Author: mike

5 Mistakes to Avoid when Building an Inside Sales Team

by mike

According to CSOinsights.com less than half of inside sales teams make their revenue goals each month.  If you’re a business owner or sales manager of an inside sales team, then I’ll bet you can relate.  So what differentiates the half that makes their numbers from the half that doesn’t?

Obviously there are many factors and each company is different, but there are 5 common mistakes I regularly encounter whenever I work with companies who are struggling to consistently make their revenue goals.  If you can avoid these mistakes from the beginning – or correct them now – you can immediately begin to get better results, and that means you can begin to make your revenue numbers. 

Here are the 5 mistakes to avoid when building or developing your inside sales team: 

1)      Not having a clearly defined sales process (DSP). Nearly every struggling sales team I work with lacks a clear definition of what defines a successful sales cycle.  While they may know they have to cold call or prospect to generate a lead and then call that lead back and close the sale, what is missing are the exact benchmarks (best practices) of what defines each step.  Without this clarity, it’s difficult to teach your reps how to consistently close sales (which is why they don’t half the time). 

Not having these benchmarks – and so not being able to identify, verify and teach each step successfully – leads to many of the problems inside sales teams have.  If you haven’t taken the time to identify your DSP, then this is job #1 for you.  

2)      Not having a training program that teaches your sales reps exactly how to succeed in the selling situations they encounter day in and day out.  Think for a moment about your Top 20% sales reps.  Isn’t it true that they seem to intuitively know what to say and what to do to close sales faster and more efficiently than the other 80% of your team? 

Many sales teams I work with may have a structured training program in place (and I say ‘may have’ because some don’t) but most of them don’t have a sales training program that teaches their sales reps exactly what to say and what to do in every selling situation to be successful (think scripts here).  In other works, the best practices of their DSP are not the focus of their sales training, and this is why their teams struggle to win sales.  

Job #2 for you is to script out your best practices and make sure every member of your team has the core selling skills needed to succeed in the selling situations they face every day. 

3)       Measuring the wrong metrics of your sales team.  While most managers and business owners can tell me how many calls their reps are making, how many opportunities they are getting, what their close rates are, etc., what they can’t tell me is what really matters: What their reps are saying during their calls.  Don’t get me wrong, those other metrics are important to know and track, but they do not drive sales!  How your reps are qualifying their prospects, how they handle objections and what they are doing and saying to move a sale forward is what drives sales.  And that leads me to number four: 

4)      Not recording calls. This is perhaps the most important thing a sales manager can do – record all sales calls and listen to both sides of the conversation.  Knowing exactly what is happening during a call is the only way to know what’s wrong and to know how to fix it.  This is the first thing I ask for from a company who hires me to help them.  If you are not recording your calls, then you need to start today. Trust me, you’ll learn more in an hour of listening to calls than you will in a year of trying to figure it out without doing this. 

5)      Not hiring the right sales reps to begin with.  Not everyone is cut out for inside sales, and that includes reps with inside sales experience. You absolutely have to have criteria in place that will help you identify who is likely to succeed in your sales environment.  That includes profiling your top producers, but it also includes assessing the level of sales skills your hiring candidates have.  

Also, one of the biggest determinates of future sales performance is past sales performance.  That’s why it’s often a better choice to hire reps without experience and put them into a structured program (see items one through four above) and training these new reps to succeed in your environment.  Also, get in the habit of slow hiring and fast firing – most companies do exactly the opposite! 

By avoiding the five mistakes above, you can save hundreds of hours of frustration and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales and unnecessary expenses.

Proactive Sales Coaching – How Managers Can Win More Sales

by mike

If you are an inside sales manager (or director or V.P.), then I know you spend a lot of time in meetings – meetings with the marketing department coming up with strategies to create and close more leads, meetings with the owner forecasting revenue numbers, meetings with sales reps going through their pipelines, meetings with potential new reps, sales meetings, sales training meetings, etc.  I get it – you’re busy.

During your busy days and weeks managing and juggling the 100 other responsibilities in your position, how much time do you actually spend coaching your reps through the prospects in their pipeline?  In other words, how often do you get involved during a stage in the sales process to intervene and coach the skills and techniques that are needed to advance that particular prospect through to a closed sale? 

