Entry Level Sales Trainer - No Experience Necessary...How is this still a thing?

Modern #B2B #Sales is complex.

Spend 5 minutes reading about the B2B sales ecosystem & you'll discover great debate on how to increase sales - #socialselling or #coldcalling; Demand Gen or Outbound?

Customer Journey or Sales Process - there's blog posts, podcasts, webinars and sales enablement software GALORE to help increase sales in the modern market. 

So how can we STILL be looking for sales trainers with NO EXPERIENCE? 

Over 50% of B2B sales reps didn't make quota last year.

The average sales person stays 18 months before leaving for greener pastures.

Customer churn rates in XaaS go up, Up, UP! 

We spend $1500 per year, per rep on Sales Training - whether that's too little or too much is up for debate.... But that means if you have ten reps, you shell out $15000 for sales training - shouldn't the person at the whiteboard have - at least at one point in their life - knocked on a door, made a cold call, social sold....something? 

MIND YOU - I'm not blaming the people who take these jobs.

If a job is offered and you want it...GO FOR IT.

There's nothing wrong with Meeting A Market Demand. 

But the Demand for no experience sales trainers?

How is this still a thing? 

Smiling and Dialing

Friday Funny: Years ago, I was participating in a cold phone call role play at a job where I had a boss that was a stickler for "realism." And by that I mean he made us verbally say "Ring, Ring, Ring" to approximate the sound of a phone (from 1939?) ringing before it was picked up in our Cold Call role plays. 

Genius.

So when it came to my turn as the "prospect", the poor rep across from me started doing the old "Ring. Ring. Riiinng. Riinnnng." I just let it go on.

And On.

And On.

And on.

He must of said "Ring" for 20 seconds when my boss silently waved his hand across his throat in the international sign of "Cut it" (like someone was taping this?) and said to me:  "Derek, Why aren't you going to pick up the phone?"

Smugly, with all the confidence of a sitcom star delivering a line that KILLED in the Table Read, I said: "Sorry, I don't recognize the number and I hate cold calls!" ZING!

Everybody in the training room laughed & laughed & laughed.

Well everyone except my boss.

But I was 200% of quota at the time. And in those days, plan performance trumped personality, attitude and basic human decency. 

Not like NOW...right?  ;)

#thewholeworldiswatching

Just saw a #brutal LinkedIn post from newly minted "former" employee from a company that went BELLYUP over the holidays. 

The founder/CEO was "tagged" in the post as someone who didn't pay his team over Christmas and instead sent out layoff notices.  I don't know the whole story and the post is only ONE SIDE of it...so I'm not sharing it. If you're following me you probably saw it in your feed. BUT it's caused me to reflect...

A brand isn't just what YOU let everyone see. It isn't what you manufacture with your content. It isn't what you pay some firm to create. Yelp, Glassdoor, Amazon reviews...that was just the beginning. 

As salespeople we just don't have to worry about what we say or do on Social media. Ohhh, that's so 2015.  Now each of us can be rated, and called to task, for what we do in the real world....during prospecting, during demos, during negotiations, during closes. 

Imagine being "tagged" in a LinkedIn post by a dissatisfied customer!

I remember a sales manager telling me once "Just tell them what they want to hear...we'll let delivery worry about it. Our job is new business."

Can you IMAGINE a sales manager saying that in 2018? 

My single resolution for 2018 is to act as if the whole world is watching.

Because thanks to social media...they are. 

Retailpocalypse 2018: Electric Boogaloo

More than 12k stores will succumb to the retailpocalypse by closing in 2018, according to Cushman & Wakefield - a 33% jump from the 9k stores that shut down in 2017. 

With stores like Sears, Bebe Stores, & Stein Mart expected to file for bankruptcy in '18, Business Insider reports “The closings would push hundreds of shopping malls to the brink of death.”

I personally spent most of my childhood & adolescence at Malls - they were a center of commerce and community in my suburban upbringing.  I loved going to the mall. 

