NEXT isn’t just any virtual conference. We’ve spent months curating content, keynotes, and breakouts that are catered to the new landscape of sales. How have the events of 2020 changed the world of sales? What do you need to do to thrive in this new world? How can you use Playbooks to help you thrive? These are all questions we answer at NEXT. Here are just a few of the reasons we think you’d benefit from it:

1. We’ve got a killer line-up of speakers to guide your team into 2021 (CEOs, authors, sales futurists, and more).
   

The industry of sales is always changing, but now more than ever. NEXT will feature speakers who have led digital transformations and pioneer best practices in sales. Here is a sneak peek at the speakers and what you can learn from them: 

• Chris Harrington will share a brief look back at 2020, what we learned, and what we need to succeed going forward.

• How do you fill in the pipeline gaps left after marketing has done its job? Lori Harmon will show you how to build an outbound program that produces convertible leads. 

• What does it mean to achieve predictable revenue during a pandemic? Or after a pandemic? Aaron Ross wrote the brook on predictable revenue (literally). 

• Not sure what embracing tech in the new sales landscape looks like? Justin Michael will speak on the importance of not shying away from the digital transformation and how to become a tech superhero. 

• Want to learn from someone who’s gone further than most in completely reimagining how to go to market? Trey McCall will unveil some of the exciting tactics he’s implemented at Ping Identity to engage customers differently.

• And what does good look like for leading business development teams as buyers have changed so dramatically? Hear from David Dulaney on how to align your GTM teams to the new customer journey.
  

2. See the latest in Playbooks and get trained from experts and customers on how to get the most value from it.
   

Set up your team for success with not only a powerful platform but the knowledge to utilize it in the most effective ways. This is free, in-depth product training for your team. Motivate reps, managers, and admins and enable them with intuitive looks at the ins and outs of Playbooks. Hear from other customers on how they are using Playbooks to maximize their time, get to leads faster, and close more deals. Is your team utilizing video messaging? Sendoso? Or shared records? Learn how to use all of these features and more. 

3. Get an inside look at the latest XANT industry research and how our own revenue teams are aligning to changes in the market.
   

To help you understand best practices and thrive in the new sales landscape, we have recently conducted various industry research—including:

• An updated version our Lead Response Study with new insights from over 55M sales interactions at 400+ companies: What was the biggest takeaway? Speed to lead still matters, now more than ever. We’ll be talking about capitalizing on speed (getting to leads in less than 5 minutes means they are 8 times more likely to convert) and sharing features that can help you do it. For example, our recent release Shared Records and Urgent Tasks gives you the power to mark a lead as “shared” and “urgent” which will automatically round-robin the lead around the team until it gets worked. 
• An updated version of the States of Sales Development: This includes polling data from over 450 top sales managers addressing questions ranging from sales team configuration, compensation, cadence strategies, and sales tools and technical elements.
  

4. Enjoy the flexibility of a virtual conference. 
   

With a virtual conference, you can watch anytime, anywhere. Of course, we recommend attending during the conference to get the full experience, be able to interact with others virtually, ask questions, etc… But recordings of each session will be available for one month prior to the event. You can go back and rewatch sessions, follow up on what you missed, and watch at your leisure. No need to fly in and stay in a grubby hotel, enjoy the conference from wherever is convenient for you! 

NEXT 2021 has been designed to help your sales team be as effective and efficient as possible. We’d love to see you there, hear your input on using Playbooks, and enable you to move forward into the 2021 sales landscape with confidence. 

Convinced yet? Register for the event here.

Teams must be better at managing their pipeline. According to a research study by Vantage Point, 63% of sales professionals state that their team does a poor job at managing the sales pipeline. With better management and conversion in macro-lead stages of the funnel, conversions can rise far greater than down the pipeline.

To Manage Your Sales, You Must Know Your Leads

To truly manage your sales pipeline, you have to manage every stage of it. It’s often tempting to only focus on the leads closest to closing and leave those still in the prospecting phase to the SDRs, but there’s a multitude of reasons that shouldn’t be the case. By only focusing on the low hanging fruit, sales leaders will often ignore the opportunities that would benefit from more nurturing. 

Your SDRs need guidance. Leaders have the experience to help. If leaders spend time analyzing the early-stage leads, they can better manage the SDRs on their team to get the best results. Managers who are able to locate the strongest types of leads will be better at guiding the SDRs in charge of prospecting them. 

On the other side of the coin, leaders who spend time focusing on the early stages of the funnel will be able to find the types of leads that most often fall through the cracks. Knowing where your opportunities are falling off at every stage of the funnel will lead to an all-around healthier pipeline.

Customer Centricity Starts With Sales

Recently, there’s been a focus on having a customer-centric approach to the way we do business. Creating the best experience for our customers is the best way to acquire and retain them. This goes doubly for sales teams, by creating a positive experience for your leads, sales teams lay the groundwork for a positive experience as a customer.

It starts at the very beginning. By providing focus to leads in the early stages of the buyer’s journey, sales leaders can create a better experience. They can guide SDRs on who to reach out to, where leads are falling through the cracks, and re-engage those who have dropped off. 

