sales management – Page 2

Outbound ticket sales: How to create a sales playbook to maximize sales

kirk_wakefield 2014, Marketing, Sell, Tickets April 1, 2014November 1, 2018collegiate, commitment, departments, NCAA, new, planning, process, sales management, sales reps, start, steps, strategy, ticket sales 0 Comment

by Mark Washo – April 2014

As NCAA programs continue to adopt more revenue-generating practices, activating an outbound ticket sales program appears simple. Hire entry level sports management grads, provide a desk, phone, and email address, pull past buyer lists and watch the ticket sales role in. While most understand ticket sales is more complex, how many take ALL key aspects of successful sales into consideration? [dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]“Game day name capture initiatives are one of the best ways for us to connect with fans that have formed a habit of waiting to make a ‘game time decision’ and show them the benefits of reserving their seats in advance as opposed to walking up and buying a ticket at the game. We also find that database collection efforts at community events and local sports bars are a key component in creating new relationships with local businesses and organizations.” – Jamie Levitt, Manager of Ticket Sales at Western Kentucky University[/dropshadowbox]

The first step to a successful program is commitment

To maximize revenue, the organization must commit to outbound sales over a full calendar year, not month to month or short term (3 to 5 months). After committing to a 12 months sales staffing plan, with a year round sales focus, you are ready to make your ticket sales plan, your playbook for success.

Create a sales plan or “Playbook” that includes:

The past: Review past season ticket sales reports to look for strengths to build on and opportunities to improve.
The future: Goals setting; annual, monthly, sales rep goals and quotas. Set realistic yet aggressive minimum expectations for your sales professionals, including minimum sales activity expectations and sales targets. Continually track progress towards the goals.
Develop a 12 month ticket sales timeline: The timeline should include “early bird new and renewal campaigns” while existing playing seasons are happening to capitalize on fan excitement and interest while they are still engaged. Waiting until after the playing seasons are over to begin new sales & renewals for that sport is not as effective at maximizing ticket sales revenue as renewing and selling new tickets during the season.
Recruit top talent: Don’t cut corners during the recruiting process. Activate a multiple step process, including a sales role-play interview step to help recruit the strongest candidates.
Hire enough talent: Hire the appropriate number of sales staff based on revenue goals; creating realistic revenue expectations will help you draw conclusions on appropriate # of ticket sales executives to hire.
Create motivating compensation plans with commission and bonus opportunities: Compensation models should provide incentives to sell, which aid in recruiting and retaining top talent.[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Failure to prepare is preparing to fail ~John Wooden “It is vital to have a game plan for your sales approach just like a coach has a game plan to execute on the field. The key is to have an attack plan for sales prepared once a schedule is made available. Often certain groups dictate the time of year they can attend an outing. For example school base programs, scouts, and ROTC’s need a two month leeway into a school year to plan an activity. An outline will help a sales person know exactly where they stand and what needs to be accomplished at any point of the year. Also, it is a quick and easy way to keep superiors up to date on what a sales representative is currently working on and how they are planning to make the next event a success. — Tom Phelps, Naval Academy[/dropshadowbox]
Commit to data base building: Invest in CRM to cultivate leads and grow your data base. Newer web based models provide 24 hour remote access.
Analyze your pricing strategy: Based on analytics that consider situational factors, increase the average ticket price with price integrity for single game pricing. Add incentives to encourage season ticket and advance purchase. Analyze your ticket sales customers buying habits and patterns to guide pricing.
Create season ticket benefits: Find creative low cost ways to provide season ticket benefits (e.g., with corporate partners) to provide added value beyond discounts (i.e., experiences).
Create flexible ticketing packages: Explore options such as vouchers or “pick me plans.”
Develop a group sales pricing strategy: Reward groups with appropriate benefits that include group leader incentives to motivate purchase.
Commit to consistent ticket sales training: Just like in well-run corporations, sales training must be consistent and on-going.
Promote the promotion: Encourage cross-departmental integration that support ticket sales initiatives with “buy in” from other departments; gain support from marketing/PR/social media and operations.
Create a positive sales culture: Create visible team-wide goals where everyone is committed to revenue generation. Include motivating reps through sales incentives and contests.
Develop a renewal and retention strategy: Explore ways to activate proactive retention efforts and develop strong customer service, with multiple “touch points” throughout the season.
Ticket Operations: Don’t forget to recruit professional and dedicated ticket operations talent. Sound ticket operations is needed to support any proactive sales effort.