And now they are dying. Technology & the way people buy stuff & things has changed the landscape of many home towns across America.

Since early 2017, I've used "before & after" images of suburban malls across the country as a landing page on my website.

Images of them open & vibrant with life & commerce.  And images of them dead & abandoned...like old western towns.  Why? 

I use those "before & after" pics as a reminder to myself that no matter how much I love something - how much something means to me - that "love & meaning" doesn't make that something immune to the realities of the world.

I'll be talking a lot about that topic & how it relates to B2B sales in 2018. 

SELL ME THIS PEN. How is this STILL a thing?

I get it - it's a neat movie. I like movies...a lot.

But I don't quote "The Deer Hunter" or "Pitch Perfect 2" in sales meetings or interviews.

How about "sell me this 10 gallon tub of Non-Fat Mayonnaise?" Is that a fair interview question?

How does making up some bullshirt, on the fly, about random objects give an interviewer any insight on how a person would actually prospect & sell a complex product in a highly competitive yet nuanced market?

Is bullshirting what we want salespeople doing in the age of Buyer's Journey & CX?

And let's be clear. WoWS is NOT a movie about #SELLING.

It's about #LYING. It's about a criminal conspiracy to defraud people.

The only HERO in the movie is the COP! Everyone else is a CROOK!

But yet here we are, in 2017, still reading about how to answer the "sell me this pen" question in a #B2B sales interview.

Here's my tip:

When asked the "pen" question, answer "Hey I like movies too...here's my impression of Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas..." & then get up and walk out.

The only way we stop hearing about how to ANSWER this question is not to have people ASK IT.

Let's hope 2018 is the year we get rid of "selling people pens."

#tiredofsellmethispen

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #1. There's No Silver Bullet

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales #Manager #Secrets! #1. There's No Silver Bullet

Today your sales manager is busy. Busy pouring over the #CRM dashboards, busy haranguing sales reps, busy approving super deep discounts or "resourceful" contract terms to get stuff out their door.  Why? 

All to "make the number" - to make their forecast to keep their job or to meet their quota so they can actually PAY for all those gifts they put on their Discover Card 2018? Well you've got that strategy ready don't you? 

• Comp -  bigger commissions! 
• Quota -  raise quota!
• Tools - More tools!
• Skills -  More training!
• People - better hires!

But wasn't that the plan in 2017?

The previous 9 secrets paint a dystopian view of the future of #B2B sales. 

Many will argue this is wrong! That the customer hasn't really changed. That we just need a return to basics. Or we need a new tool or new training.  They will say they have the SILVER BULLET.

That's fine. Everyone has to make a buck. 

Your sales manager's last secret is a sad one - they know there's no silver bullet that will save us.

No tweak, fix or hack. 

We cannot get out of these woods using the road that got us here. We need to cut a NEW PATH. 

/next week #somethingdiffernt #staytuned

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #2. Sales Training is Killing B2B Sales

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales #Manager #Secrets! #2. Sales Training is Killing B2B Sales

Global sales #training market over the last 7 years: 

• 2016 – $2.52B
• 2015 – $2.46B
• 2014 – $2.44B
• 2013 – $2.24B
• 2012 – $2.22B
• 2011 – $1.8B
• 2010 – $1.6B

Your sales manager's secret?  They're questioning the VALUE of sales training.

Why?  Let's look at OUTCOMES:

• B2B Sales quota attainment is below 50% - WORST EVER. 
• 33% of sales people change jobs YEARLY - WORST EVER
• 87% of B2B Buyers think Sales Reps DON'T understand THE CUSTOMER'S needs - WORST EVER
• 3% of humans consider salespeople to be trustworthy - WORST EVER. 

When your sales manager lays awake in bed at night, they are haunted by the thought that in 2017 the vast majority of B2B sales training STILL focuses on REPS working towards PERSONAL sales targets. 