In a report on sales management I just read from csoinsights.com, “World-Class Sales Management: Closing What You Forecast,” it differentiates between two sales management “flavors”: either reactive sales management or proactive sales management.  It defines proactive sales management as: 

“What we meant is that managers need to know which reps need what type of help to resolve what issues related to what deals to get them to close opportunities when promised.  To any seasoned sales professional, improving management’s ability to effectively coach their teams is viewed as a useful objective, but let us share with you why it is actually mission critical” 

According to this article, proactive coaching not only leads to an increase in sales (win rates), but something more: 

“The increase in win rates is generated by a decrease in both competitive losses and no decisions.  When managers can reach out early and often to the reps who need their help the most on any given day, they can help them develop strong business cases all the way through the sales cycle to ensure the prospect can cost justify moving forward with their purchase decision.  In addition, they can ensure their salespeople are able to differentiate themselves from the competition so that when a final decision is made they walk out the door with the order.” 

Decreasing competitive losses and no decisions is crucial because it means that your reps will spend less time with unqualified non-buyers.  This means they will spend less time practicing poor selling skills on prospects who aren’t going to buy.  This will make them more confident and successful, and it reduces the money and time your company spends on chasing bad leads that should have been disqualified out a lot earlier.  This is why proactive coaching is seen as “mission critical.” 

 So what exactly is proactive coaching?  Like the article points out, a big part of it is understanding which reps need help at which part of the sales cycle that is going to make the most difference in moving the sale forward.  It’s also being “proactive in taking action when deals started to go off track.”  It means that you and your reps are on the same page with each prospect and with each step of the sales process.  

Proactive coaching is very different than ‘rear view mirror’ sales management.  Unfortunately, many mangers still coach after the fact, after the deal has been lost.  They coach on metrics and results. This kind of managing has its place, but it’s not effective in driving sales during the sales cycle. 

OK, so how do you learn to be a proactive sales manager?  The article mentions several elements including hiring the right managers with the right skill sets, benchmarking activities, and getting the right actionable data through a “Pipeline Accelerator” CRM type of system.  

Besides that, though, what is needed is to teach your managers the proper coaching activities that will allow them to help your reps succeed during the actual sale.  Methods I recommend are having a phone that allows the manager to listen into both sides of the call live – this allows him or her to actively coach the rep through the sale as it happens.  Another technique is to actively use instant messaging so the manager can send messages to all sales reps while they are on calls, and a third way is to actively use call recording as a way of prepping the rep for the next call.  

If you would like to learn a complete system for teaching inside sales managers to be more proactive in their coaching, see a dedicated product I created for it here (scroll down to “Option Two”). 

I encourage you to read the csoinsight.com white paper on this subject and to invest in ways of making your inside manager more effective.  It will increase your sales team’s win rates and put more money in all of your pockets.

Social Media and Selling – Does it Really Work?

by mike

Social media is all the rage right now and for good reason: We are all social beings and with virtually unlimited access to reviews, opinions, updates, people, information, etc, it would be foolish not to plug into it all and leverage this tool to make connections, make better decisions, learn about companies, products and options, and gain an edge in our personal and professional lives.  And we all do.

Social media has changed our lives in many ways, and it’s changed the way we make buying decisions as well.  If you’re like most people today, you probably search several sites, read reviews, look for deals and coupons and then think about it before you make a decision to buy.  It’s obviously changed the way your prospects buy as well and that leads us to the million dollar question: Exactly how beneficial is social media in helping you sell more of your products and services? 

To hear the social media pundits talk about it, they make it seem that without a strong and sustained presence and strategy in social media, you will get left in the dust.  They promise that if you just write your profile properly on LinkedIn and join enough groups (and are active enough in those groups), get enough people to Like you on Facebook, and spend the right amount of time and activities on other appropriate social networking sites, then you’ll have all the business and referrals you’ll ever need.  Ah, the promise of this global paradise is enticing, isn’t it?  

But does it work? 

To answer that, you just have to ask yourself this:  How much of your business last month came as a direct result of your involvement in social media?   

If you’re like most of the companies and sales reps I speak with, it’s less than 5%.  If that matches up with your results, then you understand why it’s important for you to use social media carefully and intelligently.  That means two things: 1) Don’t let it soak up all of your time (face it, it’s addictive!), and 2) Get the information you need and then do what you do best: prospect, qualify and close decision makers.  

