2015 Fast Start Guide for Salespeople

Fast Start Guide for Salespeople

2015 is almost upon us


And you know what that means for salespeople …



New Year



New Year

New Goals



New Year

New Goals

New Quota

After you’ve finished celebrating 2014

It’s time to figure out how to make your number

all It’s time to figure out how to make your number

It’s time to figure out how to make your number

all over

again It’s time to figure out how to make your number

over all

Pssst!

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Pssst! The HubSpot Sales Blog can help you close deals.

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But not to worry.

But not to worry.

The expert tips in this guide can help you get off to a fast start.

But not to worry.


Ready?

But not to worry.


Ready?

Set …

Q1. What should salespeople do in the first 30 days of the new year?

“So much selling effort is wasted on bad deals that it would be comical if it wasn’t sad. Take the first 30 days to profile your ideal prospects and opportunities, and then focus on them exclusively.”

Jason Jordan Partner, Vantage Point Performance

“Sales leaders need to know their company strategy, and then translate it into relevant priorities, incentives, and deployment in the sales force. Many companies confuse strategy with ‘vision’ or ‘mission.’ They say things like ‘Our strategy is to provide superior products/great service/constant innovation,’ and somehow expect a coherent response in sales. I guarantee that, whatever else your sales reps are good at, they are not good mind readers.”

Frank Cespedes Sr. Lecturer, Harvard Business School

“Spend the first 30 days kicking the year off with the sales team with extreme clarity on what everyone's goals and milestones are because they have to hit the ground running immediately.”

Craig Rosenberg Co-founder, TOPO Inc.

“Reps should discuss their clients’ strategic objectives over the next 24 months. This will help them plan a roadmap as to how their products/services can potentially be used to assist the client in achieving their goals.” Ken Thoreson

President, Acumen Management Group

AGENDA “Understand how you plan to allocate your people, money, and time to make the revenue number. Understand how you market and sell differently than the competition. Understand if your sales strategy is aligned to how your buyers buy.”

Matt Sharrers Partner, SBI

“Reps and managers should create a detailed sales action plan for the first 90 days of 2015. This is really important in terms of giving a rep a game plan to execute in the first quarter that will set the tone for the rest of the year.” Andy Paul

Founder, Zero-Time Selling Inc.

“Ask for one to three referrals from each client.”

Ken Thoreson President, Acumen Management Group

“Reps need to reach out to their existing clients, and discuss their satisfaction with and impact of the salesperson’s product/services. This builds belief in the company, and belief is the most important emotion a salesperson must carry with them each day.”


Q2. What’s your best piece of advice for salespeople going into 2015?

AGENDA Connect the dots between their needs and how your solutions meet those needs. Convince them the ROI of what you sell is worth the risk. Collaborate with them so they see you as part of the team that drives them to their goal.”

“Sales reps should do three things: connect, convince, and collaborate with their buyers.

Michael Schultz President, RAIN Group

“Reps can't afford to wait for their employers to invest in them. The business environment is changing so quickly that reps who want to stay ahead of their competitors must invest their own time and money in reading books, attending online classes, and receiving professional certifications.”

Andy Paul Founder, Zero-Time Selling Inc.

“Do your admin stuff early in the morning or late at night,

Dave Kurlan CEO, Objective Management Group

Learn to sell consultatively,



Get more involved with social selling,




Get more involved with social selling,



And sell all day.”


“Be more responsive to buyers. Customers want to make good decisions faster. What's holding them back? Salespeople. To be completely responsive to a prospect you need the knowledge, experience, and expertise to help them progress through their buying process. And you need a sales process that will enable you to be the first seller to respond to a lead, answer a question, provide a valuable insight, or generate a quote. In sales, usually the first seller with the answers wins.”


“Have fun. I always say, if it isn’t fun, it isn’t selling! Have fun with each other because it builds teamwork. Have fun with prospects and clients -- it builds relationships.”


“Performance reviews are grossly underutilized levers for influencing behavior in many sales organizations. Busy sales managers often treat them as drive-by conversations about compensation. But the most important coaching in sales should happen in performance review sessions. This is a trainable skill and there’s lots of room for improvement.”

Frank Cespedes Sr. Lecturer, Harvard Business School

“Make more sales calls, do more networking at events and online, and schedule appointments. Stay focused on your customers and prospects and learn how you can help them.”

Alice Heiman Founder, Alice Heiman LLC

“Who you know is more important than what you know. Spend your time purposefully building out your social selling/networking capability. To get in front of your ideal customer in 2015, traditional lead generation or cold calling does not work. The reach a salesperson has to generate systematic referrals/introductions at scale is the key to success.”


“Read a great sales book or watch great sales videos. There is so much information out there. Use it to your advantage. Make time to learn.”


“Stop.

Think.

Focus.

Execute.

Repeat.” Jason Jordan Partner, Vantage Point Performance

Q3. What behaviors or practices should salespeople change or adopt in 2015?

“Ask good questions and listen. Be a problem solver. Focus on what you can do to help , not on your products and your quota. Be nice, be genuine, be empathetic and be agile.”


“Managers find themselves in a very reactive stance where they don’t have time to do the things they know are important -- like coaching and developing their reps. Identify the things that will make the biggest difference in your team’s performance, put time on the calendar to do them, and don’t let anything move those meetings.”

Jason Jordan Partner, Vantage Point Performance

“Learn how to write compelling content that is focused on your buyer’s market problems. How you sell when you are not present is critical. Too many salespeople spend time selling vs. facilitating a buying process. Reps work exceptionally hard to get in front of buyers and then blow it at the moment of truth.”


“2015 is change or retire time for salespeople to finally start focusing on their buyers, not on their products. So much education has been produced about taking a buyer-centric approach that there are no more excuses now.”

Craig Rosenberg Co-founder, TOPO Inc.

“Analyze your conversion ratios and determine where opportunities are hitting bottlenecks. Leads to Conversations? Meetings to Opportunities? Qualified Opportunities to Closable?”

“Reps should also develop their consultative selling skills because that remains the only way to truly differentiate.”


“Follow up your sales leads. Effective sales lead follow up is the quickest and easiest way to amp up your sales. Today, they are typically from companies or individuals who have invested their time to do research on the alternatives. When they finally reach out to a seller it is not because they are mildly curious -- they are seeking information that will help them make a purchase decision quickly. Good sales reps will treat sales leads like the keys to an ATM machine.”


“Attend two networking events per month.”


“Develop five business ecosystem partners -- organizations or salespeople that sell non-competitive but related products/services into the same marketplace. These partners may know of new opportunities or people within certain accounts.”


Want to keep your new year momentum going?

Want to keep your new year momentum going?

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May 2015 be your best year yet!