Creating the Perfect Sales Team Manifesto

2 © 2012 Greg Holsen. [email protected]


Creating the Perfect Selling Team Manifesto is the best practices I have uncovered from over 20 top CEO’s here in the Silicon Valley, successful team builders, recruiters, first hand selling and management experience and top performers of the leading 3% of salespeople. Perfect selling teams are not built once, they are build daily and it takes a lot of good strategy and managed effort to make sure that the selling team is squarely positioned in the heart of the rapid moving opportunity. This is the base of an operating system that creates critical high level standards and milestones for effective and consistent sales team revenue growth. The well built and managed sales team will create the highest return on investment, the best support of company growth and be a cornerstone of the forward culture of the organization. What would your own selling organization look like if these things were in place and consistently monitored tracked and optimized?

[email protected] 408.260.5326 www.gregholsen.com


For some, they’re frustration comes because they or their people are not in front of enough qualified prospects on a consistent basis to meet their goals. Others are frustrated that their sales cycle is taking longer and longer and they’re not sure what to do about it. Some are angry that they have to constantly lower their price to make the sale and wind up selling at margins that don’t sustain their business. And still others who do proposals, become sick every time they see them shopped around town for the lowest price. And then there are those who make “million dollar presentations,” only to walk away with “think-it-overs.”

Not Meeting Goals

Long Sales Cycle

Poor Margins

Worthless Proposals

Think-It-Overs

The Top 5 Challenges Management Often Struggles With In Their Selling Team

DOES YOUR TEAM SHARE ANY OF THESE CHALLENGES?


L a c k o f a S e l l i n g Sy s t e m

P o o r A c c o u n t a b i l i t y

P o o r o r Co n fu s i n g Co m m u n i c a t i o n

Gr e a t s a l e s p e o p l e t u r n e d i n t o s a l e s m a n a g e r s .

W r o n g s a l e s p e o p l e i n t h e w r o n g s e l l i n g r o l e s .

Multiple sales operating systems makes managing teams nearly impossible

Teams failing to run tight to the dollar and frugal on time is a costly oversight.

What where and why if not fully defined and reinforced creates lost teams and frustration

If using a proven operating system why take a top producer and move them out of revenue development?

Moving underperforming salespeople to right skills or out of sales is critical for team efficiency and health.


Bridges to Nowhere Produce

Disastrous Outcomes


25 Top Reasons Sales Teams Fail 1. Poorly screened, missing the “can” and “will” for prospecting. 2. Poorly developed abilities, with little to no advanced selling education. 3. Poorly managed or fear-based culture often given little useful guidance. 4. Loss of team focus or strategy. No clear on win/loss analysis. 5. No control of selling process, prospect maintains control resulting in poor results. 6. Entrenched in non-selling activity during crucial selling hours. 7. Poor or confusing compensation plan and /or poor or unattainable incentives. 8. Managed by “seasoned” salespeople instead of a technically developed sales manager. 9. Isolated - Not treated as an important contributor or part of the management team. 10. No ongoing learning environment for growth or skills expansion. 11. Treated as a disposable asset instead of an asset that is well worth maintaining. 12. Little to no ongoing psychology monitoring to see where problem areas are arising . 13. Six month mistake of hoping an unqualified or underperforming salesperson will succeed. 14. Poor marketing or sales message, leads to prospect and salesperson frustration. 15. Poor or mismanaged products hurt sales, & commissions and breaks down moral. 16. Demoralizing team turn-over. Revolving door creates “temporary job positioning” 17. Poor overall celebration or recognition for successes. 18. Poor integration of the sale team into customer service and support operations. 19. Poor quality selling tools or lack of tools. Not intuitive, easy or mobile. Complex. 20. Low client importance by management or poor support for the deal by organization. 21. Asking salespeople to be detail people or serve in customer support capacity. 22. Asking salespeople to be collections people. 23. Poor time management , drive or self realization of sales team members.. 24. Poor prescriptive plan for “self medicating” or personal management in deficient areas 25. Don’t have a internal mentor or accountability partner. that has and drives the intense desire for

success.


IDENTIFY PERSONALITY & SKILLS INVENTORY

BE CLEAR ON THE FUNCTION & REQUIRMENTS

ALWAYS BE RECRUITING & LOOKING FOR GREAT TALENT

HIRE SLOWLY – FIRE QUICKLY

CREATE A DIVERSE TEAM STRUCTURE WITH SPECIALIZED SKILLS


CREATE A DISCIPLINED TEAM THAT UNDERSTANDs

THE “SPORT” OF SELLING

TEAM

"Reinforce what you want to see repeated: What gets rewarded gets done."

