Your Sales Team – Wise Investment or Money Pit?

by Sam Richter

Check out this great book, Hire Right, Higher Profits, about hiring and training sales teams by Lee Salz.

The sales team is the primary revenue source for most businesses. However, this revenue is not without significant cost. If not carefully managed, this revenue source can easily become a money pit. There are five areas business executives should watch to ensure they make wise investments in their sales teams.

Hiring. In most organizations, if a new idea is proposed that costs $25,000 to implement,  blue ribbon panels are commissioned, meetings are held and a decision is ultimately made. After all, the company is considering a significant investment which requires careful consideration.

However, when a company is hiring a salesperson at a salary of $25,000, there isn’t nearly the same level of due diligence performed. Yet, it’s the same $25,000! In essence, the worst mistake a company can make is to hire sales people. Adding headcount to a sales team should be viewed as an investment made in revenue. Recognizing that this is an investment is a critical first step toward driving sales team profitability.

As executives evaluate sales candidates, there is a perception that they can hire great salespeople. Unfortunately, there are no great salespeople. They don’t exist! The issue is the word “great.” Greatness isn’t a standalone quality, but rather an attribute of the relationship between the salesperson and the sales role in your company. Don’t believe it? How many sales people have you hired – great resume, fantastic track record, polished appearance – and they failed in your company?

If you believe that there is an entity called “great salesperson,” you must also agree to one of the two of the following statements:

“When the salesperson arrived at my company, she completely forgot how to sell.”

“Our company is the absolute worst company to sell for in the history of business.”

After all, what other choices could there be if this person is truly a great seller? Companies with highly profitable sales teams don’t search for great salespeople. Their quest is to find the right salespeople with the potential to be great on their sales teams. While this may seem subtle, its impact is not.

This quest begins with a 360-degree analysis of the role to determine the factors that impact investment performance. Once all of those factors are identified, an evaluation program is put in place to contrast candidates with those performance factors. Now, instead of looking across the desk wondering if this candidate is a “great seller,” potential investors (which is what the executive team becomes when adopting this philosophy) are looking for synergy – or lack thereof – between the candidate and the needs of the role.

Onboarding. Many executives believe that – once they’ve hired a salesperson – the hard work is over. And, why shouldn’t they believe that? They’ve just hired a great salesperson! Hand the new salesperson a phone book and send him off to sell.

Highly profitable companies recognize the real work is about to begin when a new salesperson investment is made … for both the new salesperson and the company. This work comes in the form of an onboarding program. Onboarding is commonly seen as completing new-hire paperwork and getting the salesperson’s office ready to go. While administrative work needs to be done, that does nothing to protect the new investment or ensure a healthy return on it.

During the recruiting process, the evaluation program helped the investors make an informed decision prior to extending an offer to the candidate. The new salesperson arrives at the company with potential, but a program is needed to ensure the potential becomes reality – in as little time as possible. After all, every minute that the seller is on the bench, not yet ready to sell for the company, she is merely a cost on the books.

The starting point in the development of a sales onboarding program is the end. In other words, without identifying the program objectives, it’s impossible to create effective onboarding curriculum. The investors need to clearly identify the finish line for the onboarding program based on expectations they have of those new salespeople who successfully complete it. Those expectations are identified in the context of KNOW-DO-USE. If a new salesperson has successfully completed the onboarding program…

What should they KNOW?
KNOW refers to information like product knowledge and territory analysis.

What should they be able to DO?
DO refers to actions like conducting a sales calls or delivering a corporate presentation.

What should they be able to USE?
USE refers to tools or systems like a CRM or order management system.

KNOW-DO-USE provides the framework to identify the desired onboarding outcomes. With that, the onboarding curriculum is designed to lead the new salespeople to this finish line.

How do you know they are meeting expectations? Investors want visibility into the performance of their investments. There should be quizzes, a final exam and simulations to ensure proficiency has been acquired. If the new salesperson does not meet expectations, based on what the investors have documented as their expectations of someone who has successfully completed the onboarding program, there is an opportunity to protect the company by ending the investment early.

Managing. There is an age-old debate on micro versus macro management. Micro-management is often defined as constant, in your face management. Macro-management is aligned with the French “laissez-faire” philosophy of leave them alone. The debate seems to be limited to these two extremes. Yet, top performing companies cast this debate aside and take on a different philosophy.

