Data-Driven Deal Making How smaller sales teams are selling more with less.

Enter the Era of Sales Automation & Acceleration.

THE  STATE  OF  SALES  2016

Volume 1: Feb 1, 2016 www.tycoonmachine.com

Introduction

The art of sales is becoming more scientific…

Today, we operate in a world where the lines between sales and marketing are increasingly blurred.

Customers are faster, better informed and more empowered than they have ever been before. They have a wealth of information at their fingertips and salespeople are facing unprecedented pressure to perform — they are expected to sell more — and sell faster.

Sales is being disrupted, yet very few organizations know it yet. Those who have made the shift to a data driven, automated sales process are producing huge results with smaller teams.

Is your organization prepared to take advantage or are you going to fall behind?

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Table of Contents

Part 1: Intro: Sales Disruption

Part 2: Build The Sales Stack

Part 3: Sales Team Structure

Part 4: The Role of the SDR

Part 5: Email is for Closers

Part 6: Cold Calling is Dead

Written By: Raymond L. Schwartz III Founder & Head of Growth Tycoon Machine

The Sales Boom & Bust

Selling is a competitive sport, and quota-seeking salespeople are the athletes of that sport: They are scored and compared. There are frontrunners and underdogs and there are winners and losers.

Salespeople are under considerable pressure to perform by today’s more informed customer who has competitive pricing and rating data at their fingertips.

Yet with all the advancements in technology very few sales teams are equipped to leverage the power this new shift in sales is bringing.

In a study done last year, HubSpot estimated that 34% of all sales people would miss quota in 2015. Even more startling, by 2020 Forester estimates that over 1 million salespeople will lose their jobs to technology. This research doesn't spell the demise of all salespeople, but it certainly puts a date on the death of the traditional salesman.

67% of a Salesperson’s time is spent on non-revenue producing activities

including CRM, email, searching for leads, followup & data entry.

- Forrester

34%Of Salespeople missed quota in 2015

- Hubspot

So how are the top sales teams in the world getting twice the productivity out of each salesperson, producing endless leads on auto-pilot, shrinking their sales cycles, and closing more deals?

The answer: Data-Driven, Sales Hacking

A select group of companies in Silicon Valley & abroad have been leveraging technology & data to get up to 10 times more productivity per salesperson.

The methodology is nothing revolutionary… It is how the sales cycle is accelerated through technology, scaled in days, not years; and optimized in real-time to maximize results.

In this guide we will dive into the data-driven sales process, show how you can adapt it to your sales cycle, and explain how Tycoon Machine can transform your sales team from manual to modern in less than a month.

The Future: Data-Driven Deal Making

I am a salesperson. I have never written a line of code or understand how algorithms even work. Not to worry! You don't need a PHD in computer science to grasp theses concepts.

Still Skeptical? As with any disruption, change often scares many, yet those of first to embrace new methods often always become leaders of the pack. Don’t just take my word for it. In 1999 sales acceleration returned 3 results on Google, now it is over 3 million. In 2015 alone companies spent over $2 billion on sales acceleration software (excluding CRM). While the sales world has not fully embraced the shift, many very smart people have already predicted it.

The Future Of Sales Is AI What Is Sales Acceleration?

What Sales Will Look Like 5 Years From Now.

The Data-Driven Rebirth of a Salesman

Start Building the Perfect Sales Stack

A great sales process is predictable, repeatable and scalable! In the past, perfecting this process took labor intensive training, heavy duty infrastructure, a large staff and significant investment. Finding the right sequence also took lots of field work, high turnover and a ton of time. In 2015, more than 20 billion dollars were spent on sales training for this traditional “art of the sale” model.

A data-driven sales process eliminates the barriers to entry, reduces turnover, and can transform a trainee to a top earner in months.

This all starts with the proper Sales Stack:

The optimal combo of apps that automates and accelerates every stage of the sales cycle.

With over 1100+ sales automation platforms, finding the proper combination and then having them work harmoniously is no easy task. A sales hacker’s app arsenal has become the secret sauce. Finding the perfect stack will give your business the tools to print money and create viral growth in months not years.

