Sunday, April 27, 2014

Rubah ABC tim Sales Anda.



From the time we are little and then far into our adult lives, we hear about ABCs. They mean different things to different people and if you are in sales and business development they ring in your ears and sit on your shoulder day in and day out.
You may recall the movie Glengarry Glen Ross when Alec Baldwin’s character, Blake, shares his sales philosophy with his team, it’s not exactly motivating but it was and is the way it was done.
His version of ABCs was “Alway Be Closing.” Actually, he would have said it more like, “ALWAYS BE CLOSING.”
Guess what? Buyers didn’t like to be sold. It’s time for a new tactic.
Then we had Always Be Checking. Ok, that’s a bit more sophisticated and not as in your face, right? The salesperson is just checking to make sure you are all tracking in the same direction. If you nod yes enough times, it’s hard not to agree that buying is the only option.
This works a bit better, but after a while, the checking in gets annoying and buyers still feel manipulated.
The real problem is that salespeople tend to learn one strategy and some tactics that go with that strategy and they plow through the field without giving much thought to the fact that the people they are talking to have changed. Buyers, regardless of what they are buying, have more information than ever and need the salesperson less than ever to complete a transaction. Hmmm.
Buyers are 70 percent along in their buying decision before they engage a business development person. That’s interesting. Why? They’ve done their homework. Websites, social media, LinkedIn, review sites all provide the insight — often the most real information on that person or organization. And, people tend to believe the endorsements, testimonials and referrals from their network more than all the sales propaganda that’s created.
So, what to do if you are in sales and business development? Consider a new iteration of the ABCs.

Always Be Curious. Here are some tips:

  • Ask great questions and then be quiet.
  • Be really quiet.
  • Listen carefully. Is there another next question to ask? If you don’t listen, you can only ask another first-level question that may or may not relate to the answer just provided.
  • Pick up on the nuance of what your prospect is saying (by listening carefully).
  • Pick up on what your prospect is saying, reiterate it and ask a more probing next question.
  • This allows you to check in for understanding and clarity (hmm, that’s the always-be-checking component).
  • Ask great, thoughtful questions not superficial questions that bore people and show you haven’t done any research.
  • Gain trust and share your expertise with a sense of generosity.
  • Ask one more question, “what’s our next step?”
  • Follow up on the next step.
Your curiosity gives a prospect a chance to talk and give you all the intel you need to create value by connecting the dots. In that place, you will always be closing (hmm, that’s the always-be-closing component and the most important part if you hope to make a living).
You will also be more interesting. Who doesn’t want to be considered interesting and smart and thoughtful?
The ABCs of selling are also about realizing that learning our ABCs doesn’t just happen when we are young. It’s about realizing our learning never ends.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/sales-management/changing-abcs-sales-0855769#1sExuBIMrHOdEclU.99

Motivasi tim Sales Anda dengan Dashboard.



We live in a society where we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. Is his car more expensive? Does she have a bigger house? Are my biceps bigger? (The answer to that one is always no for me, by the way). Comparison, one-upmanship and competition is a way of life. So why not take advantage of human nature to propel your business forward?
Using CRM Dashboards to Motivate your Sales Team image 220px ManualDashboardThermometerIn years past, it wasn’t uncommon to walk into an office and see a printed paper thermometer with sales goals and performance marked up in red pen. However, with today’s remote work culture and fast-paced sales cycle, highlighting a thermometer in red pen in the break room doesn’t really cut it.
Enter, Salesforce dashboards – the “red pen and thermometer” of the modern world. Dashboards translate real-time sales numbers into digestible graphs. They can be used to display overall team progress, show individual monthly stats and fuel a little inter-office rivalry.
Try these three charts to encourage some friendly competition.
Closed Deals per Sales Rep
Using CRM Dashboards to Motivate your Sales Team image closed dealsThis chart can show the number of closed deals per rep per month or the dollar value of those deals. Who has the most closed deals? Whose sales numbers are through the roof this month (and whose aren’t)? Comparative sales dashboards not only provide you with a look at who is performing, who is improving and who is slipping, but they also allow the team to see their numbers stacked against their teammates. No one wants their low sales performance on display for long. These charts can provide a healthy push for an increased effort.
Comparative figures also give you an opportunity to spread best practices. What are your top performers doing that your bottom performers could learn from? Whose styles, systems and strategies work? Take this chance to shadow top performers and spread successful tactics around the team.
Expected Pipeline Value Per Sales Rep
Using CRM Dashboards to Motivate your Sales Team image expected revenueSalesforce dashboards not only allow you to see the past, but they also give you a crystal ball to see into the future. After all, pipeline visibility is one of their core selling points.
By creating a dashboard on expected pipeline value, you’ll know what’s in the works for the upcoming months, and know who is responsible for getting it done. Which sales people have a fat pipeline with deals ready to be closed? Who isn’t cultivating their market well? Who is on pace to reach their sales targets? Use these graphs to keep yourself and the team informed and motivated.
Monthly Team Sales Goals
Using CRM Dashboards to Motivate your Sales Team image monthly sales targetsWhile individual performance is important, in the end you are a team. Showing the performance of the team against targets provides a fun visual incentive. If you attach bonuses or prizes to certain targets dashboards can further incentivize your team. You can use the Salesforce Recognition tab with work.com to build merit badges that fit your goals.
Keeping track of these graphs over time will also allow you to measure if your team sales goals are realistic, too low or attainable with your current team.
Using these visual references to motivate your team could be just the incentive they need to beef up sales and their performance. These charts are just the tip of the Salesforce dashboard iceberg.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/sales-management/using-crm-dashboards-motivate-sales-team-0857820#gtmQKsoDtLViwfVl.99

Friday, April 25, 2014

Tim Sales terbaik melakukan hal berbeda



Customers today use an average of six channels during the buying process, and the number of channels available to them is only increasing. Competition for those customers has also increased as margins have tightened. Digital channels have upended the well-trod ruts of sales and marketing organizations — already, nearly a third of all B2B purchases are done digitally. All of this increased complexity means sales leaders must rethink how they source leads, manage pipelines, and sell more effectively.
Rather than being overwhelmed, the best sales leaders have figured out how to overcome this complexity to drive above-market growth. Our analysis of 73 B2B technology companies shows that across sectors, the top 25% of companies achieve more than twice as much return on sales investment compared to the bottom 25%.
What do they do right? Based on our experience and analysis, they maintain a clear focus on four things:
1. They measure sales ROI differently. The key to smart investing is having good data that highlights where the greatest sales ROI is. That starts by knowing what to measure. Many companies, however, measure sales efficiency in terms of sales cost versus revenue. That metric is misleading because it does not sufficiently reflect the margin differences between sales channels. A more meaningful sales ROI is to measure sales cost against gross margin or profit (EBIT), which helps leaders more effectively align the number of accounts per sales employee with actual and potential revenues. By analyzing the sales ROI potential of various segments, for example, sales leaders uncover different channel approaches for each. In one company, analysis revealed that sales ROI in indirect channels was 50% greater than in direct channels.
The best leaders also achieve such high sales ROI by reducing overall sales costs without giving away too much margin. Approaches include a strong “quality instead of quantity” focus on their highest-performing partners. They also tend to de-emphasize direct discounts, such as rebates and product offerings.
2. They keep sales costs low. While the old adage “it takes money to make money” is popular, it’s not true when it comes to the best sales leaders. The best of them keep their costs lower than their peers do. Some 72% of companies in the top quartile of sales ROI also have the lowest sales costs. Effectively controlling costs requires a clear and objective view of profitability and cost-to-sell by channel, product, and customer.
With this foundation, sales leaders can make better decisions, such as scaling back sales efforts for lower value orders. They also invest in processes and training that cut costs, such as installing technologies that reduce the number of order exceptions and cross-training people to have multiple skills. This level of efficiency not only reduces costs but also allows sales leaders to profitably pursue lower-margin business.
3. They free up their salespeople for selling. Top performing sales organizations have the same percentage of sales staff in sales management roles — around 8% — as lower-performing companies. However, they have about 30% more sales staff in support roles. While this may seem counterintuitive, this approach frees up sales reps from more administrative tasks, such as order management and developing sales collateral, to devote more of their time to customers. The result is that front lines sales reps are three times more productive than their peers.
One leading high-tech equipment business, for example, found that 28% of sales rep time was spent on low value activities like complaint handling. They then shifted about half of these transactional activities into a sales factory and freed up 13% of sales rep time for them to sell.
Sales executives also need to take a hard look at their sales support systems. Some activities can be automated or streamlined, some can be delegated and pooled into back-office sales factories, and others can be cut entirely. Implementing such operational and structural changes requires a clear understanding of just what constitutes low- versus high-value-add activities and what resources are currently devoted to each.
4. They use as many channels as they can. Companies that effectively sell across multiple channels (inside sales, outsourced agents, value-added resellers, third-party retail stores, distributors, or wholesalers) achieve more than 40% higher sales ROI than companies wedded to a single channel model (only key account management and/or field sales). Managing multiple channels calls for effectively addressing selling opportunities based on value versus on volume, and recognizing that not every channel is optimal for every product. For instance, inside sales reps can handle key accounts with low-complexity products, whereas more costly in-person support should be assigned exclusively to key accounts with high-complexity products.
Many companies are understandably afraid to “tinker with” sales, the only part of the organization that actually brings in the revenue. We believe, however, that more aggressive action to match sales resources with sales ROI opportunities is critical if companies are looking to beat the market.

