The leader’s guide to boosting performance across your ... · translate it into sales excellence. You will learn how to transform your sales team into top performers as well as

The leader’s guide to boostingperformance acrossyour sales team

www.artesiansolutions.com

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

1. THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES OF A MODERN SALES LEADER 4

2. THE NEW ERA OF SOCIAL SELLING 5

3. HOW TO TRANSFORM THE MIDDLE MAJORITY INTO YOUR TOP PERFORMERS 7

4. SEVEN SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES TO MANAGING A SALES TEAM 11

SOURCES 15

HOW ARTESIAN CAN HELP 16


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INTRODUCTION

Are you faced with developing a sales team that you feelcould do even better but you’re not sure how?

Are you looking for a way to improve your team’sbehaviours but don’t know where to start?

Do you find yourself coming up against increasingobstacles when it comes to closing deals and continuedcustomer engagement?This practical guide aims to help you understand the biggest challenges toyour business and discover how you can translate changes in sellerbehaviour into long-term business success.

With real world learnings from industry experts, this guide will enable youto gain insights into the new age of social selling and discover how totranslate it into sales excellence. You will learn how to transform your salesteam into top performers as well as steps to manage them for success.


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The leader’s guide to boosting performance across your sales team






1. THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES OF A MODERNSALES LEADER

As a Sales Leader today you’re faced with even more decisions, more opportunitiesbut also more competition – and you’re not alone. From our experience of talking toleaders, they’ve highlighted the following as some of the key challenges affectingthem and their team.

They think they’re doing everything right – the pain they have is probably normal –it is hard but there isn’t a better way than the way they are doing it.

They know that 80% of their sellers are averageand 20% are great but it’s always been that way.

They know that their team needs better skills or more specifically they don’t havesome of the skills they talk a lot about.

They know that despite already providing access to many systems, people just don’tuse them and they know that adoption is a real challenge with salespeople andsystems.

They know reward mechanisms are based on outcomes and not (necessarily) day today behaviours which makes them that muchharder to change.

And they know that training and educationprograms are always painful, costly and disruptive.


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So how can we address these challenges?

The truth is we can always do better, as can our teams.Providing training and coaching to improve their skillsis a must-have rather than a nice idea and we know thatsimply buying another piece of software without investingin the training, coaching and habit-building that goes with itis just a waste of time. Importantly – training and educationreally can be enjoyable, affordable, insightful andincorporated into their working day.

Our answer to these challenges lies in social selling.Read the next chapter to learn more.






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2. THE NEW ERA OF SOCIAL SELLING

We define Social Selling as the use of news, blogs,social media, company information and the people youknow to find customers, listen to their evolving needs,relate to their challenges and engage them inconversations that lead to successful commercialoutcomes. Simple, right?

The truth is though that social selling is not a new concept – back in the 1930sthe seller’s coverage was going door-to-door, their engagement topics werebased around local news and family updates and the pace was slow, on amonth to month basis. The only real blocks were actual locks on doors. And asan approach it worked – customers were cherished and loyal and trust washigh between them and the salesperson who they had built long termrelationships with. This was the original social selling.

However if we fast-forward to the definitive 90s sales film Glengarry Glen Rossand the sales approach has developed to be both national and international.The engagement is focussed more on the product and what makes it betterthan the competition rather than on the customer themselves. The ability tocold call and present the same product pitches has led to a mass approach toall clients rather than a considered proposition to the few they really know.Competition has increased but the seller still maintains the power in therelationship as they are still considered to hold all the expertise that a buyerneeds to make an informed decision. Selling is less personal than it used to bebut the customer-seller relationship is still strong.





Nowadays – the buyer has changed. Social media, online, mobile and digital resourceshave made business buyers significantly better informed, connected and ultimatelymore in control. To engage the connected buyer you need to know about them, theirbusiness, their challenges and they have to feel special or they can easily find someoneto replace you. According to a recent report1 buyers are 57% through their processbefore they contact a supplier – information goes both ways and your eminence willcontribute to their evaluation of you as knowledgeable, useful and trustworthy.

Terrifying as this may sound, the approach is no different to the way it was back in the30s – the only difference is the tools you use to do it. By using social media, blogs,news sites – the huge array of information available to us – to understand yourcustomer and their business, you are building a powerful relationship that will enableyou both to work together to mutual success.

The leaders that have already transformed their team’s approach in line with this socialselling methodology are seeing amazing results. In the next chapter, we look at how todevelop your average performers into super sellers through social selling.


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3. HOW TO TRANSFORM THE MIDDLE MAJORITYINTO YOUR TOP PERFORMERS

It is a truth universally accepted that the 80:20 rule (or Pareto’s principle) has impactthroughout your business whether it’s 80% of your customers contributing 20% of yoursales or 80% of your time accomplishing 20% of your tasks. However when you see itreflected in your sales team and recognise the impact it’s having on your quarter thenit’s time to start looking at ways of turning the 80:20 rule on its head.

Here we show you how to transform the majority of the team who are recordingaverage results into your super sellers – the stars who are performing head andshoulders above the rest.


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Pos

tive

Seller Performance

Neg

ativ

e

Postive

Behaviour

Per

form

ance

Negative

NonPerformerClear direction

on changes requiredto improve

PerformerModel performance

and behavioursetting team

standard

TryerDoing all the rightthings but not yet

getting results.Coach, guidance

and support

MaverickCan no longerbe tolerated

The teamFirst, look at your team and categoriseeach of them into one of the four typesbelow:

1. The Tryer – they do all the right things but are not yet getting results. They need to be coached and given guidance and support. These are often your new hires who have shown potential but are still finding their feet as they get to know their market and their customers.

2. The Non-Performer – They are typified by poor behaviour and as a consequence poor results, they need clear direction on the changes required to improve in order to be successful.

3. The Maverick – They follow none of the rules but have managed by various means to get results. Their techniques can’t be scaled and in the long-term will not be able to sustain positive outcomes without a drastic change in behaviour. They shouldn’t be tolerated.

4. The Performer – They are your top sellers, combining model behaviour and the results to match. They set the standard for the rest of your team.





So how do youturn your team into

social sellers?


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In an ideal world, all of your team would fall into the last category but in actualityonly a small percentage do. The solution however lies in social selling and byadopting these techniques you can improve behaviour and results throughout –so the Tryer starts seeing the fruits of their labour, the Non-Performer beginsperforming, the Maverick uses best practices to ensure results and your TopPerformer is given more time to do what they do best.






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The techniques

1. Be Proactive Ensure your team understands their customers and their markets and that they use social channels to engage well before they become leads or prospects.

2. Build a Network Support your team in growing their connections with thought leaders, commentators, customers and prospects.

3. Listen Buyers are increasingly social which means their needs are increasingly transparent. By training your team to listen for buying signals, enable them to connect with prospects when they’re in the right place to purchase and before others see the opportunity.

4. Become a Brand Do people know who your team are? Encourage them to build their reputations through a professional social profile, their content, conversations and contributions.

5. Practice 360º Networking Once your team has worked to build a network, get them to approach their prospects through common connections as a warm introduction.

6. Nurture their Network Make sure your team are finding reasons to connect each and every day. A comment in a forum, a tweet or something to share is the perfect way for them to stay top of mind.

7. Be in Service to Their Customers Smart sellers have always known that their personal success is an outcome of being focused entirely on their customer and their needs. Support your team in becoming smart sellers.





By building these seven habits in your team2, they will become a natural part of theirsales process and the results will speak for themselves in new opportunities, new dealsand happy engaged customers.

ImpactThe effect of this behaviour change has a knock-on effect on your team’s productivity,their engagement with customers and with each other as well as their sales success.The impact is evident – IBM reported a 400% increase in sales in the first quarter of asocial selling pilot3 while LinkedIn reports that Social Selling leaders create 45% moreopportunities per quarter4. Aberdeen Group similarly attributes 15% higher customerretention and 31% higher quota attainment to social selling practices.5

Most importantly by using Artesian to deliver engagement triggers and to measure eachindividual’s social selling success, as a manager you can get transparency over howyour team is behaving and performing. So with 80% of your team now performing aselite salespeople you can identify the 20% who are undermining their success and workto improve or remove them.

The huge power of harnessing Pareto and social selling is evident when you make the80:20 work for your sales team and transform your middle majority into your topperformers.


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The results1. The Tryer – With these techniques they now have better process.

2. The Non-Performer – With new transparency of data, you can see clearly if they are implementing the processes needed to start seeing results.

3. The Maverick – As with the non-performer you can use data to ensure they are following the necessary processes, knowing if they can’t adopt better behaviours, their performance is at risk.

4. The Performer – The standard of excellence you compare the rest of the team to, they now have added time (saved where they otherwise would have spent it looking for engagement points, seeking content to share, generating pipeline, identifying decision makers etc.) allowing them to contribute even further.

Pos

tive

Seller Performance

Neg

ativ

e

Postive

Behaviour

Per

form

ance

Negative

NonPerformer

Transparencyof Data

PerformerTime Back

TryerBetter

Process

MaverickTransparency

of Data P





4. SEVEN SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES TOMANAGING A SALES TEAM

Managing a sales team can feel like taming lions – they’re hungry and competitive. Buttheir success is your success, so you need to know how to get the best out of them.

Here’s seven sure-fire approaches to managing a sales team…

1. Processes that help, not hinder

There’s a lot to track: sales process, forecasting, training, technology, hiring. You may have it well-defined in your head, but it all needs documenting.

But you don’t want these process documents to be a thick rulebook. Great sales people enjoy a bit of freedom, so process documents should be useful guidance to train staff, track performance and increase sales, not an intimidating and confining rulebook.

A great example is activities-based management. This approach involves telling sales people how to do their job – how many calls to make, when to make them, who to call, and what to say. This is far too limiting for really great sales people. They need the flexibility to approach prospects in their own way, with their own style and to run their accounts like their own business. It’s what makes great sales people great!

2. Build a pipeline of talented people

Waiting until you need to hire someone new is leaving it too late. To get the best sales people you need to know who they are, which areas they are specialists in, and what they are up to – long before there is an actual need for new staff. With estimates of 1 in 3 B2B sellers moving jobs every year, there is nearly always a real need.

The best way to accomplish this is to create a detailed database of prospective employees, just as you might do for potential clients. You can even use the same social selling strategies to track what these star sellers are up to and to create a pipeline of talented staff to join your team.


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It’s what makesgreat sales

people great!

1 in 3B2B sellersmoving jobsevery year





80% of managerssurveyed believe their sales

force would be moreproductive with a greater

social media presence

“We will see the continued shift of resources from field sales to insidesales teams. The challenge though will be in finding talent with the rightskills set, which will mean more investments in recruiting and training.” Barbara Giamanco, Co-author of The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media and CEO of Social Centered Selling

3. Don’t skimp on the training Surprisingly, only 66% of companies actually train their new employees. That means a third of businesses are just hoping new staff will figure out how everything works.

Without a complete training program, employees will be wasting time trying to get the printer working or asking other members of staff how to fill out an expenses form correctly. Good training, on the other hand, cuts down on wasted time trying to figure things out, minimises easily avoidable mistakes and instils your new team members with the confidence to go out and make sales. By providing new starters with tools (like Artesian) to understand accounts, markets and industries quickly, you are reducing their onboarding time and fast-tracking their contribution to the company.

“Social Selling training for your Sales team is NOT OPTIONAL because afool with a tool is still a fool.” Jill Rowley, Top performing Sales Rep at Eloqua for over 10 years and a keynote speaker on Social Selling


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Only 66%of companies

actually train theirnew employees

4. Encourage a great digital presence

We don’t need to tell you how important your company’s online presence is – businesses spend considerable amounts each year to ensure that their company is visible on search engines and social media. In fact 80% of managers surveyed believe their sales force would be more productive with a greater social media presence.6What can you do if your sales team aren’t maximising on the opportunities that visibility brings?





Maybe they think that social media is unprofessional or that blogs are a waste of their time. As a sales director it’s up to you to encourage a great digital presence. Get them involved in LinkedIn groups, answering questions on Quora, and writing updates for your blog.

Not only does all of this activity provide some great visibility for your business and improve performance, 10.8% of social sellers have closed five or more deals attributed to social media7, but it can also transform your sales team into a group of industry thought leaders. Who knows, perhaps they’ll even end up doing a TED talk!

“Social selling will simply become an integrated part of the processenabling more effective and targeted prospecting that engages prospectsat the right time with the right message, improved competitiveintelligence, deeper connections and relationship building, and pipelinevelocity with better data that keeps deals on track.”