Hiring and onboarding are seen through the lens of an investment in revenue. Managing the sales team falls in line with the “investment philosophy” as well. Each salesperson on the team represents an investment made on behalf of the company. When investors consider investment opportunities, they look for a sound business plan. This is the same philosophy highly-profitable sales teams have in place to ensure there is a strong return on investment.

The investor team develops a sales business plan template which is structured in a “wizard-format.” The plan is designed so that the investors can get a high level of confidence in the strategy, tactics and measures for each member of the sales team. Once the plan is completed by the salesperson, an investor call is held during which the the salesperson presents the plan for acceptance.

During the call, the investor team asks questions to instill confidence in their investment decision. Once accepted, periodic calls are held to update the investor team on sales business plan implementation progress.

Rather than argue micro-management or macro-management, these companies have a management structure in place that positions them for a high return on their sales team investment. Those sellers that perform well receive additional investment (time, dollars, resources, etc.). Those that don’t, they find their business ventures no longer funded.

Measuring. There is no end to the data associated with sales and it’s easy to get lost in it. Worse yet, it’s common for executives to focus on the wrong data points. Companies that recognize that the sales team is a revenue investment develop their sales metric management system designed to help them analyze performance.

Many start their system with “revenue” identified as their first metric. Yet, revenue is not a metric. It’s a result of the right metrics being delivered upon by the sales team with the right frequency. Companies can’t affect revenue, but they can affect the behaviors that lead to it. The investor team identifies a series of metrics that indicate that the business is on track. There are four criteria for each metric that is to be included in a sales metric management system:

1. Measurable. It is easily quantifiable as opposed to merely gut-feel.

2. Meaningful. The data point indicates something of importance to the business and seller performance.

3. Trainable. If a seller is deficient in this area, training can be provided to improve performance.

4. Goal-oriented. As it is measurable and meaningful, a driver is needed to ensure it is achieved.

With a sales metric management system in place, the investors have the ability to monitor the corporate investment and take swift action.

Compensating. “You’re only as good as your last sale.” This is one of the worst expressions ever uttered as it conflicts with how businesses are measured. Wall Street looks at tomorrow much more than yesterday. And, it is this expression that leads companies to develop flawed sales compensation strategies.

Traditional thought is that sellers are paid an incentive over their salary because they sold something yesterday. Profit-focused companies pay an incentive to get more sales in the future. Their focus is on growing a healthy sales pipeline in addition to winning accounts. When companies pay for yesterday’s news, their performance chart resembles an EKG.

The common starting point when developing a sales compensation plan is to ask:

“How much do we want our sellers to make if they achieve plan?”

While this is an important question, it should not serve as the foundation for the compensation plan. Since paying dollars beyond salary is a further investment made by the company the foundation question to be asked is:

“By paying an incentive (bonus, commission, etc.) to our sellers, 
how will that help us get more of the sales we want in the future?”

The answer to that question helps to guide the development of a sales compensation plan that not only rewards for yesterday’s results, but for a healthy sales pipeline.

Each of these five areas has a major impact in the profitability of your sales team. While it may seem like a large undertaking, the result of transitioning your sales team to a “revenue investment philosophy” is exactly what the corporate bottom-line needs.

Lee B. Salz is a leading sales management strategist specializing in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right salespeople, effectively onboarding them, and aligning their sales activities with business objectives through process, metrics and compensation. He is the Founder and CEO of Sales Architects, Business Expert Webinars and The Revenue Accelerator. Lee has authored several books including the just-released Hire Right, Higher Profits.

Are You Taking Advantage of the Most Powerful Emotion in Sales?

by Sam Richter

What is the essence of Sales Intelligence? Why is it a lead generating and deal closing machine like no other? It is not the inside secrets of effectively using search engines, mining the Invisible Web, or leveraging social media to find information. That is the “how.” Rather, the “why” is a mindset that differentiates one salesperson, and one organization, from all others. Following is a modified chapter from the best-selling book, Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling about how making the other person feel important can make the difference in winning the complex sale.

If you’re over the age of 40, you remember the days before the Internet. Most firms didn’t have email, there was no such thing as video conferencing, and if you had a cell phone, you had to keep it in a briefcase because it was so cumbersome. Yes … the days before broadband and wireless technology (or said another way, the days when you could go home and have a life).

