Andy Paul's Blog, page 29

#574 How Superconsumers Drive Your B2B Sales Growth. With Eddie Yoon.

Eddie Yoon, Founder of EddieWouldGrow, and author of Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[5:34] Eddie says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is managing their emotions. They don’t deserve all the credit when things go well, or all the blame when things go poorly. They must elevate a client’s interests above their own.

[7:45] If you want something too much, you are less likely to get it. You control your inputs, not the outputs. Eddie suggests reps should ask clients to make decisions mindful not only of the performance of the business, but also of its health.

[10:08] Eddie’s book is geared for B2C. Eddie notes the difference between heavy users and superconsumers. A superconsumer spends a lot and cares a lot about the category and the brand. A heavy buyer just spends a lot.

[13:08] Eddie talks about a brand example: Gatorade. Eddie explains who the Gatorade superconcumers are, and their behaviors around sports drinks.

[16:05] Superconsumers tap into aspirations. Typical consumers buy at the rational level, on need and price. Superconsumers are motivated by image and hope.

[18:31] Superconsumers account for a large percentage of sales, and is not price-sensitive. Superconsumers are made, not born. They learn life hacks, and others can learn the same hacks. Normal and heavy consumers can develop passion.

[21:34] Superconsumers are brand-conscious. They spend their time posting about the category and brand, just as they spend their money buying it.

[23:38] In general, people do not know how to read big data. Spikes in the data are where the “good stuff” is found. Spikes are usually the work of superconsumers. Superconsumers in one category may be superconsumers in nine others.

[28:10] Eddie discusses how superconsumers affect B2B SaaS sales. Look for the superconsumers of time using the product. Know your stakeholders. Word of mouth in B2B is as important as in B2C. Meet the needs of the superconsumers.

[31:40] In B2B, you are not just looking for the heavy users, but for users who are very engaged in unique and alternative use cases. Eddie shares anecdotes of his experience.

[26:54] Superconsumers want premium experiences. Apple has the highest sales per square foot for retail stores. Superconsumers show you new use cases, revealing new lines of customers you never knew you had.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The new Accelerate! schedule starts on Monday, October 2, with episodes released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

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#573 The Structure of a Closing Call. With Kayvon.

Kayvon, The One Call Closer™, International Sales Trainer, Speaker, and Consultant, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:51] Kayvon says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is that the buyer has the power, based on the knowledge they learn before contacting the sales rep. The way to sell is to create a trusted relationship with the prospect.

[4:39] Kayvon, a.k.a. The One Call Closer™, explains his name.

[5:39] Kayvon describes how he harnesses ADD/ADHD. The schools did not serve him. He learned as an adult to do things his way and that ADD/ADHD is part of his entrepreneurial make-up. He works using his energies and passions.

[8:56] The One Call Closer™ System is a methodology based on Kayvon’s 19 years of sales experience, and his work with mentors and sales gurus. He claims unmatched success with it for high-ticket closing, against using old closing techniques.

[9:49] Kayvon calls the prospects for his clients with offerings of $5K or higher and closes a sale in one 30-to-45-minute call.

[10:31] Kayvon lists the problems old-style sales reps run into on their calls. First, don’t speak exuberantly, and don’t speak more than 20% of the call. Ask all the right questions.

[11:55] Kayvon reconciles how The One Call Closer™ System provides service. He has three requirements of his clients and three questions to ask himself before taking a sales project. It is always a helpful solution to a problem the prospect has.

[14:32] Kayvon does not do cold calls. He works with people already in the sales funnel. Closing involves a critical exchange point, or a transfer of value.

[16:26] The One Call Closer™ System is not a selling system. At the end of the conversation, Kayvon congratulates the customer for getting a solution that helps them.

[18:33] The first step in a call is the introduction to set the stage. Then come a few questions, the solution, and the agreement. A person who will not answer questions is not the right person to continue the call or buy the offering.

[22:06] Kayvon tells why thought leaders delegate the closing to him. He discusses the process of choosing prospects to call. Kayvon helps winners to win more. Thought leaders need to spend their time on coaching and training, not on closing.

[28:37] Kayvon explains how a script works for high-ticket offerings, such as a four-day event for $20K. The events are transformational entrepreneurial experiences. Kayvon says, to make $10 million, hang out with people who make $10 million.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The new Accelerate! schedule starts on Monday October 2, with episodes released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Monday is the 2nd Anniversary of Accelerate! Over one million people have listened to Accelerate! Andy would like to hear from you about your favorite episode. See the complete list of episodes at AndyPaul.com. Leave Andy a message about your favorite episode to receive a free signed copy of Amp Up Your Sales: Powerful Strategies That Move Customers to Make Fast, Favorable Decisions, by Andy Paul. You will need to provide your physical mailing address to receive the book.