Starting with the early stages, sales leaders can control more as they progress through your pipeline. Gain insight into which are the best leads, see who’s dropping off, and utilize tactics to make every lead feel special and communicate their needs better by knowing them better.

Turn Insights Into Action Through Effective Communication

It’s imperative to follow up with your team on the insights you’ve found through the aforementioned lead management. Knowing which are the best leads, the ones in need of more support, those falling by the wayside, and the ones being neglected is meaningless information without effective communication. Be sure to clearly tell your team the ins and outs of the insights you find throughout the entirety of the pipeline. 
Sales nurturing is key and the sales leaders in charge should not focus solely on the big numbers. By getting into the detail of who your leads are, who’s buying, who’s likely to drop off, and how to avoid such scenarios, managers and other sales leaders can find more success by starting at the beginning. You can’t solve any problems if you aren’t looking at the full scope. 

Get in touch with XANT today to see how a sales enablement platform can help your sales team manage and maintain a healthy sales pipeline.

In an article published this week by Gartner titled Future of Sales 2025: Data-Driven B2B Selling to Drive Digital Commerce, they reveal, “60% of B2B sales organizations will transition from experience- and intuition-based selling to data-driven selling by 2025.” 

Why does selling need to be data-driven?

Because buyers have changed forever. Research from Forrester has shown that B2B buyers navigate 60-70% of their buying journey in digital channels before ever engaging with a vendor’s reps. 

Buyers expect easy, quick access to information. They expect a multi-channel experience. And they’ve been infused with so much of their own data insight that traditional sellers can’t keep up.

What kind of impact do these changes have on sales teams?

Managers and leaders have lost visibility and control over process and performance. Reps waste time chasing bad leads, accounts, and opportunities. 

In fact, reps spend only 25% of their time actually selling. And how effective is that time? Our research shows reps spend 297% more time on deals that will never close vs deals that will. 

What do you need to do?

Sales leaders and managers need more effective ways to consistently improve performance and enforce repeatable processes. Reps need more effective ways to prioritize and connect to the right prospects and customers earlier in the buying process.

The biggest sales questions have become even more critical to answer: Who should I sell to? How should I engage? What should I do next? 

Left to intuition, though, it has become next to impossible to answer these questions. And it reinforces the need for a solution that automates mundane tasks and interactions while taking the guesswork out of selling, pointing sellers to the next most valuable activity. 

To do this, Gartner lists 3 actions sales and IT leaders need to focus on:

1. Build an advanced sales technology roadmap
2. Prioritize AI-based guided selling
3. Invest in technology that attracts new talent and enables virtual selling

What is XANT doing to help?

A core tenant of our approach to accelerating revenue results is infusing unique data insights into sales workflows. 

We call it Collective Data. Collective Data is an anonymized and encrypted metadata set of over 27 billion interactions and outcomes. Nobody else in the world has this data. 

The significance of the data is that it contains real-time insights into buyer behavioral changes, which we infuse directly into prioritized workflows in the form of predictive recommendations.

From day 1, our customers enjoy the benefits of having real-time, data-driven recommendations guide reps through their engagement with customers and prospects. 

We’ve packaged the growing list of intelligent features into two product capability sets:

1. Embedded Propensity Scores

Propensity scores are just what you’d expect: scores on behavioral tendencies. Currently, we deploy a number of models that score the likelihood of a lead or contact to engage with your reps, and the likelihood of a contact, account, or opportunity to lead to a closed-won deal. 

Our robust prioritization engine gives you the flexibility to sort tasks according to custom business rules, AI scores, or a combination of both.

2. Buyer Intelligence

The most exciting application of our Collective Data is Buyer Intelligence. Simply put, Buyer Intelligence guides rep engagement through the funnel with accurate insights into your buyers. 

Buyer Intelligence includes unparalleled behavioral profiles with recommendations on how best to engage buyers (Buyer Hints), recommendations for additional people who may be relevant to the buying decision (Buyer Maps), recommendations on when to send emails to increase the odds of connection (SmartSend), verified contact data, collective data append, task value scoring, mobile and email bounce detection, and much more. 

Automating the Mundane and Prioritizing the Right Things 

Of course, none of these insights matter if you can’t prioritize the right things or enforce the process. That’s why we built the most robust automation and prioritization engine on the market. 

Eliminate your team’s obstacles to efficiency by using automation in the right way. The combination of our AI and automation focuses reps on the right activities, automates reliable data entry, and makes workflows more efficient.

Reps save time with auto-sending and auto-data entry, enabling them to turn their focus to the optimal activities recommended to them through AI. And when you combine advanced automation with Custom Sorting and Task Filters, you ensure teams spend their time on only those things that can drive an impact on results. Through automation, cadences and workflows can be standardized and set to ensure reps are consistently successful.  

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Get ahead of the future of sales, according to Gartner, by using Playbooks. Utilizing data is no longer optional for sales. AI and automation are not only the future of sales, they are necessary for successful sales now—and they will only become more vital as the world becomes more digital. Don’t get left behind, get ahead—Demo Playbooks now. 

