive lead generation training curriculum. If you need to make your sales team great hunters again, download it and share with your colleagues to start the discussion in your organization.
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There seems to be more and more great tools for inside sales intelligence these days. More information gives you an advantage, but it can also put you at a disadvantage if you have to manage more tabs, more programs, and more cutting and pasting. Here are some tips to streamline the work process. Some of them are obvious, but just in case... (I still remember finding out about Shift + Tab. What a glorious day that was.) Learning these will save you a lot of time compared to using the mouse.You can also put a set of tabs in one bookmarks folder and open the whole set at once. Developing a routine order for repetitive tasks makes work more efficient and reduces the brainpower used on trivial things, so you can clear your mind and focus on conversations with your prospects.
Basics for any program
CTRL + C: Copy
CTRL + X: Cut
CTRL + V: Paste
CTRL + Z: Undo
CTRL + F: Find on page
ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
HOME: moves cursor to the beginning of the line.
END: moves cursor to the end.
Browser shortcuts
ALT + Left Arrow: Back (in web browser)
ALT + Right Arrow: Forward (in web browser)
CTRL + T: Open new tab
CTRL + TAB: Switch to next tab
CTRL + W: Close current tab
CTRL + N: New Window
TAB: Move to next field
SHIFT + TAB: Move to previous field
There are plenty more if you search online for windows or browser keyboard shortcuts.
There are two big things people mess up when they implement ConnectAndSell:
- Lists. Most people just dump a generic list from InsideView, ZoomInfo, Jigsaw (now data.com) or some other data source into ConnectAndSell. They assume that if they only pull accounts that meet their ideal customer profile with the right types of titles, that it will be good enough. This is dead wrong. Everyone that tries this approach has fewer, lower quality connects and fails to realize the full ROI from ConnectAndSell.
- Knowing what to say when you get a connect. Let’s face it, most people are below average at starting a conversation from a fairly cold call. And most calls on CAS range from lukewarm to stone cold. Unless your sales reps are at least average at the first 30 seconds of the cold call, don’t give them ConnectAndSell. You know those highly paid sales reps you hired because they already know how to prospect? Yeah, the ones who now cold call as little as possible? They are going to be even worse at the first 30 seconds of the call unless they get some sales training. Not knowing what to say on ConnectAndS = no ROI.
ConnectAndSell only amplifies lack of good sales skills for the first part of the sales process. Here are some ConnectAndSell tips you can implement right away to get the full ROI from the tool:
- Do pre-call research. Take that crappy list that you pulled and clean it up manually. You heard me right. Find the right contact, figure out where they fit in the org chart, get their direct line (this one is huge), and do a little bit of 3x3 Research (find 3 talking points on the company and contact in 3 minutes). To see a webinar on why direct lines are so important and how to do get them, check out Help, I Can’t Get Anyone on the Phone.
- Build a Hot List. Put your scrubbed list in your CRM system along with notes from your 3x3 Research. We refer to this high quality list of prospects as a Hot List. Your 3x3s need to answer the question: why are you calling me? The notes in your CRM should be very short so that you can quickly scan them in the moment during your CAS session. Pre-call research is useless unless you use the intelligence to start a conversation with the prospect.
- Know your call lead in. Make an outline of how the first 10 to 30 seconds of the call should flow. Your sales team needs to be really good because ConnectAndSell sessions go really fast. Preparation, training, and eMastery are essential. Here are some things to think about.
- Are you using the voice pre-recording that ConnectAndSell offers or just the standard beep?
- Do you ask the prospect for permission to continue or launch right into your value proposition?
- What mechanisms are you using to warm up the conversation?
- How are you confirming that you are even talking to the right person?
- Are you incorporating in your 3x3 Research?
- How are you taking a cold call (which is a monologue) and turning it into a conversation (which is a dialogue)? A good lead in will create a conversation between you and the prospect.
- Have a great value prop. Develop an awesome value proposition that articulates what you do and what makes you different in 2 sentences. This is really hard to do well. Be sure to use client voice, a metaphor, or a short value story to make it more colorful. To see a webinar on how to do this stuff, check out Warming Up the Cold Call & Growing Your Pipeline.
