SalesLabs February Newsletter

Welcome to the second edition of the SalesLabs monthly newsletter. Every first Monday of the month, I share what happened at SalesLabs in the previous month, what worked or didn't work, and the lessons learned.

I also share what's coming next, a few resources that I can't keep for myself and my tip of the month. If you want to receive this newsletter in your email, you can signup here.

Enjoy!

January Wrap Up

Where did January go?

I am back from Mexico and I can't believe January is already behind us. It was an interesting month for me, mostly because of the results of posting on LinkedIn every single day of the week, with a total of 24 posts. I had 21 calls and meetings, 3 customer workshops and 2 interview recordings for the podcast.

Below is an overview of things and projects that worked:

• I started posting consistently on LinkedIn and the results are impressive. All metrics went up. The number of views of my post went from 23,444 to 50,067, the engagement rate from 1% to 1.46% and my net new followers jumped from 3,927 to 4,619 (almost 18% increase in 30 days)
• I got invited to 4 events, all of them happening in Q1. I also got invited to run an online masterclass with Thomas Weidlich
• I tested a post type (lead magnet) that worked well. You can check it here if you want to try it

My LinkedIn monthly performance, I use Shield Analytics.

Let's stop bragging for a while. A few things didn't work so well:

• As I started posting on LinkedIn every day, the number of views per post strongly decreased. My average was around 3K, with posts regularly having 7-8K views. I see a few reasons for that:

I was posting 3 times a week before, there is maybe a dilution linked to that

I was in Mexico for 2 weeks, meaning my posts popped every day between 13:00 and 15:00 CET. The ideal time for me is between 10:45 and 12:00 CET

As I was on holiday, I didn't comment or engage with many posts. Commenting on other people's post is the easiest way to get higher visibility

• My workload seriously increased, resulting in a defocus on important topics. I had to juggle between customer and prospect meetings, podcast recording and content creation
• Posting every day meant I couldn't unplug during my holiday. No clue how to fix that, I guess that's what happens when you have your own business ???♂?

What's coming in February?

• 13th of February: I have been invited by John Ismailoglu for an event on how to create a business that solves problems. I'll be taking a more general approach to business and share what I have seen working with my customers and for me. The event is already sold-out, but you can register on the waitlist here, and you will get notified if there is a free seat. If you really want to attend, answer this email or contact me on LinkedIn, I'll try to get you in
• I have discovered how valuable creating and sharing content can be. February will be focused on building two sales training programs around social selling and full sales cycle management. I'll be sharing snippets of these in my March events

Resources and useful links

As usual, I tried a few tools and resources and was amazed at how easy and cheap it can be to run a business. Enjoy this little selection: 

• Shield Analytics. A great tool built by Andreas Jonsson and his team in Copenhagen. If you want to get serious about content on LinkedIn, you should check it out
• I did a list of 9 tools that I use for sales. Go check them here
• I have created a guide to bulletproof your sales targets. Check it here
• And finally, the recording of my keynote on how to use LinkedIn for lead gen

Tip of the month

If you or your team are booking meetings over the phone, a healthy event to organize is called Power Hour.

A Power Hour is a competition for sales teams when an activity boost is required.

Here’s my 5-points checklist to run a successful Power Hour: 

1. Gather your SDRs and AEs in the same room and make sure they have access to a phone
2. Have your reps prepare a list of leads (with phone numbers) before the power hour. Use Lusha to find numbers
3. Create a clear point system. 1 dial = 1 point, someone answers a dial = 5 points, a discovery call booked = 50 points
4. Keep the scores in real-time on the office TV. Use Hoopla Software or Spinify to keep the scores. If you can’t afford it, build a report in your CRM and share a screencap every 5 minutes in Slack
5. Have a 100 - 250 EUR Amazon voucher for the winner. If you can’t afford it, buy a plant for the winner. After 10 power hours, you will have a green office

Power hours can have a fantastic impact on your pipeline. They are also a great way to implement new learnings through repetition.

Want to chat with me about sales, your business, or just get a fresh look at something you are working on? Then book a quick call with me here.