Let’s face it.  While social media, company marketing and referrals are all great ways of meeting prospects, the only real activity that is directly under your control is to pick up the phone and call someone.  In fact, the most successful sales reps in all the industries I work with still make the most amount of outbound calls (either cold calls, warm calls to existing prospects and customers, or follow up calls to prospects identified in a carefully orchestrated social media campaign).  

Now don’t get me wrong.  Social media is a great tool and I use it all the time.  What I’m saying is don’t confuse being busy in social media as the same thing as being busy at what you’re hired to do – prospect and close business.  In other words, identify where you get most of your business from and then do more of that.  And for most successful sales teams, that means identify the best leads and then pick up the phone and make a qualifying call.  

Let me use a personal example.  There are many ways for me to generate leads and deals in my business as a sales consultant.  I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours pursuing one new “distraction” after another.  I’ve pursued social media, pay per click advertising, webinars with associations, multi-level marketing deals, joined endless groups, etc.  And while all these avenues bring me some results, nothing makes me more money than picking up the phone and calling on prospects and current customers.  Period. 

 So, does social media work in bringing you new business?  I would say that it’s one of many new ways of finding new prospects and making new connections.  But at the end of the day, where does the majority of your business come from? 

If you can answer that, then do everything you can to get better at it and spend more time doing it.  Your result, like mine and all of my clients, is that you’ll make more money as a result.

Five Ways to Get a Commitment on the First Call

by mike

What kind of a commitment do you get from your prospect at the end of your prospecting call?  If you’re like most sales reps, the answer is, ah, none.  Or, it’s an undefined, “Well, I’ll follow up with you next week…”

If this sounds familiar – or if you’re a manager and it sounds like your whole team! – then you’re not alone.  You see, many sales reps haven’t been taught how to properly qualify prospects and they especially haven’t been taught how to ask for and get a commitment at the end of the first call.  Most sales reps are just happy they were allowed to “get information out” to someone and don’t feel they want to push it or ruin it by asking for and getting clarity and commitment about what’s going to happen before the next call.

And that’s where Top 20% producers differ.  You see, a top closer knows that any prospect who isn’t willing to make a commitment of either time, or of taking a specific action or agreeing to some other part of a sales process (sitting through a demo, etc.) means that they are dealing with shaky prospect.  And think about it: if a prospect isn’t willing to commit to something now, what do you think your chances are of getting them to sit through a pitch and actually take action with you later?

So here are five kinds of commitments you can ask for (along with scripting) that will help you further qualify your prospect and get the kind of cooperation and buy in in the beginning of the sales process:

1)      A commitment of time for the next call.  Crucially important as we all know how busy people are and how prospects can literally disappear never to be heard from again.  I always end my call with:

“Because you’re probably as busy as I am, it’s best if we get on a calendar to make sure we can discuss this next week.  I’ve got my calendar open in front of me, are you looking at yours?”

Then simply set a firm date and time to get back with them.  Always send an email follow up confirming the time and asking them to email you if they have to change the appointment.

2)      A commitment of what they are going to do before the next call.  Give yourself some options here.  Can you get your prospect to look at a particular part of your proposal?  Is there a section on your website they can commit to reading?  Can they commit to running this by their boss or marketing department before your next call?  Think about your selling situation and come up with the most appropriate commitment of action and then say:

“OK, so let me make sure I have this right.  Before our call next Tuesday you’ll have been able to spend some time with your marketing manager and get his buy in before our demo next week, right?”

3)      A commitment of what you’re going to do (always make sure you get one of the two commitments above as well).  Think about your product or service and your prospect’s particular situation.  Perhaps you can check on the adaptability of your products or on the licensing or fit within their department.  I’m sure you can come up with something.  Try:

“OK ________, here’s what I’ll do in the meantime.  I’ll contact our delivery department and make sure we can ship to all of your locations for delivery at the same time.  This will make installation easy as we can walk all your managers through this at the same time.  That will help a lot, won’t it?”

4)      A commitment of what the next step is if they like it (again, make sure you get one of the first two commitments above as well).  This is so important on two counts: 1) By agreeing in advance what the next step is if they like it, you are actually trial closing on the first call.  Your prospect’s reaction here will be important – if they won’t commit at all, that’s a red flag.  You can choose to either keep qualifying or get an idea of what kind of objections you’re going to get when you do call back.  And 2) If they tell you what the next step is, you can prepare for that and for the closes you’ll need to use once you get back to them.

