sales leader pov 2016jun linkedin

Top of Mind Issues for Today’s Sales Leaders

June 2016

Christy [email protected]

www.linkedin.com/in/christyaronson/

Agenda

1. Introduction2. Constructing a sales organization3. Top challenges of a sales leader4. Bridging the gaps5. Guiding principals for transformation6. Roadmap

GO-TO-M

ARKET

ST

RATE

GYCU

LTURE

&

LEADER

SHIP

DEPLO

YMEN

T &

CUST

OMER

ENGAGEM

ENT

PROCE

SS &

TO

OLSM

ANAGEMEN

T

Customer strategyChannel strategyProduct strategy

Field messaging (value prop)Marketing & sales strategy

Develop and execute sales strategies that align to business priorities

VisionBusiness priorities & macro goal setting

Community, collaboration & transparencyLeadership involvement & visibility

Communications & change management

Establish a strong sales culture that is reinforced by leadership

Organization structure & roleCustomer/channel alignment

Account planningLead generation

Marketing/sales alignment

Engage the customer with the right resources and planning

Sales processTerritory/segment management

CRMAnalytics tools

Other enablement tools

Embed the right processes and tools to create a repeatable formula for success

OnboardingTalent developmentReporting & metrics

Activity managementCompensation & recognition

Oversee team performance and development by setting and monitoring goal achievement

Building a Sales Organization

Top challenges of today’s sales leaders

Talent• Sales team lacking the desired skills to be successful in new sales model• Sellers who sell product rather than the value that product delivers• Sellers who can’t have executive level conversations with customers• Managers with limited management capabilities

1

Customer centric strategies are driving the need for upgraded sales capabilities Talent

• Hunters and farmers• Players and coaches (managers)• Product lists with features/benefits• High cost but sometimes poor customer

alignment

Traditional Sales Model Low Cost Sales Model Professional Sales Model

• Transactional sales handled over the phone with mid-to-low value customers

• Marketing and buyer education opportunities online

• Self service capabilities

• Shift to solution sales and selling value• Requires skilled sales people with

industry or functional expertise aligned with executive level buyer

• Managers as change agents rather than “super sellers”

How do we upgrade our talent to address the needs of our customers?

Many companies start with the development of a sales training program Talent

Legend:C = Classroom instructor-led trainingV = Virtual instructor-led trainingO = Online training

But many question the effectiveness and return on investment.

Why?Training is most often viewed as a one-time event, and it isn’t reinforced or embedded in the day to day responsibilities of a seller.

Modules developed based on assessment of sales objectives, sales training strategy and existing gaps

TalentA programmatic coaching program is critical but often overlooked

CoachingAn ongoing and dynamic series of job-embedded interactions between a sales manager and his or her direct report, designed to diagnose and correct or reinforce behaviors specific to that individual Not “informal training” Integrated real time with day-to-day workflow and directly relevant to actual business situations Completely customizable to individual needs Focus on the doing, not just the knowing

TalentCoaching programs are multi-dimensional and require strong managers

Sales motions &

call planning

Coachingpipeline review

Forecastmanagement

Win / lossreviews

Deal /opportunity

reviews

Accountplanning

Review performance against quota

Evaluate pipeline opportunity and determine if sufficient pipeline to hit sales quota

Discuss top, new, and stalled opportunities

Analyze pipeline velocity, shape and gaps

Develop action plans to move opportunities toward closure

Understand reason for win / loss

Understand competitive differentiators in the market and how competitors are performing

Identify where teams can improve vis-à-vis sales process, time management, stakeholder management (e.g. economic buyer), value proposition, proposal & pitch

Confirm and provide direction on focused strategy • Customer

objectives / needs• Customer

perceptions• Relationship/

contact with customer stakeholders

Gain fresh perspective from group participants on best practices to close open opportunities

Discuss and challenge sales strategy, meeting objectives, buyer issues, stakeholder perceptions of your company and competitors, meeting approach, and value proposition & pitch

Assess accounts and opportunities within a sales territory and assign value based on likelihood to close

Re-evaluate forecast estimates throughout the year

Understand and align solutions to customer priorities and needs

Update plans that describe new leads and prioritized opportunities that will be the focus

Plans will include a competitive assessment, SWOT analysis, strategies for cross-sell/upsell, and alignment with quota retirement planning

Executed by managers on a regular cadence using common standards and complementary tools

TalentHow we solve the talent gap

We help our customers upgrade their sales

talent by providing the complementary tools

necessary to train, coach and manage sellers

Training Program

Coaching Program

Alignment to CRMand Analytics tools

Identify and predict under/low performers

Act as a repository for1. Account planning2. Opportunity planning3. Call planning4. Win / loss outcomes5. Customer interactions6. Account team member

engagement Provide intelligence to

trigger coaching sessions Support smarter investment

in future training needs


Pipeline & Forecast


• Lack of visibility and/or predictability in sales results• Low volume of opportunities, slow movement through the sales funnel, and low win rates

1

2

Some sales leaders don’t have adequate visibility into future sales results Pipeline & Forecast

Don’t

Focus on how the company benefits (e.g. ROI)• Performance visibility• Forecast accuracy• Process consistency• Account planning

Make it all about the technology

Do

Focus on what’s in it for the seller• Usability• Relevance• Collaboration• Information & intelligence• Close more sales in less time• More time for selling, less time doing administration

Make sure it fits with the sales culture, supports the sales process, and truly helps sales people sell

Poor CRM adoption is often a culprit. This can present itself in a few ways: when opportunities are not entered, entered only at the point of close or are not updated as they progress or fall away.