“A. Always. B. Be. C. Closing. Always be closing. Always! Be! Closing!” The iconic line from the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross in which Alec Baldwin scolds a group of poor salesmen has remained in the minds of sales professionals today. It’s a common notion that sales professionals must always be working to “get them to sign on the line which is dotted.” 

But that’s actually a rather poor idiom. If they’re only ever working to get to the finish line, they may never learn a different, better way of selling. Baldwin would be better off preaching about continuous learning to his team if he wanted better results. 

In the spirit of promoting continuous learning and empowering your sales team to reach their full potential, XANT has put together a fall reading list. The list consists of ten books we believe will help you teach your sales teams how to become a better salesperson and a better leader.

1. Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions: From CEO of Profit Builders, Keith Rosen, and the #1 best selling sales management book on Amazon, this book focuses not on sales training but on developing managers as the best coach. Rosen explains the best playbook is creating a thriving coaching culture to build a team of top producers with a coaching framework used by the world’s top organization.  
2. Sell or Be Sold: From sales expert Grant Cardone, Sell or Be Sold focuses on how everything in life should be seen as a sale, from selling your product in a boardroom to selling yourself on eating healthy. From staying positive through rejection to selling in a bad economy, this is a wonderful—and timely—learning experience for any salesperson.  
3. To Sell Is Human: A #1 New York Times Business Bestseller, this book draws on a rich trove of social science to come to many of Daniel Pink’s counterintuitive insights (like extraverts don’t make the best salespeople). Pink describes the perfect elevator pitch, understanding others’ perspectives, and creating a clearer, more persuasive message.  
4. Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing The Sale: Zig Ziglar is known as America’s #1 professional in the art of persuasion. He describes how everyone is in sales, from doctors to housewives to ministers to teachers. Ziglar lets the reader in on his secrets to know how to persuade people.  
5. No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls: The title alone should get most salespeople excited. CMO Latané Conant delivers a sobering reality of sales and marketing: our traditional methods are treating customers like dirt. This book goes over how to engage customers thoughtfully instead of anonymously.  
6. More Sales, Less Time: Jill Conrath, a globally recognized sales consultant, blends behavioral research with her own learned knowledge of sales to teach the reader how to succeed in the age of distraction. From strategies on how to tackle email and social media to freeing up time to focus on activities with the highest impact, this book knows how to optimize the sales process and eliminate wasted time.  
7. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: Another New York Times bestseller. Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, an expert in the field of persuasion, explains exactly why people say yes. He develops the six principles of influence which can be used cost-free and easily to increase your sales team’s effectiveness.  
8. Pitch Anything: There’s nothing quite as daunting as a pitch. Oren Klaff, who has raised over $400 million based on successful pitches, goes over his method to pitching, utilizing an acronym STRONG, which can guide your sales team’s pitches and effectively increase their success rate.  
9. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Sometimes all it takes is a little focus. From Chet Holmes, The Ultimate Sales Machine goes over how to step away from multitasking on a thousand different ways to improve your business and hone in on a few essential skill areas to create real change. Just one hour per week on each impact area, such as sales, marketing, and management, will lead to improvements quickly.  
10. The Sales Acceleration Formula: SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services at HubSpot, Mark Roberge knows the true key to selling lies in data, technology, and inbound selling. Get your company from $0 to $100 (million) through a unique methodology focused on metrics-driven, process-oriented lends. 

Check out these books and get on the fast track to becoming both the best sales managers and salespeople possible. It’s not just about closing anymore, but about learning how to do so. With constantly changing environments in the sales world, it’s imperative for teams to focus on learning as much as selling. 

XANT Received the highest score possible in Category Vision, and highest scores in AI, and Automation criteria

Forrester did a thing last week. It was a pretty big deal—they published the first-ever Wave Report for Sales Engagement, which we believe means recognition of our category as one of the fastest-growing, and most disruptive, in tech. (Not just sales tech, but all tech.) I’m old enough to remember a time when analysts didn’t think sales engagement was big enough to carve out its own category corner. How quickly things change!

Naturally, our team was excited about the increased exposure and emphasis on the value of sales engagement. We entered into this process with a few objectives in mind:

1. Enterprise.  We needed to reinforce our position as leaders in the enterprise. We placed bets several years ago to own the enterprise segment and we reoriented our go-to-market and product strategies accordingly. This included a global infrastructure, enterprise-grade data security and governance platform, a post-sales consultancy, and much more. 

2. Data.  We needed to emphasize our data-centric vision for the future of revenue generation. As digital and data disruption rolls forward with increasing momentum, it’s clear buyers will continue to have a larger share of the power in B2B relationships. Giving reps analytics and insight into their buyer’s behaviors will be key for them to have more quality conversations with influencers and decision-makers in purchasing committees, and to have them earlier in the buying process. 

3. AI.  AI. We had to demonstrate our differentiation with AI in guiding sales activities. In order for teams to create impact on revenue faster, they can’t just crank out more activities. Not all activity is good activity! It’s about doing more of the right things, which means determining what the right things are, eliminating waste, and automating the rest. 

