Earlier this month I attended the AA-ISP Leadership Summit in Minneapolis. I came away with pages of notes, picked up some great new ideas and learned about a lot of interesting technology. It was also great to get confirmation on best practices from the thought leaders that I respect and follow and, lucky for me, they were there!

On a personal note, the highlight for The Bridge Group was Trish receiving the Special Recognition Lifetime Contribution Award! That really meant a lot to her. In fact, I think I might have noticed a tear or two when she came back to the table.

So, I wanted to share a bit about what I found most interesting from the Summit:
 

Tools, Tools, Tools

Summer Reading

Email Best Practice

Sales and Marketing Alignment

Best Practices Hiring

Summary

There were so many breakout sessions and discussions going on, it was impossible to take it all in. I will tell you this though, if you are an Inside Sales executive or practitioner this is a MUST attend conference for next year. Stay tuned to the AA-ISP for upcoming details.

I recently read an article by Kelly Robertson called The Dangers of Sales Casual. Now I've heard of dress casual, but not sales casual - so I was intrigued. 

Kelly shares his reactions to some recent cold calls he received:

Is your team using sales casual?  How can you be sure?  The only way to find out is to listen to them.  Schedule a call coaching session at least once a week.  You may be surprised at what you can learn about your Rep's selling style from regular coaching.  Not only will you learn about their personal style but you can also determine if the messaging they are using is resonating with your potential buyers.  Are they on the "we" train or are they talking to your buyers about the challenges "they" face?

Here is another great point from Kelly:

Are your Reps wasting your prospect's time or are they creating a conversation that will spark interest and develop into a next step?  Maybe it's not totally their fault - you have the responsibility of making them better sales people.  Regular coaching will help you determine if your Reps needs additional tools and resources.

A call flow document, for example, is a great tool that can address everything from opening statements and qualifying questions to objection handling all in one nice neat package.  Your team probably doesn't need a strict or canned script, but they may need a roadmap on how to move the prospect through the process using questions and conversation.

I agree with Kelly and I'm worried that a casual sales approach (combined with a casual sales process) neither leaves a good impression nor moves the sales process forward.

So here are my two cents:

Casual Friday has become passé and we can only hope the same thing will happen to casual selling.  Do you agree?

(Photo credit: slworking)

I recently had the pleasure of presenting at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Boston.  I participated in a panel on Social Networking in a Sales 2.0 World. Hmmm....got me thinking.

As Inside Sales experts, we are always interested in new ways to generate leads.  While I concede that Social Networking does not yet have a consistently proven ROI in "hard metrics", I speak from personal experience when I say that it certainly does have a proven ROI in "soft metrics". 

I read a quote on Twitter the other day that I'm not going to do justice to, but it read something like this: "If you speak with passion on Twitter, others with a similar passion will hear you."  Makes sense right? 

So, where should you begin?  With so much on all our plates, how do we add in Social Networking and does it even make sense to add it to our daily task lists?  Well, that is what we are going to talk about. 

There are really 4 options for how you pursue a Social Networking strategy for your business and I want to lay them out for you (see presentation below).

The title of my presentation is "Fishing Where Your Buyers Swim."  I chose this title because before you do anything else, you have to understand how, where & why your buyers are using Social Networking.

Next week's Part 2 post will lay the groundwork for how you can use buyer personas to build your Social Networking strategy.  Stay tuned....

We need to rethink sales enablement as something other than a one-way deposit of sales tools in a portal.

This point was really driven home for me in the ebook: The New Rules of Sales Enablement (from Jeff Ernst, Kadient's VP of Marketing).

It's not often I finish a 34-page ebook in one sitting, but I did last night and you should too.

Jeff takes an old rules v. new rules approach in laying out his case: We need to shift our mindsets in a major way if our goal is to truly enable sales success.

Here are 2 takeaways I would like to highlight:

I highly recommend you take a moment and download the ebook now. Print it out, bring it along for on-plane reading, mark it up, but most importantly really think about how what these new rules mean for your team & your organization.

I know I certainly am.