"Push for the sale to increase your personal comp.  Class dismissed."

Your sales manager knows this strategy (and the tactics designed for it) simply don’t work anymore.   Buyers are more skeptical, better informed & more empowered than ever before.

Sure, traditional "personal comp-focused" training gets B2B sellers ready to sell...like it's 1999. 

Or 1899. 

Everything has changed.  How much? 

/#1 secret tomorrow! 

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #3. Changing B2B Sales is TOO Hard.

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales #Manager #Secrets! #3. Changing B2B Sales is TOO Hard. 

Your sales manager has heard a lot about "changing #B2B Sales" this year.  

The idea is simple - the #customer has changed, so we need to #change. But that's not the secret. What is? 

Your sales manager knows most sales orgs can't change.  Because it's too hard. 

Imagine building an org designed to "disregard" customer wants/needs.   You'd probably build something like this:

• comp plan where personal income trumps org revenue
• management strategy based entirely on "metric" attainment
• outbound marketing with little or no insight about potential customers & their wants/needs.
• interruptive lead generation using techniques literally despised by the majority of the Total Addressable Market
• culture where (YoY) 33% of employee turnover & 14% customer churn is "acceptable"

We stand in team meetings & verbally commit to "change" & talk about "buyer's journey" & "customer success." 

And then we ask sales managers "how deep are we discounting to move units this month?" 

Or demand "everyone that doesn't have 5x of their quota in their pipeline by end of Q1 is fired"

Why is change SO HARD for sales orgs?  /#2 Secret tomorrow!

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #4. It's Supposed to be CRM not SPM (Sales Process Management)

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales #Manager #Secrets! #4. It's Supposed to be CRM not SPM (Sales Process Management)

CRM Manages the Relationship with the Customer. Right? 

But your sales manager knows 2 secrets...

1. Customers don't want to be managed (or acquired or owned or targeted or controlled or locked in) 
2. CRMs have sadly become repositories for measuring all those things customers don't want

Your sales manager knows that tracking dials, emails, calls, meetings, proposals & presentations is simply tracking the SALES side of the supposed "relationship" with the customer.

It's all one sided. 

Here's a test: With your significant other tonight, talk about the family budget & just document all the points YOU want to make. Write them all down & ignore what your spouse wants.  

Sleep well on the couch? 

Sales strategy should be designed to engage & entice customers so they'll reveal what kind of information they want, what level of service they want to receive, how they buy, who's involved & how, when, where & how often to communicate with them.

Once that TRUE "buying process" is revealed, you can measure REAL "metrics" in CRM that ACTUALLY lead to sales. 

Why can't you do that now? 

/Secret #3 tomorrow!

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #5. Your CRM is Killing Your Sales Team!

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales #Manager #Secrets! #5. Your CRM is Killing Your Sales Team!

Your CRM salesperson pitched you "this CRM will streamline your sales process & empower your pipelines & forecasts" or some such.  So, you bought it.

Are you sitting on the beach yet, rolling in dough?

If not, you probably blame lazy sales people for not updating the CRM. Because the CRM isn't valuable if it's not updated? Right?

Well, your sales manager has a secret... ONLY 14% of companies who have implemented any CRM list "increased revenue" as a benefit! And over 63% of all CRM initiatives fail!

This isn't a "millennial" thing - CRM failure rates have averaged 54% since the late 1990s.

So it's not "lazy reps" (see Secret #7) not entering data.

Every day we require more  & more data in the CRM.  We mandate sales reps "update" more required CRM fields & more data entry points so Sales Ops can “accurately map the sales ecosystem & develop predictive solutions to accelerate pipeline velocity.”

Yeah...all that data...but quotas keep getting missed & right now 50% of your sales team is actively looking for a new job.  

Your CRM isn't "wrong" - you're just doing CRMs "wrong!" 

How wrong?

And what's right? /#4 tomorrow!