If you were in business and especially in sales, we did something else in those pre-Smart Phone, pre-Twitter, pre-webinar days — we took our prospects and clients out to lunch. We didn’t have the technology to easily communicate with our prospects and clients other than via telephone, so we made it a practice to take them out for two-hour lunches, four-hour golf outings, and three-hour sporting or theater events. Remember those good old days?

In the high-pressure, high-technology, “don’t-have-enough-time” world of today, how many of you take your prospects or clients out for two-hour lunches?

How many of you even take the time for lunch?

Why did we spend so much time with our prospects and clients? For one reason: We wanted to build a relationship. We wanted to learn about the other person, his or her values, and what he or she cared about in business and in life. We wanted that person to get to know us because we knew that if we could connect on a personal level, we could provide value, we could ensure relevancy, and we could establish loyalty. We wanted to show that we cared.

We wanted to make our prospect or client feel important.

You’re probably familiar with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In his 1954 book Motivation and Personality, Maslow outlined the five levels of human needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy is often portrayed as a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom (e.g., food and air), and the need for self-actualization at the top.

Some people associate self-actualization with people such as Tony Robbins or the Dalai Lama — individuals who have maximized their potential and are at complete peace with themselves and the world. Whether that’s the true definition of self-actualization or not, it’s safe to say that most of us will probably not reach the pinnacle of Maslow’s pyramid.

What I find fascinating is what’s directly below self-actualization. It’s the need to feel important. The need to feel appreciated. The need to feel recognized. The need to feel loved. In fact, the need to feel important and appreciated ranks much higher than the need to eat or breathe.

In study after study since Maslow came out with his theory, people report that they would rather die than not feel appreciated.

Think about that for a moment as it relates to your business and your sales efforts. Imagine if you could tap into that emotion?


What are you doing in every prospect and client interaction to make the other person feel important?

"Why not you?" - The Immeasurable Heart of Russell Wilson

by Don Yaeger

"Why not you?" 

These simple words were spoken to Russell Wilson by his father, Harrison, and they would change his life.

Years before his Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson was a high-school senior and multi-sport athlete, torn between a baseball career and football dreams. The Baltimore Orioles had drafted him straight out of high school with a guarantee of a million dollar contract. Deep down, however, Wilson desired to play professional football one day, but there was one issue that every coach and scout had raised: At a little under six feet, he was undersized. It was the same old song he had heard since playing youth football.

His father, who then was struggling with adult-onset diabetes, told him that professional sports could wait. By choosing to go to college instead of to pro baseball, Harrison explained to his son, Wilson would get to play both of his beloved sports as well as gain an education. Wilson promised his father that he would take this path and soon after turning down the Orioles, he enrolled at North Carolina State…and unknowingly began his championship journey to the Seattle Seahawks and the Super Bowl.

In an interview with the New York Times, Wilson commented on his father—who passed away in 2010 from complications with diabetes—and how he still relies on his inspiration today to get through tough circumstances. “He used to always tell me ‘Russ, why not you?’” Wilson recalled. “And what that meant was believe in yourself, believe in the talent God has given you even though you are 5-foot-11, and you can go a long way.”

Think about that for a moment. “Why not you?” The advice is so simple, practical—and yet so profound. A father says it to a son…and he rides that to the pinnacle of his profession.
“He and my mom gave me my belief,” said Wilson in the interview. “I play with my dad in my heart every game because he really taught me about discipline, preparation and how to be an ultimate competitor.”

Wilson has lived by the “Why not you?” motto ever since his conversation with his father. He has dedicated himself to the continuous pursuit of Greatness—which is evident in his lifestyle and work ethic. At North Carolina State, Wilson would begin his days at 4:30 a.m., practice for football, go to his classes, attend baseball practice in the afternoons, and then study in the evening. He finished his undergraduate degree in three years and, when he transferred to the University of Wisconsin, drove halfway across the country to get the Badgers’ playbook and learn it in less than a month.

He once again encountered criticism about his size during the NFL Draft, and was drafted in the third round (75th overall) by the Seahawks. As he watched quarterbacks Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, and others get selected before him, Wilson refused to be discouraged. Instead, he saw this oversight as another opportunity to prove the naysayers wrong.

When he got his chance, “Why Not You” became the theme.

Now, after three stellar seasons in the NFL, Wilson is attempting to win his second Super Bowl championship, back-to-back…and the critics have all been silenced.