ConnectAndSell can be an incredibly powerful tool IF you know what you are doing. It can also be a colossal waste of time, money, and other resources. Follow ConnectAnSell tips and best practices to see the full ROI, and benchmark your results to peers.
Vorsight’s connections by executive level by using ConnectAndSell Tips |
Yesterday I was honored to act as a mentor at the Inc./Joining Forces’ Entrepreneur Mentoring Fair. The highlight of the afternoon was a keynote by Dawn Halfaker, a wounded warrior from Iraq who started the very successful government contractor, Halfaker. Dawn’s emotional story of losing an arm and the subsequent recovery is well documented by HBO, but hearing her tell it live left few dry eyes in the room. The day belonged to entrepreneurship, however, and with Dawn’s permissions I recap some of her excellent points on starting a business here:- Focus on what you have rather than what you’ve lost.
- Bring together a small team who shares the same vision. People want to be focused around an idea. For Dawn, Halfaker’s mission continues to be “Continuing to serve…”
- Focus on revenue producing activities. There are a lot of things you can do to waste your time.
- Have a talent strategy in mind. Know who the next hire is going to be before you need that person.
- It’s all about relationships, and relationships take time. In the government contracting world, sometimes you need to wait for up to 18 months to land your first contract. She said, “The best thing I can do is help someone else because that creates a relationship that will last.
She concluded the day with some timeless military wisdom every entrepreneur needs: adaptability, resilience, resolve, and time/courage/determination.
These are troubled economic times, we hear it all the time. But as the great philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize until you have tried to make it precise." So let's be more precise: the economy is down in some areas and up in others.According to recent data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, spending on capital has risen every quarter since June 2009, up 25.6 percent overall since then. (Spending on labor, unfortunately, is practically flat.) What this means is if you're selling software or equipment, odds are your prospects not only have cash, but are looking to get a reliable return on that cash by investing in technology to improve their business. NOBODY LIKES HOLDING CASH WHEN THEY HAVE A BETTER OPTION. Combine the rising costs of benefits for employees with the volatility of the global economy and traditional investment markets, and it's clear why businesses are looking into equipment and software.
If you understand the return your product offers when compared to other options, you'll be that much closer to making the sale.
My business partner took a meeting with a local telecom company yesterday after seeing this email. Here’s what I like about it:- Lauren hits close to home by referencing a visit with another tenant in our building.
- She articulates a differentiated value proposition that tells not just what they do (save you money) but also how they do it (by being a direct to business last mile provider).
- What makes them a “truly unique solution” piques my interest enough to want to be in the room.
- Rather than selling, she goes for the time by wanting to “see if there’s a fit.”
Here’s the email:
Good Morning David,
My name is Lauren and I am a Strategic Account Manager with Acme. The reason why I am contacting you is because I am working with another tenant at 1901 North Fort Myer Drive and are extending our fiber network (for voice and data services) to your building. We are a last mile provider so we do not go through Verizon and therefore are able to offer more competitive pricing since it is all our own equipment. In addition to our high speed internet access, we also provide traditional voice services and offer a Hosted PBX Service. We have truly unique solutions and I would really like the opportunity to meet with you briefly and see if we would be a good fit. I have another appointment in your building on June 21st at 2:30pm and have availability to meet at 3:30pm. Please let me know if that will work for you and if not we can set up a time that will work.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Best regards,
Lauren
By: Kevin Gaither With all the talk about inside sales being more of a science than an art these days and with the growth of inside sales hiring vs. outside sales hiring, I’m surprised at how many companies don’t view their hiring process for inside salespeople in a strategic and process-oriented way. Let’s face it, you can have the best Sales 2.0 tools for your team and the best Lead Generation and Marketing Automation programs in place but if you put the wrong butts in the seat, it’s all for naught.
Everybody says that they want to hire A-Player Inside Salespeople but if you really want to improve your hiring success, the first step I recommend is creating a hiring benchmark for your Inside Salespeople.
What is a Hiring Benchmark for Inside Salespeople?
