Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
TimeTrade_STELLAR_Salesperson_eBook
1. Top Tools for “STELLAR”
Salespeople
Qualities of Top Salespeople and Tools to Become One
2. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 2
Tools for STELLAR Salespeople
While becoming a stellar salesperson requires great products and
services, support, good management and hard work, there are also lots
of software tools that can help you become one.
To discover some of the best sales tools, TimeTrade reached out to
top-performing sales managers at blue-chip B2B technology vendors
(including Adobe, Cisco, Google, Kenandy, IDC, ServiceNow, Skillsoft and
Tableau Software) for their personal recommendations.
Here’s a selection of favorite tools suggested by a collection of sales
leaders that can make you a STELLAR salesperson:
LETTER QUALITIES TOOLS
S Smart Yesware
T Thorough InsideView
E Efficient TimeTrade
L Learned Skill Pill
L Listening Altify Sales Conversation Management
A Accountable Right90 Sales Forecast Capture
R Respect LinkedIn
No sales pro wants to be just an “OK” salesperson. Sales
excellence requires a tireless can-do-attitude, steady diligence,
and the development of essential qualities that contribute to
sales success.
To highlight some of the most important elements, “STELLAR”
is an easy-to-remember acronym for qualities of a first-rate
salesperson:
Are you a
“STELLAR” Salesperson?
Smart
Thorough
Efficient
Learned
Listening
Accountable
Respect
3. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 3
The adjective “smart” is a term that’s often used, but rarely agreed upon
by sales managers. Expanding on Peter Drucker’s classic Management
by Objectives (MBO) approach, and later codified by George T. Moran
in 19811
, “S.M.A.R.T.” is a memorable mnemonic acronym that sets key
criteria by which employees are evaluated and managed:
• SPECIFIC
• MEASURABLE
• ACHIEVABLE
• REALISTIC
• TIME-FRAMED
“S.M.A.R.T.” has long been a helpful way to set and track sales goals and
objectives. Additionally, since 2006 Nancy Nardin has run Smart Selling
Tools, a practice and helpful website that tracks and reports on the
best sales software and marketing solutions for generating leads and
increasing revenues. Each year, the arrival of Nancy’s comprehensive
annual “Top Sales Tools of The Year” Guide2
is eagerly anticipated and
well worth reading.
Among the hundreds of “smart selling” tools Nancy has reviewed, one
product was created by a company founded with the specific goal of
helping salespeople “Sell Smarter”:
Yesware gives salespeople “actionable insights” from emails, calls and
presentation tracking data. Billed as an “all-in-one sales toolkit,” Yesware
helps reps effectively connect with prospects, track who opens emails,
analyze which content is working, and close more deals.
Yesware features enable salespeople to sell smarter and faster with
tools such as email tracking (Gmail, Outlook), custom email templates,
email scheduling, inbox reminders, Salesforce integration, presentation
tracking, click-to-call technology, and more.
User Feedback: Peter Filias, customer success manager at Auth0 uses
it for email and attachment tracking and sending out canned emails
based on templates his company has created. Peter describes Yesware’s
integration with Salesforce as “the cherry on top!”
Smart Yesware
www.yesware.com
Yesware prescriptive sales tools (Source: www.yesware.com)
4. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 4
Being thorough and fully prepared during the prospecting and outreach
phases of the sales cycle are essential qualities of a STELLAR B2B
salesperson.
While reps have used tools such as Hoover’s, ZoomInfo, and CRM
applications for years to prepare before reaching out to prospects, the
web has brought lots of new tools that provide detailed information
about what’s going on inside a company. One of those new tools is
InsideView, a market intelligence platform, which its creator says
“powers the world’s business conversations” by helping sales and
marketing teams quickly identify new opportunities and effectively
connect with prospects and customers.
InsideView’s sales effectiveness solution
(InsideView for Sales) helps sellers:
• SAVE several hours every week on research
• ACCESS information on companies, industries, competitors and
more
• KNOW exactly how they—or colleagues—are connected to
prospects
• IMPROVE conversion rates with more compelling and customized
pitches
• USE data and real-time market insights to speed up the sales cycle
• EMBRACE social selling strategies
• STAY on top of personnel changes, company events, and market
activities
• IDENTIFY growth opportunities and influencers for account
expansion
• BECOME experts in new industries, market segments or territories
In June 2016, InsideView added Tech Profiler—a new dataset identifying
which of 2,100 technologies are being used at 525,000 global
companies. Its API offers two different “calls”: which technologies are
being used at a given company; and discovering companies that deploy
specific tech platforms. This capability will be especially attractive to IT
consultants, service providers, technology vendors (hardware, software,
etc.), as well as solutions based on popular platforms (e.g., Amazon
AWS, SAS ERP, or Salesforce.com). Tracy Kinsey, Dynamics CRM online
territory manager for Microsoft, sees this as “the difference between
targeting the best prospects versus spending the time prospecting in
the dark.”3
Thorough InsideView
www.insideview.com
InsideView Tech Profiler (Source: www.insideview.com)
5. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 5
Ask any sales manager and they’ll tell you that efficiency and
effectiveness are crucial skills for top producers.
Consider some of these key statistics:
• SALES productivity is the #1 challenge for 65 percent of B2B
organizations. (The Bridge Group)
• TWO-THIRDS of sales reps fail to meet quota. (Aberdeen)
• MOST sales reps spend the equivalent of at least 50 full days away
from core selling activities each year. (Domo)
• 44 PERCENT of sales executives think their organization is
ineffective at managing the sales pipeline, yet companies with
effective pipeline management grow 15 percent faster. (Vantage
Point Performance)4
Efficiency + Effectiveness are the key ingredients for the third “E”
in sales:
Enablement, the goal of which is to ensure that reps close more deals,
more quickly and drive revenue.
Creating better buyer connections will yield “stronger sales enablement
results,” according to Aberdeen’s analysis of major obstacles to driving
sales. By its estimation, 99 percent of “best-in-class” companies use
sales enablement solutions and the use of those solutions will increase
quota attainment by 50 percent.5
Strong connections with buyers are best made through in-person,
phone or online (e.g., Skype) appointments they have with salespeople.
Those meetings afford an ideal opportunity for sales reps to conduct
meaningful conversations with prospects and customers to understand
their needs and expectations, to share how their products and services
meet those requirements, to explore options, and drive the sales
process forward from browsing to buying. Unfortunately, as both
salespeople and prospects know: the traditional process of booking a
mutually convenient time to talk is inefficient at best, and too often is
painful and frustrating for both parties.
In the new era of “customer-centric business” and inbound marketing,
old-fashioned sales techniques have fallen by the wayside. Salespeople
don’t like to make cold calls and most customers despise receiving
them. Given that only 2 percent of cold calls result in an appointment6
,
salespeople need to find a better way to reach decision makers.
Efficient (and Effective) TimeTrade
www.timetrade.com
Schedule an appointment
with TimeTrade
(Source: TimeTrade.com)
6. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 6
TimeTrade Online Appointment Scheduling replaces the conventional
back-and-forth game of scheduling a day and time to meet (via email
or voicemail tag), through a streamlined process that mutually benefits
sales pros and their prospects/customers:
• CREATES conversations that drive sales
• SALESPEOPLE can focus on holding conversations, not chasing
appointments
• INCREASES sales bookings up to 28 percent
• ACCELERATES the sales cycle—converting leads into confirmed
prospect meetings rather than just a list of contacts salespeople
will have to qualify
• HELPS salespeople land more first meetings faster and more
effectively than your competitors, giving you first-in-the-door
advantage
• 40 PERCENT faster time-to-close
• HELPS those who want to get on your schedule by providing
anywhere, anytime customer self-service scheduling
• ENSURES a quality, personalized customer experience
According to Aberdeen research drawn from a survey of 295 corporate
sales teams, online appointment scheduling users see:
• IMPROVED understanding of prospect/customer buying behaviors
• AUTOMATION of processes within the sales cycle
• IMPROVED workflow for the last mile of selling
• THE PROCESS of proposing, presenting, quoting and negotiating
sales deals is less cumbersome
• EVERY customer interaction counts: Companies that use online
appointment scheduling are 58 percent more likely than other
firms to marry their focus on sales cycle shortening with making
the most out of a smaller number of interactions
• BOTH parties have an opportunity to make contact and move
deals forward with less friction.7
Managers see
all scheduled
appointments
(Source:
TimeTrade.com)
Instant appointment confirmation
(Source: TimeTrade.com)
7. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 7
Learned Skill Pill
www.skill-pill.com
“Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and
advancement.” – Peter Drucker
“When I hit the wall I go learn something new. That picks me up and
gets me going again.” – Ken Krogue
These quotes from respected thought leaders underscore the
importance for salespeople to be lifetime learners. In an ever-shifting
marketplace where competitors are always nipping at your heels, you
must do all you can to build up compelling, sustainable differentiators
that set you apart. Developing new skills, keeping up with the latest
innovations and approaches in your industry, and learning something
new every day will help keep you ahead of the competition.
Daily learning doesn’t require that you go back to school full time to get
an MBA, only that you dedicate a little of your valuable time to making
yourself better, smarter and more powerful.
Since top salespeople are time strapped and often on the go, finding
the time and a place to become more knowledgeable used to be very
challenging. Fortunately, the popularity of YouTube videos and the
widespread adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices have
led to anytime, anywhere learning.
24X7 Learning, developer of custom content and eLearning for major
corporations including Samsung, JPMorgan Chase, Carlsberg, and Levi’s,
cites four reasons to train your sales team with mobile learning8
:
1. CONSISTENCY in training/learning
2. JUST-IN-TIME learning
3. SAVE training costs and save time
4. EFFICIENCY
Among the growing number of developers of helpful new learning tools
is Skill Pill. Founded in 2007, Skill Pill produces engaging and impactful
just-in-time learning and distributes it via mobile devices, tablets and
PCs. Incorporating content from global business partners including
Pearson Education, John Wiley, and the London Business School, Skill Pill
delivers learning through animated videos, mobile apps, social tools and
gamification.
Its creative approach gives executives and salespeople bite-sized
refreshers of knowledge (dubbed “Skill Pills”) on topics related to
day-to-day business tasks. Via iOS and Android apps, Skill Pill offers
personalized content based on what individual users have liked/
found most interesting in the past (kind of like a “Netflix for learning”).
Incorporating quizzes, games and a personal ‘learning diary,’ Skill Pill
helps individuals conveniently access content and knowledge on the go.
Skill Pill is especially valuable to sales organizations, as the app enables
users to share and discuss content with their team, get instant feedback
through interactive polling, and compete with their colleagues.
8. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 8
Listening Altify Sales Conversation Management
www.altify.com
“By far the best way to influence people is to start by really listening
to them.” – Charles H. Green
“Don’t be a crocodile salesman. You know, big mouth, no ears.”
– Mark Suster
The day-to-day process of sales can often get complex, and as Greg
Klingshim of SalesLoft wrote:
“Sometimes we all need to slow down and reflect to make sure we’re
doing what’s best for our customers, which doesn’t include rambling
about your product. Some of the best lessons are those we learned
earliest. Like the importance of listening. Without it, there’s sure to
be disparity between you and your prospects and customers. You’ve
got to dig deep and understand what you can do to truly change your
customer’s lives. And it all starts with letting them be heard.”9
Grant Cardone (author of Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business
and in Life) sees listening as a key quality that sets successful sellers
apart. Great salespeople, from Cardone’s viewpoint, “listen more than
they speak, getting an understanding of the customer’s needs and
then finding a solution. In listening more than talking, you can better
accommodate what they are looking for.”10
There are myriad resources to teach strategies for active listening,
salespeople who get the most out of listening are those who put
customers at the center of their operations. Embedding sales
knowledge, customer context, and data into their applications and
daily activities helps sales teams become more effective and customer-
centric, making them better able to help their customers succeed.
As Altify (formerly the TAS Group) wrote in its white paper “Moving from
Vendor to Trusted Advisor”11
—consultative, collaborative, problem-
solvers are more valuable than ever. To help salespeople improve and
evolve from vendor to credible source to problem solver and, ultimately,
to “trusted advisor,” Altify offers Salesforce-native sales performance
automation and improvement applications that help enable what they
call “real business conversations.”
Altify Sales Conversation Management guides sellers to learn about
customer problems by enabling sellers to ask the right business
questions and listen for commonly shared issues. Customer Insight
Maps allows salespeople to visualize their customers’ business problems
and connect them to insights and sales tools that inform and add value
to every sales conversation.
Altify’s research shows that customers don’t want to talk to salespeople
who don’t understand their business. Only 38 percent of first meetings
result in a follow-up meeting because the sellers don’t add enough value
to the conversation. In the U.S., sellers each waste $38,635 on average,
per year on meetings with prospects that didn’t progress.
Given that, Altify notes that buyers reward sellers who:
1. UNDERSTAND where they are starting from
2. EXPAND their understanding of their business problem
3. PROVIDE valuable insights into the business and the market
4. CONNECT the buyer’s priorities to specific solutions12
9. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 9
“My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but
doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next
moment.” – Oprah Winfrey
According to The Next Level Sales Consulting (a sales and customer
service training firm): Accountability is the “fifth tenet of sales success,”
after Commitment, Best Practices, Coaching, and Execution.