Please share, what do you think about Jeff's New Rules?

After huge success in San Francisco in March, the Sales 2.0 Conference is heading east to Boston on May 21^st. And I'm delighted to be both presenting and participating in a panel discussion.

This event is a must attend for Senior Sales & Marketing Executives!  You can find the full agenda here.

Here are a few sessions I am particularly looking forward to:

Customer Engagement Strategies
Discover the best practices of three sales leaders who openly share how they engage their customers online and by phone. The presenters will review how their salespeople can launch their own marketing campaign, how their web team reads and responds to a prospect's digital body language and how they engage customers to collaborate and co-create the sale in a collaborative setting.
(Includes audience Q&A)

Sales Lead Management 2.0
Learn how leading companies are generating sales leads and what methods they use to move new prospects through the sales funnel. Three best practice presentations review how sales organizations are moving from human speed to Internet speed. The panel discussion will revolve around specific strategies to help salespeople pursue better opportunities, cut lead acquisition cost, and cut wasted time chasing unprofitable prospects.
(Includes Audience Q&A)

Social Networking in a Sales 2.0 World (I am on this panel!)
Learn how to leverage the power of social networking to increase your sales volume and velocity. These experts will show you how to use social networking sites so you can make more money off your personal and professional connections.
(Includes audience Q&A)

This is a very interactive conference with great speakers and presenters.  There will also be some of the most notable Sales 2.0 vendors strutting their stuff.  Vendors include: Genius, Jigsaw, ConnectAndSell, InsideView & more.  These guys are redefining how we sell and taking our game to the next level!

As an Inside Sales aficionado, I'll be in learning mode at the conference as well.  I'm looking forward to understanding more about the approaches and solutions of the companies presenting and sponsoring this event, and learning from those sales leaders who will be attending it. 

Want to learn more?  The conference site is here or give me a call at 978.562.2623 and I would be happy to chat. Hope to see you there!

Managing remote Inside Sales teams was a hot topic of discussion on LinkedIn last month.   As a remote Inside Sales person,  I thought it was important to add my two cents about telecommuting or should I say, "working  virtually".

For the past 8 years I have sold remotely.  I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to transition from working a traditional 8 to 5 job as an Account Executive to working from home.  So I took the plunge!  It provided me with flexibility; challenging work & good pay . . . (I was also able to save on gas, car maintenance . . . and the commute's a breeze). 

Here are some ideas to make the transition work for both the Rep & Manager:

1. Have a Designated Home Office
   And I don't mean the kitchen table.  This is important so that you have a place to call home or should I say work.  A place where you "clock in" every day at the normal work time and are able to have conference calls without the dog barking, etc.
   
   
2. Designate a Phone Line For Work
   Your customer, partners & co-workers don't want to leave a voicemail for The Smith Family, they want you! Need I say more?
   
   
3. Collaboration Software & Monitoring Tools
   This is critical to the success of remote teams.  It is very important that management provide the right tools to make sure their Reps are successful BUT also are able to measure performance and activity.  For example, Salesforce.com is a great for tracking calls and measuring performance.  Microsoft's Groove is a great collaboration tool so you feel connected to your team.  Make sure you provide for IM capabilities in case you need technical assistance on a call.
   
   
4. Weekly Sales Meetings. . . Or should I say conference calls.
   From a management perspective, it is very important to continue weekly support of your remote inside sales rep(s) to discuss pipeline opportunities and challenges they are encountering.
   
   

Ben Howell, Director, Business Development at Adaptive Planning, shared his insight recently on LinkedIn.  Here's an excerpt:

"I have been running teams with some/all remote ISR's for 5+ years now, and I am a huge proponent of it. I get more productivity out of most of my full time remote heads, as they tend to work more hours in the day (and are 'in the office' all the time ;-)). The trick is to set the expectations clearly right out of the gate, that this is a huge privilege, and you will be monitoring/managing remote reps with a very high level of detail initially."