We can all be evaluated by our height, weight, lack of accomplishments, or any other external factors, but heart simply cannot be measured. Some of the Greatest victories in sports history have been won by outmatched underdogs who did not understand the meaning of “quit.”

Russell Wilson asks himself all the time, “Why not me?” Have you stopped to consider, why not you? What question drives you the most? Is there something in your life that you’d like to achieve—something that is more meaningful than a million-dollar contract?

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Six Lessons I Learned at West Point

by Don Yaeger, November 18th, 2014

Last month, I had the opportunity of a lifetime that was easily among the most incredible two days in my career as a speaker.

I was invited as a guest presenter at West Point, arguably the Greatest leadership academy in the world, to speak about leadership with the cadets–all of whom will be commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the United States Army and one day lead men and women in the protection of our country. During my visit, I observed many lessons in Greatness that I promise will have a tremendous impact on my life. I wanted to share with you a collection of these lessons in a two-part blog series on my experiences.

While on campus, I learned:

In order to lead others, you must lead yourself first. Everyone who has ambitions to be a leader desires to have a large following. But at West Point, your first responsibility is to lead yourself. As a freshman (also known as a plebe), that is your only leadership responsibility – self. When you become a sophomore (yearling), you are challenged to lead one other person as their mentor. Third-year students (cows) have the opportunity to lead anywhere from nine to 120 other cadets. Finally, during their last year at West Point, seniors (firsties) could be selected to lead the entire 4,400 member cadet corps. But before any of that can happen, you must prove that you can lead yourself!                                                                                                       

When your mission is boldly and abundantly clear, you can expect Great things from everyone. Life at West Point is very challenging, but every cadet knows what they are signing up for before they get there. The goal of the academy is grand, but because the mission is very clear, cadets arrive there prepared to do big things. Everyone knows what to expect and, as a result, the cadets are ready to work together to accomplish Great goals.


The power of good recruiting. Without question, succeeding at the West Point is not easy. However, the academy has a very low dropout rate. This is a result of Great and honest recruiting efforts. West Point recruiters are not busy trying to sell someone on coming to the academy, but instead they carefully and deliberately seek out students that align with their vision from the beginning. The lesson is clear: If you recruit well on the front end, you’ll have fewer issues with attrition and turnover.


They teach around real people. I had a chance to sit in on several classes and watch professors teach the cadets. The professors brought their lessons to life by teaching around the military experiences that they’d experienced while in the line of duty, as they were in the field and leading. I admired how this touch of realism made every lesson more dynamic to the cadets, and I realized that this kind of teaching is rarely used in other settings. Pull from your own experiences—successes and failures alike—as you help shape future leaders.


They believe that every cadet is an athlete. Whether cadets are participating on a varsity team, playing intramural sports, or competing in running events (i.e. marathons or triathlons), athletic participation is expected—and for a good reason. The administration at West Point believes that the opportunity to participate in sports allows cadets to bring out the best of their competitive sides. This also helps cadets to discipline their aggressive pursuit of goals to maximum efficiency. The academy wants those skills to be practiced actively by every cadet.

The importance of precision and teamwork. During my stay, I had a chance to have lunch in the cadet mess hall. Incredibly, all 4,400 cadets are served their meals in twelve minutes. It was a feat to behold and was the definition of meticulousness and clockwork! I was consistently fascinated with how the academy implemented discipline in such an everyday occurrence. This serves as a daily reminder to cadets that precision and teamwork is highly important to any Great mission—a lesson we can all learn.
My trip to West Point was monumental.

Have you ever had the opportunity to observe extraordinary lessons of discipline, teamwork, and leadership? Please share with me your experiences.

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Is Social Media a Waste of Sales Time?

by Sam Richter

THE SOCIAL MEDIA VS. SALES TEST

I just finished a two-week business to business social media vs. sales experiment with some interesting results. For Week 1, I tracked the amount of time I spent writing, posting, reading, interacting, re-tweeting, commenting, providing insight and ideas etc. on various social media sites. I answered questions on blogs, forums, and in groups and I shared articles and provided value to others identified as being in my buying target audience. I did much of what the social media “experts” say needs to be done to be a successful 21st Century salesperson.