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#572. How to Hire the First Salesperson for a Startup. With Bridget Gleason.

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:57] Bridget brings a guest from Logz.io. Bianca Lewis was the first sales rep at Logz.io. Logz.io is the third startup to bring Bianca in as the first sales rep. She joins a company with an unproven product and gives them a big lift.

[4:02] Bianca talks of the energy, the understanding, and the incredible dedication to the cause that such an endeavor involves. Bianca started at each startup after the Founders had dipped their toes in the market with their friend networks.

[7:01] Bianca says the invaluable initial skeleton of the system was in place. What Bianca did was to put flesh on those bones. She talked to her own network to find the value of the product to the prospect and developed the pitch from there.

[7:43] Bianca’s process: A startup has no brand against established competitors. Bianca turns that into an advantage by getting a firm grip on the technology, the market, and the value, and offering prospects a role in a new approach.

[9:14] Besides the flexibility of newness, there are pricing and support advantages, because there aren’t many clients yet. Success breeds success. After the first clients, Bianca talks about why clients are going with a new firm.

[9:47] The first salesperson is always the Founder/CoFounder. Bianca has the ability to recognize the pattern they establish, and apply it to the market beyond their network, starting with low-hanging fruit and building up a network as she goes.

[12:27] The pitch for the first customers is different than the pitch after you have gotten initial traction. The first signups need to see a low risk. Offer a one-month trial, not an annual contract, on a product two weeks old. Then hire talented reps.

[14:34] The initial sales reps will work closely with the lead seller until there is product stability. Bridget notes that Bianca is highly over-qualified, which makes her a good match for selling an evolving product, and stay involved in each sale.

[17:49] There’s a tendency to make the first sales hire the VP of Sales. Instead, hire someone who is more focused on achievement, but will add to the infrastructure in preparation for the hiring of a VP of Sales. Bianca discusses hiring errors.

[22:37] Bianca’s original title at Logz.io was “Sales.” She is a pinch hitter without a large ego; good at everything with the trust of the founders and working long hours to get deals. Titles are incredibly restrictive in the initial stages of a startup.

[26:29] The initial salesperson who can demonstrate to the CoFounders their understanding of the product technology and how it will fit into companies will gain their trust and be able to build a good team. Bianca’s only focus is closing.

[29:50] When the VP of Sales is hired, as Bridget was, the question is what to do with the first salesperson. Bridget says to continue to empower them.

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#571 Driving Sales Enablement with Knowledge Management. With Rick Nucci.

Rick Nucci, Co-founder and CEO of Guru, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[5:07] Rick says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps is getting the attention of the buyer, given the number of vendors attempting to engage your prospect through their inbox. Our own technologies are creating this problem.

[7:46] Sales automation is not as well-targeted as it should be. Rick believes the answer is not found in technology, but in human engagement with the specific buyer and their needs. Rick gives some indication of targeting done by the Guru team.

[9:29] It’s a cultural shift to go back to personalized targeting. Rick tells of three practices to follow. 1. Use the right metric for SDRs — quality. 2. Don’t use a template for the first email.

[14:16] The follow-up to the first email is an email from a template with a value for that prospect. 3. Invest in product marketing early. This allowed Guru to learn and execute on personas and the corresponding messaging.

[18:02] Guru is a knowledge management app that “lives where you work.” Guru replaces sales portals, Wikis, and intranet sites with a verified solution that’s built into the technology you use, with a browser extension and a Slackbot.

[20:26] Guru is a sales enablement tool. It is an answer to the complexity we have already created. It also helps the rep to be more educated. Rick gives a case study of a customer using Guru to help reps with the knowledge around new products.

[24:16] Reps need to have product knowledge at their fingertips, and tools to understand the customer. Guru talks about reasonably complex products. Pulling up the card often enough helps reps to learn the products.

[26:40] Guru deals with changes in assets. As assets change continually, it is not effective to try to keep all the information memorized. It’s more than just getting the right datasheet.

[29:13] Tools need to be effective for the middle 60% of the sales force. Analytics is a big part of it. Who is using your wiki? WIth Guru, you get reports how it is being used.

[31:31] Guru shows “time to pipeline contribution,” or how long it takes reps to contribute to the pipeline. This is helpful in high turnover cases.

