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by
Aaron Ross
Read between
May 31 - June 12, 2022
Three Keys to Predictable Revenue
Predictable Lead Generation, the most important thing for creating predictable revenue.
Sales Development Team that bridges the chasm between marketing and sales. Consistent Sales Systems, because without consistency you have no predictability.
focuses 100% on prospecting (that means no closing deals and no working inbound leads!)
Also, while “work harder” and “make more calls” are quite popular and simple sales strategies of CEOs, sales executives and salespeople, they don’t scale.
VP Demand Generation, VP Pipeline Growth, VP Lead Generation, VP Sales Development.
the better your lead generation is, the less dependent you are on the quality of your salespeople and sales process.
Do your executive team and board know how much new (qualified) pipeline the company needs to generate per month? (This is the second most important metric to track, right after closed business.)
Is the “new pipeline generated per month” number tracked at the board level?
Are there a common language, and common definitions, for “prospects,” “lead...
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The team only contacted cold new business accounts and past accounts which had been cold for at least six months.
The team didn’t receive any new inbound leads generated by word-of-mouth or by marketing (these leads went specifically to a separate Market Response team to qualify and pass to Account Executives).
Cold Calling 2.0 means prospecting into cold accounts to generate new business without using any “cold calls.”
define a cold call as “calling someone who doesn’t know you and who isn’t expecting your call.”
The tipping point of the Cold Calling 2.0 process was born: sending mass emails to high-level executives to ask for referrals to the best person in their organization for a first conversation.
Sales Development Representative (SDR): This is a Cold Calling 2.0 or “outbound” sales rep.
Account Executive (AE): A quota-carrying salesperson, whether they are an inside sales rep or in the field.
Market Response Rep (MRR): An inside salesperson who only qualifies leads coming in from a website.
Sales Force Automation (SFA): Software or internet-based services that sales teams use to manage all of their contacts and accounts, automate sale...
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Cold Calling 2.0 means prospecting into cold accounts without ever making any cold calls.
No cold calling! Prospect into cold accounts with new methods, rather than surprising people on the phone or trying to negotiate around gatekeepers. For example, use simple emails to generate referrals to the right people, who then expect (and often welcome) your call.
qualification calls per day or week, and qualified opportunities per month.
Everything is systematically process-driven!
emphasizing repeatability and consistency,
The Sales Development role is often treated within a sales organization as a low-level job. If you treat it that way, you’ll get low-level results. It’s a challenging and often thankless role. Treat the team as, and expect them to be, experts.
Don’t skimp on training, equipping or developing them. Set high expectations of their ongoing skills development.
Spend serious time on identifying and clarifying your Ideal Customer Profile. Define what companies are the most similar to the top 5-10% of your customers, defined as the ones likeliest to purchase for the most revenue, and develop focused target lists based on these tight criteria.
Research rather than sell:
Send emails that are very short (readable on a mobile phone).
Where and When Account Executives Should Prospect
short, targeted “Top 5-25” list of vital accounts or channel partners.
Their current customer base.
specializing sales roles into ‘prospectors that prospect’ and ‘closers that close,’
The sales team and prospectors were hungry for new ideas,
moving to a territory-based model, where inbound lead distribution wasn’t going to be equal anymore
specialized prospectors
At least one person is 100% dedicated to prospecting
have some kind of sales system that lets your sales team share and manage their sales contacts and accounts.
Treat these tools with an attitude of experimentation. Play with them.
start by letting your Account Executives (the sales reps closing business) focus on what they do best: work active sales cycles and close.
dedicate a role
to ONLY doing outbound prospecting activities. Break it off from inbound lead qualification and from closing.
Sales Development Reps prospect into cold or inactive companies who aren’t engaging with you already,
it’s vital for them to build relationships with their sales teammates.
One Sales Development Rep typically can support a maximum of 2-5 quota- carrying Account Executives.
If you sell very large deals, it’s possible you could have even a 1-to-1 ratio or 2-to-1 Sales Development Reps per Account Exe...
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small list of targeted accounts from which they can build relationships; a list of their current clients; plus a list of their own past dead opportunities.
Market Response Reps qualify incoming leads that reach the company through the website or phone (usually driven either by internet search, word- of-mouth or marketing programs), and route qualified opportunities to the appropriate quota-carrying salesperson.
for every 400 leads per month that require human attention, a company needs one Market Response Representative.