So, how did we do? I may be biased but I think we crushed it! In Forrester’s 2020 Sales Engagement Wave, XANT was recognized with:

• The highest score in the Artificial Intelligence criterion
• The highest score in the Automation criterion
• The highest score possible in the Category Vision criterion
• The highest score in the Average Deal Size criterion (we believe this reflects our focus on the enterprise)

We also received the highest score possible in the criteria of: CRM Integrations, Email/Calendaring Integrations, Dialer, Data Augmentation, Marketing Platforms, Workflows, Activity Capture, Conversation Intelligence, Interaction Management, Recommendations, and last, but not least, Global Presence.

Let me summarize what that means for customers. First, our investments have paid off. It’s not a secret that data is key to closing the gap between sellers and their buyers’ changing behaviors. The kind of prioritization required to move the needle in sales is fueled by data and automation, not just scorching the earth with untargeted engagement.

Second, at the end of the day we exist to help teams have a quicker and more meaningful impact on revenue. Our platform already does more to guide rep engagement and align sales to changes in buyer behaviors than any other technology on the market. As the Wave report states, “XANT is an ideal fit for enterprise companies that want to help sellers better execute on buyer-centric sales strategies.” Exactly! And building on prioritization, we also improve rep and team productivity, help organizations enforce consistency, and give leaders the insights they need to build repeatable success. And we’ll keep developing on that foundation.

Third, Sales Engagement is on fire! There’s never been a more exciting time to be in this business. The competition is fierce to be sure, and there are great players who don’t allow us to be complacent.

Our priority is, and has always been, on our customers’ success and the impact they have on revenue. We’re thrilled for the recognition this Sales Engagement Wave gives us, and can’t wait to make more noise in the years to come.

In the age of data, it is easily forgotten that those revenue streams are all related to, and dependent on, a person – your employee. A motivational leader understands the human behind the job title; they appreciate that each team member needs an environment of trust and mutual respect to effectively carry out their work.

RELATED: 7 STEPS TO GAIN RESPECT FROM YOUR SALES TEAM

In this Article:

1. Encouragement
2. Open Communication
3. Lead & They Will Follow

How Can A Leader Develop Motivational Skills?

Encouragement motivational leader

A motivational leader cannot solely be a criticizing presence; instead, they will understand that encouragement is equally essential for team morale. When you offer praise, you are telling your team that you appreciate and acknowledge their efforts. A little praise can go a long way to motivate your team to face the next hurdle.

If your team has been asked to push themselves to reach a new goal or target, fatigue can set in and lead to indifference towards the task. A team that is only ‘going through the motions’ is a team that needs encouragement.

As a sales leader, you need to boost morale and take time in meetings to praise previous efforts. The urge to always look forward to the next goal, can mean that the praise for previous successes is forgotten. You need to reward your team for all their efforts. A team bonus or OTE is the ‘official’ thank you from the company, however, a pat on the back from a manager is equally motivating.

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
—Bill Gates

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” – Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook)

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor but without folly. —Jim Rohn (Entrepreneur & Motivational Speaker)

Open Communication

Clear communication is how we make ourselves understood. As children, before we speak we point, and we use eye contact. We strive to communicate from childhood.

Turning a spotlight on your communication style can help you understand the dynamics required to lead by listening. Round table discussions will encourage two-way open dialogues that prevent future confusion on tasks and goals.

You learn as much by actively listening as you do by speaking. Motivational leaders create a culture where asking questions and seeking support is encouraged. This is not a leadership flaw, but a strength that allows a team to enjoy a relationship of mutual respect between them and their leaders. If an individual on your sales team is struggling, by actively listening to them and working on the issues as a team of two, you will get to the root of the problem and have a good opportunity to resolve and learn from the experience.

Karen Martin, a respected executive business coach, says the chances of achieving success without complete clarity are slim. Martin wants you to ask ‘WHY,’ not ‘what’ your business is.

In her acclaimed book, Clarity First: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance, Karen Martin discusses the following topics:

• Provide greater transparency about true versus assumed performance.
• Build strong problem-solving and critical thinking capabilities throughout the organization.
• Develop personal clarity to be a more direct, purposeful, and successful leader.
• Eliminating ambiguity is the first step for leaders and organizations to achieve strategic goals.

Karen Martin champions the idea of understanding that your business is only as strong as your employees. By not allowing the standard practice of a “tolerance for ambiguity”, a company can focus on the purpose of the business.
Most Sales teams have experienced the ‘meeting that could have been an email’. Your team does not need to be bamboozled by KPI metrics at every sales meeting. Like your clients and customers, the relevant information is all that is required. Overwhelming your sales team with data will lead to ambiguity. They will miss out on the message you are trying to communicate.

Martin has encountered in her work the number of employees of a company who do not know ‘why’ the business is operating, they only know ‘what’ it is. The core message is drowned out by ambiguity.

Lead & They Will Follow

‘Do what I say and not what I do’ is the wrong example to set as a leader. Your team should look up to you as an effective leader and role model. If they see you putting your all into your work, they will follow by example.

A managerial position can pull you in many directions. You won’t always hit the mark, failure is a part of business. If you are willing to own up to your own failings in a crisis, this will encourage your team to do the same. Fostering a climate of honesty in your sales team helps everyone grow together.