Stoney Reynolds, Territory Account Manager at Trend Micro, added the following suggestions:

"I have found that structure, planning, good org skills and communication is really all that is needed to manage a team remotely. Have regular meetings to discuss strategy, tactics, direction, etc. "

What great advice!  I would add that remote Reps NEED to be self-starters and have the ability to work independently; key traits in making the transition a success.  If this is something you are considering and would like to talk in more detail about this topic, feel free to call me at 603-672-6418.

As always, if you have any suggestions or comments; please feel free to post!

Photo Credit .Fabio

So, the other day I was presenting on actionable data from prospect feedback. I threw in this graphic, which I thought was hilarious:

I put it up on the screen and waited...and waited....and...nothing. Now either I'm not as funny as I think I am (more likely than not) or garbage results like these are all too common.
 

I mean 82% of wins resulting from "Superior Salesmanship" (!) - that doesn't set off your BS meter?! Well, maybe it doesn't.

Think about the last time a Rep came to you with a lost a deal that didn't result from "price" or "missing features."  Did it sound like this?

It turns out I poorly qualified the business influencers. The incumbent really drove the process and we never had a strong internal champion. I learned a ton about myself and my process while working this opportunity that I ultimately lost because I didn't do my job well.

I'm guessing this is the reality that you don't hear - and truth be told - it probably doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it impacts your bottom line.

The point of my little story is that anecdotal feedback on sales opportunities is next-to useless for determining:

• strategic course corrections
• resonance of marketing tools
• effectiveness of sales process
• etc.

But the anecdotal stuff, that comes out of a drop down box in our CRMs, is all most of have to work with. No wonder my little joke failed so hard.

I recently read a post on MarketingProfs from Laura Patterson on this very topic. She argues that:

The upside of anecdotal information is that it's very affordable; the downside is that it tends to be reactive, it lacks objectivity and in-depth insights, and it tends to be too narrow-merely what the field thinks it needs to close a deal.

Now this is not to bash Sales Reps. They talk to more prospects than almost anyone else in the organization. But to play off a recent Hollywood film: Who watches the Watchmen?

We are all guilty of making choices based on gut feelings and anecdotal evidence. But today more than ever, we have the tools, technologies & opportunity to really learn for our prospects.

Please share your thoughts. How do you gather prospect feedback and how do you make sure it's actionable? Thanks!

Garth Moulton of Jigsaw recently wrote on the very same subject: Profiling the Perfect Inside Sales Person-Part One.  What follows is his Myth #2.

There is no doubt that Inside Sales has to be an integral part of every technology company's strategy - see IDC's Sales Barometer and Top Ten Predictions for more on why. 

Our 2009 Inside Sales Metrics & Compensation Study shows that the average level of experience when hiring an Inside Rep is 2.8 years.

Companies are hiring experienced Reps who have been individual contributors and successfully generated revenue for previous employers. 

So, how do you make a good hire? To hire successfully, it is imperative that in the hiring process you determine:

• Similar functional experience
  Do the functions they performed previously match the functions you would like them to focus on now?  For instance: if you are hiring a Rep to generate new business revenue, you may not want to hire a Rep whose sole experience was selling maintenance into a customer base. 
  
  
• Similar strategy experience
  If you are building a team that is focused on selling to the SMB space, you would be ahead of the curve to hire Reps that have sold into that space before.  They would understand the buying cycle of the space and be more attuned to the shorter sales cycles and how to effectively move a prospect through the sales process.
  
  
• Similar activity experience
  Finally, will the role be primarily inbound or outbound focused?  Make sure to probe for similarities in overall go-to-market strategies.  If your organization will be required to do outbound calling as well as inbound inquiry conversion, make sure that your candidate has that kind of experience under their belt.  Inbound Reps sometimes struggle with altering their style and process to accommodate outbound cold calling.  You just need to identify the issue and get it on the table during the interview process and not at the end of a disappointing quarter!

So, thanks for listening and feel free to share your golden rules of hiring.  Happy Selling!

On a regular basis, we are asked:

• Where should lead generation Reps report - Sales or Marketing?
• What level of management should I consider for my team?