So how do we boost user adoption?

Other causes of poor forecast accuracy Pipeline & Forecast

• Lack of a process for creating and updating forecast• Not engaging the right stakeholders• Creating only a top-down or bottoms-up view• Implementing a compensation program with unintended consequences (e.g.

incentives that cause sellers to over or under-estimate forecast)

Pipeline health is a common concern Pipeline & Forecast

• Unclear expectation on how and when sales people should manage leads

• Misaligned value propositions or lack of clarity of customer business problems and needs

• Weak management oversight and expertise• Poor/no use of account and opportunity

planning techniques• Limited analytics capabilities and

understanding of key sales metrics• Time management, sellers focused on the

wrong things

Lead generation

Lead conversion

Cycle time

Time in stage

Channel mix

Close rate

Retention rate

Speed to delivery

Pursue

Develop

Identify

Secure

Talent relate

d issues

• Sales process & CRM adoption• Limited lead generation capabilities• Lack of consideration for customer experience

throughout sales process• Channel confusion

Reasons for poor pipeline health

Directly relate to what is

and isn’t in the

pipeline

How we solve pipeline related issues Pipeline & Forecast

Channel confusion

• Clarify which customers should be using which channels and what the value proposition is for each channel

• Obtain visibility into pipeline across channels, whenever possible

Limited lead generation capabilities Lack of consideration for customer experience throughout sales process

• Adopt a customer centric view and align sales tools that focus on the customer’s movement through the buying process

• Develop a keen understanding of how the customer buys your products – what are they trying to solve for, what factors are they weighing

• Use analytics to design campaigns with the highest ROI

• Nurture leads until they reach a minimum lead score and then do hand-off to sales team

• Use marketing automation and CRM to streamline process and ensure the best leads get worked

Marketing Funnel

SalesFunnel

• DTV• Direct mail• Paid search• Banner ads

• Email• Web• SMS/text• Social

• Affinity• Events• Call

• Web• Landing

pages

• Enterprise Marketing Automation• Lead scoring• Transfer to sales via CRM


Pipeline & Forecast

Incentives


• Lack of visibility and/or predictability in sales results• Low volume of opportunities, slow movement through the sales funnel, and low win rates

• Misalignment of rewards to behavior• Sales people focused only on achieving quota• Unintended consequences of having some mechanics in the plan• Plans that are overly complex and not well understood

1

2

3

Compensating a sales force Incentives

Driving Desired Behaviors

Plan Design Simplicity

Designing the right compensation program is part art and part science, and many sales leaders struggle to find a balance between compensating for desired behaviors and plan design simplicity

Think of each behavior you expect a sales person to

perform and pay for each

Consider about how much each component is worth to

the seller

Streamlined calculation and low cost of administration

The man-hours, systems and tools required to manage, calculate and pay

sales incentives accurately

The training, explanation and difficulty to understand a complex plan Ensuring that sellers have the

right level of focus

Solutions for the top challenges of today’s sales leaders

Pipeline & Forecast

Incentives

Talent1

2

3

• Consider the role that customer centricity plays in your business and design processes with the customer in mind

• Know how customers wish to interact with you, how they buy, and how the sales process should align to the customer buying process

• Develop a well-defined, well-understood sales process before implementing CRM

• Encourage adoption of CRM by designing it with the seller’s needs as top priority

• Leverage CRM and analytics tools to monitor and reinforce desired behaviors, identify coaching opportunities, and support smarter investment in training

• Integrate marketing automation and CRM to optimize lead generation and lead handoff process

• Leverage compensation plan automation tools and seller payment calculators to streamline administration and limit seller confusion in rewards program

Listen to your customers and

your sales people, bring them in early

You probably won’t get it

right the first time; continue

to evolve

Leaders must be visibly

engaged and “walk the talk”

Communicate, communicate,

and communicate

some more

Know who you are and where you are going

Guiding principles for transformation

GO-TO-M

ARKET

STRA

TEGY

Do we understand our customers, the unique capabilities we offer them and how we meet our customers’ needs?

CULT

URE &

LEADER

SHIP Do we understand our inherit strengths?

Do our sales people see this as a place where they can learn and grow?

DEPLO

YMEN

T &

CUST

OMER

ENGAGEM

ENT Do we have a plan for how we engage our customers?

Do we always bring our “A” game?

PROCE

SS &

TOOLS Do we have the right process and tools to support sales

success?

MANAG

EMEN

T Do we have solid sales managers and an plan for how we coach our coaches?

Do we reward the right behaviors?

Pipe

line

& F

orec

ast

Ince

ntive

s

Tale

nt

Getting on the transformation path

Thank you.Please contact me for more information

Christy [email protected]

www.linkedin.com/in/christyaronson/

sales leader pov 2016jun linkedin

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