It’s important to take as comprehensive as an approach as possible to selling tickets. Find ways to activate all of the key elements, you will be in a great position to maximize ticket sales revenue! [dropshadowbox align=”left” effect=”lifted-both” width=”550px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

“It’s always interesting to me, that all of us who work in professional or collegiate sports are exposed to elite athletes who we see practice & train every day, in order to stay at the top of their game. Therefore, it’s surprising that most ticket sales teams don’t commit to consistent sales and role play training. The most successful sales teams in sports (pro or college), have a dedicated commitment to consistent sales training, which includes sales role play, bringing in outside sales trainers and taking advantage of free sales content on social media such as this Baylor sportsbiz article.” ~ Brett Zalaski[/dropshadowbox]

The 7 S’s of Effective Morning Sales Huddles

kirk_wakefield 2014, Sell, Tickets March 1, 2014November 1, 2018emotions, inside sales, leading, motivation, NBA, sales management, sales meetings, successful 0 Comment

by Jon Bishop – March 2014

Successful sales managers know how to set the stage each day to prepare their sales team to meet their goals. That begins with the morning sales huddle. Follow these seven essential steps and you’ll get sales reps prepared for the day with the right mindset.

Strategize

Effective sales rep huddles should last no more than 5-7 minutes – but they still require preparation and planning. Don’t wing it. Take a few minutes the night before or in the morning to outline your objectives and meet with other managers to make sure you’re on the same page.
Consider using a prop or visual aid. Example: Bring a horseshoe. Ask, “What do you think of when you see this horseshoe?” Who’s had some good luck lately? What strategy did you use to make luck happen?”
Vary the format and responsibilities. Some days break into teams, some days ask for individual responses. Assign leadership to different reps, in part or in whole, as huddle captains.

Set the tone

Matt Fahr

Start the meeting with music and get the blood pumping. Literally. Physical behavior influences the mental and emotional approach for the day.
Consider starting with a great quote (e.g., Bobcats’ Matt Fahr using Michael Jordan quotes). Kirk Madsen with Monumental Sports and Entertainment likes to send a quote out the night before to get his sales staff thinking.

Spotlight individual and team successes

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Why should you lead team huddles?

1. Gather: It’s important to bring the group together; to build community.
2. Game plan: Your team needs to identify issues and strategies to overcome.
3. Motivate: Sales is a motivation game. Play it.[/dropshadowbox]

Recognize winners from the day before and celebrate their achievements with their peers in the room.
Joel Adams of the Cavaliers asks what led to that success to uncover instant best practices.

Support and provide encouragement

This is an opportunity to feature the right activity, even if it did not directly lead to sales that day.
Share values in action. Have reps nominate someone else who demonstrated or embodied that value (e.g., Spurs: success, integrity, caring).
Brian Norman with the 76ers enjoys sharing positive emails from customers and other praise that encourages the right behaviors.

Strengthen by overcoming biggest challenges

Recognize problems (“What are you hearing on the phones?”). Identify solutions.
Use feedback to develop a plan of attack to common objections or hurdles in the sales process.
Demonstrate that you personally care for them. When asked what stood out most about Spurs Coach Popovich, former Spurs player Malik Rose said, “He cares.” Great leaders earn respect by showing they care – why not show this on a daily basis?

State the focus and goals for the day

This is when you get to hit “Reset” and draw up your play for the day.
Go around the room asking for a unique response to the question of the day (“What do you want to achieve today?”).
Create accountability and buy-in by getting reps to express their personal goal for the day.

Stimulate emotions with celebration & inspiration

Target at least one thing to get into people’s hearts.
Challenge them with a question like “What will you do today to get better?”
How we feel that day influences what we think and do.
Gathering for the huddle is a way for the staff to get into their starting blocks. Reps know that when the huddle is dismissed – it’s time to seize the day.

What are your essentials for a morning huddle?

Sales Managers: 6 Keys to Becoming a Great(er) Leader

kirk_wakefield 2014, Lead, Sales Management March 1, 2014November 1, 2018growth, Indiana Fever, leadership, learn, managers, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, Philadelphia 76ers, sales management, sports, steps, TMBO, Tulsa Shock 0 Comment

by Dionna Widder – March 2014

To be great(er) leaders, we must first master the craft of management, work on building upon our skills and talent, and develop trusting relationships with our employees and your managers.

The Great Blondin became famous for being the first person to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Not just once, but eight times over two years. He walked blindfolded, on stilts, and even with a wheelbarrow. He failed to build relationships with his audience therefore no one trusted him enough to volunteer to jump in his wheelbarrow to be pushed to cross the falls, except for his manager, who he carried across the falls on his back.

If we want to be better leaders, we must do these six things.

Be self-aware

An easy exercise to evaluate yourself is to write out five things you do well and five things you can do better as a manager. It is also important to draw awareness through feedback from reps. Would this kind of feedback surprise you?