This is an important step.  Use this scripting here:

“_________, it sounds like this will be a great fit for you. Let me ask you, after you get through the demo, if you find this will work for you, what is the next step for you to get started with it?”

5)      The best commitment of all: Asking for the deal if the prospect likes your material.  I know, this takes real guts, but if you’ve done the proper job of qualifying up front, then this is actually the natural progression of your sales process.  In fact, this is how I became a Top 20% in 90 days.  I would always say (and still do, by the way):

“Great _______, well I think I’ve covered everything.  By the way, do you have any initial questions?”  (Now bare in mind that I covered every detail of my proposal and qualified for interest, compatibility and budget up front).

“OK, then let me ask you a question:  If after you get the material I’m sending you see it’s exactly what we just spoke about, and you can see this (making you money, working in your environment, meeting your needs – whatever is appropriate for your sale), what size participation do you see yourself starting with?”

The answer you get here will almost always be the same one you’re going to get after you get back to them and go through your presentation, so why not just get it now?

So there you have it – a variety of ways of getting a commitment at the end of your prospecting call.  Work with these approaches and adapt them to your selling situation.  I guarantee you that the better you get at asking for and getting a commitment, the more sales you’ll close.

If you found this article helpful, then you’ll love Mike’s NEW book of phone scripts, “The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts.”  Get over 220 Brand New Scripts to help you easily get past the gatekeeper, set appointments, overcome objections and close more sales. Visit:  http://www.mrinsidesales.com/booklaunch.htm and get over $400 of FREE Sales Bonuses by Jeffrey Gitomer, Tom Hopkins and more!!

Do you have an underperforming inside sales team?  Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals.  To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

My Secret to Sales Success

by mike

I get asked, over and over again, what the one secret to my sales success was.  Was it dedication and commitment, some ask?  Was it perfecting my sales skills and being better at it than my competition?  Was it old fashioned persistence?  Was it that I got better leads”?  (By the way, I didn’t.  I got all the regular ‘green card’ leads like everybody else).  What exactly was it that made me the top 1% of all sales reps in my career?

My answer to that question is two-fold.  First, all of the above was true.  I was completely committed to being the best at what I did, and I learned and perfected all the sales skills I could, etc.  I’ve written about this before in my bestselling book, “The Real Secrets of the Top 20%”, and in hundreds of articles I’ve written over the years.  

But that alone wasn’t what drove me to perform at my best.  

In fact, while learning and using the best skills is highly important, it’s only half of what you need to excel.  It’s the other half of the equation of success that makes the real difference – having, reaching, updating and setting worthwhile goals – in all areas – is what is needed to drive and sustain the kind of effort to truly change your career and your life. 

Now I know you’ve all heard about the importance of setting goals, and I’ll bet you’ve probably all set some goals from time to time and even reached some of them.  But here’s the million dollar question: Do you have specific goals, right now, written down in all areas of your life that you’re affirming on a daily basis, and visualizing several times a day? 

If you’re like most people, the answer is no.  And the reason for this is you’ve probably never been taught, or had a structured program, for keeping you motivated long enough to reach and then re-set meaningful goals.  

For a FREE goal setting plan, along with videos and everything you’ll need to learn how to do this, simply Click Here 

Everything changed when I learned the secret and the power of setting achievable and meaningful goals.  In fact, goal setting is still what drives me to get up in the morning and do what I do.  My vision of my life in the next year, next two years and five years and beyond is so exciting, so motivating, so dynamic, that I can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning and go to work! 

Is that how you feel, too?  If not, then I’d like to invite you to the 100 Day Challenge.  The good news is that it’s completely FREE, and it’s the missing ingredient to the success you desire.  

Ask any top producer (or top performer, athlete, or leader in any profession) what their immediate and long term goals are and they will tell you – in vivid detail.  You see creating a vision is what enables you to use the skills and ability and techniques that you may already have. It’s also what motivates you to get these skills and perfect them if you don’t.  

Having a believable and attainable vision for your life is the key to a successful, purposeful and happy life. 

That is the ultimate answer I give when people ask me what the secret to my success in sales (and life) is.  If you want success in your life as well, then start by defining what that means to you today and for tomorrow, and set manageable goals to begin moving toward it.  