Your hiring benchmark becomes your target. No candidate is perfect but you’ll be striving to find the perfect candidate and if you fall short, you’ll still be doing a great job hiring. The benchmark should contain 10-20 characteristics that are defined and have associated questions to help interviewers assess the candidate. You should have a hiring benchmark for each role within your sales team. They may be similar but they should not be the same.
Do Not Try to Clone Your Top Performer!
Creating a benchmark is not about cloning your top performer. Think about the worst NFL team out there. If they wanted to improve their chances of winning a Super Bowl and then looked to find more talent that was just like the best on their CURRENT team, they’d be doing themselves a disservice. As you’ll see below, your top performers will help you create the benchmark but do not try to clone your top performer.
Begin with the End in Mind
In an ideal world, what characteristics do you want your reps to possess? If the job were to talk to you, what would it tell you it needs to be successful? Here’s a quote from the late Bill Brooks of The Brooks Group in Greensboro, NC:
“If the job could talk, it would clearly define the knowledge, hard skills, people skills, behavior and culture needed for superior performance. “
Brainstorm & Collaborate
So how do you come up with the characteristics? This is actually easier to do than you’d think. Get the following people into a room:
- Your top salespeople
- Account managers that work with your salespeople
- Admins and/or assistants that work with your salespeople
- Sales leadership (Directors, Managers, Supervisors and VPs)
- The CEO if she or he has regular interaction with your salespeople
- People from your recruiting team
If this group is large enough, break them up into two or three groups and then ask each group to come up with 20 characteristics of the ideal salesperson for the role in 20 minutes. Answering the question above “If the job could talk…..”
Then ask each group to narrow the list down to the 10 most critical characteristics in about 10-15 minutes. Then collect the lists from the group.
Now you have a list of 20 characteristics from each group. Get into a room with sales leadership and/or hiring managers and begin to hone and define the characteristics. You’ll find that you’ll get duplicates of course. You’ll also find that some characteristics are similar and can be combined. Then start to define the characteristics that are left standing. What does it mean to be “Organized?” What does it mean to be “Driven?” What does it mean to be “Resourceful?” Define these clearly. This is like setting goals. The clearer they are, the better chance you’ll have of hitting them.
Develop Your Questions
Now start writing down 2-4 behavioral interviewing questions next to each benchmark that you have defined. Remember, behavioral interviewing questions usually begin with “Tell me about a time when…” You’re looking for situations and detailed stories (ideally recent). Stay away from philosophical questions such as “what is your viewpoint on handling objections?” If one of your benchmarks was “competitiveness” you could ask the following questions:
- When was the last time you were competitive? Another time? (Has more than one recent example from work, home, sports)
- Tell me about the most competitive situation you’ve faced at work? How unusual was it for you? (These are regular occurrences and you’re hearing stories about competition with co-workers or competitors over a customer)
- What is the most fun you’ve ever had winning a customer over? (Tell us about enjoying the process of winning over a difficult customer)
You’re done! Now use this tool consistently with each candidate you interview. Remember that this is only the first step but it’s a critical one. And now you’ve set your company a part from 80% of the other companies out there (including your competitors) as you select the best talent for you’re inside sales team. Act now. Put an hour on your calendar for next week to begin the brainstorming process!
By: Thomas McNally Business doesn’t necessarily take a holiday when you do. So how do you stay ahead of the game while getting some well-deserved R&R? To fix this, I took what could have been a problem and turned it into an opportunity to learn some new best practices. I’ve found that utilizing the power of going mobile can in fact boost the amount of call-backs and eventual meetings scheduled. Here’s the trick: Instead of simply leaving your office number and a specific time of availability, explain that due to upcoming travel you can be reached on your mobile number as well. This establishes a peer-to-peer relationship in the executive's eyes. Executives know unexpected travel and busy schedules lead to time out of the office. They understand cell phones become the most efficient means of business communication and are more likely to reach out to a cell phone rather than another office line.