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets: #6 - This Push For Meetings At All Costs Isn't Working

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales Manager #Secrets: #6 - This Push For Meetings At All Costs Isn't Working

"Just get the &$^# meeting!"

We tell Sales Leadership they must CONCENTRATE on obtaining new customers.  So their reps spend a lot of prospecting time calling/emailing people, asking for a "brief meeting."

But in the New Normal, your sales manager knows the vast majority of these 1st meetings are a waste of time.

Your sales manager knows we've made it SUPER easy (many would say TOO EASY) for a buyer to say "Yes" to a 15-30 minute meeting with a sales rep. Not a lot of "customer buy-in" necessary to agree to a 15 minute web meeting, two weeks from tomorrow. No skin in that game.

Ever sit in a web meeting like the one described above & hear the prospect say "So WHY are we meeting?"  Ever agree to a meeting like the one described above & SAY "So why are we meeting?" 

Is the US alone, there are 11 million formal business meetings each day.  Estimates put "meeting waste" at $37 Billion every year! How many of those meetings are YOUR sales reps initiating?

But you need the meeting entered in the #CRM you say?  Because of #metrics you say?

CRM metrics?  Ooo, that secret gets told on Monday!

/#5 Secret on 12/11/17

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets: #7. No Your Sales People Aren't Lazy

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales Manager #Secrets: #7 - No Your Salespeople Aren't Lazy

I hear this all the time – sales people are lazy. 

Google "are sales people lazy" & you'll see all types of "sales gurus" clucking their tongues, stroking their beards, & talking about how "These kids today don’t want to prospect, they don’t want to call, they don’t want to work."

Because of this "expertise" sales managers spend allot of time “motivating” sales teams (2nd Prize Gets Steak Knives) trying to whip sales people into shape.

But privately, sales managers would tell you their salespeople already work 50-60 hours a week. 

Doing what? 

• 21% of their day writing emails
• 17% entering data
• 17% prospecting and researching leads
• 12% going to internal meetings
• 12% scheduling calls.

This leaves less than 1/4th of their time for "selling” activities.   Fun Fact: 50% of a modern #b2b salesperson's time is wasted doing "stuff" that SIMPLY doesn’t work anymore. 

Don't believe me? Are your reps offering HUGE discounts this month to simply MAKE the org's YE forecast? 

Exactly. 

These "kids" aren't lazy. They're just doing the wrong things. 

Why are they doing the wrong things? Well, that secret gets told tomorrow. 

/#6 tomorrow

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets: #8 - Buyers Don't Trust Salespeople

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten #Sales Manager #Secrets: #8 - #Buyers Don't Trust Salespeople

It's a harsh reality to contend with & your sales manager deals with it every day. 

Your sales manager knows that only 3% of people consider salespeople to be trustworthy. Salespeople BARELY beat out politicians and lobbyists – and honestly, aren't those REALLY sales jobs anyways?  We're numbers 1, 2 & 3! Yippee!

Only 13% of buyers believe sales reps understand their needs...which is why less than 1/3rd of buyers even WANT to TALK to reps per-purchase. 

News Flash - that's why that #internet thing is so popular with the kids.  

And when the buyer finally decides they need talk to reps? 

• 60% of buyers want to discuss $ on the 1st call.
• 51% of #prospects want to see how the solution works on the 1st call.
• Just 25% want to discuss the BAT of BANT
• 0.0% of buyers care about their salesperson's quota, pipeline or forecast

End result? Buyers rely on VM, Email, 3rd party reviews, referrals & internet research keep what THEY view as "barbarian sales hordes" at the "gate." 

"But we have invested in SALES STRATEGIES designed to breach those ramparts!" says the Executive.

Your sales manager has a secret about those too...

/#7 tomorrow!

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #9. Everyone is Missing Quota and Traditional Fixes Aren't Working

From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets: #9 - Everyone is missing quota & traditional fixes aren't working.