Remember, you will move toward and bring into your life what you are focused on every day.  My question to you is: Have you taken the time today to define, or redefine, exactly what this is?  If not, then take the FREE 100 Day Challenge today!

How to Exercise and Sell More!

by mike

A couple of weeks ago I was flying back to Los Angeles from Chicago, long flight, late at night.  The good news about my seat was that it was an exit row (nice leg room), the bad news was that it was the center seat.  As I marched through the aisle with my carry on, I looked forward toward my seat and saw that I would be sandwiched between two, big guys.  Oh the joy of traveling… 

Luckily, once we got off the ground, the guy to my left fell asleep, and the guy on my right was busy finishing a detective novel.  Once he was done he picked up a new book that drew my attention.  It was called, “Younger Next Year” (See it here). As he turned the pages, I would scan the headings and look at the graphs, and by the end of the flight I was sold on what I saw.  When I got home I ordered it and am almost through reading it right now. 

So here’s the deal: the book tells you everything you probably already know but aren’t doing: that you should exercise more, eat well, etc.  But what makes it different are the reasons it gives for doing these things.  And more specifically, it makes a bold claim: 

That instead of getting older and losing strength, stamina and flexibility, you can actually reverse this and become “functionally younger” next year than you are right now.  You can actually change the decline curve that we all assume is true about aging and live the last half or last third of your life in better shape and with less restriction and disease than 90% of the population right now.  That’s significant. 

OK, so what does this have to do with sales?  Well, everything really.  I remember when I was struggling to make sales all those years ago, and I remember how my physical body mirrored my attitude and performance:  My diet was horrible (donuts, pastries and lots of coffee for breakfast), my lunch was the nearest Chinese restaurant for the luncheon special with soup, and for dinner I would have as many beers as courses there were on the menu… 

Exercise?  That wasn’t part of the plan.  As a result I was out of shape, low energy once the coffee wore off, and my attitude was pretty poor.  I was on the slope of decline the book talks about but I was only 29 years old! 

I’ve written a lot about what changed for me (learning and committing to using the right skill set, adopting the right mind set and using affirmations, etc.), but one thing that also made a huge difference for me was that I committed to changing my diet and to exercising five days a week.  I can’t tell you what a difference that made (and still makes) for me.  

If you are looking for some reinforcement to begin or resume an exercise program, then I encourage you to click here and read about this book: Younger Next Year.  It has given me a renewed focus and my energy level and attitude towards business, family and my future is off the charts again.  I can’t recommend it enough.  

Here are some key points as to why exercise is so important for you: 

* A man who is thirty pounds overweight, smoking a pack a day but exercising every day, has a lower statistical mortality than a thin, sedentary nonsmoker. 

* Nothing you are doing in the Next Third of your life (between 55 – 85) is as important as daily exercise. 

* Genetics are only 20% of what determines how you’ll age and what will happen to you.  80% is up to you! 

* We can prevent 70% of what we think of as the effects of aging and disease by simply exercising daily.  

There is a lot more in this book and regardless of your age (physically we stop growing and getting stronger around 29 years old and the decay starts then…) you will benefit from reading this book.  (Heck, it’s only $7.43 on Amazon.com!).  

And best of all, your sales will benefit as well!

5 Sales Truths You Must Follow

by mike

You know what the nice thing about the truth is?  It doesn’t change.  What’s true today was true yesterday and it will be true tomorrow and next year as well.  It’s like math: 2 + 2 = 4.  You will always get 4 no matter what you’re adding, and no matter where you add it – in this country or in outer space.

And it’s the same in sales.  There are certain sales truths that are true no matter what you’re selling, no matter where you’re selling it or who you’re selling it too, and no matter what the economy is doing or how your company is doing, or whatever.  Just like 2 + 2 will always equal 4, these sales truths will always work for you – or against you.

That’s the good thing about the following 5 truths: If you follow them, stick to them, abide by them, you will close more sales with less frustration.  On the other hand, if you ignore them or try to deceive yourself into thinking that maybe, just maybe, it won’t be true for this particular prospect, then you do so at your own expense.  The expense of lost sales, much frustration and pressure, are the penalties for not following the following 5 sales truths:

1)      You can’t close an unqualified lead.  Seems straight forward enough, doesn’t it?  And yet 80% of sales reps across all industries are trying to do just that – close prospects that should never have made it into their pipeline to begin with.  To test this, ask yourself, “Out of 10 leads or prospects that send information to and follow up with, how many turn into deals?”  If you’re like the average sales rep, your answer is one to two.