We took these questions to the market in our 2009 Lead Generation Metrics & Compensation Report and the answers are below.  Note: The report is based on surveys of 125 North American technology companies.

2009 Findings: 74% of groups report to Sales

Organizations are increasingly putting the Lead Generation function under the Sales umbrella. 

We believe this transition is occurring as the role evolves:

• From qualifying inbound leads & setting meetings
• To taking more ownership of the front end of the sales process                          

This includes:

• account research
• account mapping
• preliminary needs analysis
• preliminary interest development

Here are some rules of thumb to employ when thinking about what level of management to add to your organization:

• Team Leader
  Never. This is a losing proposition.

  A Team Leader is someone who has two (2) full time jobs and has been set up to fail.
  They can't do both roles well so which one suffers? In actuality, both do.

  
  
• Manager
  Works great for a small group. No more than 6 Reps.

  You should hire a Manager when you have an effective process in place and you are looking for someone to "manage" it and the Reps for you.
  Managers do not have the experience to design process, evolve strategy and messaging or think about ways to reduce expense and increase productivity.

  
  
• Director
  If you have a group of 6+ Reps, you may want to consider a Director. Directors can also manage up to 3 Managers.

  Directors do have the experience to create process, evolve strategy and messaging and think about ways to reduce expense and increase productivity.

  
  
• VP of Inside Sales
  If you have an organization of 20+ Reps, you should hire at the VP level. This is especially true if the Reps are quota carrying.

  The basis for hiring at the VP Inside Sales level is no different than it would be for Field Sales.  You need a person who can think strategically and execute tactically.

  
  

These are just rules of thumb. There are many variables that can impact your decision.
The good news is that Inside Sales is a great career and there is much talent in the market.  You just have to find the person who is right for your organization!

This according to IDC's Lee Levitt.  He has posted his 2009 Sales Barometer and Top 10 Predictions on the Science of Selling blog.

Interestingly, Lee & IDC present that:

Companies have cut T&E budgets deeply. Most will lose valuable face time with customers and prospects.

Those that shift headcount to inside sales with provide similar levels of customer touch at lower cost...and drive higher customer satisfaction

Technology companies are accelerating their movement down this path.  In 2007, we found the average size of an inside sales team be 5 Reps.  Our 2009 Report has the average size at 12 Reps - that's a 140% increase!

The question becomes not IF you should build an inside team but HOW.  Inside sales is very much an umbrella term that covers many functions including:

• Inbound lead qualification
• Outbound cold calling
• Lead nurturing
• Revenue generation - new business
• Revenue generation - customer base

All these functions can all be supported by Inside Sales. The trick is to figure out which implementation is right for your organization.  Here are several factors to consider:

• Your market
• Your name recognition and branded presence
• Whether you are selling to innovators/early adopters or more mature buyers
• Inbound vs. outbound strategies
• Products and price points

Although adoption of Inside Sales as a strategy has become much more widespread, it has to be supported by other tools that enhance its effectiveness. Examples include:

• Enhanced CRM Implementation
  Your CRM must be easy to use, deliver additional tools within the application & provide management with reporting dashboards allowing them to identify repeatable success.  If it is not user friendly you will lose productivity and visibility.
• Inbound Marketing Strategies
  Does your marketing strategy revolve around prospects self identifying and is it targeted to specific buyer personas? Use your website as a lead generation tool and not as a brochure. Provide relevant content to educate the market and move the process along without involving a human touch at every step in the process.
• Social Media & Technology
  Utilize new technologies like Jigsaw, ConnectandSell, Linkedin, Blogs, Facebook, etc.  You are experts in what you do.  Share your knowledge and build a community!

The net/net is that Inside Sales has arrived...no doubt about it!  The challenge remains, just like with any sales & marketing strategy, that there is no one size fits all solution!

The selling climate has changed and now, more than ever, Sales & Marketing need to be on the same page when it comes to supporting this channel.  Those companies that invest in designing the implementation that is right for them and building/using the tools and technologies to support their efforts are those that will win.

Happy Selling!

Find the full presentation here: