The best coaching session that my team had was when I was the Director of Inside Sales at an educational software company. One day, out of the blue, the CEO called me to ask if he could “coach” 4 of my Inside Sales team members. He wanted me to select two top producers and two under-performing team members. His plan was to spend 1 hour with each Rep.
He did 3 things that made for a great learning experience for my team and a lasting impression for me, as a manager.
Lead by example. The CEO started each of the sessions by making phone calls. He wanted each team member to see how he approached a first call with decision makers. He didn’t let any of the prospects know that he was the CEO. He made several calls, while the Inside Rep took notes. After the first few calls, the Inside Rep was given the opportunity to make calls. Back and forth this process went, for the entire hour.
Have a goal for your session. The goal for each team member and the CEO was to generate a meeting/ further conversation with the prospect to uncover need and interest. The CEO threw down the gauntlet. Who would get the most meetings, during the hour coaching session? The CEO beat only 1 team member.
Make it “win-win”. The purpose of the coaching session was to give the CEO a better understanding of the challenges that the Inside team faced, every day. He also provided team members with insights on how they might improve their messaging and responses to questions. At the end of the coaching period, the CEO came to my office and told me that he learned a lot:
He didn’t realize how difficult it was to get to decision makers on the phone and the number of dials it took to do so.
The team was far more advanced and knowledgeable than he had imagined.
The energy and spirit of the team was very positive and supportive.
He thoroughly enjoyed the session and if time permitted, he would come back.
I asked the team members how they felt about the session. Hands down – everyone loved it. While, initially they were nervous, by the end they felt like they had learned from the top sales guy at the company. They also felt appreciated and understood.
Coaching sessions should be about improving performance and upping the game. They should motivate and thrill team members. Establish the goal of the coaching session, lead the team by example and plan to be amazed by your team. This will be a “win-win” process for everyone involved.
Driving Sales Funnel growth, meeting revenue objectives, and getting sales teams to meet or exceed sales metrics are among the many challenges faced by our clients. Quite often, these problems are self-inflicted. Large salaries and commissions provide little incentive for sales teams to achieve the metrics that drive Sales Funnel and revenue growth.
In order to meet your targets, you need to introduce a compensation plan that encourages the appropriate behavior and provides the right incentives for your team to work towards their goal. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the activities that drive Sales Funnel and revenue growth. KPIs that fail to be established or met, will result in a loss for your target revenue. Example KPIs for Inside Sales might include:
Key conversations with prospects that establish pain & fit. Without frequent conversations with prospects, there will not be enough activity to grow the sales funnel.
A Sales funnel that is in excess of 3X the revenue objective. We suggest that clients analyze the sales funnel activity from the past 3-6 months to determine their closing ratios. Some of our clients have only required a sales funnel of 1.5X their revenue objective, while others have needed a funnel of 5X, to ensure that their targets were met.
A pre-established number of demos. We suggest that our clients determine the ratio of demo presentations to closed deals, to establish this metric. One of our clients found that 75% of demo presentations generated closed deals. For this specific client, demos were very important and became a top metric for their Inside Sales team.
What is the best way to ensure that team members meet or exceed their KPIs? Fifteen years of experience and association with over 100 companies, has led us to this answer. The answer: Build a compensation plan with three distinct components: Base Pay, Performance Bonus, and Commission.
Three Components of a Perfect Compensation Plan
Base Pay: Companies with a high base salary often have poor performance within their sales teams. Base salary should accommodate a decent quality of life within said region. Base Salary should not be able to provide “luxury” items, keeping incentive for the team to meet their established KPIs.
Performance Bonus: Compensation plans must provide a pay-for-performance component to encourage appropriate team behavior.
For example: if the monthly KPIs include a specific number of Key Conversations, Sales Funnel growth, and Demos, the representatives should receive a monthly performance bonus for meeting or exceeding these established KPIs. Performance bonuses work very well to ensure that KPIs are met.
Commission: Commission should reflect the achievement of KPIs.
For example: suppose that 5% is the highest commission rate given at 100% of quota. If a team member has met 100% of quota and 100% of their KPIs, they should receive the highest commission rate. If not, the commission rate should reflect their achievement of quota and established KPIs.
Appropriate “Selling” behaviors develop when compensation plans are structured around KPIs and Sales Funnel growth.
You can find more information like this on the SOMAmetrics website under resources. Or click here to schedule a call if you would like to speak with one of our associates regarding creating a perfect compensation plan.
During my career and at most of the companies that I have supported, I noticed a strange cycle that occurred at the end of every month and especially at the end of every quarter. At these times, Sales completely ignored the Teleprospectors’ SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads). The worst time was at the end of every quarter when SQLs would not be called until 15 days or longer after they were passed to Sales. My managers and I started to track this cycle which we called the “Care Factor.”
We dubbed it so, because field reps were very interested in (cared about) SQLs during the first weeks of every month and the first month of every quarter. In contrast, they ignored SQLs during the last week of every month and the last month of every quarter. During the last month of the quarter, after the 15th day, the field wouldn’t touch any new SQL until at least for a few days after the quarter ended. This was often as long as two full weeks after the SQL was passed. By then, the SQLs were stale. Stale SQLs require requalification.
We had a SQL follow-up rule in place for the field. SQLs needed to be contacted within 48 hours; however, there wasn’t one Regional VP of Sales who cared about this rule at the end of the quarter. Our company, like most, suffered from the ”hockey stick” factor; a few deals close at the beginning of a quarter while most deals are closed at quarters end (spiking up, like a hockey stick). The “hockey stick” factor caused the field to be super busy with trying to pull in revenue. They had no time to review potential opportunities (SQLs). The combination of these two factors, “hockey stick” and “Care Factor,” created a vicious cycle that impacted pipeline and revenue growth.
I developed a solution to the “Care Factor” problem. Each regional sales office should assign one person to review SQLs as they come in. SQLs should go to the sales rep that has the bandwidth to work the deal at the time the lead is passed over. It is far better for your company to be responsive to the needs of your prospects than to let quality SQLs slip away or to stall due to lack of timely follow-up. If you must, create a commission sharing model to keep the peace among your field reps.