[33:59] Besides onboarding time, Guru can measure how long a rep stays with the company. Rick talks about the technology monitoring signals of rep activities without the rep needing to log them in.

[36:32] Data on the aggregate amount of time it takes to close the deal can answer productivity questions.

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#570 Using Funnel Metrics to Close More Deals. With Matt Ostanik.

Matt Ostanik, Founder and CEO of FunnelWise, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[5:53] Matt says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps is changed buying behavior, with buyers going further in the buying process before contacting a salesperson, plus changed sales technology. Reps need to be very adaptable.

[7:14] Matt discusses recent changes to the buying journey and how it continues to change.

[8:57] Committee-driven buying is the rule across many industries but there is always one person on each committee who is the most accountable, according to recent research. Find this person during discovery.

[11:37] FunnelWise is a set of services to help you get more out of your marketing and sales funnel. Matt started the company after starting and selling a SaaS business and struggling as a sales manager to look forward in Salesforce.

[14:34] FunnelWise analyzes funnel metrics such as marketing qualified leads (MQLs) converted into sales opportunities and win rates of sales opportunities. It shows how MQLs get higher win rates than other sources. It can study individual rep rates.

[17:05] Matt address variability of variables between industries and clients. FunnelWise takes into consideration points that are fair comparisons and points that should not be compared due to variability. Matt sees a need for funnel education.

[20:22] To get more out of your funnel, draw conclusions from the data, then test the conclusions and iterate continually. Matt gives an example of how to hypothesize and test conclusions.

[21:49] People want to use the metrics to find the top performers, see what they’re doing, and teach others to do the same. Andy doesn’t see that working. Matt sees three dimensions to test: actions, skillsets, and product knowledge.

[23:39] The real variable is the individual seller. The biggest puzzle is to measure individual productivity and to improve it. It is a conversation of art vs. science of sales and management.

[25:47] Productivity is a key metric that is not standardized. What is the maximum an individual contributor can produce? Matt sees organizations looking more at capacity planning.

[27:15] A rep produces $X of revenue per hour. What is that number and what is its growth potential? Look for patterns and the bigger picture, and what reps do with their leads.

[28:22] The CEO needs to drive Sales and Marketing Alignment, and sometimes they need to see the business case, based on potential success from more sales. The CEO either intentionally or accidentally shapes company culture.

 

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#569 Should you become a Certified Sales Professional? With Willis Turner.

Willis Turner, President and CEO of SMEI, Sales and Marketing Executives International, Inc., joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:54] Willis says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is taking time out to sharpen the saw and keep up-to-date on the newest technologies and education.

[4:51] Organizations want sales reps to educate themselves. There is a trend toward self-directed learning, investing their own time and money. A sales professional is in charge of their own career.

[6:29] Work is becoming more flexible and outcome-oriented. Individuals need to keep up with industry education. Sales may be going in a direction of independence, as manufacturers’ reps often are today.

[8:31] SMEI was founded as a nonprofit in 1935. They follow their founding principles of career advancement support by certification for people in the sales and marketing profession and provide career readiness support for college graduates.

[10:25] SMEI offers four certifications by testing: CSE for sales managers, SCPS for salespeople, CME for marketing managers and SCPM for people working in the marketing department. Certification is a validation of individual producers.

[13:28] Certifications test for knowledge, not competence. There are pre-requisites which imply competence. To be certified you need experience in the field. A certification starts with a detailed job analysis and a bank of tests.

[17:22] Andy would like to see basic sales skills covered in sales courses at the university level, to prepare graduates for professional selling and sales management. Willis adds his list of theories and topics that should be taught academically.

[20:00] SMEI continues to update the certifications, based on their detailed job analyses, which are refreshed every four to five years. The core competencies include principles which are not trendy, as well as technologies, which are developing.

[21:50] Customers who are certified themselves in some discipline are the first to notice the value of a sales certification. This drives demand.

[25:34] Hiring managers could add certifications to job postings to help mitigate the risks of hiring salespeople. SMEI issues digital badges as part of the certification. The badges plug into LinkedIn profiles and at career centers.

[31:07] Willis explains the cost for individual certifications, including an online exam prep course, and annual renewals.

[32:19] Willis has not seen any movements toward government regulation of sales. He would like to see self-regulation by peers. People taking the certification recognize why they lost certain deals in the past.

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#568 The Science of Effective Presentations. With Nadjya Ghausi.