The Next Level counsels its clients to hold sales managers accountable
for driving performance in key areas and to “create urgency around the
most critical metrics.” The company believes promoting visibility of those
metrics throughout an organization by sharing team members’ results
(through conference calls, by email, in one-on-one goal-setting meetings
and through scoreboards), is a key to performance improvements.13
Assisting sales managers to ensure their reps are accountable, Right90
Sales Forecast Capture is positioned as “software made for sales
management, period.” Designed for companies with large, complex sales
organizations, this is a sales forecasting and analytics software solution
offered by Right90.
Right90 Sales Forecast Capture enables sales managers to increase
sales collaboration and promote accountability while driving more
thorough and accurate sales forecasts quickly and on-demand. Sales
managers benefit by spending less time forecasting and more time
increasing sales participation. Companies that have deployed Right90
(in manufacturing, professional services, consumer goods, energy and
other sectors) report improved margins and cash flow, with customers
seeing superior product pricing, availability and feature deliveries.
Right90 is built on an intuitive, Excel-like interface and includes a key
capability called the RightCaster Wizard to make forecasting simpler.
Sales teams will appreciate that it offers data import and out-of-the-box
integration with Salesforce.com or Oracle CRM On Demand. Through
those connectors users can enter, review and analyze forecast data
from a tab integrated within the user interface of their CRM systems,
and Right90 forecasts automatically update price and quantity values, so
their Salesforce or Oracle reports will reflect them accurately.
Right90 client Stéphane Bourles (IT director for Thomson’s Grass Valley
Business Group) describes Right90 as “key for us because it helps us
anticipate revenue for the coming months, so we can adjust our costs in
response.” Bourles sees the ability to forecast accurately as “an absolute
necessity for any company that wants to be profitable.”
Accountable Right90 Sales Forecast Capture
www.right90.com
Right90 Sales Forecast Capture (Source: www.right90.com)
10. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 10
“With each person we meet, our goal is to earn the right, privilege,
honor and respect to meet with that person again.”
– Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter
Rodney Dangerfield’s most famous gag line “I’ll tell ya… I don’t get no
respect,” resonated with audiences who shared his experience and
frustration. When others don’t respect us, it’s not only painful personally,
but in a business setting, it can directly and negatively impacts sales.
In the world of sales, when prospects don’t respect salespeople they
don’t become clients!
Of equal importance, salespeople should always remember that respect
is a two-way street. By treating leads, customers, partners and others
respectfully, sales executives in turn win the trust and respect of those
they care about.
Observation and study of that simple truth led Jacques Werth to
conclude that those sales practitioners who develop mutual trust,
mutual respect and mutual commitments represent the ultimate
competitive advantage. This inspired him to write and teach others what
he calls “high probability selling” (through a company of the same name
he’s run since 1989).
Werth’s analysis of numerous university and market research studies
revealed that the five most important buying factors for people making
significant purchases are (in rank order):
1. LEVEL OF TRUST in the Salesperson
2. LEVEL OF RESPECT for the Salesperson
3. REPUTATION of the Company or Product
4. FEATURES of the Product or Service
5. QUALITY and Service14
According to Werth, many typical salespeople attempt to establish trust
and respect through building rapport, which is manipulative and not
mutually beneficial.
How then can STELLAR salespeople best win prospects’ trust and
respect and meet their most important buying criteria?
THE ANSWER? Respectful Social Selling (with help from LinkedIn)
With the growth of the web and social media, the sales process
increasingly has moved online—impacting buyers and sellers alike while
creating a new category of sales: “Social Selling.”
Social selling leverages your professional brand to fill your pipeline with
the right people, insights and relationships.
More than any other company, LinkedIn has established itself as the
leader in social selling, through its purposeful online professional
network with more than 433 million members in 200 countries and
territories.
With total 2015 revenues in excess of $1 billion and more than 2,000
customers worldwide, ServiceNow, the enterprise cloud company, is
Respect LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
11. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 11
an excellent example of a company that practices and benefits from
respectful social selling. As SVP of worldwide sales at ServiceNow, Kevin
Haverty and his team increased sales 47 percent year-over-year, helped
in part by their use of LinkedIn—described by Haverty as “our most
valuable external sales tool.”
No matter which role an individual plays, from a sales development
rep to an inside sales rep, up to a manager, director or VP—LinkedIn
has great value for sales practitioners. Whether by signing up for a
free LinkedIn account, or paying for a more-feature rich LinkedIn Sales
Navigator account (Professional Edition for individuals or Team Edition),
LinkedIn is a powerful research, networking and marketing tool for sales.
At its core, LinkedIn helps salespeople find and engage with people
and companies of interest, while also “getting found” by others who
may see individual salespeople/their products and services as relevant
and possibly valuable to them. It also gives salespeople an effective
way to brand themselves online as subject-matter experts and trusted
advisors.
Four great ways LinkedIn helps salespeople:
1. LINKEDIN PROFILES, company pages and premium insights
provide current detailed information about individuals and their
employers. Don’t just think of this as a way to research and qualify
prospects—ensuring that your own LinkedIn profile describes
your career and your company with search-engine optimized
language will drive people to look at your qualifications.
2. LINKEDIN CONNECTIONS enable you to build and grow a referral
network of people you know and who know your worth.
3. LINKEDIN MESSAGING and InMail enable respectful one-to-one
communication with leads, customers, partners and others
with whom you share something in common (e.g., a group
membership).
4. LINKEDIN OFFERS an assortment of ways to build and enhance your
personal brand by publishing your original content: Sharing an
update on your profile, joining groups and then commencing or
adding to conversations in those groups, publish a post to Pulse
(LinkedIn’s free publishing platform), upload and share PowerPoint
presentations, documents and infographics through LinkedIn
SlideShare.
With the June 2016 announcement of Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn,
sales organizations that operate on Microsoft’s Office 365 and Dynamics
CRM platforms and productivity products are likely to see forthcoming
benefits through the merger of the two companies.
In their eBook “Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code,” Jill Konrath and Ardath
Albee detailed how to use LinkedIn on a daily basis to nurture and close
leads. From their survey of more than 3,000 salespeople, Konrath and
Albee observed that “top sellers” were active users who:
• CREATED and maintained complete LinkedIn profiles thoughtfully
crafted for readers.
• CONSISTENTLY used LinkedIn six or more hours per week.
• USED LinkedIn’s search capabilities to identify potential contacts,
expand contacts at existing accounts, and create targeted
prospect lists.
• KEPT a constant “light touch” by sharing their expertise through
LinkedIn groups and posting relevant content.14
13. Top Tools for “STELLAR” Salespeople 13
FOOTNOTES:
1 Doran, G. T. (1981). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”. Management Review (AMA FORUM) 70 (11): 35–36.
2 Nardin, Nancy (2013-15) “Top Sales Tools of The Year” Guide (Smart Selling Tools)
3 “INSIDEVIEW EXPANDS MARKET INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM” MadMarketer.com (Andrew Bindelglass) May 26, 2016
http://www.madmarketer.com/topics/news/articles/421529-insideview-expands-market-intelligence-platform.htm
4 “How to Leverage Sales Efficiency and Sales Effectiveness” – Key Stats, June 2015, KnowledgeTree.com
https://www.knowledgetree.com/blog/2015/06/how-to-leverage-sales-efficiency-and-sales-effectiveness/
5 “Better Buyer Connections = Stronger Sales Enablement Results”, March 2015, Aberdeen Group
6 Source: Leap Job 8 via Atwood, Jake “20 Shocking Sales Stats That Will Change How You Sell”
http://www.slideshare.net/JakeAtwood1/20-shocking-sales-stats/8-Only_2_of_cold_callsresult
7 “Online Appointment Scheduling Enables Enhanced Sales Effectiveness through a Better Customer Experience,” August 2012, Aberdeen Group
8 Four Reasons to Train Your Sales Team with Mobile Learning,” Edwin, Hera, November 2014, Learning
http://24x7learning.com/blog/4-reasons-to-train-your-sales-team-with-mobile-learning/
9 “Nineteen Sales Gut Checks: The Importance of Listening” (Klingshim, Greg), Salesloft Blog October 2013
https://salesloft.com/resources/8) blog/2013/10/19-sales-gut-checks-importance-listening/
10 Grant Cardone, quoted in “The 20 Traits of Great Salespeople” (Giang, Vivian), American Express Open Forum, May 9, 2012
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/the-20-traits-of-great-salespeople/
11 “Moving from Vendor to Trusted Advisor” White Paper, Altify—The Future of The TAS Group
http://www.slideshare.net/The_TAS_Group/moving-fromvendortotrustedadvisor
12 “Altify Sales Conversation Management,” Altify.com
http://www.altify.com/sales-platform/sales-conversation-management/
13 “Five Steps to Sales Success” The Next Level Sales Consulting
http://www.nextlevelsalesconsulting.com/sales-success.php
14 “The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: Trust and Respect” (Werth, Jacques) High Probability Selling
http://www.highprobsell.com/articles/competitive_sales_advantage.html