In the end, your company will build quality sales pipeline a lot faster. The Teleprospecting resource will be used efficiently, as time will be spent garnering new SQLs vs. re-qualifying old SQLs. The benefit to your company will be a consistent flow of opportunities to your sales pipeline which will mean more revenue each and every quarter.
How Does the Care Factor Impact Revenue?
Constant requalification of leads is a waste of limited resources. Most companies don’t have enough Teleprospecting horse-power to support their sales organization. Rather than going after new prospects, Teleprospectors are then required to regularly re-qualify solid SQLs that have already been contacted and previously qualified. This requalification prevents a steady stream of new SQLs to Sales.
The SQL-to-Sales Funnel quota will be impacted.
The Field teams’ delay in follow-up gives prospects the impression that your company is not responsive. C-level executives take time to answer the Teleprospectors questions and/or give them the right person to contact. The delayed response makes your company look bad due to the slow follow-up by Sales. I have heard from clients that many of their deals were lost due to lack of Sales responsiveness.
Growth of the sales funnel is hampered as quality SQLs are delayed. In some cases, SQLs won’t make the funnel because of the delay in follow-up. The delayed funnel growth has a direct impact on when deals will close.
Manage all SQLs well, no matter when they come into your sales funnel. In doing so, your prospects will feel that your team is responsive and effective. Your Teleprospecting resources will be used effectively and won’t have to re-qualify stale leads. In the end your company will have consistent sales funnel growth.
Many of the companies that we have been asked to “turn-around” had executive teams that were without hope. Despair and lack of faith were the emotions of the day, resulting in a missing sense of community and a negative corporate culture. These executives couldn’t see a way out and had no vision for the future.
Recently, I was asked to do a GAP audit (Growth, Accountability and Performance) for one of our clients. The CEO was at his wits end with the numerous challenges that he had to address. Some of his challenges included:
A “me-too” product that was launched very late in the game and without key features that would make it a compelling solution
An ineffective Sr. Management team whose focus was on what the other guy wasn’t doing leading to an eroding corporate culture
A sales funnel that wasn’t nearly large enough to support the company’s revenue objectives
A non-existent strategy for developing the sales funnel
The perception of an “in-crowd”. Every senior manager felt like the CEO was favoring the “other guys”
The atmosphere at the company was so bad it was palpable. The senior management team was without hope and no one on the team could share with me their thoughts for improving the situation. Team members were in a state of panic. Corporate culture was basically non-existent.
When there is no hope, it is difficult to get out of a bad situation. When communication breaks down, there is no way to have meaningful discussions. When team members view each other as the enemy, alignment of thought is almost impossible.
Here are 8 things that you can do to massively improve morale and turn your company into a successful, high-performance, high-energy culture of respect and success:
Admit that there is a problem. Burying your head in the sand while this negative activity continues will not help you improve your corporate culture. If you have a lot of finger-pointing and bad vibes amongst your team, you need to nip it in the bud and now.
Find a conference room that you can spare for 6-8 weeks. This room will become your success room; much like the cabinet war rooms that Churchill and his team operated during World War II. I refer to this space as your success room, because this is the place that your team will use to map out a turn-around strategy. The success room is the place where your senior managers will meet, twice a day, to hash out the issues and map out a recovery plan. This room should be available only for this team and for the period of time outlined.
On the first day, have your Success Team map out all of their complaints, grumblings, upsets and write these on the white board. I highly recommend that you use an outside facilitator to help coach your team through this difficult process, as this allows objectivity and avoids accusations of ‘favoring’.
Once all of your key issues have been identified and listed on the board, use brainstorming sessions to outline possible solutions to each of the problems. Everyone on the team needs to be part of these sessions throughout the time allotted.
Once you have identified your Goals, Objectives and Strategies, assign team members tasks that will move your company out of the problem(s) and into a viable solution(s). There will be many tasks, as you uncover the issues. Make sure that the tasks are broken into do-able daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly chunks. Highlight the tasks, as they are completed. Everyone will need to assume responsibility for achieving their tasks on time. If a task is going to slip, the person responsible should let everyone know, ASAP. The team should ask why the task(s) can’t be completed on time. Perhaps they need additional resources (brainstorm on how to get these) or more information (brainstorm on where to gather this information). Whatever the case, there will be no hiding out. Get the information to the team and resolve the issue with the team.
Have each team member write down what they appreciate about your company’s corporate culture and each of their team members. You can do this on the board or distribute “thank-you” cards for each team member, so they know that they are valued by their colleagues. While this may sound like a silly exercise, it does work. When people feel appreciated, even a bit, it frees their energy so that they can focus.
Hold 2 success room sessions each day, for the period allotted (I recommend a period of 4-8+ weeks). In the morning, meet to ensure that everyone is in alignment with the plan and discuss items that need to change or be moved out to a later date, as above. During the afternoon session, ask team members to list any challenges or issues that may keep them from being successful. Some of your strategies may need to be re-worked. That’s ok. Be willing to keep going until you get it right. The more your team effectively communicates with each other, the better the communication will become.
Make everyone in the room responsible for sales. Revenue can’t happen if the product isn’t right or if there isn’t enough demand generation to build a viable sales funnel. Revenues will be lost if customers move away from your company to your competitors. Everyone needs to have an idea of how you will hit or exceed your quotas. Everyone must contribute to supporting the Head of Sales to ensure that the company meets its growth goals.
This process will be tough going at first. Over the weeks and months (hopefully no more that 2 or 3 months) your team will learn to trust each other, communicate more effectively and take responsibility for making a positive contribution to your company. The uplift in atmosphere will improve your corporate culture, thus elevating moral and productivity. Where there is hope and energy, there is fire. That fire will transform your company’s corporate culture.
For the most part, my experience has been in the design and implementation of Teleprospecting organizations for companies that sell complex technology solutions. During my years as a consultant and employee, I have developed a set of Best Practices that enable Teleprospecting teams to successfully drive Sales Funnel growth. Essentially, there are 6 Teleprospecting Best Practices that I have found to be the most effective:
Marketing and Sales should be focused on the Sales Funnel. The Sales Funnel is King! Marketing and Sales should both be responsible for building a quality Sales Funnel. These two departments need to work together and agree on the lead qualification criteria and other key metrics that will ensure that a quality Sales Funnel is being built and is consistently growing. Both teams should be responsible for the quality of sales qualified leads (SQLs) since they are the source of a healthy Sales Funnel that produces revenue growth. Therefore, the implementation of a process for tracking the quality of SQLs is a key factor to the growth of the Sales Funnel.
Hire experienced staff. In most cases, the Teleprospecting team is the first contact that prospects will have with your company. It is therefore counter-intuitive to put your most junior people on the front lines. They have neither the experience to navigate the complexities of a complex solution nor the ability to speak with Senior Level Executives. Furthermore, since Teleprospecting has been around for nearly 30 years, “Seniors” are readily available. Hire experienced people and you won’t regret it.
Focus Teleprospectors on one solution. You can’t expect your teams, Juniors or Seniors, to be effective if they have to learn and sell multiple Complex Solutions. From my experience, Teleprospectors are more successful when they are focused on qualifying for a specific solution. If your company sells multiple solutions, divvy out responsibilities and focus each person on a specific solution. This focus enables team members to become experts at qualifying for the specific solution and will result in better leads for your sales teams.
Develop and implement Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), or metrics, to manage your team. Effective KPIs can include metrics such as:
Total Key Conversations with prospects who can move the sales process forward
Size of the Teleprospecting Funnel, which should be at least 3X your monthly SQL quota
Achievement of the monthly SQL quota
Effective KPIs are the metrics that directly impact your ability to meet your stated objectives. Total daily dials are important because dials lead to conversations. Key Conversations are more important than dials, because they help to generate the Teleprospectors’ Funnel growth. Know your KPIs and weigh them based on priority of importance (Key Conversations are more important than Dials). Once the KPIs are established, have the team build plans, outlining how they will achieve their assigned objectives.
Develop a Teleprospecting Playbook. A Teleprospecting Playbook is a set of tools that Teleprospectors will use to guide them through the complexities of qualifying for prospect need and interest. The playbook should be written and assembled by people with sufficient knowledge, such as experts from Product Marketing, Marketing, and Sales. It will serve as a consistent source for your Teleprospectors to maintain professionalism while also increasing efficiency.
Build compensation plans that drive desired behavior. Good compensation plans motivate Teleprospectors to excel at their jobs. The role of Teleprospecting is to generate leads that build the Sales Funnel. A good plan will compensate Teleprospectors for meeting a pre-established “approved” lead quota, as well as provide compensation for leads that go into the Sales Funnel. While Teleprospectors aren’t responsible for closing deals, they are responsible for generating quality leads that build a Sales Funnel. Deals that close generate revenue and these deals come from quality leads, therefore Teleprospectors should receive some compensation for their leads that close. When Teleprospectors are paid for the process from the beginning (leads) to the end (closed deals), the quality of leads becomes very important and motivates them to consistently generate viable leads.
Companies that have asked me to turn-around their Teleprospecting teams had initially set up Teleprospecting as an after-thought. None of the companies had these Teleprospecting Best Practices in place. Then, in each of the turn-around situations I implemented these best practices and saw not only the Sales Funnel grow dramatically, but also significant revenue increase.
Sales Performance Inventive Funds (SPIFs) are a great way for Sales Management to motivate their teams. A SPIF is a bonus, paid to Teleprospecting and Sales teams for their achievement of specific goals. SPIFs are paid separately from the commission plan, and can be used to drive specific behavior or achieve specific goals.
In my experience, I was given a specific SPIF budget ($900-$1,200) per quarter and asked to determine the areas that required improvement. Having identified the issues, I would assign a SPIF day and week(s), and gather the team to focus on the issue that requires attention.
Done correctly, SPIFs are a great way to re-energize teams and shift their focus from daily, tedious work. Teleprospectors carry out 50-100 dials per day. Many times they are received with rejection. Team success and confidence can degrade over time. SPIFs create a competitive atmosphere, as spot bonuses are distributed when each objective is reached.
SPIFs are also effective training methods, with team members competing against each other, while collaborating skills and experience.
My most effective SPIFs have aimed to improve the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
C-Level /Key Decision Maker Conversations: These are the conversations that a Teleprospector has with a C-Level Executive or a person who is a key decision maker. Conversations with these prospects tend to improve the quality of leads. These are the people who understand the issues and can provide the best insights into their needs and pain. These leads are most valued by Sales Reps.
Teleprospecting Funnel: Effective Teleprospecting teams are assigned a monthly lead quota. In order to achieve this quota, they will need a list of “potential leads”. These potential leads may have some of the qualification criteria. They, however, are not quite ready to turn over to sales. For example, if the lead quota is 8 per Teleprospector, per month, the list of Potential Leads should be around 3X that number of 24, to ensure that 8 will be turned over to Sales by month end.
Key Conversations: A Key Conversation is a conversation with a person who can provide insights and answer the basic qualification questions that are required to make a lead qualified. The more Key Conversations a Teleprospector has, the more likely they will meet their monthly lead quota.
While dials are important – Teleprospecting is a telephone job – they are not directly responsible for Sales Funnel and revenue growth. KPIs such as C-Level conversations, Teleprospecting Funnel size and Key Conversations have a more direct impact on lead quality and sales funnel growth. I have, however, used a “Dial-Ramp” SPIF when team dials have dropped by 25-30%. Power-dial days show the team how making more dials can dramatically impact their KPIs.
Make a big deal out of your SPIF days. Create a flyer to announce the SPIF goals and objectives, the rules and hours of “play”. If your budget allows, bring in lunch and take a team lunch break to enable them to share their experiences and early results. I recommend that small bonus amounts, for specific objectives, be paid out hourly. For example, every hour set a Key Conversation goal. The first person to meet that hourly goal would receive a $50 bonus. Then at day’s end, have a big celebration, to celebrate the winners of the hourly bonuses and announce the over-all winner for the day.
The rhythm of your SPIFs will depend on team morale and performance issues. SPIFs shouldn’t be the norm. Rather, they should be used to re-energize the team and improve specific areas of performance.
As I sat at my desk browsing LinkedIn, I came across a Slideshare that was funny and clever and made me laugh out loud. It was about people who complain at work but let me tell you, for Managers, complainers are not fun. Complainers at work can suck the positive energy out of a team and bring morale down in a flash. This is where it is essential for good Sales Management to step in. Here are 6 strategies that I have personally used to refocus complainers at work to get them back on track:
Let them vent. Set up a meeting with your complainers and let them tell you their perspectives about everything that’s wrong with the job. Let them vent about their frustrations and write their complaints down on your whiteboard. Review their complaints and ask the complainers to prioritize the most important issues. Let them know that you believe that there is a solution to every problem (which there is) and you will work with them to resolve the issues to the best of your ability.
Select the top 2-3 issues and create task forces to address these issues. Each task force should be comprised of a group of 3-5 team members. Give the complainers at work a leadership role on some or all of the task forces. The goal of the task force is to brainstorm to find a solution. After the brainstorm session, weed out the ideas that aren’t viable and build a plan around the viable solutions. Present the solutions to the senior executives who, ultimately, will need to approve the plan.
Tell your team to bring their complaints and solutions to you. Once your team sees that you are open to finding solutions to their issues (perhaps you’ll need to run several task forces to build trust), let your team know that you will listen to their complaints and work with the team to find workable solutions.
Create a solutions board. Set up a whiteboard in the team area. This board is a place for team members to outline issues and possible solutions. Once a week, meet your team at the board and review issues and solutions. Prioritize the issues and create a plan (and maybe a task force) to resolve the issues.
Personal complaints need HR support. If your team member is spreading rumors, gossiping about others, or is randomly ranting about unspecified “things,” I recommend that you work with HR to come up with some team building exercises to rebuild morale. When people meet outside of the office, they may gain a new perspective about the people or person that they think they dislike. Set an example of respect and make sure that you respect every team member and show it. Make it clear that every team member is to be treated with respect and dignity.
Hold a team appreciation day. Set aside one day where everyone on the team is appreciated. During the appreciation day, get a big thank you card for each team member. Pass the cards around so that everyone can write statements of appreciation for each team member. If you have 5 team members, you’ll need 5 cards, for example. At the end of the day, each person gets their card. Each person has to think of a positive aspect to write about each team member so once team members receive their cards, they will understand that they are appreciated. This is a very powerful exercise and I have seen amazing results while applying this process.
If the complainers at work are under-performers, take time to provide additional training and support. It is the Manager’s job to help team members meet performance objectives, so ask them to outline where they feel like they need support to grow and provide them with constructive feedback. Good Sales Management means realizing that sometimes complainers need more attention. The additional training and support will help them to be more effective. With this approach, their complaints may decrease as their performance improves. If you work with your team and give them opportunities to find solutions, your complainers will feel valued and see fewer reasons to complain. We are all just people and you need these people (your team) to meet your objectives. In short, “you are all in this together.” Value your team and they will value you and the job!
There are two sides to everything: Ying and Yang, Good and Evil, Black and White, Summer and Winter. Similarly, Sales Management has fun, and not so fun parts. It can be rewarding but also includes making tough decisions. The fun part of Sales Management is working with your team and watching them excel. However, when it comes to dealing with constant lack of performance, you as the manager need to implement change. What are you supposed to do if a team member does not live up to the required standards? Should you fire them? Should you ignore under-performers? I think the answer to this question is pretty straight forward: support your team, in good times and in bad times. In good times and bad, do what is best for THEM. My tip: avoid using performance improvement plans (PIPs)
Performance Improvement Plans – Why I Hate Them
In my 20 plus years managing Inside Sales and Teleprospecting teams, I have had to put a handful of people on what is known in the industry as a PIP, a Performance Improvement Plan. In my opinion, PIPs don’t live up to their name, as they are not about improving an employee’s performance. Rather, a PIP is a process document used to prove that the Manager has tried to help the employee, over a period of 30-90 days. The documentation is a paper trail that is used to protect the company from legal action.
I have read many blogs that call PIPs evil. I agree because they suck the humanity out of the Sales Manager (who really isn’t trying to help an employee improve) and the employee who is being humiliated throughout the process. They also impact the rest of the team, bringing morale down and taking everyone’s focus away from what is important. I, personally, have never seen a PIP work. The reason is that PIPs are not about helping a struggling employee improve performance. Instead, they are a clear indication that they are about to be terminated.
I understand that PIPs are necessary to protect companies from future legal actions. I know that some employees are not going to work out, no matter how great the interview process or background checks. Still, I disapprove of PIPs and for several reasons:
They are humiliating. No matter how hard one tries to keep the PIP process confidential, most people on the team know when someone is on a PIP.
PIPs lower morale. Team members who are not on a PIP have their own opinions about the individual on a PIP. If they like the individual, Management is the bad guy. Even if they dislike the person they may sympathize with them because they have to go through the PIP process. Again, Management is the bad guy. Low trust and respect between Sales management and employees is directly proportional to a lack of motivation and success.
PIPs require Managers to spend time focused on the documentation/paper trail process, giving them less time focusing on managing the team to success. While the PIP event is in play, the “good” team members are, typically, left to fend for themselves, because the manager is heads down focused on the poor performer for the next 30-90-days.
How to Avoid PIPs
I have used two distinct methods for avoiding PIPs. The first one is a GOSPA Plan. The second one is a recruiter.
GOSPA Planning
When employees are given the opportunity to develop their own success plans (see my blog on GOSPA Planning: Goals, Objectives, Strategies, Plans, and Activities) and understand the metrics and consequences for not meeting the metrics, PIPs can be avoided.
For example, say a Teleprospector has the following metrics to meet each month:
– Make a minimum of 800 dials/month
– Have 20 Key Conversations with decision makers
– Build a Teleprospecting lead pipeline of a minimum of 24 potential leads
– Generate 8 qualified leads to pass to Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
– Receive sales approval on at least 6 of these SQLs for addition to their Sales Funnel
The Teleprospector is required to build a quarterly GOSPA Plan, which outlines how they will achieve the above metrics. The manager’s job is to review the GOSPA plan, ensure that it is a viable plan, and to review with the employee what will happen if the metrics are not met each week/month/quarter. Working with the Rep, the manager should discuss the consequences for low performance. Assume that the Rep under-performs on his metrics by 20% for a period of 4 weeks. It should be understood that the manager will take specific action to help the employee improve, such as sitting in on calls or providing coaching on the specific issues. If improvement doesn’t happen within a 90-day period, termination may be the next step. The manager manages all employees to this standard. Everyone is aware of the actions and consequences for not meeting the Goals that the employee outlined in his GOSPA. The required “HR/termination” documentation is an offshoot of this process. No PIP is required.
If sales management holds weekly individual meetings to review performance and achievement-to-date against plan, everyone will know where they are, each and every week. This information is documented as a standard course of managing the team members. The manager’s goal is to quickly identify issues and to really work to help an employee improve, if they are falling behind their stated metrics. When a GOSPA Plan is in place, the employee should be going to their manager if they are having problems, because they developed the plan and know what they are accomplishing or not. In essence, it is their plan and they are responsible for working to the plan as they outlined in their plan.
Recruiter to the Rescue
Many years ago, I was asked to turn-around a call center that was under-performing. The team of eight was struggling to meet the demands of the job. I quickly implemented my Best Practices and was able to get the team moving in the right direction. This took about 6 weeks. Once the team understood what they needed to do and had additional training, they began to generate quality SQLs for the sales team.
Unfortunately, one of the team members was having a difficult time picking up the phone to make calls. The bad news for him was that Teleprospecting is a phone job. While he was very confident about the technology and solution offering, he hated making phone calls. He was the most technical person on the team. I could see that he would make a great customer service rep for some company. I didn’t know how he got hired, but he was a good person and I wasn’t going to humiliate him by putting him on a PIP.
I asked his manager if he knew of any recruiters who might have customer service positions available. The manager got back to me within a few days with a few recruiter names. We called them and asked them to anonymously recruit our team member out of our company.
Within two weeks, our lack-luster team member was in my office. He handed me his letter of resignation, stating: “This is a much better job for me. I like talking to customers; I just don’t like initiating phone calls”.
By utilizing a recruiter to “remove” this person out of this “wrong-for-him” job, I saved our company time, money and kept morale from sinking. It was the most compassionate way to manage this situation. The team member will never know how his manager and I helped to get him the job that was a better fit for him. We did it without humiliating him or impacting team morale.
PIPs are never about performance improvement. If you must put someone on a PIP, do so as a last resort. My best advice is to manage performance, every week based on a plan like GOSPA, that your team is responsible for building. Or use recruiters to move people out of mismatched positions into more suitable positions at a different company. Use compassion when helping people. Your compassion will help you and your team in the long run.
Overview: Learn an effective method for managing your sales team through the development and implementation of task force teams.
Managing people has been, and always will be, a widely discussed topic. Managing Sales Teams is no exception. Should management be a top-down approach, where the manager implements their Best Practices no matter what? Or should management take a bottom-up approach, where employees participate in the decision-making process and are allowed to influence goal-setting and change workflows to the best of their knowledge? What is the best way to improve performance and productivity?
Setting Up Task Force Teams for Sales
Over the past 15 years, I have been asked to turn-around over 50 Inside Sales and Teleprospecting organizations. The method that I used to win over the hearts and minds of each team was Task Force Teams.
After the first week or so in the role, I created task force teams regarding specific issues and concerns that I uncovered during interviews with each team member. I created task force teams on topics such as Key Performance Indicators (the metrics used to manage the team), Commission Rates, Quotas, CRM, Contracts, and other issues deemed important. I asked that team members join one or more of the task forces to resolve the outstanding issues. I also informed them that some of the issues, like commissions and quotas, will need Executive-level sign off and that some issues may not be resolved exactly as we would like. My teams knew that once our recommendations were approved, we would be held accountable for achieving our numbers for the plans we outlined.
I limited participation to 5-7 team members for each of the task force teams. I managed the task forces as follows:
I started with a brainstorm session or two which helped us get all ideas on the board for later review
The ideas review is the next step. During this phase, the task force reviews and eliminates any ideas that are not viable or are less likely to be approved by Senior Management
Task force recommendations are captured in a power-point deck and reviewed by the team prior to the presentation to the manager
Each Task Force Leader presents the approved recommendations to the entire team. It is understood that the approved task force recommendations are to be adhered to by the entire team. In most cases, there have been a 95% or more agreement rate about the recommendations as outlined by the various task force teams
Task Force Teams – Case Study
One of the organizations that I turned-around was the Inside Sales team for a company that had lost half of its clients and had not seen any new customer sales since the recession. The Inside Sales team had not hit their revenue targets in many years.
During the assessment of the organization, I found that the sales team had no metrics that they were measured against and held to. For example, Sales Reps didn’t have quotas. The sales funnel was full of opportunities; however, 80% of these were no longer feasible because there was no sales methodology in place to effectively manage deals through the sales funnel. To complex the issues, team members made fewer than 10 dials per day each. I knew we had to get that number up because this was a phone job and the only opportunity to get more prospects was by calling them. I realized that my Sales Management experience was needed to get this team to achieve their goals and increase revenue.
Working with the task force teams, we decided on a sales methodology and a set of metrics that the team agreed would help them achieve their newly assigned quotas. Everyone agreed to the minimum metrics and worked towards them as a team. At the end of the first year, revenue had increased by 57% and revenue from new prospects had increased by 80%.
However, I don’t always agree with task force recommendations. If their recommendations are way off the mark (from my experience), I work with the team to get their ideas to align with what I know will work. No matter what, the caveat is that if we don’t see improvement within 90-days, we will need to regroup and come up with a better process or set of metrics. This becomes a continuous improvement process in which experimentation is essential. Similarly, Sales Management is not a stagnant process. As the manager of a team you need to be flexible and listen to the suggestions of your employees. Sales Management is about working with your employees and it’s really good when task force members can work together to analyze how their recommendations are working or not. I recommend that these teams review their recommendations and results at the end of each quarter.
Increase Productivity
Many studies have been undertaken on the subject of Sales Management and employee involvement in the decision making process. Most research agrees that participation has positive effects on performance and thus productivity. For example, C. A. L. Pearson conducted an experiment involving two groups of workers: a group where employees were included in goal setting and a control group that executed traditional work procedures. The results indicated not only that those “who were engaged in participative goal setting reported […] greater job satisfaction”, but that “goal setting and performance were positively related.”[1] Similarly, another paper found that “empowered employees largely improve performance by finding innovative ways of correcting errors in service delivery and redesigning work processes.”[2] These findings are in line with my own experience, and show that if you get the buy-ins from your employees, you will see an increase in performance, productivity, and eventually revenues.
Rather than telling the team what to do, I give my teams the ability to determine their destiny. When teams are given the opportunity to provide their input on specific aspects of the job, the manager has their “buy-in,” and team members are more likely to work toward the “team” assigned goals. Why wouldn’t they? It’s their plans and their ideas and therefore their responsibility to make them work. This process has worked for me and has helped my teams greatly improve their performance.
[1] C. L. A. Pearson, “Participative Goal Setting as a Strategy for Improving Performance and Job Satisfaction” (1987), Human Relations Journal, Volume 40 (8), pp 473-488 <http://hum.sagepub.com/content/40/8/473.abstract>
[2] S. Fernandez and T. Moldogaziev, “Using Employee Empowerment to Encourage Innovative Behavior in the Public Sector” (2013), Journal of Administration Research and Theory, Volume 23 (1), pp 155-187 <http://jpart.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/1/155.abstract>
You can find more case studies like this on the SOMAmetrics website under resources. Or click here to schedule a call if you would like to speak with one of our associates.
I believe that all people should be treated with respect. People who believe they are respected, appreciated and valued tend to be happy people. From my experience, employees who believe that they are respected, appreciated and valued are productive and motivated. I believe that it is the job of every manager to respect, appreciate and value their employees. This is what good Sales Management is all about.
When I was the Director of Inside Sales for a large educational software company, I managed a team of 18 Inside Sales Reps and 2 Telemarketers. Many of my team members were at their desks by 5:30 AM Pacific, because they had Eastern territories. I made it a point to walk around their area at 5:45 AM and then again at 7:30 AM, when the rest of the team was at their desks. I did this ritual every day to offer encouragement, answer questions and to let everyone know that I appreciate them. Sometimes I would bring in bagels or donuts and offer these to the team. After a few weeks in my new position, the team began to expect my daily walk-throughs. They were ready with their feedback or progress updates. If someone was down, I would offer encouragement or provide insights on how they might solve a particular problem.
Every quarter, the CEO of this company made it a point to come to our offices and do “call-challenges” with the team. He would sit with each Rep and make calls to their prospects using his opening statement. Then the team member would do the same, using their opening statement or script. He would provide feedback and encouragement throughout the process of making these calls. The goal was to see who was able to move the prospect to the next level. (The CEO never mentioned to prospects that he was the CEO, which would have given him an unfair advantage). The team welcomed his visits and the CEO got a kick out of seeing how each team member handled their prospects. He admitted to me, after these events, that he learned some new tricks. He let the team know that he was impressed by their focus and effort.
The VP of Sales, at the same company, would often ask me what the team needed from him to boost morale and to make them feel appreciated. He would drop by the office as well, providing feedback and congratulating the team when we met our monthly and quarterly objectives.
I saw how important it was to the team to have the Executives visit, and provide their insights and feedback. I decided to ask other Executives from Marketing/ Finance/Legal /Product Management to visit us to discuss campaigns or to address issues on contracts or commissions and to hear about new product functionality. The team loved having the opportunity to meet with the Executives. These meetings gave them the sense that they were valued and respected.
This team was named region of the year for achieving 114% of quota. Our success was due to many factors. However, I believe one important factor was that this team felt the “love” from the company’s Senior Executive team.
My opinion is not only supported by my own experiences, but by many human resource studies. After my research, I can conclude that an overwhelming percentage of literature confirms that respect at the workplace generates not only a more productive working environment, but helps the organization meet its goals. For example, Daniel J. Koys concludes from his literature review that “organizational commitment is positively related to the perception that HRM activities are motivated by (a) management’s desire to show respect for the individual and (b) management’s desire to attract/retain employees”. [1] Similarly, a study of Total Quality Management argues that “Empowerment and teamwork significantly enhance job involvement, job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment.”[2] Commitment and a feeling of belonging create a positive working environment, and if an employee feels like his/her work is appreciated and valued, he/she is more willing to go the extra mile for the company’s well-being.
Create a culture of appreciation. Ask senior executives and mid-level managers to take part in this process. Morale will be high and your teams will, by feeling the “love”, be more productive and engaged at work.
[1] D. J. Koys, “Human resource management and a culture of Respect: Effects on employees’ organizational commitment” (1988), Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Volume 1 (1), pp 57-68. < http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01385453>
[2] N. Karia and M. Asaari, “The effects of total quality management practices on employees’ work-related attitudes” (2006), The TQM Magazine, Volume 18 (1), pp. 30-43
< http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1537485&show=abstract>
Managers, how often have you heard, “I want a new territory!” Unfortunately, most of these team members do not devote any time towards their strategy or objective. Does the problem have to do with ineffective sales management?
Past employers and clients have often appointed my skills to transform Inside Sales and Teleprospecting teams that offer dismal results. To date, I have completed transformations at 56 companies. Every situation displayed the same symptoms. Teams were given a set of objectives and specifics on how to meet said objectives.
Each situation displayed a lack of results and poor morale. Ultimately, the problem was a lack of effective sales management.
Director of Inside Sales
For instance, as a Director of Inside Sales for a $100M Educational Software company, I was appointed to the task of generating incremental revenue from the Inside Sales team. During the second week of my employment, a team member (Ms.B) had already sent in a request to be removed from her current territory, due to her lack of success in the region. Ms.B was a hardworking and competitive individual who had burned out from her inability to fulfill her quota. She held her “bad” territory accountable for her lack of success.
Furthermore, when I examined the plan for Ms.B’s territory; which should have mapped out each district and key personnel, alongside a strategy on how to penetrate each territory, she claimed to have none. Thus, I began to collaborate with Ms.B to create a plan that would allow her to penetrate her existing territory. I reassured her, if there was no growth or positive results within a two-month timeframe, I would transfer her to a “better” territory. This was the end of the year and she had only 2 months to meet her objectives.