Delegation can be difficult however, the urge to control everything is not feasible. If you are a motivational leader, you understand your individual teams’ strengths and have established an environment of mutual respect. Dividing up tasks is a good way to tell your team that you trust their ability to succeed. Taking on the more difficult tasks yourself is a good way to display leadership.

Earn your leadership every day. –Michael Jordan (NBA Allstar)

It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s okay to ask for help. And it’s more than okay to listen to the people you lead – in fact, it’s essential.” – Mary Barra (CEO, General Motors)

“A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” —Arnold H. Glasow (Renowned Businessman)

Motivational leadership is democratic, not autocratic; expecting only obedience will create a negative working environment. Look after your sales team, and they, in turn, will look after your business.
.

What’s your view on motivational leaders? Have they helped you in the past?
Let us Know in the Comment Section below

Up Next :

• WHY SOME SALES MANAGERS FAIL
• A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE (SDR)
• THE BEST WORDS THAT SELL EVERY SALES TEAM SHOULD KNOW

RELATED: How to Lead from Home

In This Article:

1. What is a Sales Manager?
2. How Sales Manager Succeed
3. Why Some Sales Managers Fail
4. People Management
5. Management Styles
6. Benefits of a Successful Sales Manager

The Failures and Successes of Sales Management

What is a Sales Manager?

Sales managers have a broad range of responsibilities. You must manage and oversee the sales team, assign and monitor sales territories, and resolve client complaints.
You will also liaise with marketing, HR, and senior management.

The role requires a person who is analytical, flexible, and a good mentor.

Developing new and existing client relationships is an important part of the role of all sales managers.

How Sales Managers Succeed

A good sales manager knows the challenges that the role entails. You are the link between the sales team and management. Your position requires you to filter down the frequent and varied corporate decisions to the sales team.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your territories are gaining maximum returns. To achieve this, you must strategize and manage your team efficiently. You need to hold yourself accountable for your team’s poor performance as well as the successful ones.

If you are a good sales manager, you understand the importance of time management. In addition to your sales team, you have to distill marketing and accounts management into your working week.

It is vital to devote time to analyzing and tracking sales data from the sales team. This allows you to catch any shortcomings sooner rather than later.

Why Some Sales Managers Fail

Confusion is the hallmark of a bad sales manager. While you can advocate for your sales team in meetings with senior management, you are now part of the management structure of your company. Your job is to inform your team, not to ask them.

Mixed messages will negatively affect your team’s performance. You must resist sharing negative narratives such as ‘it’s us against the company’ with your team.

Another common error is fighting losing battles with senior management. You need to choose your fights to ensure you get a share of the marketing budget and training allowances for your team. If you are pushing too hard for changes you may lose the ear of your Manager. This will in turn result in losses for your sales team.

People Management

If you are promoted to manage your former colleagues you may find it difficult to navigate the world of corporate decision-making vs. personal relationships.

While you may enjoy the process of interviewing and building a new sales team, you must also be honest about the possible shortcomings of your existing team. If a sales rep. is continually not hitting achievable targets, or is not a team player, it may be time to let them go.

An exit interview is a worthwhile strategy to allow the former employee to air any grievances they may have, and allowing you to learn how to profile possible red flags with future employees.

Management Style sales managers fail

It is important not to micromanage your sales team. You need to track the top and lower end performers closely, but appreciate that you have to trust your team to do their jobs. You must manage the team, not the individual. Setting clear goals and targets will set clear parameters for your sales team to achieve.

In a large company, decisions are sent down from the top tiers of the company. You may personally view these changes negatively, but it is important to convey them to your team in a positive light. Rather than challenges, discuss opportunities.

Benefits of a Successful Sales Manager

At some point in your sales career, you will have encountered a ‘bad’ sales manager. These are the managers who disrupt rather than improve your working week.

In contrast, a good sales manager can guide and help a team achieve its targets and goals with minimum conflicts. This establishes trust and respect that creates a good working environment that will benefit your team and sales revenue.

Helping your team to grow the client base, and pursue new leads, will increase sales revenue. This will put you and your team in a good position with senior management.

A Sales Manager role is one of many facets.
A great Sales Manager will have opportunities to increase skills, progress in their career, and enjoy the satisfaction of managing and mentoring a successful sales team.

What have good or bad sales managers taught you? Comment below.

Up Next :

• THE #1 MISTAKE SALES REPS ARE MAKING RIGHT NOW
• THE BEST WORDS THAT SELL EVERY SALES TEAM SHOULD KNOW
• HOW TO WIN BACK LOST CUSTOMERS (14 WAYS)

RELATED: C-LEVEL SECRETS – TIPS FOR CONNECTING WITH THE TOP BRASS

In this article:

1. What Is a C-Suite Executive?
2. What C-Suite Executives Think
   1. What Are You Promoting?
   2. How Will My Business Improve?
   3. What ROI Will I See?
   4. How Long Will This Take?
   5. How Simple is Your Solution?
   6. What Are the Risks?
   7. How Will Customer Experience Improve
3. Summary

Questions C-Suite Executives Will Be Thinking When You Pitch

It may be daunting to pitch and sell to C-suite executives and top brass clients, but it always pays to aim high. Many B2B companies credit their success at being able to target the C suite, resulting in a shorter sales cycle, larger deal sizes, and more add-on business.