What this means is that 80% of the leads in your pipeline weren’t qualified to begin with and were never going to close.  This is where the ‘sales is a numbers game’ philosophy came from.  The solution to his is to learn the most important skill in all of sales – learn to disqualify rather than to qualify your leads.

2)      Leads never get better when you call them back.  Let me ask you, “How many times have you called back a prospect and found they were actually more interested and receptive than they were when you first called them?”  Rarely, right?  This sales truth is similar to the first one in that the more important thing you can do is properly qualify your leads.

People ask me all the time what the secret to closing sales is.  They are surprised by my answer, but it’s always the same: The secret to closing is that you have to find someone who not only needs your product or service, but is ready, willing and able to buy it.  In other words, see sales truth #1.

3)      The objection, “I want to think about it” usually means no.  Again, ask yourself this question: “How many times have you actually closed a prospect who tells you this and then gets you off the phone?”  Almost never, right?  The reason is that this objection is one of the most used smokescreens ever created to mask the real objection – which is usually that they’ve made a decision to not use you and they don’t want to have to argue with you or explain why not.

The only way to deal with this (and it’s not, “Oh, then when should I call you back?”) is to use a close that gets them to tell you the truth (see my blog for examples), and then learn why they weren’t qualified to begin with and do a better job qualifying your next prospect (otherwise you’re going to repeat this hundreds of times in your career).

4)      Your success is always, 100% up to you.  Until you take 100% responsibility for yourself (not 90% or 99%), you will always look for (and find) an excuse for not achieving what you want.  For years I would point to bad leads, a bad economy, a bad territory, etc., as reasons why I wasn’t a top producer.  When my manager pointed to the top reps driving porches and living in the homes I could only dream about, I found other excuses…

It wasn’t until I took 100% responsibility for my life and my results that I finally shed the excuses and found a way to succeed – no matter what.  And once I adopted that attitude, I accomplished more than I ever dreamed possible.  And still do.  There’s a saying that if you’re not part of the problem, then there’s no solution.  If you take 100% responsibility for your results and your life, you’ll find a way to succeed.  All winners do.

5)      Some sales people should be selling something else – or not selling at all.  I’ve been managing and training sales people for over 25 years and this is one of the consistent truths in all of sales.  It’s a hard truth to swallow, at first, but once you follow it, everyone’s life gets easier.

Let’s take the first part.  Some people are better at outside sales then inside sales.  Some people are better at a longer sales cycle than a short one.  Some people are better at selling a service than a product, and some are better at B to B and others better at B to C.  Ask yourself what you are best at and what makes you the happiest, then go sell that kind of product.

Second, not everyone is cut to be in sales.  That doesn’t make you a bad person rather, it’s just the truth.  Some people are better in a customer service role.  Some people are better in marketing.  And some people are better off going back to school and learning a different profession.  Again, be honest with yourself and ask yourself what you are best at and what makes you the happiest.  Then go out and pursue what will make you happiest (and more successful).

So there you have it.  Twenty five years of experience boiled down into 5 sales truths.  Are there more?  Of course, but you’ll have to wait for another article for that…

The 5 Secrets of Motivating Your Sales Team

by mike

Motivation seems to be one of the toughest areas to get a handle on.  Many managers tell me that some of their reps are already motivated and don’t need their help in that area (usually the Top 20%), but that the majority seem to need constant motivating, mentoring, counseling, or out right babysitting.  Sound familiar?

When asked what to do, I tell them there is only so much they can do because true motivation comes from within — in other words, each member of their team is already motivated.  There are, however, 5 things you can do to get the most out of your sales team and keep motivation and morale high.  Here’s what they are — 

#1) Make your monthly revenue goal, and each rep’s part of that goal, crystal clear.  I’m sure you have a monthly revenue goal, but does each member of your sales team know what their specific part of that goal is?  (Hint — it’s not all equal).  Recognize that some reps will produce much more of the overall goal than others, but also make sure each one is clear on what their part of that overall goal is.