Reason #1 Repeatable Sales automation technology does not miss a day because it went out drinking to hard the night before, nor does it make mistakes due to lack of training. The proper sales stack can run, almost autonomously, carrying out sales tasks on a large scale, 24/7.

Reason #2 Trackable Every action and result is tracked in real-time, giving immediate feedback on what is working and what’s not. Analytics will give you the insights to make more educated budgeting decisions.

Reason #3 Affordable Some of the best new software is being offered by a number of lesser known tech startups. Increased solutions + Increased competition is lowering the prices of sales and marketing software. It is now possible for businesses of al size to have access to enterprise level solutions.

Reason #4 Teachable A proper sales stack will help your sales team stay laser focused on core revenue producing activities. This gives new hires more time to focus on mastering the pitch rather than memorizing the process.

Reason #5 Scalable Once the proper alignment of software and strategy is discovered, scaling is almost instant. You simply train your staff how to manage the systems, or… you can even outsource management in order to build your 24/7 sales assembly line.

I have been sales stack obsessed for the past 3 years. My personal sales stack consists of 22 applications, all working together to increase the velocity and predictability of my sales cycle.

Here is why the proper sales stack can help you create scalable, predictable revenue:

The entire sales process is fraught with challenges that, if mishandled, can undermine not just the productivity of a sales rep, but an entire organization.

In order to build a great process, you need to consider your buyer’s journey and identify the most important stages of that journey.

Then break down each stage of that process and employ a software the provides the tools for your team to create a consistent experience.

From a high level you should have multiple tools that automate & accelerate each stage:

• Lead Generation • Lead Management • Demonstrating the product • Closing the Deal

There is great value in reading articles listing all the tools in the sales stack so you keep a pulse on what is available. However, there is a danger in following suit. Every sales stack for each business requires a unique combo of tools.

Choosing and implementing the wrong software could put you months behind, so make sure you conduct your due diligence.

Also ask yourself these questions:

If I can increase the productivity of each average salesperson by 2X what would that be worth?

What price tag could I put on a system that would allow new hires to produce sales in a matter of weeks?

How many larger ticket sales could my team make if they were not bogged down by redundant tasks?

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In the past a salesperson would wear all the hats. They would prospect, data-mine, call, email, pitch & close. That model is still used at the majority of professional sales organizations. A new model of sales has emerged that is more efficient, predictable & profitable. This very simple & logical process makes you wonder why everyone has not done it this way for years.

Each member of the team has a defined role, specific tasks, and goals to achieve. Your top salespeople stay focused on closing only. While your sales development reps or SDRs focus on filling the funnel. 1 & 2 in the diagram below (SDR) is traditionally duties that were handled by account executives. This model was created by Aaron Ross when he helped build Salesforce.

The model is explained in his book, Predictable Revenue. The reason it works so well is because it frees up your top salespeople (closers) to only spend time closing. Not only is this more effective, but also makes their workdays more enjoyable. I think all of you understand #3 & #4 in the diagram below, but #1 & #2 maybe foreign, so lets focus on the SDR & why you need one.

Data-Driven Sales is all about the Team.

An SDR is a relatively new role in the sales team, but it is integral to the health of the entire process. An SDR is often a role filled by younger salespeople or trainees who have not yet mastered the art of the pitch. Their job is to make sure that the top of the funnel is being filled with qualified prospects, and once the proper lead score has been met they are pushed to the closers. It is very simple in explanation, yet very complex in execution.

An SDR is more or less the engineer of your sales funnel. They make sure it is fueled with enough prospects so that the cycle keeps running. Here are the daily tasks of a SDR.

• Lead Generation • Lead Management • Outbound Emails • Social Selling • CRM Management

An SDR’s success is often based on how powerful your prospecting playbook is, and the sales stack they have to leverage.

The main goal of an SDR rep is to generate demand, yet most sales training programs fall flat in teaching these methods. We have perfected this model by creating systems, software and outsourcing to constantly fill our funnel with hyper-targeted high quality leads.