“I want (my manager) to stop only training on how to sell over the phone”
“Start talking to us as professionals, not children”
“Stop canceling one-on-one meetings and not reschedule them”
“Start developing me on how to sell B2B”
“Stop being unapproachable”
“Stop socializing with select people in our department, it make me feel left out”

When areas of improvement are clearly identified, develop solutions. Carrie Kmetzo (Director, Ticket Sales & Service, Tulsa Shock) realized team building and personal connections with managers and reps would improve retention of reps. They created “Bachelor Brackets” on who would win in The Bachelor and hosted paintball games with reps to create fun engagement activities to build the connection.

Use outside resources to gain knowledge

Consider these sources: Books (join or start a book club), blogs, e-newsletters, associations, industry publications, participate in conference calls, webinars, leadership organizations (e.g., Toastmasters), and online search (Don’t know it? Google it. Don’t know how? YouTube it. ).

Mike Fuhrman (Inside Sales Manager, Minnesota Timberwolves) has been proactive at using outside resources and scheduling in time to participate in his company’s book club, being an active member of Toastmasters, and he participates in local chamber events.

Learn from your environment

Learn from others’ experiences. Be a sponge. As Samantha Hicks (Director, Ticket Sales & Service, Indiana Fever) shares, “I learn from the different styles of each of my superiors. I take note of how they communicate with me and with others in the room.”

Brian Norman (Sales Manager, Philadelphia 76ers) suggests having heads of the other departments in your organization be guest speakers periodically to expand the knowledge base of reps outside of sales and to help spur career motivation of sales reps.

Develop relationships & have mentors

Self-development doesn’t have to always be done by yourself. We need to involve others who are willing to provide constructive feedback, give you advice, and share insight from their personal experiences. Find at least one mentor of each of these four types: superior, lateral, internal, and external.

Utilize your manager to learn and grow

If you want training, go to your manager and ask for it and be specific what you want to learn and recommend how they can help you learn it. Michael Brown (Inside Sales Manager, Memphis Grizzlies) visits regularly with his vice-president (for “challenges”), asking what he needs to know to develop his skill set and make a bigger contribution to the department. Michael requests for the opportunity to sit in on upper level sales meetings in the office, and shadow him at games when possible.

Erin Leigh (Manager of Inside Sales, Brooklyn Nets) recommends offering comprehensive solutions when executives present problems faced by the team. Erin provided a solution– when the sales team started to lose their edge–to develop a comprehensive training program that she now leads for all sellers in the department.

Have a plan

Plans have goals, action steps, timeline (frequency), and how you’ll measure success.

List out the five things you want to do better. Define the actions you will take to accomplish each developmental goal. Establish a timeline and frequency in which you will execute each action. Define how you will measure your personal growth.

Ready to get started? Download this planning sheet and get with it. Now.

Does using social media in selling increase performance?

kirk_wakefield 2013, Luxury Suites & Premium Tickets, Sell, Sponsorships, Tickets October 7, 2013November 2, 2018lead generation, learning, sales management, sales performance, selling, social media, teams, training, twitter 0 Comment

by Wayne Guymon – October 2013

Social Media is all fun and no work, right? Those “millennials” are always on their phones, checking Facebook and “LOL’ing” with their friends. It always seems to be “tweet this” and “hashtag that.” I can hardly understand what they are saying sometimes!

The truth of the matter is that social media, when used effectively, can be an extremely beneficial tool.

A study of business-to-business salespeople found that 42% frequently use social media in their selling efforts to:

Build awareness.
Prospect.
Obtain leads.
Connect with customers and keep them feeling important.
Maintain good business relationships.
Obtain referrals.
Communicate thoroughly.

As we might guess, 73% of millennial’s use social media in selling, while 60% of Gen X salespeople do, and only 33% of baby boomers.

More importantly, the sales performance of those who use social media in these ways is significantly higher than those who don’t.

During a recent brainstorming session with one of my sales AE’s, we pulled up a prospective partner’s Facebook page. By literally spending a few minutes browsing the page, we completely overhauled our proposal to incorporate some themes that we discovered. When we subsequently made the pitch, the client remarked on how our theme was spot-on with their current objectives.

While there are plenty of fun and games involved, used effectively and efficiently, social media can help lead the sales charge for your sales teams.

How about your sales team?

At your next sales team meeting, see how your group is doing by asking the questions below.

How can we use social media and which social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, blogs, etc.) work best to:

Increase your awareness among potential and current customers?
Prospect new customers?
Obtain leads? Referrals?
Connect with customers and make them feel important?
Maintain good business relationships?
Communicate thoroughly?

We’d like to hear what you come up with! We’re all learning together! Tweet to us @BaylorS3 and @Wguymon. #sellsports

Join the S3 Report.