#2) Individualize the bonuses or prizes.  The problem with most bonus programs is that as soon as they are released, over one-half of the sales team knows they can’t win so they are more discouraged than encouraged to produce.  Customize each rep’s bonus based on their individual production goal.  This ensures every body has a chance to win and thus will be motivated. 

#3) Get out of your office and close some deals.  Most managers are way too busy in meetings, or reporting, or just plain hiding out to be really effective.  Remember one thing — as the manager, you are the leader.  And leaders lead by example.  Want to motivate your team, make your numbers, and create real value for yourself?  Go onto the floor and close business for some of your sales reps and help them make their revenue goals.  This is the most important thing you can do not only for your bottom line, but for your team’s motivation as well. 

#4) Invest $100 in a couple of trophies.  The best money you’ll ever spend — make one a “Weekly most improved” or “Best effort” and hand it out each Monday morning.  Each winner gets to keep it on their desk that week.  The other trophy can be either “Most deals,” or “Most new clients” or whatever other category everyone has a chance to win (as long as it is revenue related).  Again, hand it out in your Monday morning sales meeting, and each week the winner gets to keep it on their desk.  Rule #1 in motivating: recognition among peers is almost always more important than money. 

#5) Have some fun!  Go to a toy store and buy one of those beanbag tosses, and after lunch on Friday make some teams and have some fun playing as a team.  Tack on $50 for good measure and watch the competition and fun build your team and dissolve stress.  This works – try it! 

So there you have it.  Inexpensive, proven techniques to build morale, motivate and make more money.

Want a bonus?  Invest in and give each member of your team a copy of my new CD series , “The Secrets of the Top 20% – How to Double Your Income Selling over the Phone.”  That alone will turn some of your sales reps into Top 20% producers and then they will forever be motivated from within — the ultimate motivation!

The Best CRM Solution

by mike

Many times a week I’m asked several things:

“Is cold calling dead?”

“What is the best way to keep track of your calls and call backs?”

“Is there an easy way to record your calls?”

“How can you keep all your scripts near you so they are easy to get to when you need them?”

Whenever I asked these types of questions, my answer is always the same:

Have you tried the best CRM solution on the planet for inside sales: VanillaSoft? VanillaSoft does it all – keeps track of your leads, organizes your call backs, displays your scripts, records your calls, and SO MUCH MORE.

They even have a “Lite” version that will fit many selling situations for just $16 a month!

Try it for free for 30 days here.

I want to share an email the owner of the company, Ken Murray, sent me the other day:

Dear Mike,

You and I always joke about the naysayers that claim the phone is dead, cold calling is old school, social medial has the answers and so on. Well my friend, you still remain a leading force in helping those that sell by phone do it more professionally and successfully and VanillaSoft remains the leading software platform driving phone sales. Perhaps we are getting the last laugh.

If we had listened to the pundits we would have pulled the plug years ago. Selling by phone is dead they yelled. We heard it all. No one uses the phone anymore; people can’t be reached. If you reach them they do not want to be bothered. When sales people kept selling by phone in growing numbers, the voices remained loud but changed directions slightly. The new chant was “cold calling is dead.” To be successful by phone, you must social-sell. Well Mike, here we are at the end of 2011 and I am here to tell you that the phone is still alive and well, cold calling still works and companies still sell and acquire customers by phone. Why? Because as you and I know, it still works!

Knowing this does not give one permission to stick you head in the sand and ignore the changing dynamics of selling by phone. Yes– you can still cold call and be successful. But, you can do it more professionally, more productively and more successfully. The pundits were wrong on many accounts, but the concerns they raised led to many new market innovations and selling techniques (and training) that greatly enhanced selling by phone. Think of the early DNC (Do Not Call) regulations. It was said that this will kill the industry and end selling by phone once and for all. It actually had the opposite effect. Today, companies benefit from DNC by not calling those individuals that have opted out. They were the “guaranteed NOs” that in past days you would have had to spend time and effort on. Today, the government has removed them for you. The legislation actually saves businesses money. Nice! How often do we hear that about any government regulation?