What is a C-Suite Executive?

A C-level executive refers to a high-ranking representative in an organization who usually makes decisions that affect the entire business. They are called such because they typically have “Chief” aka “C” in their job titles. C-suite also refers to the collective.

Examples include: –

• CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
• COO (Chief Operations Officer)
• CTO (Chief Technology Officer)
• CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
• CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)
• CIO (Chief Information Officer)
• CSO (Chief Strategy Officer)

Chiefs set company strategy, make higher-stake decisions, and ensure that day-to-day operations support the organization’s tactical goals.

Cold calling any CEO is difficult, but not impossible — if you know how to structure your pitch and how to get past gatekeepers. Such powerful and influential people might be put on a pedestal, but they are human just like us, all with their own priorities. If you can understand how they operate and think, then you will find them much more approachable.

Contrary to belief, C-suite executives don’t sit in their ivory tower all day, making decisions that are accepted by all. In fact, they work hard with leadership teams, constituencies, and shareholders to make sound business decisions.

C-suite executives will always strive to develop new ideas and concepts. They are problem solvers by nature and rely on data when making decisions. They have strong people skills and communicate well with their leadership team, who help spread the burden of decision making.

What C-Suite Executives Think

What Are You Promoting?

All C-suite execs will want to know concise, accurate, data-backed product or service information that is specifically geared to their business.

How Will My Business Improve?

C-suite execs usually haven’t been given their golden titles without making business improvements along their career paths. Getting fantastic business results is one of their key goals, so any product or service that can benefit their organization will always be considered. How you get that message across is a different matter. It would help if you conveyed how your product will help them from the start and the likely changes. If you can show the C-suite how their business will improve with data-backed evidence specific to them and their department, the battle is half won. Putting together the pieces to see the big picture is what it’s all about

What ROI Will I See?

Not all inside sales reps include an ROI metric in their pitches, though this is precisely what the C-suite wants to see. If they are to consider any acquisition, they need to know cost versus gain.

How Long Will This Take?

Although any busy C-suite executive will wonder about how much time it will take for you to pitch to them, their main concern is about their organization and how long your solution will take to implement. Their focus is on business results and how quickly they can see the positive changes.

If your product is as good as another but takes longer to install, taking precious time away from the workforce, you’ll likely get pushed away. If you’re unable to evidence immediate changes, consider breaking down the process into smaller steps, and highlight growing success.

How Simple is Your Solution?

Any CEO will want to know how easy your product or service will be to use. This falls back to how long the change will take until the business operations resume as usual. How much staff training needs to be factored in initially as well as considerations around the customer journey.

What Are the Risks?

When understanding what could possibly go wrong doesn’t mean a CEO doubts your product. It’s their job to ensure there is no business downtime, that there is a back-up plan and what costs would be involved.

C-suite executives will want to ask questions about risks or any problems that might occur and how and when they will be resolved. They would think about the repercussions of signing a contract if things went wrong.

How Will Customer Experience Improve

An IBM study conducted with over twelve thousand C-suite executives from numerous countries reported that over two-thirds expected businesses to highlight customer experience over the product specifics.

The main issue and defining factor for C-suite executives have become customer trust i.e., using data-backed statements has reshaped business offerings.

Summary

Decisions will undoubtedly be influenced by finances, but C-suite execs expect personalization, underpinned by data.

Each different C-level role has with it their own priorities. Each “chief” will think slightly differently to another because of their department goals.

Ultimately, busy C-suite executives will want to know precisely what you have that they might want, how they will benefit, how you will solve their problems, at what risk, and at what price.

We’d love to hear your stories about connecting with the C-suite. Or are you a CEO who can tell us what you really think? Share your comments in the section below.

Up Next:

• FOUR TIPS ON SELLING TO C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES
• COLD CALLING THE CEO – 7 TIPS TO GET YOUR FOOT IN THE FOUNDER’S DOOR
• SPIN SELLING | PERFECT WAY TO DRIVE A SALES CONVERSATION [INFOGRAPHIC]

RELATED: 14 SKILLS SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE HAVE MASTERED

In this article:

1. What is a Sales Development Representative?
2. A Day in the Life of a Sales Development Representative
   • 6:15 am – Wake Up
   • 6:30 am – Exercise
   • 7:15 am – Breakfast
   • 7:30 am – Morning Commute
   • 8:00 am – Arrive at the Office
   • 8:45 am – Stand up Team Meeting
   • 9 am – Power Calls
   • 10:30 am – Follow-up Emails
   • 11:30 am – Daily Sales Meeting
   • 12 pm – Lunch
   • 1 pm – Social Media, Emails and Follow-up Calls
   • 3 pm – Afternoon Break
   • 3:15 pm – Wrap Up and Next Day Preparation
   • 5 pm – Home Time
   • 10 pm – Bedtime

Sales Development Representative Schedule

What is a Sales Development Representative?

An SDR’s responsibility is to focus on inbound lead qualification, and process leads through the sales cycle by qualifying prospects and setting sales appointments.