For Week 2, I pretty much stayed away from Facebook* and spent just a few minutes posting on LinkedIn and Twitter. Instead, I used the same amount of Week 1 social media time making phone calls and connecting with key prospects. For each call, I practiced “sales intelligence” and researched each prospect — both the person and his or her company. My calls were very personal, and my “pitch” was highly relevant to what I knew the other person cared about.

THE RESULTS:

Week 1I generated a great deal of interest and strengthened my brand. In fact, one of the articles I wrote received more than 125,000 reads and 150 positive comments. All of this work generated a few semi-qualified leads, but it led to zero sales, and zero dollars in my bank account. It did, however, strengthen my position as an industry “Thought Leader.”

Week 2
I made close to 30 phone calls, leaving voice mails for most, and speaking directly to eight prospects. Following the initial call round, I spoke with/emailed an additional five prospects who had returned my earlier calls. This led to closing three new pieces of business, one of which could end up being the largest contract I’ve ever signed. All of this work did nothing to enhance my expertise or market position. It did, however, add some nice dollars to my bank account and strengthened my position as an industry “Profit Leader.”

THE CONCLUSION:

Was this a scientifically valid test?
Of course not. Maybe the closed deals were pure luck, timing, or coincidence. Plus, to accurately judge if leveraging social media will improve sales is a test that should be done over a period of months, not two weeks.

Should you conclude that social media, developing a strong personal brand, and positioning oneself as a topic expert and industry thought leader is a waste of time?
That would be silly. A personal brand is exceptionally important in today’s world where buyers have “Buyers Intelligence.” Buyers know how to use Google. They know how to search for information on you, your experience, and what others think of you and it’s important to have a strong and credible online presence. The social media work done in Week 1 (done consistently, over time) to genuinely engage prospects, answer questions, and provide value will almost certainly generate future opportunities and new leads. Social media should be part of a long-term overall branding and marketing strategy.

Yet at the same time, you also can’t argue with the results of this two-week test: 

– Social Media Efforts = 0
– Daily Sales Efforts = $

We all only have so much working time. To practice social media by yourself in the way most experts recommend would mean devoting at least an hour per day, five days per week. In that same amount of time, it’s reasonable that you could make six sales calls; one conversation, one “call me back later,” and four voice mails. During a year, that would mean an additional 1,400 or so calls.

I know with 100% certainty that if I made 1,400 sales calls to highly qualified prospects where I have researched the prospect and am relevant to their needs, that I will close deals. How many? For me, I would feel very comfortable saying that 1,400 calls would equal at least 50 new clients, and probably closer to 100. Spending the same amount of time on social media — doing it better than 99% of the people on the planet — would probably generate four to ten new pieces of business.

So what is the answer?

Can you use social media to educate, engage, and interact with prospects and even clients? Absolutely! Yet is that a sales strategy, or is it a marketing strategy? Can that activity be delegated to someone else on your team, delegated to the marketing department, or even outsourced? As a salesperson, is your time better spent on LinkedIn Groups and Tweeting articles or is it better spent on the phone or in person with a prospect or client, where you’re engaging in a relevant, sales intelligence-based conversation?

Yes…as a B2B salesperson, you should spend time on social media each day. Just make sure you time box it. I might recommend 10 minutes per day. Then delegate or outsource the rest. If you don’t have the resources to delegate or outsource, then time box the thought-intensive social media activity to the weekend. Maybe spend an hour or two per week updating your profiles, writing, publishing and/or sharing valuable content, and using a tool like Hootsuite to schedule your posts.

Social media is NEVER a replacement for sales and relationship building. Devoting time to connecting with prospects and clients is imperative. Practice sales intelligence and learn what is going on with your prospects and clients. Then block out at least one hour or more, each day, to picking up the phone, or better, meeting with prospects and clients in-person so you can build authentic, genuine, and mutually-beneficial relationships that ultimately leads to more business.

The next time you logon and devote valuable time to your favorite social network, ask yourself this important question: Is this going to help me be a Thought Leader, or a Profit Leader?

*In my test, I concluded that I needed to delete the Facebook app on my iPhone. I found that it was too easy to touch that button and my allocated five minutes sometimes easily stretched to 30 or more. Honestly, I think I was addicted. So I apologize in advance to my Facebook friends and fans as you’re going to see a lot less of me “liking” and commenting on your posts and photos, and declining your Farmville requests. Clicking that “delete app” button actually feels very freeing.