The study of 309 B2B salespeople from a national sample was conducted by: Schultz, Robert J., Charles Schwepker, and David J. Good (2012). “An exploratory study of social media in B2B selling: Salesperson characteristics, activities, and performance,” Marketing Management Journal, 22 (2), 76-89.

Cover photo courtesy of Leah Carroll.

The essential elements of successful sales leadership: Staying ahead of the curve

kirk_wakefield 2013, Lead, Learn, Personal Development, Sales Management July 11, 2013November 2, 2018curve, curve ball, failure, personnel, process, sales management, salespeople, Success 0 Comment

by Carson Heady – July 2013

Two governing principles

Two governing principles drive sales management success: people and process. The right personnel following the right procedures equal success. The numbers will be there. In Vegas the house always wins because it knows and plays the odds. In the same way, we fail when we don’t play the percentages of tried and true methods. Many managers find inexplicable (for them) failure because of this very reason:

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”750px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Sales Management Failure

Trying to follow a process with the wrong people OR failing to provide the right process to the right people.[/dropshadowbox]

Managers get too caught up chasing numbers, telling the team they need more of [place your metric here] without showing them how. Reps fizzle out for that very reason.

Two vital steps for new leaders

Relationships

The vital first step of your process as sales leader is building the relationships. No team respects someone who shows up and starts barking orders. Why should they? This manager has not established trust, gained respect and earned the right to lead. The manager title is one thing. But two-way communication fosters a winning team. Building relationships involves:

rolling up your sleeves,
getting in the trenches,
learning from front line employees what actually transpires and needs improvement, and
seeing through their eyes what works and what doesn’t.

There is no better way to diagnose the business. You cannot introduce changes to processes without taking these first steps.

Martin Coco, Director of Ticket Sales and Marketing for the St. Louis Cardinals, shares, “Two of the most important things we need to do as managers is to establish relationship and legitimacy with our staff.” With the Cardinals in particular, Martin says, “It helps that all of our manager-level staff have been promoted internally. They have done the job of the individuals they now lead.”

Although teams can’t always promote from within, Coco points out that it helps when you can. Managers have instant legitimacy with the group they are leading, as Coco points out, because they can say, “I’ve been in your shoes, and I know what challenges you are facing.”

Focus

Once relationships are built, don’t focus on selling more. Focus on what prevents sales. Gain trust by eliminating obstacles to selling.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”600px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#fffffff” ]When obstacles are removed there is nothing left to do but sell.[/dropshadowbox]

Sell your team on why process tweaks are beneficial; they fear change just like a customer does.

Understand the sales food chain: your relationship with your team is akin to the rep relationship with a customer. You must

ask questions,
learn their existing processes,
gain trust,
expose gaps they may not have even known about, and
convince them to change based on need.

Make the fear of status quo outweigh the fear of change. Reps can make their choices. Either way, they get outside of their comfort zones. Your ability to move them away from comfortable ways of failing or maintaining mediocrity determines your success.

Staying ahead of the curve

None of us wants to have trouble with the curve. The key to hitting curve balls is watching the release point to identify the pitch. Then you can adjust the swing. So everyone on the team keeps their eyes on the ball, you must do three things with sales reps so that they can see what’s coming:

Document: where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going and what steps we are taking to get there.
Hold accountable: did they take the steps to get there? If not, why not?
Recognize: pay with money, pay with promotion, pay with attention.

Strive for personal stretch goals bigger than the commitments you must meet for your organization. Term organization goals as minimum expectations. Then even barely falling short of your stretch goals means you stay ahead of the curve.

Sales training for CRM: The 3 sales rep types & how to reach them

kirk_wakefield 2013, CRM, Learn, Relate, Sales Training June 1, 2013November 2, 2018acceptance, CRM, effectiveness, fear, how to, progress, sales management, sales reps, training 0 Comment

by Chris Zeppenfeld – June 2013

How can CRM fail?

Numerous studies estimate that somewhere around 50% of all CRM implementations ultimately fail. That’s scary. Why do CRM implementations fail?

User adoption is usually at the top of the list of most of the articles on the subject. The recurring theme is reps and managers need ongoing CRM training to fully benefit from the installation. That brings up questions like:

How often do you train?
How long are the sessions?
What measurables should we use?

But, the most important questions is: HOW am I going to treat each rep in the training session?

Typical sales responses

Tell me if any of these sound familiar among sales reps:

motivated by instant gratification
want things to be fast and quick
paranoid about protecting leads
concerned about how they will be judged by their manager
hates anything that slows them down from selling
dislikes having to put info into CRM for the sake of putting info into CRM
expects something to happen immediately whenever a button is clicked

After training roughly 2,000 people in my career in software, I’ve boiled it down to three types of reps you are likely to encounter in CRM training sessions. The major challenges are 1) getting buy-in and 2) keeping their attention. Achieving these goals requires different approaches with each type of rep.