Traditionally phone-based, SDRs now connect with organizations using a variety of methods.

SDRs get their leads from a variety of sources:

• Advertising and marketing, for example, on social media.
• Leads generated by BDRs
• Inbound
• SEO
• Referrals

SDRs must quickly respond and contact inbound leads within minutes. They use tools such as social media, phone, and email, as well as mastering lead generation software and other CRM platforms.

At the qualifying stage, the SDR ensures that the lead is interested and labeled as acceptable. This is done through lead scoring. The customer hits a pre-set score and is then called, and hopefully, an appointment is booked.

SDRs engage with leads through nurturing and monitoring behaviors. They identify who is a prospect, i.e., who is a potential going to buy, and who is a suspect, i.e., who is not going to buy. The leads are funneled through automated platforms, and the SDR sets out to book appointments.

The difference between a good and great SDR is the skills they grasp. Great salespeople must utilize their skills and tools to the max in an age where buyers are on a different online journey and are not responsive to pushy tactics.

A Day in the Life of an SDR

6:15 am
Wake Up

Many sales reps start their day early, particularly if they work with customers across various time zones.

SDRs need to feel bright and confident throughout the day, so the morning routine is crucial to reflect that mood.

TIP – Don’t hit that snooze button! Wake up after the first alarm and kick start your brain to feel on top of the day. If you already feel behind as soon as you wake up, your mindset will continue that theme.

6:30 am
Exercise

Top sales development representatives know that even a five-minute burst of exercise or meditation improves focus and increases energy. Getting the blood flowing first thing wakes up your whole body and diminishes any sluggish feelings. Meditation is an excellent method for channeling energy, which can be used throughout the busy day.

TIP – Download a high-intensity exercise app or meditation app, and get a quick workout done before you hit the shower.

7:15 am
Breakfast

People say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Sales reps have to fuel their day without overeating, so they are energized to start the working day.

TIP – Don’t eat on the go, unless your commute allows you to sit down and enjoy your breakfast, for example, on a train with a table. Eat a nutritional breakfast balanced with carbs, protein, and fiber for energy and to keep you feeling full.

7:30 am
Morning Commute

Sales development representatives use their commute time to indulge in books (audiobooks), podcasts, relevant news, or social media – anything that relates to their work or customers.

8:00 am
Arrive at the Office

Few SDRs arrive at work just a few minutes before their set start time, usually, 9 am. Great sales reps will come around 8:30, or sooner, and get organized for the day.

Check emails while looking out for priority messages, checking social media, and looking for articles and insight are all done first.

TIP – Any emails that take a few minutes to respond to, get them out of the way, ready to prioritize the remaining tasks.

Preparation

Prospecting early (or ideally, the previous afternoon) allows an SDR to have a customer list, ready to go when they start their working day. Customers are prioritized, and relevant insights are based on roles and characteristics.

SDRs don’t waste time on the wrong activities. They spend time getting to know their ICP (ideal customer profile) to reduce research time, cap investigation time, and determine if their customers qualify as prospects or suspects.

8:45 am
Stand up Team Meeting

Sales reps stand up meetings should leave the team engaged and inspired for a full-on days’ work.

9 am
Power Calls

Disciplined SDRs create some call blocks in the morning, usually between 9:00-10:30 for first-time calls, factoring in short comfort breaks. Often, prospects are scheduled in the CRM from the previous analysis. Each call is personalized and based on research. SDRs ask qualifying questions, discuss pain points, and offer solutions to help their customers.

Sales reps connect with C-level decision-makers as soon as possible. That way, they don’t have to exert too much effort making their sales talk on someone who isn’t even part of the decision-making process.

TIP – According to Michael Pedone, CEO at Salesbuzz, SDRs should make ‘first-time’ calls in the morning when they have more energy. Follow-up calls should be done in the afternoon because they are easier to make and require less effort.

10:30 am
Follow-up Emails

Emails are used to follow up calls, providing valuable information and insights to customers. Further contacts (follow-up emails and follow-up calls) are scheduled using automation tools.

11:30 am
Daily Sales Meeting

Successful companies gather their sales staff for daily meetings, even for 30 minutes a day, to provide training, cover deals that are being closed, and tackle communication issues, for example. Having consistent habits in sales makes for a nice living.

TIP – Implementing a daily sales meeting can increase sales. Utilize the experience of anyone around you to become a better salesperson and master your craft.

12 pm
Lunch

Some SDRs use their time to socialize, make more connections, exercise, or just eat a delicious, well-deserved lunch.

TIP – Don’t eat at your desk. Taking a full break away from your desk will make you more afternoon-efficient.

1 pm
Social Media, Emails and Follow-up Calls

After lunch, sales development representatives take time to monitor LinkedIn, check and respond to emails, and get ready to make their follow-up calls. More call blocks are scheduled, for example, 2 pm-3 pm, to discipline the best type of contact.

3 pm
Afternoon Break

Efficient sales development representatives take regular breaks. These are great times to get to know colleagues or go for a quick walk.

3:15 pm
Wrap Up and Next Day Preparation

Sales reps use the late afternoon to finalize any contact, complete any outstanding tasks, and build on research for the following day’s calls.