Try leaving the following voicemail:
“Kim, this is Thomas McNally from Vorsight and I was pointed in your direction after speaking with your colleague Tim Smith who explained that you oversee the development and deployment of field training programs. I had a few quick questions around your video on demand strategy. My direct line is xxx-xxx-xxxx and I will be in the office until 6 pm ET. However, due to some upcoming travel I can be reached on my mobile number at xxx-xxx-xxxx until I return on Friday the 8th. Thanks.”
The amount of “call backs” to my cell phone over the past two weeks has been a much higher percentage compared to my office line including a meeting I secured this morning. I'm currently calling sales operations and sales enablement employees who may be more understanding of cell phone conversations, but I would be interested in hearing if this works for other verticals as well.
When we invited Dan Waldschmidt to do a guest blog, we knew we were going to get something in your face and a little outrageous (his blog is called Edgy Conversations, after all). What we didn’t count on was the level of agreement we’d have with him on the topic of hiring sales superstars. Though counterintuitive, Dan’s argument against hiring a top salesperson is dead on.
Guest Post by: Dan Waldschmidt
We all want more revenue.
Whether you are selling internet servers in the Antarctic or pedal-cab rides in Sao Paulo, more money means the same thing -- less stress and more ways to spend the profits on bigger and bolder toys.
So it makes a heck of a lot of sense that selling (a.k.a. "business development") is something that you need to get really good at. And while at first you might be the chief "bread winner"; somewhere down the road you are going to decide that it makes sense to go grab a zealous soul to fill that role.
And all for good reasons.
You want to scale your growth and that means getting more effort from each day. And since you can’t add hours to the day, you need to add players to the game.
Which is a smart move.
An even better move is to hire “good players” to your game.
But let’s cut through all your wild fantasies of glittering rainbows and pots of gold under lucky sales leprechauns. That stuff only works in the movies. And even then, it’s pretty cheesy.
And just in case you thought you had the answer, let’s talk about something else.
Hiring selling super-stars isn't the answer to your problem.
It only makes matters worse.
Sure. You spent three hours drafting the “perfect” wording for your job posting on Monster.com. You said wonderful things like:
“Must be a high-performer with a proven track record of achieving at least 103% of quota. Must have at least 5 years of experience selling in the business-to-business environment. Must be able to work well with others and be a team player. Must not cause problems.”
After all, if you get all those qualifications, you should be able to double or triple your revenue in the first year alone (at least, within the first eighteen months).
Right?
Nothing could be more wrong.
Sales super-stars are the perfect way to drown your business in endless drama and cost you profits, potential, and perfectly good sanity.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
I know – not the super-star that “you” are going to hire. Your super-star is different. He called enthusiastically about the listing that you made and walked you through all the ways that he was going to add value to your “top line”.
And after hanging up, you just sat there in the dark with a big smile on your face. This guy was your “pay day”. Finally, after all these years of driving the ship yourself, this rock star was going to put a yacht at the end of your dock.
So it’s only fair that before you get too excited that we share a few thoughts.
- You don’t know how to handle a super-star.
- Your business can’t deliver on a super-star’s promises.
- Your experienced hire isn’t really a super-star
That’s right. Seems small and hardly something to get all worked up about. That is until your new super-star decides that he made the biggest mistake of his life coming to work for a classless, half-ass employer who doesn’t have the polish to act like a proper business.
You know what drives high-performing super-stars to under-perform and ultimately leave? It’s actually pretty silly when you think about it (but sadly all too true). They leave because of how you treat them or those around them.
Grow up. It’s time to take your game up a notch or two. That means you treating super-stars differently. Heck, it means treating all your employees differently.
Listen up. When your heavy hitter goes to bat and promises big and bold things and then you under-deliver, you squeeze the life and soul out of your super-star in one early afternoon.
Poof! Your super-star is now a silly salamander. And you did that.
Sure, you didn’t do it on purpose. But you allowed it to happen. And at the end of the day, your super-star doesn’t have time to judge your intentions. He just knows that he got screwed. And that feels the same, any way you try to explain it away.
Hire talented operations dudes to balance out your selling super-stars.
This happens more than all other reason combined.
Most super-stars can’t reproduce for you what they have done for others.
Even if they want to.