The same is true for software and the many innovations that have taken place in the last several years. Using your father’s CRM, contact management, or a “dialer” to sell by phone is like- well, sticking your head into the sand again. Today, many choices are flourishing that can make your phone selling efforts more professional, more productive and more successful. Gone are the days of one-trick ponies. Today’s software can be deployed as SaaS, up and running in hours and deliver amazing functionality for cold calling, setting appointments and selling by phone. The functionality, features and modules can be tailored to your specific selling needs. An abundant amount of research has been conducted in the last few years highlighting what features “best-in-class” companies are deploying to maintain their success. Many features are covered in the white paper, “Why Traditional CRM is Not Enough.” Simply visit: click on the title and you can have it for free.

Selling by phone is alive and well. The pundits and naysayers have not killed it. Doing it right, leveraging the new tools available and garnering new success… that is up to you. Get the best training and marry it to the best software. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Great Selling in 2012!

Ken

Grab a Free Trial of VanillaSoft from Mike’s page at http://www.vanillasoft.com/mrinsidesales

Thanks, Ken. Again, if you are looking for an affordable, robust and highly effective CRM solution for your calling situation, check out VanillaSoft.

3 Skills to Succeed in 2012

by mike

As we head into the holidays, you’re probably reviewing your year and wondering what you can do to have an even better 2012.  Here are three areas you can focus on that will pay you huge dividends in the year ahead

1)      Focus on building an attitude that expects success.  Your number one priority for the New Year should be to do everything you can do to develop, protect, and nurture a contagiously enthusiastic attitude. The ultimate key to success in this and every year is your ability maintain a positive attitude.  Think about all the negative people you’re going to run into today, this week and this month.  Are you going to infect them with your positive, can do attitude, or are you going to get more and more negative with each phone call?  IT IS UP TO YOU!!

Starting this week, get into the habit of feeding your mind and attitude daily with affirmations, by listening to motivational CD’s, by reading two pages a day in a positive book, and by goal setting. If you haven’t read books like, “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield, or “Beyond Positive Thinking” by Dr. Robert Anthony, then go to Amazon and order them today.

My favorite way to feed my positive attitude is to use hypnotic recording CD’s or MP3’s.  Click Here for the best selection of quality programs at unbelievably low prices!

2)      Sharpen Your Sales Skills.  Let’s face it – there is no room for error in today’s selling environment.  Sloppy sales presentations, poorly qualified leads, and just plain lazy or bad habits are going to make you miserable in your job in 2012.  You must, and I mean must, learn, practice and use effective sales techniques that will allow you to identify buyers and then deliver effective presentations to close more business.

The Top 20% will do well because they already use effective skills and spend time getting better, but the bottom 80% are going to struggle.  I would say that up to one quarter of all sales reps will lose their jobs in 2012 because they won’t improve enough to make it in today’s competitive marketplace.

What are YOU doing now to improve your skills each day?  Obviously there are many good books and training CD’s on the market, but if you are really committed to improving, then start by learning and using better scripts.  You can get over 220 scripts by investing in my best-selling book, “The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts.”  See it here.

If you want an even more comprehensive core selling skills training program for you or your team, then Click Here.

3)      Start Listening To Your Prospects.  Now more than ever, it’s crucially important that you learn how to connect with your prospects and show them you really care about what they’re going through and what their needs are.  80% of your competition is going to pitch and pitch and pitch, and this is going to turn off the people they are trying to sell.  The Top 20% are going to take the time to understand the choices their prospects and clients have and they’re going to find ways to help them.  And it all begins with listening.

People are going to buy from people they like, know and trust, and the best way to build this rapport is by asking questions and actually listening to their answers.  I’ve written many articles on listening skills, and you can see many of them here.  Whatever you do, though, you must begin showing your prospects you care, and best way to do that is by learning how to listen.

So there you have it.  Three simple things you can do that will guarantee you success in 2012.  Just remember, 80% of your competition won’t do these things but if you will you will out sell and out-perform them in sales.  In fact, you will become a Top 20% producer, and I’ll bet that will make your 2012 successful, won’t it?

So commit to yourself today and start implementing these three techniques.  Believe me, this time next year, you’ll be glad you did!

If you found this article helpful, then you will love Mike’s new book: “The REAL Secrets of the Top 20% – How To Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone.”  You can read about it by clicking here: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/bookmarketing.htm

Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance.

He offers a FREE audio program designed to help you double your income selling over the phone, as well as an internationally acclaimed FREE ezine. If you’re looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: http://www.MrInsideSales.com