Jeb Blount, Leading expert and author on sales, leadership, strategic account management, and customer experience

5. Allow time to develop social selling

Along with increased visibility, a digital presence provides anexcellent opportunity for social selling. But it takes time to build up prospects. That’s fine, it’ll all pay off in the long run, but you need to be aware as to how it’ll impact on sales for the quarter.

Social selling is a long-game strategy, fleshing out a complete picture of your prospects, their businesses, and their interests. Ultimately it will lead to higher-quality leads, increased sales, and better customer retention.


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A digitalpresence provides an

excellent opportunity for

social selling





6. Give meaning to their work

Even if they’re working for the all-powerful Google, salespeople will still be more motivated by the overarching vision than either you or your business. People andcompanies can be inspiring, but what really drives great sales is the why behind the business.

It’s the why that provides a reason for getting out of bed in the morning and gives yoursalespeople the focus they need to achieve fantastic results.

What really drivesgreat sales is the

why behindthe business

High performers contribute

up to 67%greater sales revenue

the average difference incompensation is only

5-10%

7. Accurately incentivise

Providing the right incentives to the right people is essential. According to a study by Oracle, while high performers contribute up to 67% greater sales revenue the average difference in compensation is only 5-10%. If you can integrate your performance tracking tool with your compensation system you can ensure that people are accurately rewarded for their achievement and once money is not a concern, your team will focus on what really matters – their work.

Even more than financial reward it’s important to recognise the intrinsic motivation of your team, which Daniel H. Pink, author of ‘Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us’ identifies as autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives. Mastery – the desire to be better at what you’re doing. Purpose – why we do what we do (as we highlighted in point six on what gives us meaning).

Through understanding your team’s real motivations, you canincentivise them in a way that works. If they feel they have the respect of you and your company as a whole then they will be much happier and more driven. Success!


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Why do you do what you do? Why is itbeneficial to your customers? Why is thesales role central to meeting your goals?





SOURCES

1. The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing, Corporate Executive Board

2. The Seven Habits of Social Sellers, Dale Roberts

3. More Proof that Social Sales Engagement Works, ringDNA

4. Social Selling Index: Measure Your Social Selling and Drive More Pipeline

5. Leveraging the Power of Social Media on B2B Sales Enablement,

Aberdeen Group

6. Social Media and the Sales Organisation, Sales Management Association

7. The Impact of Social Media on Sales Quota and Corporate Revenues,

A Sales Guy Consulting


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HOW ARTESIAN CAN HELP

What if everyone in your business sold as well as yourtop seller? Artesian works to make salespeople evenmore awesome. In fact – we are the world’s mostpowerful sales intelligence solution for B2B sellers.

So how do we do it? Our app supports you from pipeline generation andsecuring your first meeting to building customer relationships, retention and growth.First we gather and track intelligence on customers, prospects and competitors frommillions of online resources including blogs, news and social platforms such as Twitterand LinkedIn. Then by using clever science to filter and transform all this informationinto commercial insights, we enable you to target, connect and share with customersand prospects on any device, at any time.

We’re with you every step of the way with our full training suite aspart of Artesian Academy, so whether you prefer to learn face-to-face, through webinarsor with ebooks, case studies and how-to guides, we’re showing you now only how tomake the most of Artesian but also how to become an awesome social seller.

When it comes to onboarding new members of the team,all the industry information they need is already at theirfingertips. We measure your success with a Social Seller score so you can always

see where you’re rocking it and where you can make some positive changes. Most

importantly, Artesian is quick and easy to use so the time we save you doing research

or pitching inappropriately – you can use to sell more and in a way that creates value for

you and your customers. Pretty awesome, right?

We’re changing the way B2B sellers communicate withtheir audience for the better, forever. Right now Artesian delivers over37 million actionable insights per month on almost 700,000 companies to our 25,000+

social savvy users. Our amazing customers range finance, tech, telecos, media and

insurance and include great companies like American Express, Adobe, Barclays, HSBC,

Royal Bank of Scotland, Towergate, Willis and Verizon.


TRY OUT ARTESIAN TODAY

http://my.artesiansolutions.com/test-drive?_ga=1.192159146.1215696143.1438332068

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The leader’s guide to boosting performance across your ... · translate it into sales excellence. You will learn how to transform your sales team into top performers as well as