-- Brian Tracy

CULTURE BUILD CULTURE OF SUCCESS – BUILD ON FAILURES – CELEBRATE SUCCESSES.

EVALUATE, INVENTORY AND MOVE POOR SALESPEOPLE INTO THE RIGHT JOB IN THE COMPANY.


BE COMPETITVE. BE INTELLIGENT. BE SERVICE MINDED. NEVER LET MEDIOCRITY SNEAK INTO

ORGANIZATION AS IT POISONS THE POOL.

FOCUS EFFORTS ON MOVING GOOD SALESPEOPLE TO

GREAT SALESPEOPLE TO DRIVE SALES GROWTH.

ORGANIZATION ABSOLUTELY SUPPORTS SALES ORGANIZATION AND DEPUTIZES EVERYONE AS A SALESPERSON.

TURNOVER


Be clear on your team’s assets and their weakness (their inventory).

Manage team behaviors not sales. Sales comes with the right behaviors

Teach always and allow mistakes. Everyone learns differently, but the great always want to be better and

occasionally stumble when climbing.

Be aware of and responsive to what drives each person INDIVIDUALLY.

Track constantly – indicators show up early and corrective action eliminates loss.

Be a great boss and offer a great challenge. Stretch your team professionally, be extraordinary!


""At any moment in time, our reality is based on whatever we focus on."

-- Anthony Robbins

Have a clearly defined goal system (SMART) with each team member – review weekly to activity.

Identify key members in the organization that drive successful goals and are good mentors to help lift others.

Measure, document and display goals – quickly reward

results and adjust behaviors that are limiting results.

Create team goals that individual teams roll into. Create some peer pressure to contribute to team goals.

Set s t r e t c h goals based on high industry metrics or exceeding company results. Remove obstacles that will prevent attainment.

GOALS

VARIABILITY

Define expectations regularly and consistently.


Systematize the selling organization to a

single selling system

Bring management and customer support into selling program for consistent messaging.

Integrate marketing discovery into the sales

process for messaging accuracy / consistency.

Keep a defined schedule of meetings. Create integrated team working toward unified goal.

Create a prescriptive plan for each

salesperson to fill key gaps.

PROXIMITY

Meet with team members individually and

assess levels of engagement, eliminate

success obstacles.


"...you win by trying. And failing. Test, try, fail, measure, evolve, repeat, persist," -

- Seth Godin, author of Unleashing the Ideavirus

Manage behaviors and beliefs, closely monitor activity and results of activity, adjust outcomes.

Always hold effective and worthwhile sales meetings.

Share best practices but manage to a defined and adopted selling system.

Be present. Ride along on calls and meetings. Be available.

Make the time for the team.

Meet with successful clients or failed prospects to determine decision criteria & update team – adjust processes & messaging continuously.

SUCCESS

.

Reward generously when salespeople break through personal confines, limiting beliefs & boundaries.

Monitor progress often.


Success is a journey, not a destination. It requires constant effort, vigilance and reevaluation.

-- Mark Twain

Enrich lead development. Teach lead development/networking. Improve trade show behaviors & outcomes . Reward tenacity

Streamline account support so that

salespeople can sell vs. babysit problems.

Recognize success publically, often and loudly. Recognition is the other side

of compensation.

Create strong cross departmental support so

that EVERYONE participates in client success.

Foster referral and account growth in current clients. Make them raving fans.


~Greg Holsen


N O W W H A T ? P a s s i o n r e a l l y i s t r a n s f e r a b l e . Very few salespeople today ever aspired to be salespeople, so we know they are not “born into it”. Great sales people start with commitment and learn tactical selling as a vehicle to monetize their strong commitment. Passion for being a great sales professional comes from a leader that is passionate about selling and celebrates the results of serving the client to success. If you are looking for a leader to move your sales team in a rapid upward ascension, please contact Greg Holsen. Greg has worked with over 300 companies including Fortune 500 and Startups. Creating an amazing selling experience starts with a dedicated team working from the same proven selling platform and operating system. An organizational commitment that the selling team can and will be the very best in their industry. They must run business on intelligence instead of price; detect the commitment to move forward or move on and they must get in front of more and better prospects with each call. Is it time to move your team upward? Greg Holsen 408-260-5326.

Find a leader for your sales team that has

the passion for their

unconditional success.

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Presentation © Copyright 2012 Greg Holsen. Replication and Use by Permission Only.

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Creating the Perfect Sales Team Manifesto