3 pertanyaan yang harus ditanyakan untuk membangun team Sales tangguh



3 Questions You Must Ask to Build a Great Sales Team
 

Tired of doing all the sales yourself? Sales Guru Jack Daly gives you the secrets to building a killer sales team.
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You can't have a successful company without steadily growing sales. But so many entrepreneurs struggle with developing scalable sales beyond their own efforts. But now, master sales coach Jack Daly has finally shared his insights for building a killer sales team in his wonderful new best-selling book, Hyper Sales Growth: Street-Proven Systems & Processes.
Daly admits there are lots of passionate hardworking entrepreneurs out there who are frustrated because they are great salespeople but they can't seem to replicate their own success in building a productive team. Sales management demands effort and intentionality. Building a great sales team takes time and patience. Daly explains that many entrepreneurs are too impatient and don't invest the resources and time to cultivate great salespeople. They often get frustrated with slow results and just go and do the selling themselves instead. Then, years later, they wonder why all the sales are still dependent on them. Daly points out: "People and companies tend to underperform because they rush to the urgent at the expense of the important."
Daly says there's no sense in looking for answers to your sales issues if you aren't asking the right questions at the start. Below are the questions Daly says you must ask to identify where you're lacking, and some insights as well toward finding the answers.
1. Where is your recruiting? Daly makes clear that recruiting is an ongoing process, not an event. He believes that for every salesperson in your company, you should be courting 12 new ones at all times. You should always be on the lookout for top-flight performers, because when you bring in a star player, it raises the game of the whole team. If you're waiting until you have a vacancy, you're setting your company up for mediocrity or worse, failure. Building a great sales team is mostly a matter of weeding out the folks who aren't a fit for sales or your company, empowering those who are, and continually seeking out new talent.
Daly says, if you can only do one thing differently tomorrow, hire slowly, fire quickly.
2. Where is your playbook? You might have 2,600 salespeople working for you (like Daly did), but as he recognized, there aren't 2,600 ways to sell a product. You need to coordinate those energetic people so they work efficiently and effectively. Pick any sport at any level, and a coach wouldn't field a team without a playbook; nor should you.
Figure out the best process to sell your product or service, then institute a system that supports that process. Don't forget to integrate the operational and sales systems to manage the business accordingly.  Daly advocates: "When the players follow the systems and processes, the results manifest themselves in more wins than losses." Having a playbook helps ensure that your people are using the best practices consistently, and that everything they do is aligned with your company and its culture. Every successful company has some sort of clearly articulated, "how things are done" manual. In the best companies, the people know it by heart and execute on it daily.
Daly says, if you can only do one thing differently tomorrow, "Create a checklist of what your salespeople need to do to succeed."
3.  Where is your training? Daly likes to point out that no sports coach would put a player on the field without training and practice, but the majority of companies hand people a box of business cards and tell them to go sell. If you aren't training your people before they go out in the field, you're training them on your prospects and customers, which can cost sales and damage your reputation. You must have a thorough, consistent training program for your people and a diligent manager to execute it.
Daly is adamant: "A sales manager's job is not to grow sales. It's to grow salespeople in quantity and quality. If you do that, they in turn will grow your sales." For a proper training approach, there are two considerations: First, are your people getting the training they really need? Second, which of your people are getting the most time and attention? Most companies spend their training time on the bottom-quartile employees, the stragglers. Those are the ones who should go, so you can concentrate on training the people with the most skills and potential.
Daly says, if you can only do one thing differently tomorrow, "Start training your five best people how to be even better."
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Read more: http://www.inc.com/keivn-daum/3-questions-you-must-ask-to-build-a-great-sales-team.html#ixzz2zwC1hKrY