THE QUESTIONER

Symptoms:

always asks if CRM can do something that you haven’t built yet in CRM,
often the most engaged reps you have,
potential to be managers someday,
most likely to be curious about something in CRM you never trained them on

Diagnosis: Questioners aren’t your typical rep. They want to know WHY something is the way that it is. You may only have one or two of these people on your entire sales staff.

Treatment:

Important to develop good relationship since they can be your best source of ideas for new things in CRM
Focus on how CRM can make them smarter than the average rep
React quickly when they complain since they can “poison” everyone else with their vocal barbs
If you do create a new tool in CRM based off their suggestion, make sure to give them credit so they feel engaged
Spend more time explaining the logic behind the new task and less time having them repeat the task over and over again in the training session

THE SOLDIER

Symptoms:

rarely raises an issue about CRM (but if they do it’s all of them at once)
not curious at all about the other things in CRM outside of their world,
uses CRM as a means to an end rather than a tool to help them improve as a sales rep

Diagnosis: Soldiers are your typical rep: Here’s what the world looks like, put your head down, and sell it!

Treatment:

Focus on showing them that CRM makes them faster and more efficient
Use them as showcase examples to your staff to reward good CRM habits
Engage them and ask for their input when considering adding a new feature to CRM
Tell them to click where and when, and they will do it (as long as it is fast)
Try to get as many repetitions as possible during the training session of the new task you are showing them

THE OLD GUARD

Symptoms:

usually most tenured reps consistently selling at high volume,
stuck in their ways,
struggle to get notes in CRM,
think their way (spreadsheets, note cards, outlook, etc.) is “good enough” to do the job,
often say things like, “I sold XXXX without CRM then, so I don’t need to learn this new CRM thing”

Diagnosis: Old Guards are usually skilled salespeople, but are a mixed bag when it comes to CRM adoption.

Treatment:

Show them indisputable statistics that using CRM helps their winning percentage
Show them that the time it takes to put in a note in CRM is less than what they are doing now (literally conduct a time trial session – if his method is quicker/better, you have a design issue)
Focus on the bare essentials (put your notes in) of CRM rather than all of the bells and whistles
Lean on managers for enforcement of CRM when you get non-compliance
If you have to resort to threats of taking away sales for lack of CRM notes, make sure that comes from the sales manager not you!
Much better to have 5 CRM training sessions over 5 days that last 10 minutes each vs. 1 training that lasts 60 minutes straight

Empower your players

kirk_wakefield 2013, CRM, Lead, Relate, Sales Management, Sell, Tickets June 1, 2013November 2, 2018CRM, leading, new calls, process, sales management, self monitoring, strategy 0 Comment

by Eric Kussin – June 2013

Corey Gaines, head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, runs a fantastic clinic each season for local coaches. A great college and pro player himself, Corey always talks about leaders he played for and the effect they had on him.

One of Corey’s favorites is Pat Riley. With Riley, the devil was in the details – it wasn’t about “standing out wide” or “on the wing” or “in the paint” on a particular play. Instead, if you were asked to be in a spot in the offense, the EXACT location was repeatedly drilled into your head: “Less than the distance of a dime between your heels and the baseline, precisely one foot outside of the lane.”

Every coach taught from a similar play book, but Riley wanted his players to run “his” plays better than anyone, creating more floor space than any other team, providing an opportunity for a greater percentage of uncontested shots and ultimately made-hoops on every single possession.

Running our plays

We all have similar play books and technologies to help us track how and how many times our reps run “our plays” in a given day, week or month. As managers, when we meet at conferences and workshops, we end up talking very macro – comparing minimum rep requirements on categories such as calls, opportunities, appointments, etc.

How can we learn from Riley and apply the same logic to how we lead our teams? What tools do CRM and other technologies provide that enable us to dive deeper into the details of the plays we are asking our reps to run? We run four plays that have worked well for our team.

1. Turn Over New Stones

Just about every CRM system enables you to track the number of calls reps have made, per day, by campaign. With the Devils, where we use Microsoft Dynamics, the source campaign for a particular call could look something like this:

14DH- SGB 1/14/13 = 2013-14 Devils Hockey; Single Game Buyer from the January 14, 2013 home game

The approach we use remains the same across all departments: The only way to build your business is to ensure you get comfortable making the “uncomfortable” calls. Every day. This is how we manage that:

Reps put the number of the call (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in the subject line of every call into our CRM system as the rep moves the prospect into an opportunity.
Reps must make a minimum number of “FIRST TOUCH” calls each day to ensure new prospects constantly flow into the sales funnel.
The number of required first touch calls vary by day based on rep product focus (seasons, groups, premium, etc.).

2. Manage the Sales Cycle

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]“Today’s business world is entirely too customizable moves way too fast to be reliant on 3×5 cards and excel spreadsheets. If we demand excellence out of our sales representatives, we must supply them with the tools necessary to maximize their daily effort. Utilizing an integrated CRM system is one of the easiest and best ways we can ensure that our reps have the power of instant and real-time information to drive sales results.” ~David McElwee, Sr. Director of Ticket Sales and Service, Washington Nationals[/dropshadowbox]Our sales cycles begin in February.

We offer fans “Early Access” to full season tickets.
Partial ticket plans are not available during this sales cycle.
First-touch calls with legitimate full-season objections are assigned as a “re-approach” call in another sales cycle.
Re-approach calls are never considered a “FIRST TOUCH” again during that “14DH” sales season.

The goal is to ensure a minimum number of real first touch calls are made each day by all the reps. It’s not enough to make X number of calls in a day. We want to know what types of calls are made. Specifically, we want new prospects worked into the mix every day.

3. Define & track opportunities

An opportunity is a prospect:

whose needs have been assessed,
has formed a relationship with the rep,
at least been invited down for a tour, and
has received a specific product recommendation.

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] devils “In using Microsoft CRM on a day-to-day basis, I’ve found my time-efficiency improved dramatically due to the system’s ability to strategically pinpoint the length and nature of calls during the sales process. By utilizing the information previously entered into the system to monitor exhausted calls and outstanding opps, I’ve been able to concentrate my energy on more fruitful opportunities. Simply stated – meticulous tracking of calls within the system simplifies the process for the reps and saves time better spent on new business.” ~Brian Proctor, Fan Development Consultant, New Jersey Devils [/dropshadowbox]The challenge with most reps is holding onto these folks for way too long without a successful close. They are afraid to give them up. Reps commonly pile these up well beyond a month.

We track opportunities based on duration since opening into three categories: 0-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks and 4+ weeks. We’ve found a qualified opportunity (all 4 above) that takes over a month to make a decision or return a call isn’t likely to close. When we meet with reps, we have them leave a “break-up” message with these folks. This message informs the prospect that despite the early interest they showed this will be the last time the rep will be reaching out to them.

The “break-up”:

allows reps to “move on” from prospects taking up their physical and emotional energy,
clears out time to bring more Call #1 prospects into daily outreach,
prompts a % of the prospects to call back, knowing the rep will no longer be contacting them, and
ultimately gives the rep some form of closure.

To make the reps even more comfortable with the process of “breaking up,” if a broken up account calls back and buys something from anyone in the department within the next 60 days, the sale is credited to the rep who left the break-up message.

4. Empower Your Players to Call Their Own Plays

It’s great to have a system. It’s even better to have a system your reps believe in and follow.

Each morning reps are asked to pull up their virtual “Hustle Boards” from CRM and send an email to our management team. The email contains an evaluation of the previous day’s outreach:

First touch numbers
Multi-touch numbers
Other opportunity calls
Opportunity break-ups
Appointments set

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]“CRM allows me to track all touch points throughout the sales process from cold outreach to warm opportunities, and stay completely organized. This allows me to maximize my time and effectively manage each prospect.” ~Jared Schoenfeld, Director at the Madison Square Garden Company[/dropshadowbox]By having reps evaluate their hustle boards each morning on each bullet point, we ensure reps stick to a strategy they believe in. If first touch calls are low on a particular day, they know they need to pick it up the following day.

Managers could review the hustle boards on our own, but asking the reps to pull up their boards and email key learnings ensures they understand how our system works. Our system becomes their system. They can understand and run and make changes effectively on their own without our having to tell them what to do.

Winning

Riley succeeded at every level in the NBA from coaching to the front office: Showtime Lakers, Bruising Knicks, and now the Big Three Heat. At each stop, the players and their individual styles have changed. Yet the attention to detail has not. Riley’s consistency resulted in NBA Finals and Championships. Sales people change year to year. The real question is how will you use CRM and technology to pay attention to the details to ensure your team’s success?

8 Ways to Eliminate Negativity Once and For All

kirk_wakefield 2013, Lead, Sales Management April 5, 2013November 2, 2018accentuate the positive, bad outweighs good, Debbie Downers, eliminate, let go, plug holes, remove obstacles, respect, sales management, secret of success 0 Comment

by Dan Rockwell – April 2013

Bad weighs more than good

One bad experience outweighs one good. A gallon of bad weighs more than a gallon of good.