Time, resources, and pressure – they are different in each case. Even if you are in the same industry, selling the same products to the same buyers, things are different.
And frankly, the guy you are talking with is a “sales guy”; so his job is to “sell you” that he is the best dude for your position. Whether you know differently or not.
So what can you do?
Grow your own super-stars.
Seriously. It takes time and dedication and disappointment, but it’s the best way to produce consistently, mind-blowing results.
Here are some ideas for you:
- Write down what works for you and the lessons you learned along the way. Be as graphic and critical as possible. Especially about what “you” did wrong.
- Hire for attitude and fire sales executives who don’t “get it”. Make new hires interview with your entire team.
- Bring in some outside help to help you train and teach your team. You will learn something new.
- Sign up all your employees for free weekly therapy. We’re all nut jobs. The “head cases” you fix become instant super-stars.
Imagine what you can do with an army of loyal super-stars. Imagine the difference when you know (really, really know) that your latest hire has already proven himself.
Want super-stars?
Create the dominance you wish you could hire.
 | Who is Dan Waldschmidt? I am a people strategist. I help people arrive at business-changing breakthrough ideas by moving past outdated conventional wisdom, social peer pressure, and the selfish behaviors that stop them from being high performers. Using my experience as a technology CEO and my fascination with neuroscience, I help companies build radical sales conversations in their industry. The Wall Street Journal calls my blog, Edgy of Explosion, one of the Top 7 sales blogs anywhere on the Internet and hundreds of my articles on unconventional sales tactics have been published. Really though, I’m just an "ordinary dude with an outrageous vision". |
When sales are slow or appointments are down, many sales leaders instantly start saying things like, “We have a rich comp plan in place and a differentiated service to sell, so why isn’t my team killing it?” Companies routinely fall down in one critical area: sales culture. Do you think you have a great inside sales culture? Prove it by reading the statements on this checklist and candidly grading your sales culture.- My sales reps are accountable for hitting weekly goals. These goals are publicly stated and written, and the members of my team hold each other to the number.
- People on my sales team work with each other and exchange best practices without me having to ask. I frequently see two people sitting together making calls.
- We use headset splitters for continuous improvement.
- Almost everyone on my sales team has a best friend at work.
- Our organization utilizes SPIFFs to drive the desired behavior, create energy, and stimulate activity. SPIFFs are loosely defined as Short Term Performance Incentives For Fun.
- Some portion of our comp plan is non-financial and dedicated to fun events and things like extra PTO that the reps earn through team goals.
- We use company events like team lunch, parties, and outings to strengthen the team dynamic and celebrate success.
- There is a buzz on my sales floor that feel like a Wall Street trading floor. I never say, “Geez, it’s so quiet it feels like a library in here.”
- We have an annual or semi-annual incentive trip to a place like Playa del Carmen or the Dominican Republic. At least half the team makes the trip.
- New members of the team seek to emulate the successful team veterans.
- I bought a sales gong that is prominently displayed on my sales floor.
- My sales managers focus on making the most of people’s talents and strengths while minimizing their weaknesses.
- We use praise all the time. If you visit my sales floor for one day you will see at least 3 high fives.
- The sales reps seem enthusiastic when coming to work in the morning and get on the phones right away.
- Time seems to fly here, and many reps comment that they have no idea how the day went by so fast.
- Our sales team creates friendly competitions as a way to drive each other to achieving higher performance.
- Sales reps send out email announcements every time they schedule a sales meeting, demo, or onsite meeting with a prospects.
- We do countdowns in these meeting announcements to show progress towards team goals.
- In our office you will find a ping pong table, pool table, dart board, Wii, or some other way to de-stress.
- My organization has a larger vision and purpose that is well known. The sales team believes in this mission statement and how it benefits the company, the clients, the employees, and them personally.
I Googled culture and liked these two definitions:
- Attitudes and behaviors that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization
- A particular society at a particular time and place
So how do you rate your sales culture? Of the 19 items on the checklist, what’s your score? Is your sales culture strong enough as to be categorized as a ‘particular society’ – in other words will people remember it and know about it long after leaving your company? Will others seek out your culture to learn from you?
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Everyone needs to focus on building sales pipeline, but how you go about doing that varies a lot from business to business. Lately the fad is to ask marketing to take over this Activities like search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, trade shows, whitepaper downloads, ebooks, social media, etc. are driving prospects to your website – I’m not going to argue with you over that. I’m writing this blog right now to – you guessed it – hit a keyword and drive traffic to our website. I blame HubSpot for brainwashing me.
But what is the quality of this traffic? I’m expecting zero quality leads from the hour it takes me to write this blog. B2B sales VPs and business owners (who we typically help) are just too busy to find and read this blog article. If you are out there and reading this, go ahead and prove me wrong! You are focusing on growing your business, so the burden is on us to go and find you in an intelligent way.
Despite very good intentions (and large budgets), is your marketing team able to achieve the required pipeline value of 3x quota? Are you hitting your goals for new customer acquisition or developing enough new relationships with contacts broader and deeper in your clients’ organizations? Why are B2B marketing efforts not translating into quality sales pipeline for so many firms? Asking your sales reps to “call the leads” does not drive revenue growth when the leads are junior contacts or at the wrong organizations and have zero chance of buying. You need a smarter approach to convert more of your marketing leads into opportunities.
Businesses are reaffirming the value of outbound prospecting as a way to build sales pipeline. Recently Vorsight & The Bridge Group surveyed 1,150+ B2B sales reps on the source for their best opportunities. This research called “Sales Speaks” is filled with a bunch of surprising and counter-intuitive findings. For example sales reps report that only 31% of leads meet their ideal customer profile, however they call to follow up on 84% of the leads.
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Huh? This makes no sense. Why would you expend all that effort chasing down the 70% of people that we all know have zero chance of buying?
And further only 26% of sales reps report having an SLA between sales and marketing for what is expected on each side.
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How can we build sales pipeline when we don’t have ground rules and expectations in place between sales and marketing? Finally check out where sales reps report sourcing their best opportunities:
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Are you building sales pipeline and growing your business fast enough through marketing efforts alone? Or is your sales team required to generate their own opportunities through intelligent outbound prospecting?
Conducting sales calls on speakerphone is par for the course here at Vorsight. We do it for a few reasons: being hands free allows you to take copious notes during your conversation, multiple people can easily participate in the conversation, and colleagues can listen to what prospects are saying on the phone in order to prep for their own calls.
The colleague I share an office with did a call the other day with a prospect he’d spoken to only a couple times. What struck me most wasn’t his take on list-building companies (which, by the way, wasn’t favorable) or his strong New Jersey accent; it was his zeal for LinkedIn. As he and Joey continued to speak, they “connected” on LinkedIn, took jabs at each other’s profile pictures, and realized they had a couple connections in common.
I was particularly interested to hear the prospect say that before he interviews someone, he searches for them on LinkedIn. If the candidate isn’t “LinkedIn,” he won’t talk to them. Harsh? Not really. As salespeople, maintaining a robust LinkedIn profile is as fundamental as knowing what the acronym “BANT” stands for.
The internet is nothing if not a smorgasbord of self-promotional propaganda; whether you partake or not, everyone else is. To do otherwise is a disservice to yourself, and ultimately, your W-2. I firmly believe that above any other kind of social networking site, if you are a sales professional, you must be on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is the most professional way to network with colleagues, prospects, and employers.
For sales professionals, LinkedIn could be the most valuable prospecting tool you have. Yes, placing a phone call to the CEO’s receptionist might get you a name, but far more valuable is reaching out to someone and dropping the name of mutual connection you share or work you’ve done at a former employer of theirs. Think of it as “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” for prospects. It’s a small world, and if you become active on LinkedIn, you will quickly find yourself connected to coworkers, classmates, friends, and even clients.
The 400+ connections I have translate into over 7,000 people in my “network.” In laymen’s terms, there are over 7,000 people I share some kind of mutual connection with. LinkedIn is my prospecting preference over Twitter and Facebook (where I am also very active) because its sole purpose is to connect you to other professionals. There’s no Farmville or pictures of my prospect having thrown back one-too-many glasses of champagne on New Year’s Eve. It’s a clean, simple way to gather a lot of information about someone provided directly by them.