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Autopilot itu perlu real SYSTEM



Semakin hari semakin jelas, bahwa apa yang selama ini digembor-gemborkan para motivator bisnis Indonesia , khususnya mengenai Autopliot bisnis, atau bisnis yang berjalan sendiri, adalah sesungguhnya tetap memerlukan suatu system , baca: mekanisme, baca: prosedur-prosedur, yang membantu bisnis atau perusahaan menyediakan produk / layanan untuk para pelanggannya.
Hari ini kembali bertemu dengan pebisnis, yang telah berjalan 7 tahun, dengan lokasi tersebar, mengelola sumber daya manusia yang tidak sedikit, mungkin sekitar 30 orang, dan semua masih dilakukan secara MANUAL.
Pertanyaan simple saya keluar ' apakah bapak tahu jumlah piutang sekarang ini? ' Langsung dengan bangganya 'wah, sekitar 1 M kali ya.. '
Inilah yang terjadi apabila kita tidak menjalankan SYSTEM. System yang benar, mungkin tidak melulu tentang prosedur, cara memfilling, kapan menagih, kapan memfollow-up, ini dan itu, tapi apabila semua masih dilakukan dengan manual, tentu WOW..
Saatnya kita memerlukan adanya komponen lain dari system, yaitu teknologi. Tidak hanya proses, orang, tapi juga teknologi. Untuk itu, perusahaan harus menggunakan system, untuk bisa mencatat ribuan customer nya, kapan dia harus memasukkan penawaran, apa yang diinginkan dari prospek dan customer nya (LEAD), apa yang mungkin bisa menjadi peluang (OPPORTUNITY). Sudahkah sales kita membuat penawaran (QUOTE), sudahkan di follow-up. Kapan dan bagaimana dilakukan followup ke customer. Kapan akan kita dapatkan pekerjaan atau PO dari pelanggan ini (SALES ORDER). Kapan kita bisa menagih (INVOICE). Kapan pelanggan bayar. Semua ini harus dicatat dalam system.
Kami menyediakan system seperti ini, menggunakan aplikasi vTigerCRM. Aplikasi open-source yang powerfull. Bila Anda perlu sampai ke modul akunting dan HR, maka dapat menggunakan solusi lain.
Apabila semua sudah masuk ke system, maka prosedur selanjutnya adalah tinggal melakukan cek dan ricek. Maka benarlah autopilot itu bisa berjalan dan terjadi. Tidak harus pusing, karena ini real.
Selamat mencoba.