The GOSPA Methodology
I presented Ms.B with the GOSPA planning methodology and requested that she obtain some basic details about her territory, such as the total number of districts, key personnel (Directors of Curriculum and Superintendents), etc. After gathering such information, I began to guide her through the GOSPA method. I magnified the importance of keeping this plan short and simple, which would allow her to review and modify, on a daily basis – according to studies, becoming more effective, with each review
We began by mapping out the strategy that would allow her to meet 110% of her quota, keeping her desired commission in mind. Each week, we would regroup and assess her placement according to her GOSPA plan. Over the course of four weeks, she began to recognize that her target objective of, 110% of plan, was too high. Ms.B modified her plan to an objective of 105% of quota. By the end of two months, she reached her quota of 105%, while remaining in the same territory, as well as receiving “President’s Club” membership for the over-achievement of her quota.
GOSPA – Planning for Success
“My way or the highway.”
However longstanding and embedded a statement, this is no longer an effective strategy for management. Companies risk creating a rift between them and their employees. Youthful, budding employees will question the reasoning behind methods that restrict experimentation, while experienced employees will prefer to utilize their own, proven methods with which they are most comfortable. In both situations, allowing the employee to become engaged and access the way that is most effective for them to achieve, their quotas, is more productive and yields greater results when compared to following a rigid set of processes.
Accordingly, you, as the manager, have your own set of priorities and objectives that must be met within each quarter. It is your responsibility to enforce behaviors that will allow your team to achieve their objectives. The more youthful employees may believe their social media, internet, and technology skills are the best techniques to meet their objectives. The more experienced employees will have their own techniques. However, these strategies may not be in line with your target objectives. Although it is your responsibility to assure the productivity and effectivity of your teams, placing strict rules and requirements for certain tasks may make your employees feel constricted and lower morale.
The question remains: “How can my team meet their objectives without the implication of an authoritarian management?”
The answer is GOSPA (Goals, Objectives, Strategies, Plans, and Activities).
GOSPA is a short, 1-2-page planning tool, which outlines specific tasks that will allow each team member to meet their Key Performance Indicator (KPI). As each KPI is met, the probability of meeting each objective also increases. GOSPA has been a longstanding tool for companies to meet their objectives. I was introduced to this concept in 1991, by the Chief Sales Officer for one of my employers, who required each Field Sales and Inside Sales person to build a quarterly GOSPA plan. It was a highly effective tool and I began using this methodology throughout my career.
An effective GOSPA plan aligns employee’s goals and objectives, with the objectives and KPIs of the management team. GOSPA allows each employee to create a plan to meet their objective that best fits their position, giving a sense independence and value by allowing them to contribute in the decision-making process.
Manage Your Team Their Way
The most effective way to manage employees is to allow them to find their own technique towards success. Building a GOSPA plan (which you, as manager, will review) will help employees find their mistakes and correct their actions, and remain accountable for monthly and quarterly results. As a manager, I require all of my teams to build a quarterly GOSPA. When Teleprospectors and Sales Management Teams know their Goals, Objectives, Strategies, Plans, and Activities, you, the manager, can review their KPIs against the plan during your weekly meetings. Now, it is their responsibility to meet and stand by their stated objectives.
During the GOSPA planning sessions, I recommend that the manager and employee create an agreement for the consequence of not meeting stated objectives. Suppose, a team member is unable to reach their GOSPA plan, as an example, you can discuss the methods of additional coaching/support/performance improvements that may be required for the individual to meet their numbers. Advanced planning removes the element of “surprise” for the employee, giving them the push to reach for help and constructively criticize their own performance.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to train the team in the various ways to implement their GOSPA plan. However, you must review each GOSPA for its practicality. Team members often get enthusiastic about GOSPA for its ability to align to their personal goals (my recommendation). For example, let us propose that one of your team members needs a certain amount of commission to purchase a new car. If she aligns her GOSPA to this plan, she will become more motivated to work towards her plan and succeed in her objectives.
Example GOSPA in Sales Management
The following is an example of a draft GOSPA plan to highlight how a rep will begin the GOSPA process. This format has worked well for my team members.
Goal
To Be The Top Producer Of The Sales Department
Objectives
Generate $2 Million in Sales for 2017 or 110% of quota. Earn total commissions of $100K
Strategies
On-Board At Least 5 of Top 25 Lenders, each quarter.
Plans
Identify & Demo to Decision Makers at Top 25 Lenders
Activities
1.Review Trade Magazines to help identify new large customers of top credit unions in the US.
2. Make calls to all of the top credit unions to invite them to a demo.
3. Ensure that I make 50-60 dials per day.
4. Have at least 4 key conversations with influencers or decision makers, every day.
GOSPA – A Powerful Planning Tool
GOSPA planning is most effective when it is applied on a quarterly basis. They should be short and simple, allowing your team to review and modify their plans on a daily basis. However, GOSPA plans should not only align themselves to corporate goals, but also their practicality. If objectives are set too high, there is a higher chance that goals will not be met. As an example, if a team member builds a GOSPA plan to meet 150% of their quota: this is not practical due to the number of calls and emails required for prospect contacts each quarter. Your job, as manager, requires you to examine the practicality of these GOSPAs.
GOSPA is a powerful planning tool. When it is implemented and managed regularly, team members are given more control of their destinies and results. The payoff for managers results in a successful and highly motivated team.
Alicia’s Tip: Use GOSPA to help your team self-manage to corporate expectations. GOSPAs should be based on team member goals, such as the amount of commission they want to earn, each quarter, or awards they want to achieve, such as Teleprospector of the Quarter. Keep the GOSPAs simple and easy to review. Manage your team’s GOSPA’s to ensure that they are realistic and map to corporate goals.
I once worked with the CEO of a $6M SaaS company to turn-around their sales organization. The company had a payments platform and their target was Property Managers who managed commercial and multi-tenant buildings. However, Property Managers are very busy individuals. They are tasked daily with providing support to tenants, maintaining their properties, ensuring that vendors are paid on time, and keeping the books in order. The overarching objectives are to keep tenants happy and make a profit. The challenge for my client was that once a demo was done, they were out-of-sight and out-of-mind to their prospects. This issue negatively impacted the closing ratios for my client where, on average, the sales cycle was over 24-months.
My client had a large number of deals in the Sales Funnel (almost 12X the revenue objective) but the sales team never hit their assigned revenue targets. My job was to change that and within the first quarter of implementing the ideas below, we significantly improved closing ratios and brought the company within 10% of the quarterly target.