5 pm
Home Time!

Satisfied customers (and leaders) all round! After-work socializing and events are a great way SDRs make connections and share best practices.

10 pm
Bedtime

Getting at least eight hours of sleep at night is recommended for full rest and optimal strength and focus for the next day.

TIP – Before bedding down, prepare yourself for the following day. Get your clothes ready, prepare meals, pack your bag ready, etc. Doing this not only saves time the next morning but helps you relax at night knowing you’re prepared.

Of course, every salesperson is different, as is every sales organization and every customer profile. Thus, SDRs must work to a pattern that suits them and produces the highest revenue figures for their company.

How does your sales schedule differ from ours? What other tips can you provide? Share your comments in the section below.

Up Next:

• 9 SDR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR NEXT SALES REP
• WHAT 3 TOP SDR LEADERS ARE DOING RIGHT NOW
• THE BEST WORDS THAT SELL EVERY SALES TEAM SHOULD KNOW

RELATED: 3 STEPS TO BUILD A GREAT SALES TEAM

In this article:

• Why is Gaining Respect from Your Sales Team Important
• How to Gain Respect from Your Sales Team

1. 1. Give Respect
   2. Inspire a Great Culture
   3. Be an Active Listener
   4. Be Consistent
   5. Work Hard
   6. Recognize Success
   7. Admit Mistakes

• Summary

Gain Respect from Your Sales Team Tips

Why is Gaining Respect from Your Sales Team Important

Good leaders must be respected so they can be successful, but earning that respect can take time and effort. When sales teams respect you, they are more likely to work harder to achieve a collective goal they believe in.

The workplace had developed to be more ethical, transparent, collaborative, and mindful of its employees. Therefore, leaders must be similarly conscientious and earn the respect of their colleagues.

Not all respected leaders are necessarily well-liked, and there is a considerable disparity between being liked as a person and respected as a leader.

Being a leader also doesn’t automatically mean that you have earned respect because of your position; in fact, too many leaders take their titles and authority for granted. Some managers believe they are owed or commanded a certain level of respect just because of where they sit in the organizational chart.

How to Gain Respect from Your Sales Team

Give Respect

Earning respect is directly linked to treating others with the same. You have to give respect to get it. Right!

Respect is much about listening. People feel respected when they have been heard and understood. Show respect for others in all situations, even when they are wrong or emotional.

Inspire a Great Culture

Culture is the basis of every sales team and is fundamental to your company’s profitability and longevity. It reflects what you want to accomplish and reflects the nature of the organization. Instilling a good culture will maintain momentum, motivate employees, and sustain a positive environment that your team will respect you for.

Be an Active Listener

Being an active and attentive listener is essential to gain respect from your sales team. People always appreciate leaders who give their undivided attention and support their team and their needs, regardless of what they are. Leaders must reset their state of mind and be responsible for their team’s requirements. Of course, not all requests will be granted, but they should be discussed with an open mind.

Be Consistent

As a dynamic sales team leader, you’re bound to make the occasional mistake when forecasting. If you continuously make miscalculations or misjudge other business decisions, your sales team might not admire you for long. Be a reliable leader and prove yourself right so that your team come to you for advice and seek your opinion.

Get consistent results through data-driven platforms and use AI-driven technology to discover weaknesses in your sales process. Eliminate human error as much as possible so that you create more accurate measures.

RELATED: ARE YOU A LEADER OR MANAGER OF YOUR TEAM?

Work Hard

Work hard and be the best example for your team. Your employees will quickly learn if you slack off and they will disrespect you if they think they are working hard, and you are not. Show that you’re serious about building a successful team and working at least the same, if not longer, hours.

Recognize Success

Although competitive by nature, a well-bonded sales team loves celebrating success, even if it’s person-specific. Leaders who are noticeably grateful for the effort and performance of their teams will get respect.

A respected leader should also appreciate the unique capabilities and talents of their colleagues, and what each person brings to the table.

Admit Mistakes

It’s human nature to make mistakes, so never get upset or angry if things don’t go to plan. Get respect from your sales team by admitting when you’re wrong and use the opportunity to learn and do better next time.

Move on from failure quickly; it will happen; you will get rejections, so get tactical. Share experiences and allow staff to learn from mistakes by implement new practices, methods, or equipment.

Summary

People carefully observe their leaders. Some scrutinize their performance looking for justifications not to trust them, but on the whole, people want to impart their loyalty and respect. However, this can be made difficult when some people are just not natural leaders nor have the emotional intelligence to see how their insensitivity affects others.

Gaining respect, trust, and loyalty from your colleagues will ultimately mean you are doing a great job at leading. If you focus on earning respect daily and being mindful of how you are leading others, you’ll become more engaged and show that you are worthy of your title and the respect from your sales team.

How do you gain respect from your sales team? What’s the most disrespectful thing a leader of yours has done in the past? Please share your stories in the section below.

Up Next: 

• 9 SDR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR NEXT SALES REP
• THE #1 MISTAKE SALES REPS ARE MAKING RIGHT NOW
• HOW TO BE A GOOD MANAGER FOR A SALES TEAM

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 16, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.