Maintaining a comprehensive profile will set your apart from the competition.
LinkedIn has a way of telling you how complete your profile is by gauging things like profile pictures, recommendations, and job descriptions. You should really aim to be at 100% completeness. Doing so will set your profile apart from many others and even open up your network.
The more connections you have, the larger your network becomes, meaning the more information becomes available to you as your prospect. Remember Johnny from the last company you worked at in 2004? He now works at the company you’ve been dying to get into. Because you’re connected to him, you can probably see more information about the people you need to get in with to sell your product to. Better still, why not send him a message and ask for a connection to your prospect?
Furthermore, LinkedIn is your resume made public to the world. Whether you’re job searching or just hoping to make a good impression on your clients, you should invest the same kind of time into your profile as your actual resume. Listing your specific responsibilities at each company along with recommendations from colleagues and previous clients will add real clout to your profile, which can not only garner interest from recruiters, but prospects as well. Not to mention, as my coworker’s prospect said, employers are determining whether they’ll continue talking to a job applicant based on their LinkedIn presence. Thinking about updating your profile now, aren’t ya?
Status updates are a great way to share company information without spamming.
If you’ve already created and maintain an up-to-date profile, connect with clients and prospects you’re in an active sales cycle with via LinkedIn. While you may not want to send them messages, you can still offer “light touches” through your LinkedIn status updates.
I’ve seen everything from links to corporate blog posts, invites to webinars, and even entire presentations announced in my LinkedIn stream. Sometimes I pass over them, but sometimes I actually read them. If your update is interesting and timely, your connections will pursue the material. In this way, you move away from a targeted campaign and more toward a nurturing, informal one.
LinkedIn allows you to see who has viewed your profile.
Social media juggernaut Facebook prides itself on the idea that they will never create the technology to show you who has viewed your profile. LinkedIn doesn’t hold the same standard and kudos to them. The box toward the middle of the home page aptly titled “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” allows you to know exactly who’s been looking at your profile. Depending on which version you have, you can see full visibility into those folks (i.e., first and last name and entire profiles).
I notice prospects I’ve searched for on LinkedIn checking out my profile just minutes after. Can you imagine a more perfect conversation starter? “You were probably wondering why I was perusing your profile on Linkedin…?” Stalker-y? Maybe. Differentiated? Absolutely.
Whether you feel comfortable using that approach or not, the insight into who has been checking you out can no doubt only help your prospecting efforts.
If you’re looking to make more connections, feel free to add me: I’m always looking to expand my network.
If your organization is interested in learning more about leveraging LinkedIn (or any other sales prospecting tools), contact .
This is a true story that happened onsite with a SaaS company called Reeher (they have an amazing platform for higher education fundraising). We were making live calls with a group of 6, so I have witnesses.Today we called into a large University to learn that the EVP of Development died on Sunday. The assistant said, “Oh, I’m sorry that Mr. XXX passed suddenly this past weekend.” The person making the call looked at me to say, “What do I do now?” In a moment of unintentional irony, I swiped my hand across my throat to end the call. Perhaps I was being unconsciously insensitive, who knows. Out of respect to the deceased, we promptly ended our prospecting call. After all, even though we’re salespeople we’re still human, right?
The moment of shock gave way to a question amongst the group. We ask you now, “How long should you wait after a person passes away to re-prospect their replacement?” Almost every client salesperson I’ve worked with has had a prospect die on them. If you are in sales long enough one of your prospects is going to pass away. So what next? Would love to see your thoughts.
By: Steve Richard, Co-Founder and Head Sales TrainerToday (within one hour) two people asked me, “How many inside sales reps are in the USA?” A coincidence of this type calls for a blog post. For your benefit I did a bunch of searching and a bunch of calling to experts. You know what I came up with? Great conversations, but nobody has a clue.
Undeterred I am going to post my very unscientific research and ask you to please help me out. If you have a good guess as to the number of inside sales reps in the US, please comment with your justification. The inside sales community thanks you.