Companies across the board like LiveOps, Salesforce, Dell, Cisco, Verizon are among countless other big brands and startups that use this model to boost their pipeline.

Case Study:

A cloud contact center switched to the SDR model and has seen rapid success after their closers were relieved of making outbound contact.

They increased pipeline in less than a month by:

600%

The main weapon for a killer outbound SDR (Sales Development Rep) team is email. In order to create a sustainable outbound lead system you must first start with good data.

Sites like data.com, ZoomInfo, and other databases are often filled with very stale, overused emails that often bounce. After extensive study we found that more than 32% of emails bounce. This not only lowers conversion rates but often causes your servers to get flagged.

Finding the best email addresses for the most qualified prospects and making sure emails are delivered to their inbox is a science. Crafting the proper messages that get you appointments is an art form.

Email. dollar for dollar, is the most cost effective marketing tool. Blending the line between spammer and real human interaction, at scale, is very difficult.

We have sent over 100 Million emails in 2015 alone, and many of you are probably reading this because you received one. By combining hyper-targeted data with a unique automated email software we can mimic 1 to 1 human interaction on a massive scale. Of the 100 Million emails sent, only .01% marked as Spam.

Don’t waste valuable time testing, retesting and adapting the SDR Model.

We can make your business operational in less than a week with 0 headaches:

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Sample Scripting Pattern

To compliment cold outbound email, a solid SDR program must incorporate a number of other direct outreach tools. Social selling on LinkedIn is not the future, it is the now, yet very few companies know how to leverage it to print money.

What other platform can give you access to every single one of your target prospects, provide you the ammunition to start meaningful conversations, and do this all for FREE?

The problem with social selling has never been the utility, it has always been the scale. Sitting and carrying out the repetitive communication sequences necessary to produce enough leads took forever.

In keeping with our sales hacker mentality we looked to automate and accelerate the process. So we built a tool in-house for our staff and clients, SocialSidekick, that engages with targeted prospects on LinkedIn on Auto-pilot.

+45%

+51%

+78%

Social Selling Leaders Create 45% more buying opportunities.

Social selling leaders are 51% more likely to achieve quota.

78% of Social Sellers outsell peers who do not use social selling

Social Selling Study Performed by LinkedIn

Cold Calling is OUT! Social Selling is IN!

A very influential inbound marketer and coach in the insurance industry, who asked to remain anonymous, integrated our automated cold email & LinkedIn prospecting system:

• Sent a series of targeted cold emails to specific insurance agencies who could most leverage his services.

• Used a system of 4 followup emails over 3 weeks to increase reply rates.

• Set up an automated LinkedIn prospecting campaign to view each targets profiles.

• Followed up by a personalized connection request to start conversation.

By adding the LinkedIn social selling tactics to his outbound campaigns he increased conversion by:

354%

How are you using LinkedIn to prospect & Connect?

What is your Social Selling Index Score?

How many connection requests do you send a week?

Do you send personalized connection requests?

After setting an appointment do you connect on LinkedIn?

How many groups that, consist of you target prospects, are you a part of on LinkedIn?

Have you created a sustainable system to train salespeople and new hires on best practices?

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Quick Case Study:

Transform Your Sales from Manual to Modern

You have mastered the art of the sale, let us help you with the science. 99% of you reading this guide were directed here by an automated prospecting system.

After talking with hundreds of C-Level execs and business owners, almost every conversation starts with, “what do you do?”

My answer is simple: “Automated Rainmaking… This meeting we are having right now is a direct result of my process and shows it works.”

Once you build the sales machine, it is a matter of tweaking it for optimal performance. Unlike traditional hope marketing or spray and pray online advertising, the predictable revenue / sales hack model is laser focused and instant.

While the steps may seem simple from the outside looking in, the technology, psychology, and science behind the curtain are extremely complex.

As they say: “Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don’t.” The data-driven sales process is not based on theory or instinct. It is all about analyzing the sequences, adjusting, and scaling what is working.

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