Setbacks nag; success whispers.

You overemphasize what went wrong and minimize what went right. Down is easier than up.

Small setbacks increase frustration more than small successes enhance satisfaction.

One negative defeats one positive. It’s worse! One negative defeats two positives. It takes three positives to off-set one negative. It takes 2.9013 gallons of positive to sweeten one gallon of negative.*

One gallon of positive won’t sweeten one gallon of negative.

Now you know why negative environments are easy.

Boats with holes

There’s a hole in your boat. Bad experiences gush in; good experiences jump ship.

Find the good before the bad sinks you.

Thank more. Cheer more. Pat on the back more, much more.

Plugging holes

When boats are sinking you can bail water or plug the hole! Or jump ship. Assume you’re in for the long haul.

Preventing one bad creates more buoyancy than appreciating one good. Why? Because bad outweighs good.

Do more good by eliminating one bad.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”500px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Eliminate negative employees.
Remove obstacles. Organizations create hoops, sign offs, and regulations that make work harder. Ask, “What’s slowing you down?” When you find out, remove it or smooth the way.
Stop belittling. Work that isn’t valued isn’t meaningful.
End frustrations. Explore frustrations with employees, don’t ignore them, end them.[/dropshadowbox]

Throw out bad – good comes back

Still more:

Focus on progress not failures. Constantly. You’re falling behind if you don’t. Better wins.
Transform setbacks into progress by making them learning events.
Respect. Welcome ideas. Don’t dismiss suggestions, explore them. Off-handed rejection belittles.
Agree on outcomes then let go. Freedom energizes; control drains.

The pursuit of excellence is fueled by positive environments.

Positive environments aren’t accidents, leaders build them.

Eliminate bad.

Shout the good.

Whisper correction.

Team Discussion

How can leaders counteract the pull of negative gravity?

How does how you act away from work affect how you act at work?

* Research on the bad outweighs good.[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Who else can benefit from eliminating negativity? To dump the bad and load up on good? [/dropshadowbox]

How has social media changed consultative selling?

kirk_wakefield Relate, Sell, Social Media, Sponsorships, Tickets March 1, 2013November 2, 2018adaptive selling, Personalize, precall, premium sales, sales management, salesforce, selling, suites, tickets, VIP 0 Comment

by Ben Milsom – March 2013

“Business is social. So my number one tip for impressing our recruiters is connect and interact with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter” says Monika Fahlbusch, SVP of Global Employee Success at Salesforce.com.

We have far more advanced tools than ever to find information about anyone. For the right price you can buy software to provide detailed information about anyone you want to meet, including their friends and spouses. I was recently on a phone call with a colleague of mine discussing a potential job candidate. He paused and said, “Let me check their LinkedIn page before calling them.”

There’s no where to hide anymore. You really can’t afford to. Social connectivity can make or break your personal brand, help you get to know your clients or prospects better, and can even get you that dream job. If you’re in sales and service, social media is critical to your success:

“Social media allows for a 360 degree view of the customer with so many more touch points to the customer and interaction it is easier to get a full view of what the customer needs and wants.” ~ Bryan Apgar, Associate Vice President of Sales and Business Development, www.websitealive.com.

People expect you to know more about them than in previous years. With LinkedIn and company websites, one should never ask a prospect, “What do you do? How did you get to this position?” or “Please tell me about your company.”

Let’s get personal

I retrieved this email from my deleted folder. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”650px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Hello Ben,

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to follow up on an email that was sent to you earlier regarding Clueless.

Clueless is a global leader in support software. Our tool, Clue-On enables you to create, manage and deliver content in multiple formats with one click. I have attached some general information for your review.

I would like to schedule a quick call to chat with you about our product and see if it might benefit you and your organization. Would you be open to discussing this?

Thank you,

Bill Smith
Account Executive
Clueless, www.cluelesssoftware.com
254.710.5555
bsmith@cluelesssoftware.com[/dropshadowbox]

Bill is sending hundreds of these emails a day hoping five people will respond. He only personalized by changing my first name. Bill even asked the dreaded open-ended question. If Bill mentioned what I do, some potential challenges I may face, or even searched LinkedIn to find a mutual connection, I would have responded.

With so much information available it only tells me Bill and his company are too clueless or lazy to use it. I doubt I’d ever respond to this company in the future.

” Teams need to do everything within their power to provide outstanding customer service because one bad experience can be exacerbated when released in the digital and social media world.” ~ Jeff Eldersveld, Director of CRM and Analytics, Columbus Blue Jackets

What to do?

In this environment of social connectivity and transparency I recommend:

Be different. Emails and texts are common, personal touches make a big impact.
Dig deeper. Know your client or prospect and ask them questions you can’t read in their LinkedIn profile.
Care about your personal brand. Be sure you are up to date on how you want your brand to be perceived.