You don't like what you see in the #CRM.  Sales rep David missed quota Q2. Maddy missed it Q1. Now Sam and Diane are falling short in Q4. 

These numbers are unacceptable. You need a fix.

You ask your #sales #manager, "Do we need..."

• More sales #training? 
• Newer sales #tech?
• Better people? 

Your sales manager nods, as these are traditional fixes for "quota attainment issues." 

But there's a secret behind those agreeable eyes...

Across all verticals, since 2014 the number of all B2B reps achieving quota has been declining 25% a year. End result? Less than 50% of ALL #B2B reps made their 2016 sales #quota.

And the "fixes?" 

TRAINING/TECH - Orgs are spending a per rep average of $1,459 on training & $3,894 on tech YEARLY & quota attainment is still falling.

NEW HIRES - 51% of sales reps are "looking" for their next #job at any one time. Why are they looking? Cause we're hiring! We #churn an average of 33% of our sales teams yearly, and quota attainment is still horrible. 

So if traditional fixes aren't working...what's REALLY going on? 

Your sales manager has some ideas...those #secrets up next.

/#8 tomorrow

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! #10 - Your Marketing Content Sucks

Here we go! From the home office in Sioux City Iowa, Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets: #10 - Your Marketing Content Sucks

If you ask your #salesmanager today, they'd say your marketing content is GREAT! But what if I asked them? Well I did...and surprise, they had a different answer.

Like the opposite answer. 

Why? 

We all know 88% percent of #B2B companies participate in content marketing. We also know that almost 1/2 of B2B #buyers consume 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

But here's the rub:  60-70% of B2B content created is never used.  The most cited reason why from buyers is "topic is irrelevant to the buyer audience." 

Ergo, your marketing content sucks. Bad.

Modern B2B #content #marketing is not Don Draper selling Coca-Cola. Crafting a message to your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) the same way Nike markets it's brand to individual consumers makes as much sense as the Planet Krypton imitating the naval policy 18th century Lichtenstein. 

Your sales manager manages a TEAM of people who talk & interact with your ICP EVERY SINGLE DAY.  You need to use that team's insight to "narrowcast" to your audience. 

If your marketing sucks, I would BET your sales team didn't help author it. 

Am I right?  /#9 secret tomorrow!

Selling the Appointment

"Selling the Appointment" - read a few comments from sales experts today saying that getting the appointment is everything in sales. Is it? 

Now I'm not an idiot (no matter what the comments on LinkedIn posts say) and I know that in sales you have to MEET people to sell STUFF and THINGS. 

But meet...whom? 

What I mean is this...most outbound prospecting starts with a SUPER WIDE net. Collect as many fish as you can, meet with them (or let the SDR set an appointment so the AE can meet with them) and then qualify them as a prospect and an opportunity. Move them past the opening of the funnel, through the pipeline and into the WIN column.  But the first meeting is a USUALLY a discovery meeting.

I understand that value for the sales person. It's vital to have proper discovery to ID whether or not the prospect is a real fit/opportunity.

What's the value of a discovery meeting for the prospect?

Michael Miller told me that he "bought an appointment yesterday and it looks GREAT on him!"

Hilarious!  What he meant was our customers aren't looking for appointments...they're looking for solutions to their problems. 

So what do your customers want to discover in your discovery appointment? 

And if you know, how can you deliver it if you're still figuring out if they're a fit? 

Top Ten Sales Manager Secrets! Coming Soon!

In 2017 I’ve read a lot of Top 5 & Top 10 Lists about #Sales/Sales #Managers.  Most are titled something like "Top 5 Things a Sales Manager Needs to Do" or "Top 10 Things You Need to Know As A Sales Manager." 

My biggest problem with them is that they’re always TELLING sales managers something. Color me crazy, but I think we’d learn a lot more about the "state of sales" from listening to sales managers every once and a while.

Why do I think that? Because I have very deep conversations with YOUR sales managers...daily.

They tell me a lot about what their orgs are doing right & where they need to improve.