Nadjya Ghausi, VP of Marketing at Prezi, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[4:41] Nadjya says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is noise. Attention spans are decreasing while competition for attention is increasing. Reps need to learn to engage prospects by zeroing in on their wants and needs.

[7:06] Prezi started in 2009 in Hungary and moved to San Francisco. There is a user base of 85 million. It is a unique presentation platform built on an open canvas that allows free collaboration and conversation.

[8:33] Prezi’s non-linear navigation is unique. With pans and zooms, the experience is more like a movie than a slideshow.

[10:12] Prezi was the inspiration of an architect/visual designer and partners. They wanted a presentation that made good relational use of space and freeform movement. It became a unique new approach to communication.

[11:55] Nadjya explains how a user creates a Prezi. Start with the end you want to reach. Think of visual metaphors to use along the way. Consider story structure, and nonlinear paths to establish the story. The canvas presents topics at a glance.

[13:50] Prezi allows reps to zoom into what the prospect wants to know, whether introduction or detail. This can focus and help accelerate the sales cycle. Nadjya contrasts Prezi with a sales deck. Prezi is usable as an interactive conversation.

[17:03] Presenters using Powerpoint are telling a sequential story. Prezi requires mastery of your subject matter, leading to better conversations. Graphic presentations are more persuasive than text presentations.

[18:29] Nadjya discusses graphics, and expectations, as audiences will evolve through generations. Storytelling is a natural aspect of Prezi.

[19:51] Storytelling is an underdeveloped skill in sales. Prezi makes it easier to present your story.

[20:46] Prezi tracks how the presentation goes and what is shown, with analytics integrated into Slack or Salesforce.

[23:11] Prezi can share editing through Slack with permissions. Analytics note the time each user spends with a Prezi. In the course of a meeting, a Prezi can be zoomed in as the prospect comments. Watch for Augmented Reality to come!

[29:12] Preparing a Prezi, Nadjya asks herself what’s the best visual way to explain what she’s saying, and how all the parts fit together or stand alone. Higher user engagement adds memorability.

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#567. Overcoming Resistance to Being Coached. With Bridget Gleason.

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:54] This is episode 97 of Front Line Fridays. Watch for Episode 100! The topic of this episode is coaching and helping people who have been promoted.

[3:40] Bridget asks about coaching reps who are resistant to coaching. One rep is aware of his distaste for it and admits it, which actually makes him quite coachable. Others resist it altogether. The feedback from your manager is important.

[5:32] Coaching is meant to be collaborative, not directive. It is encouraging. Ask questions, so people see for themselves what the problem is and have a framework to let them develop a solution for it, without feeling defensive.

[8:47] You cannot force someone to be coached. It is a joint activity. Wait until they are in a teachable condition. Let them stumble, and ask for help. If they don’t learn and don’t ask, they should be managed to another career. Don’t do their job.

[11:27] Another approach is to learn more about the account that the rep knows, and discuss the account with the rep. This was used on Andy in such a way that he knew he had some more work to do on that account.

[13:37] Andy comes up with another avenue: Find one thing on which to coach someone. Keep it small. If there is still resistance, that leads to a question: Is this rep in the right job? Bridget suggests hiring for coachability.

[15:54] Mark Roberge of Hubspot would have a candidate give a presentation, provide the candidate with feedback, ask them to leave the room, and then have them come back and repeat the presentation. Mark watched if they used the feedback.

[17:51] A person who doesn’t use the feedback is not aware of their situation. Observation and awareness is a very important aspect of sales. Listen intently and integrate what you observe.

[20:49] A person who visualizes the outcome of the coaching they receive, and then desires to go try it, is most coachable. They are curious. A person with poor performance is fearful to move out of their comfort zone, even to improve themselves.

[24:11] The lesser performers are those who complain about management and make excuses. The higher performers are always seeking new insight to improve themselves. You can only coach people who want to be coached.

[25:52] Where do you go for training at a company that has no experience in the job you’ve just gotten? Take a class, find a mentor that can teach you. Go and visit customers. Talk to product end users. Immerse yourself with customers.

[29:40] Being promoted from an SMB rep to an enterprise rep is opening many layers of complexity in one motion. You want a lot of support to complete the transition easily. Andy talks about doing it with no support. Build client trust. Be a pioneer.

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#566 Bots and AI for Chat in Sales. With David Brunner.

David Brunner, CEO and Founder of ModuleQ, joins me for the second time on this episode of #Accelerate! Also, listen to David’s first episode, #200.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:40] David says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is complexity. The technology, the competition, and the number of people and tools you interact with to work continue to expand. David suggests, stay focused. Don’t try to multitask.

