Sales Leaders: 3 Critical Areas Your Sales Reps Must Master In Order To Consistently Crush Their Quota!

What can your sales reps do to become the true master, the expert sales rep in the eyes of your clients and prospects? How can you coach and facilitate to fast-track their process in becoming true masters of their craft?

First things first, you must realize there’s no graduation process in sales. You and your sales team aren't studying a certain number of years until your get your degree. There’s no such thing as a PhD in Sales because you can never stop learning.

Becoming the best requires perpetual practice. Along with your sales team, you need to study the sales game mentally, physically and emotionally; pretty much every single day of your business life.

A successful sales team is innately curious. They have a deep-seated, burning desire to learn and grow not just financially but deep within them; intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

Sales leaders must inspire their sales team to become lifelong learners. It all starts with studying yourself. Make self-analysis and self-reflection, a regular habit. With brutal honesty, have them self reflect upon their personal sales performance.

The biggest opportunities your sales team has to improve their sales game is hidden inside of them.

THE NEW BUSINESS CHALLENGE

One enormous challenge your sales reps face centers around securing new meetings with C-level executives. Securing the initial meeting with senior level executives is relatively straightforward, as your team must have a strategic plan along with some personal chutzpah. 

Executives don’t waste time with salespeople who bring zero value. How effective is you sales team in bringing...?

• Business value
• Financial value
• User value
• Solution value

How does your sales team overcome the new business challenge? Where do they start? It starts with their personal brand and how they look in the eyes of your clients and prospects.

3 CRITICAL AREAS YOUR SALES REPS MUST MASTER IN ORDER TO CONSISTENTLY CRUSH THEIR QUOTA

When each one of your sales reps LinkedIn profiles offer no clear path for visitors (your prospects or clients), that's the exact impression they give about them and their ability to help their business, a big fat zero, zilch; as this affects their thought process.

YOUR SALES TEAM MUST LOOK LIKE SALES PROFESSIONALS ONLINE

With nearly every business transaction in the United States today starting out as an online search or visit to a website, how much new business are you and your sales team potentially missing out on because their LinkedIn profile's look like a broken window?

When referring to “nearly every transaction,” that’s because "89% of B2B transactions begin online", according to Google research.

As the sales leader, your sales reps come to work wearing business attire then why on earth do you allow them to look like this online?

Line them up, one by one and including yours, take a look at their LinkedIn profiles and ask yourself...

• Would I buy from any of my sales reps based upon what I currently see on their LinkedIn profile?
• Do any of them clearly articulate their value to your clients and prospects?
• As the sales leader, are you clearly articulating how you lead and inspire your sales team?

If the answer is NO, I encourage you to ask yourself, “What am I doing to coach my sales team to repair the major cracks within their LinkedIn profiles?" 

Image this happening to you and one of your sales reps?

YOUR SALES TEAM MUST SOCIALLY SURROUND YOUR CURRENT CLIENTS

A frequently-cited stat from the CEB is on average there are 6.8 people involved in today’s B2B purchase decisions. Driven by decentralization and organizational structures, these people may be distributed across different divisions within their company or even locations.

As the sales leader, I encourage you along with each member of your sales team to develop relationships with at least 6 people inside every single one of your current accounts. Your sales reps must strengthen their personal relationship as well as their social relationship with each of these accounts. A social fortress must be built around their current clients.

Say with me... I, as the sales leader, will coach my sales reps to connect to 6 people inside each one of their current accounts

Each contact inside these accounts have different agendas, motivations, and preconceptions. Sales reps who fail to build strong ties to any one of these people could see important deals collapse, relationships lost and more important revenue loss.

Sales leaders, you must promise to make client obsession part of your sales culture. It is about building relationships within your clients. You and your sales team must always be looking for blind spots within your client base.

If any one of your sales reps lost any one of their top 5 accounts, how would they get to their budget number?  

YOUR SALES REPS MUST LEVERAGE THEIR CURRENT CLIENTS

Your sales reps must leverage their clients and ask for help! Wouldn't you agree a warm introduction from someone who knows, likes and trusts your sales reps validates the relationship they have built? Referrals from happy clients are about as good as it gets, wouldn't you agree? In fact, a Dale Carnegie study found that 91 percent of customers would be willing to give referrals if they were asked. Unfortunately, only 11 percent of sales reps actually do ask.

The right activity + enhancing the skill set + daily habits = Sales Success

Your sales reps must get uncomfortable. They must suck it up and ask for help from their clients. A healthy sales funnel will determine their success along with your peace of mind.

The right activity will catapult their success.

Answer the following question...

How many new business meetings versus current client visits are your sales reps going on per week?

Here is the formula to use to help them drive more sales opportunities. Since I don't know how many accounts your sales reps handle, I will use 75 for this example. If each one of your sales reps connect to 6 people inside of their accounts, they now have created 450 prospecting opportunities all around people who know, like and trust them.

Now comes the hard work! Every week they will be tasked by you to take one relationship within three current accounts and mine their LinkedIn connections looking for five people to be introduced to; thus starting the edification process. Remember the rule of 6 to connect within each current account.

Watch the math play out...

1 current account x 3 (one on Monday, Wednesday, Friday) = 3 current client connections to mine

3 individual connections within these accounts x 5 new people (look inside their network) per connection = 15 new introductions per week (these are 2nd degree connections). This is one connection from company one then company two then company three.

15 new introductions per week x 4 weeks in a month = 60 new prospects

60 new prospects per month x 12 months = 720 new prospects to start a conversation and build a relationship with based on a common connection.

Repeat the process... Repeat the process... Repeat the process... Repeat the process

At a miniscule 5% conversion ratio this equates to 36 new sales opportunities added to each one of your sales reps sales funnels. Multiply this by the number of sales reps you have and you my friend have an abundance of new business opportunities.

By asking for introductions from people who know, like and trust your sales reps; what could each one of them do with 36 new sales opportunities?

Successful sales reps focus on their unique value and target prospects which will have the greatest impact on their business and their quota! The answer lies right in front of you and your sales team, it's your current clients.

With consistency, coach, critique and council integrating these 3 tips and watch your sales reps crush their quota.

I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way!

In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the B2B office technology sector. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them tell their story and communicate it out by integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.