- The Bureau of Labor & Statistics (BLS) lists about 2 million ‘wholesale and manufacturing’ sales representatives. This number seems very, very low to most and not inclusive of new economy type sales jobs. One must also consider the number of people who have titles like customer service, account management, or business owner who, let’s face it, are actually salespeople. And how about B2C salespeople like realtors and tax accountants? This makes the number very fluid.
- Experts like Gerhard Gschwandtner of SellingPower and Larry Reeves of the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals put the number closer to 12-18 million sales reps in the US with perhaps 2-6 million inside sales reps.
- Dave Elkington at Inside Sales cited InfoUSA numbers that in the middle of the recession 14 out of every 15 sales job filled in the US were inside sales reps. We estimate that with the recovery, 9 out of every 10 salespeople hired in the US are inside reps.
- Many are speculating if Groupon has the inside sales firepower to call every company in the USA. With an estimated 2,000-3,000 inside sales reps, it’s a fascinating thought. Interesting piece here.
According to Chad Levitt’s New Economy Sales Blog, by 2012, nearly 800,000 more companies will host inside sales teams and they’ll be using the telephone and the Internet to nurture, develop, and close sales opportunities.
How do you answer these sales demographic questions?
- How many sales jobs and inside sales jobs are in the USA?
- What % of recent college grads find themselves in inside sales jobs?
- What % of new sales jobs are inside sales jobs?
By: Steve Richard, Co-Founder and Head Sales Trainer
From: Greene, Karla [mailto:Karla_Greene@ADP.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 4:48 PM
To: Steve Richard
Subject: Corporate Executive Board Alumni / Vorsight/ ADP
Hi Steve,
I was doing research on your company and yourself and wanted to reach out to you for several reasons. I saw that you worked in the IT practice at Corporate Executive Board as did I. I was a Sales Executive working with James Whitman and then Phil Sofia –I believe you know both of them…small world! Congrats on your success with Vorsight!
I also wanted to reach out to you as I noticed you are co-founder and as well head of Human Resources of Vorsight. My company is the fastest growing division of ADP, ADP TotalSource, helping business owners of small businesses minimize their employer liability, administrative burdens of being an employer, and stabilize their labor costs as they grow and prepare for growth. There are several unique and compelling ways we do this, which is what I was hoping to talk to you about, given your industry, role, and size of organization. I have listed a few below my signature.
Not to mention, I meet with several presidents and business owners of local small business and have opportunities, when appropriate to speak to your services, especially as many of them are contemplating ways to grow their businesses.
In light of the above, I wanted to see if we could meet for simply 20 minutes at your convenience some time next week or the following?
I look forward to your response and hopefully meeting you.
Thanks in advance for your reply,
| Karla Greene | |
| District Manager |  |
| 401 N. Washington St. Rockville, MD. 20850 | |
| C: 410-591-1553 O: 301-296-7962 | |
| www.adptotalsource.com | |
_____________________________________________________________________________
TotalSource is ADP’s fastest growing division: last year growing by over 14% and now serving 10,000 small businesses.
A few notable facts:
A fun part about my job is that now salespeople prospect me. Being on the other side of the coin really opens your eyes…most prospecting emails are just plain bad. However this one caught my attention right away as a really good sales prospecting email. Here’s what I like:
- “I was doing research on your company” – actually about our company and not them…so rare these days.
- Most people can’t name drop mutual connections like this. You could substitute name dropping peers you are meeting with and have it be just as effective.
- Their division is the fastest growing in a very old school industry. I’m intrigued.
- There are several unique ways we do this. I’m more intrigued.
- She meets with other business owners and can make meaningful connections beyond a sales pitch. Nice value add.
- Great use of the signature line and space below. If I want to read more I can, but it doesn’t occupy valuable real estate.
- It worked. I’m now set to meet Karla in a few weeks.
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- Utilizing LinkedIn for Sales Success
- I’m sorry, Mr. XXX passed away…
- How many inside sales reps are in the USA?
- A Good Sales Prospecting Email!
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