[7:23] To eliminate unnecessary distraction, it is necessary to triage important interruptions that represent new opportunities, from what is unimportant and can wait.

[8:12] ModuleQ builds people-facing AI to understand you as a professional. This works with data-facing AI to bridge the gap, and to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time to make them more effective in their role.

[9:08] David gives an example of the process. The AI listens to your team chats and joins the chat to offer suggestions in real time about new data or other informative content that may help you engage the client you are discussing.

[10:22] The AI-enabled bot sitting on the messaging platform is the delivery vehicle for the intelligence. The concept is to bring the information to you in a place that is natural, timely, and contextually relevant, without distracting you from your focus.

[11:08] The AI tunes the preferences based on your actions. You have a Not Useful button to mark content not contextual or helpful, and a Useful button for helpful information. You can click on links and email them. The AI learns what you want.

[13:52] Andy notes that some companies are using a similar approach with AI-assisted calling. David sees chat as better because it gives you time to reflect before replying. The theme is to augment, not replace, human intelligence.

[15:01] Routine, low-level tasks will increasingly be replaced with machine learning. The human touch is needed for jobs that involve higher-level conceptualization and personal relationships. AI may never perform some unstructured jobs.

[22:13] David offers predictions of upcoming developments with bots and AI, including top-of-funnel activities, predictive analytics, bringing the right information to the conversation at the right time, and mobilizing resources.

[24:38] ModuleQ helps unlock the value of corporate content. David cites Lew Platt of HP, “If only HP knew what HP knows, we would be three times more productive.” That problem has only gotten worse. People don’t have time to search for data.

[25:33] David discusses how audio, photos and video can be indexed. The data-facing side is a huge undertaking. It can attach meta-data, which then allows the people-facing side to match the metadata to the people who need it.

[27:16] In the future, video sales calls might be analyzed in real time, pulling in pertinent references and adding to the conversation. The buyer may have bots working on their side, comparing vendors. Bots are watching and listening!

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#565 The Five Hallmarks of High-Performing Sales Organizations. With Norman Behar.

Norman Behar, CEO & Managing Director at Sales Readiness Group, joins me for the second time on this episode of #Accelerate! Also listen to Norman’s first episode, #318.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:34] Norman says the single biggest challenge facing sales teams today is ‘qualification.’ There is a disconnect between the leads generated and the opportunities going into the sales funnel. Norman explains how lead qualification has changed.

[4:45] There is a high percentage of leads not being followed up. So many leads are based on content marketing, and those leads are often not market-qualified. Some companies have a team to follow up these leads, and a team for qualified leads.

[7:44] Sales Readiness Group, with Selling Power, released the “2017 Sales Management Research Report: The Five Hallmarks of High-Impact Sales Organizations.” It covers responsibilities of sales managers. A survey was sent to find best practices.

[10:23] Norman discusses the data from the survey. 17% of organizations have fewer than 25% of reps meeting quota. Assuming the quotas were set right, their managers are not as well-skilled or trained as managers are in the other groups.

[11:55] Sales managers at high-impact sales organizations spend more time coaching. There are two types of coaching: opportunity and skills. Skills coaching is harder for coaches promoted from sales. They haven’t learned the right skills.

[14:42] Survey questions included: Do they make coaching a collaborative process? Do they assess the sales person’s knowledge and skill levels? Are they developing personalized coaching plans for each one of their sales people?

[15:09] Do they plan and maintain an organized coaching schedule? Do they follow a defined coaching program? Respondents noted how important they felt these skills were, and how well they rated themselves on these skills.

[15:35] In high-impact groups, managers spent a higher percentage of their time coaching. Norman offers a suggestion for the ideal percentage of time for managers to spend on coaching, depending on the size and nature of the sales team.

[17:44] 73% of all sales managers receive no training on coaching. This is a missed opportunity. What is more important than training the trainers? Norman always first recommends sales manager coaching training.

[21:46] High-impact organizations are proficient at recruiting and hiring salespeople. Managers need to be trained how to hire. It is critical to know what behaviors are wanted, and how to ask questions to reveal them. Learn to ask great questions.

[27:45] Interviews are more effective if everyone interviewing asks the same questions of each candidate. You can compare consistent data points from each interviewer.

[28:46] High-impact organizations invest more to develop their sales managers, but they may not yet be spending enough. The lower groups are spending much less, if anything, on training their managers. A good program is $1,500 to $3,000.

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