Monday, April 21, 2014

5 taktik hasilkan Lead




Top 5 lead generation tactics used by businesses

Marketing Sherpa conducted a survey and published the results in the form of a chart. The results were quite surprising. In this post I will share the top 5 lead generation tactics as reported in the original survey.
Chartofweek-10-02-12-600
 As you can see the 5 most important b2b sales tactics are Email marketing, Search Engine optimization(SEO), Social Media, Website optimization management or design and Content Marketing . 
Now let's discuss each of these tactics in detail:
Email Marketing: Despite all the hype about death of email, the fact is that email is now also the most trusted form of lead generation and it is one tactic which will remain the most important in the near future. As you can see it's the top tactic used by businesses in order to generate lead with almost 81% of marketers using it.
SEO: Second most widely used tactic is search engine optimization.75% marketers use seo to generate leads. I'd like to add that most people mistake seo as optimizing your website  for Google. This can't be farther from truth . Although Google is the king of search but Bing has put up a strong show and have gained a good amount of marketing share in last few years. So try to optimize your website for other search engines also.
Social Media: Now as it turns out social media marketing is being used by 72% of marketers. Managers have complained that it's quite difficult to measure ROI of social media marketing. And they have genuine concerns because until you convert likes, shares and retweets into sales or increase engagement social media will remain a controversial tactic. But  social media marketing has become an essential part of a marketing plan as your audinece is already on one or another social media network.  So if you want to engage your audeince, get feedback from your consumers, or simply want to know what your costumers think about your product/service you can't ignore social media marketing.
Website Optimization mangement or design:Having a good design is in itself a big plus. Many times just small changes in appearance or design can significantly boost the number of leads you are generating from your website.
Content Marketing:Content Marketing is used by almost 54% of businesses . I strongly believe that in future more businesses will start using content marketing as a lead generation tactic. Content generation is rising with the rise of smartphones, tablets, increasing internet penetration and bandwidth. Already brands have started realizing the importance of content creation and with passing time we will see more and more businesses utilizing this tactic
Conclusion: All the above mentioned tactics are important from a business point of view but they are most effective when used with other tactics. Email marketing will bring poor results if you don't have interesting content.

5 tahapan membuat dan mengelola budaya Customer - centric



5 Steps To Create And Sustain Customer-Centric Culture

My latest report, 5 Steps To Create And Sustain Customer-Centric Culture, is now live on Forrester.com. The report answers the question I hear most often from clients: What are the steps in the process to actually transform organizational culture to be customer-centric? We interviewed companies that have successfully completed this transformation, and companies that are in the midst of that process right now. We learned that there are five steps companies must take to create and sustain customer-centric culture:
Step 1: Secure Executive Support (No, Really). We do not want to sugarcoat this step. Customer experience professionals who don't already have commitment from their executives need to either get it or give up their hopes of transforming their organization's culture. Every successful transformation we studied began with a customer experience epiphany by a CEO or COO. If that realization hasn’t happened yet, CX pros can help create the spark of inspiration with executives. For example, Brad Smith, the Chief Customer Officer at Sage North America, established a program where executives sign up to spend time in the call center or join sales teams on customer visits. And he created a new leadership routine of bringing customer stories to their monthly meetings.  His goal was to get senior leaders to see the importance of customer focus.
Step 2: Build A Customer Experience Team To Lead The Transformation. Once executives believe in the idea of cultural transformation, the first thing they do is assemble a team to lead the effort. Art Antin, the founder and COO at VCA Animal Hospitals created the client experience team to drive VCA’s transformation. CX teams must collaborate with key colleagues from across the organization and ensure that the entire organization takes ownership for the transformation.
Step 3: Create A Shared Understanding Of The Intended Experience. Companies must ensure that all employees understand the experience they’re supposed to deliver. That means sharing the vision for the intended experience with them. Cleveland Clinic went so far as to train all 42,000 employees in its patient experience principles. Other companies have created and shared a customer experience charter or vision statement that describes the key attributes of their intended experience. Companies should also collect and share customer success stories as a way of providing tangible examples to employees of expected behaviors.
Step 4: Rally And Align All Employees To The Cultural Transformation. Once employees know what they need to do, CX pros need to motivate them to do it. At this step, reinforcement is critical. Companies must feature their CX principles consistently in corporate communications, and remind employees of their contributions to the overall experience. Safelite AutoGlass went even further. It created a People Powered pledge, detailing its commitment to providing employees with a great work environment that would make it easier for them to deliver great customer experiences.
Step 5: Embed Customer Experience Principles Into The Organization. The final step in creating customer-centric culture is also where companies should start to consider how they’ll sustain customer-centricity over time.  This means providing training, and ongoing guidance and coaching. Companies should also update employee competency models to include CX principles. For example, Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) defined six levels of escalating proficiency for customer-driven focus. Each level includes detailed descriptions of the desired behaviors and examples how they should sound. For example, new employees should “provide consistent customer experiences” and must “take personal responsibility” to get promoted. To be eligible for the assistant vice president (AVP) and VP levels, employees must “create customer strategies and inspired others to be customer focused.”
For more details about how companies can transform their cultures to be customer-centric, read the full report. And please share your comments and questions below.