How To Build the Perfect Sales Stack

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Table of Contents1. Examining the Sales Process……………. 52. Lead Generation…………………………... 93. Lead Management…………………………17

4. Demonstrating the Product………………. 265. Closing the Deal…………………………… 326. Filling in the Gaps…………………………. 367. Final Thoughts ……………………………...40

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“Today, there are enough sales tools for salespeople to build their own stack of technology. Embracing these technologies gives us an unfair advantage.”

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-Max Altschuler Founder, Sales Hacker

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We asked Mark Roberge:

“What is a common question that you get that’s actually the wrong question?”

He explained that people constantly ask him for absolute answers to questions like, “What traits should I look for in a sales hire,” and “How should I onboard new employees.” Instead, they should be asking, “How do I come up with an employee onboarding process that works best for my company?”

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Examining the Sales Process

In order to build a great process, you need to consider your Buyer’s Journey and identify the most important pieces of each stage of the journey.

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Examining the Sales Process

Stages of your sales process could look something like ours:

1. Lead Generation2. Lead Management3. Demonstrating the product4. Closing the Deal

For each stage, figure out what you need to accomplish in order to effectively move the most prospects through to the next stage.

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Stages of the Sales Process

Let’s dive into each stage and break down what you need to look for.

Then we’ll compare some of the best technologies at each stage.

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“As always, sales was the last to figure out the power of new technology offered by computing and the Internet, but arguably sales is once again the most impactful influence on business.”

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-Ken KrogueFounder & President, InsideSales.com

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Stage 1: Lead Generation

There are three main ways to approach lead generation:

1. Manual prospecting2. 3rd party lead sourcing 3. Outsourcing

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Manual Prospecting

● Speed matters! How long does it take to find one qualified lead?

● Sales intelligence software provides sales reps with vital information, like background and contact information, for a leads, accounts, or across market verticals.

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3rd Party Lead Sourcing

● Some companies don’t have the time, resources or pricing structure to justify manual prospecting

● Rather than paying with time, you’re paying with money.

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Outsourcing

● Give clear instructions● Test out multiple freelancers at once● Verify all their work and hold them

accountable● Cut the low performers quickly● Recommended Resources: Elance and

Upwork

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Important Questions for Lead Generation Tools/Platforms

● How accurate is the information (data integrity)?● How much information is given to me on each lead?● What is my price per lead and does that work with my business

economics?● How much time will it take me to get X number of leads?● How many leads are actual sales qualified leads, and how many

close?

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Sales Intelligence: Comparison

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Lead Generation: Comparison

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“A sale is not made based on the tools used. A sale is made possible through the process the rep used. The tools just makes the process scalable.”

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Stage 2: Lead Management

Your CRM is the backbone of the sales process, thus outbound sales platform needs to integrate with your CRM

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Sales vs. Marketing Automation

It’s also important to note the vital difference between marketing automation and sales automation.

You shouldn’t try to use one for the other’s job. They both must work in unison.

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Sales vs. Marketing Automation

● Marketing Automation: A Company communicating to one person, at scale.

● Sales Automation: An individual sales rep communicating to one person, at sale.

Sales vs. Marketing Automation

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Outbound Sales

It pays to be methodical about your approach.

Don’t over-automate!

There is danger is too much automation.

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Important Questions for Choosing a CRM

● I trying to hack a sales solution using marketing automation?● Can my CRM integrate with my outbound sales platform?● Can I easily import and manage leads in each system?● Does my sales automation allow me to set up personalized multi-

touch campaigns?● Can I test and analyze different message across multiple

campaigns?● How easily is it to collaborate with my team on each platform?

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CRM: Comparison

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Outbound Sales: Comparison

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Outbound Sales: Comparison

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“A good sales process is predictable and repeatable. A great sales process is scalable.”

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Stage 3: Demonstrating the Product

The two important aspects of this stage where technology comes into play are scheduling and conferencing.

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Scheduling

It shouldn’t take multiple emails with a potential client to pin down a time to talk, and errors here can be devastating to a deal.

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Conferencing

Demo and screen sharing software has come a long way too, but it can still be a nightmare.

The key features to keep an eye on are video quality and ease of use for the participant.

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Important Questions for Choosing Scheduling & Conferencing Solutions

● Does my schedule technology integrate with my calendar?● How good is my scheduling tool at updating to avoid double

booking?● How quickly and easily can the other party access the conference?● Do other partied need to download new software?● How reliable is the service?

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Scheduling: Comparison

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Conferencing: Comparison

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Stage 4: Closing the Deal

Now that you’ve given the demo, it’s time to close the deal. A frictionless buying process is crucial.

Don’t let the deal stop moving forward because you failed to accurately map the account and are pushing it down the wrong path.

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Important Questions for Choosing a Contract Solution

● How easy and intuitive is it to build proposals?● How easy is it to send proposals to multiple people at a company?● How easy is it to edit templates and proposals?● How secure is the service?● How much automation do you need in this process?

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Contracts: Comparison

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“People need to stop looking for tactics first, and start establishing a growth process.”

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-Brian Balfour VP of Growth Hubspot

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Filling in the Gaps

Now start filling in small gaps to help you move through the process quicker and with more accuracy. This is where individual preferences often come in.

For example, one team member may prefer Viola Norbert where another may prefer Thrust.io for finding and/or varifying email addresses.

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Filling in the Gaps

Now start filling in small gaps to help you move through the process quicker and with more accuracy. This is where individual preferences often come in.

For example, one team member may prefer Viola Norbert where another may prefer Thrust.io for finding and/or varifying email addresses.

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Filling in the Gaps

Other Recommended tools:

● CharlieApp

● Rapportive

● Immediately

● ClearBit

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Filling in the Gaps

Use data to guide decisions. Do a minute-by-minute workflow analysis so you can understand where you’re bottlenecks and how to streamline the process.

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Final Thought

The bottom line is you should never invest in a tool or platform within your sales stack that does not clearly fit into your workflow and make reps more productive.

First, you have to build a good sales process.

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“You can’t plug an amazing technology into a flawed process and then blame the technology… sales leaders need to focus on their building blocks.

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-Trish BertuzziPresident, The Bridge Group

View the full sales stack blog post here.

If you like this presentation, you’ll also like some of our other blog posts on the PersistIQ blog.

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Further Reading

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