Each one has some hard truths – call them "secrets" - they’d love to talk to senior management about.  But they don’t.

To be fair, I understand why. Because sometimes, to Executives, sales managers telling "hard truths" sounds a lot like “complaining.”

And as a rule, Executives frown on complaining – I think they teach that in business school. Like on the first day.

After they tell you where the bathrooms are.

Sales managers have told me these #secrets & lamented "Oh, if only I could say this to my boss." 

Well starting on Monday 12/4, I'm going to post the TOP 10 SALES MANAGER SECRETS that I've been told - one a day - in this format. 

Get Ready!

#earlychristmas

It's all about THIS...until it ain't

"Yes I am your trusted adviser who is building a relationship with you by offering value...but if you don't return the paperwork by EOD the price goes up 30%" Mixed messages? Or same old / same old? 

Had a conversation with Noah Goldman regarding EOQ & discounts & related rigmarole.  It reminded me of my time in copier sales, when Solution Selling was the newest way to sell.

My company crafted some amazing Solution Selling training. All reps & specialists went through it.  There were metrics to measure & KPIs to hit. There were role plays & coaching sessions & sales training re-enforcement

Every client "touch" (although we didn't call them that back in the olden days) was supposed to be about "problem resolution."  And from the 1st of the month....to about the 15th of the month...everyone was on board.

Then things started changing.

Management stopped asking about "problem resolution" & started asking about "how many units?" 

Role plays stopped.

Coaching sessions began to start with "What's your 'blood number' this month?" 

The only KPIs anyone cared about on Friday the 29th?  "Will the customer accept delivery today?"  Then the weekend happened & everyone took a breath. 

Monday morning arrives - 7am Sales Meeting Topic? "Problem Resolution"

Rinse/Repeat

RING RING RING!

Sales Rep: RING RING...."Hello Derek? I'm so glad to have met you at Dreamforce...thanks for stopping by our booth. We should have a 15 minute meeting so LMNOPsoft can sell you our #Sales #Enablement #Saas #Smarketing #Platform now with #AI powered #Blockchain." 

Me: "Um, I never even went to the vendor expo and my badge was never even scanned..."

Sales Rep: "How does Tuesday look - your Account manager is free after 2pm...Devin will be happy to give you a demo!"

Me: "Wait...the meeting isn't even with you?"

Sales Rep: "So Tuesday then?" Me: "Click...Buuzzzzzz"

(Sales Rep enrolls Derek in a monster marketing email "nurture campaign" that will be immediately be sent to Derek's JUNK Folder.)

Sales Rep: "Beep boop booop beep beep beeeep boop boooop bop bop - RING RING -  Hello Mr. Speese - Robert Speese? I'm so glad to have met you at Dreamforce...thanks for stopping by our booth...."

#propsecting (?)

Let's talk about our RELATIONSHIP!

26% of B2B #sales reps changed jobs last year! I learned that last week in a Rob Jeppsen presentation at Sales Hacker, Inc.  Or did I? 

Rather than "learn" I think  I was "reminded." 

I can't throw a rock here on LinkedIn without hitting someone's post about how "sales is all about relationships." How it's all about "human interaction." About how buyers will "always need salespeople."  Really? How can our customers have "relationships" with the Merry-Go-Round of Reps we call our #B2B sales teams? 

Years ago I worked selling photo-copiers D2D - it was a geo-territory & it was SMB customers.  Every machine shop, or travel agency or dentist office in every office park I prospected in had a single thing in common.

Each receptionist had a "graveyard" of tens & sometimes hundreds of "business cards" from copier reps from ALL the manufacturers and dealers in the area.  They took my card  & pinned on the cork-board right next to all the Xerox reps that came before me.

Ooops. They had one more thing in common...they all laughed when I said "I'm really interested building a relationship and becoming a valued partner." 

20 years later...are salespeople ANY better off?  Numbers say NO.  What can we do?