Part 2: Managing the next generation of sellers

kirk_wakefield Careers, Sell, Tickets February 1, 2013November 2, 2018contests, face-to-face, gen-y, incentives, management training, millennial, motivation, NBA, sales management, technology 0 Comment

by Murray Cohn – February 2013

Last month we began our discussion on how to manage the new generation (Gen-Y) of sellers. We now turn to some specific ideas I’ve gathered from managers on how they help motivate their young salespeople. Maybe offering the double-donut burger (above) as an incentive might work. Well, thankfully we have better ideas than that. I hope.

Create a management-in-training program

Many NBA teams such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Washington have created a program that allows sellers who achieve sales goals to receive hands-on management training. The programs provide opportunities to be the Manager-on-Duty for game nights, night calls, or entry level sales staff.[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-bottom-right” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

“Every person is motivated by different incentives. The key is to understand the motives of each one and then manage toward reaching their specific goals. For some it’s money, some it’s responsibility, and others it’s career advancement. Superstars seem to value the mentoring and career advancement more than money. By finding what drives our sellers, we can create platforms of additional responsibility and continued learning to develop skills beyond just their current roles.” [/dropshadowbox]

These programs have three key benefits:

The recognition and achievement is a tremendous motivator for goal-directed top sellers.
Teams develop a management bench.
The training program allows some sellers to look behind the curtain to learn sales management is not for them, but selling and making money is.

Develop more tiers of advancement

Our survey clearly shows (see last month) promotions and advancement matters. The Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, New York Mets and others created tiers within their sales departments. New employees can advance from ticket sales representative, senior ticket sales rep, account executive, and senior account executive. Each level takes on more responsibility, rewards and higher sales goals.

Set Clear Expectations

From the first interview managers need to communicate a clear vision to the candidate of what is expected of them. I love what Dr. Bill Sutton and Dr. Dick Irwin create in their Sports Sales Combines to give candidates a real life experience of selling. On an academic level, schools like Baylor, Mt. Union and other universities partner with teams on class sales projects where students gain real experience making 100’s of calls just like they will in their first inside sales job.

Have candidates meet with your top sales people. It always sounds cool to candidates to work for their favorite teams. But spending a little time with your successful salespeople (during the interview as well as after hiring) will help them truly understand what’s expected and will allow you to hire better people and alleviate turnover.

Create shorter sales contests and incentives: Make it fun!

Stop setting an all or nothing bonus on the end-of-year result. Use time off as a potential prize.

The Minnesota Timberwolves set goals and incentives for five eight-game blocks. The Washington Wizards did a fantastic weekly contest, with “minute-to-win-it” weekly competitions. How many do-nut holes can you get in your mouth? That sets the rep’s winning prize amount. The Columbus Blue Jackets do Tour De Columbus with a daily winner getting to wear the first place Yellow Jersey.

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”curled” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Contests should:

Be visual,
Have a scoreboard, and
Have the prizes sales reps want–not what the managers want.[/dropshadowbox]

Embrace technology

Many managers see reps abusing internet privileges and shut down usage. This is a mistake.

Set clear, acceptable usage rates such as 30 minutes of prospecting time per day on LinkedIn or Facebook. Going to check fantasy football 20 plus times a day is not OK. These behaviors need to be monitored, not because you’re the internet police, but because these are symptoms or signs of poor motivation and future performance. You want to coach and motivate reps to focus and enjoy their work–and the work best enjoyed is work done efficiently and effectively.

[dropshadowbox align=”left” effect=”lifted-bottom-left” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

“As we continue the transition to a new generation of sellers, embracing technology has been critical for the continued development of our sales and sales leadership staff. Over the last several years, our tracking metrics, key performance indicators and sales training modules have evolved to include and actually encourage the use of new technology such as LinkedIn, texting and Facebook. The key for SS&E has been to establish clarity in terms of prospecting and activity expectations while embracing alternative outreach methods. “[/dropshadowbox]

Expecting these new age reps to make 100 calls a day is also a mistake. Include things like texts and e-mails into an overall hustle board that includes points for face-to-face meetings, number of phone calls and talk time duration. You can assign point values based on what you feel will drive the greatest number of sales.

This generation is hi-tech and hi-touch. Provide your sellers with iPads and encourage more face-to-face, in-game and event selling using technology to show seats, make impactful presentations and close more deals.

What do you think?

Doing these things to engage this new generation of sellers will help energize your team, retain your rising stars and generate more sales. I’d like to hear about your challenges and your solutions to sales management in today’s environment. You may comment below or join our S3 Report group on LinkedIn and start a discussion!