The 3 Segments of the Sales Funnel
The way I look at it, the Sales Funnel has 3 distinct segments. These segments include:
Discover: This is the top of the Sales Funnel. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) that meet the established qualification criteria and have been confirmed as “valid” by sales are added to the top of the sales funnel. In this segment, the job of the sales team is to develop prospect pain and educate them on the solution. The conversion rate of deals in the “Discover” segment is lower than the other segments, which demonstrates why the top of the funnel is the largest segment.
Pipeline: This is the middle section of the Sales Funnel. The pipeline segment is where the prospect is given a deeper overview of the solution and how it will benefit them. Typically, this is where a product demo occurs. If well managed, more deals will move to the next segment.
Forecast: This is the bottom segment of the Sales Funnel. The forecast segment contains deals that are in the final stages of being closed. There tends to be fewer deals in this section, as many prospects will fall out of the Sales Funnel as they move through the other 2 segments.
Most of the time, marketing is focused on ensuring that there is enough demand for their solution. They spend their time generating leads for the Sales team, attending shows, creating content, etc. In my experience, my clients spent very little time marketing to prospects in the Sales Funnel. It was the job of the Sales team to stay engaged with their prospects. On the other hand, Sales Reps tend to focus on deals that are in the final stages of closing in order to improve their closing ratios. They have pressure to meet their numbers every month and every quarter and tend to get to the Discover and Pipeline segments only as time allows. Sales Reps are not interested in making multiple phone calls and sending multiple emails to keep this greater number of prospects engaged. Which is where marketing needs to step in! When marketing takes the responsibility for keeping prospects engaged, prospect interest level increases and deals close faster. When marketing builds prospect engagement tools for sales, the prospect stays engaged throughout the entire Sales Funnel. In this case, sales can focus on what they do best: closing deals.
Prospect Engagement Tools
A Prospect Engagement Tool is any information given to a prospect, which requires them to do something in return to demonstrate their continued interest. When a prospect doesn’t utilize your Engagement Tools, it may be an indication that they are not viable. As a Sales Manager, you may want to drill down into these prospects to fully understand their needs and timing. At some point, after a lack of participation, you may determine that the prospect needs to come out of your Sales Funnel. At that point, put them into a nurture program and re-qualify them at some later date. The more engaged a prospect is, the more likely they will make a purchase. These tools will help you to discern interest levels, while keeping your Sales Funnel healthy with worthwhile opportunities. The following are some examples of Prospect Engagement Tools that I have used to keep prospects engaged throughout the Sales Funnel and improve closing ratios:
Discover
At the end of the Teleprospecting process (when a Teleprospector has identified an interested prospect who meets the pre-determined qualification criteria) when the prospect enters the Sales Funnel, I recommend that the Teleprospector send an introduction email which introduces the prospect to her sales rep. The email should also contain a link to a 5-8 minute corporate overview video, highlighting the desired aspects of your company and solution. Put this video behind a landing page so when the prospect fills out the required information (name, company, email, for example), you’ll know that the prospect has also reviewed the video. Alternatively, you can send the email via a marketing automation tool that will automatically track who clicked on the video download link.
Another example of a prospect engagement tool is a brief online survey. Survey questions help you gather information and provide a further understanding of your prospect’s needs and timing. As a reward for completing the survey, the prospect may receive a small honorarium or have access to special content that you provide on a limited basis.
Pipeline
A great engagement tool in this segment is a ROI calculator because the prospect must take time to think about their business and how your solution will save them time and money. Prospects who receive a ROI calculator will have a tool that is easy to use and will enable them to look at the part of their business that your solution supports. They are engaged because they are tasked with adding-in current rates and numbers, which gives them their current costs which they’ll be able to compare to the rates and numbers that your solution provides. If the numbers are good and in your favor, they will stay engaged and your closing ratio will likely improve.
Another Engagement Tool is a product demo. Most of my clients gave demos, however, they failed to provide prospects with a pre-demo survey. The pre-demo survey turns a passive prospect into an active prospect because they have to think about the demo’s outcome. It is also a place where you can further quantify the prospect’s needs and interest. In the pre-demo survey, ask the following questions:
Who will be attending the demo?
What did they learn from the ROI calculator and is there any additional proof they want to see conveyed in the demo?
What issues and concerns do they have regarding ease of use or implementation?
What aspects of the solution do they want to see greater detail?
If the demo meets their requirements, what will the next steps be?
The demo is a proof of concept. Once you have proven the concept and the prospect believes that his needs will be solved, the prospect should be ready to make a purchase commitment.
During both the “Discover and Pipeline” segments, prospects should also receive papers and information that will increase their interest and help inform them to make a decision. This content should be a valuable aid discussing issues and trends that align with your solution. These tools help build trust with your prospects and the more your prospects trust your company, the more likely they will purchase your solution.
Forecast Segment
In the Forecast segment, I use a tool which I call “A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)”. This is a document that outlines the steps the prospect has taken with your company and the benefits your solution will provide. In this document, the cost of the solution is outlined and the committed dates for your prospect’s sign-off (commitment to purchase) are included. The prospect reviews the document and signs it. When the MOU is returned, there should be no surprises as to when the deal will close.
These are just a few examples of prospect engagement tools that I have successfully used to increase closing ratios. To review, the objectives of prospect engagement tools are to:
Keep the prospect engaged throughout the transitions through the Sales Funnel
Provide thought-leadership on industry trends and issues, making your company an industry expert in the eyes of your prospect
Develop prospect need and review the benefits your solution offers
Get prospect commitment for when the deal will close
As the Acting Head of Sales for the SaaS Company above, I had 90 days to significantly impact revenue. Utilizing the SOMAmetrics Sales Best Practices (which included Prospect Engagement Tools), the Sales team came within 10% of its Q4 revenue objective. That was the closest it had been to making its numbers in over 4 years, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the tools. The prospect engagement tools helped re-engage many prospects who had lost interest and were stalled and sitting in the sales funnel.
Sales and Marketing, working together, can build a viable set of Prospect Engagement Tools for each segment of your Sales Funnel. They should be tested and improved over time, remaining dynamic based on your business need. Reigniting prospect interest was one of the key elements that helped us close more deals within the 90-day time-frame I was given to turn-around the sales team. I strongly believe that implementing these tools will work for your company too.
