Sales Strategies to Increase Your

therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

1 A strong / , , and strategy all play an integral role in sales. Yet no product / service or brand will be sold, no brilliant sales strategy will be fully-executed without the right people selling in a culture of accountability.

I have often heard sales managers from companies large and small declare… “Good sales people should know “Numbers are impressive, what to do.” This statement is rarely accurate. systems are effective, slogans While some “good sales people” may know what to do are moving but people make because they are organized and focused, most do not. it happen." Ray Kroc, Founder The following elements are critical to sustained sales of McDonald's success…

• Talent Selection – The right sales talent will create tremendous results when coupled with strong accountability systems and culture standards. The wrong sales talent will absolutely destroy potential. Rainmaker Sales Teams do not allow low Job Fit sales talent on the “bus”. Ever. Low performers are removed quickly. Rainmaker sales team members are identified using a validated sales assessment.

• Accountability Systems – The right accountability system will create consistent sales results by ensuring the right things are getting done consistently – when coupled with strong talent and culture standards. Rainmaker sales managers understand that every single sales team member must be accountable for day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month activity levels that create sustainable sales. coupled with strong Sales Management is a powerful accountability system that ensures accountability for activities, objectives, and ultimately results.

• Culture Standards – The Culture of a sales team and the overall company sets the tone today and shapes tomorrow’s sales results. A Culture of Accountability for activities, objectives, and results is an integral part of ensuring a sales team is successful. When sales team members are held accountable, more consistent results are achievable. Without accountability, sales team members do what feels comfortable – especially those with reduced job fit or competing interests for their time.

“Strong sales talent in combination with strong accountability systems and strong culture standards creates repeatable sales.”

therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

2 Many sales teams are run by a former sales team member who is more committed to being “friends” with former peers than holding them accountable to complete activities and achieve results. It can be difficult to transition from peer to manager boss. This is known as the “friendship problem.”

This is a dangerous problem for many companies.

A “symptom” of the “friendship problem” is often masked behind the sales manager defending the low results of sales team members. They often say, “If we squeeze the team member too hard, they might become upset and seek employment elsewhere.”

Furthermore, many sales people mistakenly believe they add more value than they actually do. As a result, many sales people “suffer” from “entitlement thinking”. Entitlement thinking leads to low accountability. Low accountability leads to reduced sales activities. Reduced sales activities leads to reduced sales results.

An important question to ask yourself about your company is, “Who or what actually sells?”

• Does the product / service / brand sell itself? • Do sales team members add value or act as “order takers”?

The 3 Types of Sales Environments

The three types of sales environments a company operates in often determine the level of sales talent or ability required to survive and thrive. The three sales environments are:

therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

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1. Semi-Monopoly – Companies with a strong product/ service / branding where the Customer views them as the only or best provider enjoy a “semi-monopoly” status.

This status is often more temporary than long-term. Semi-monopoly companies typically are on a “burning bridge” in terms of a long-term competitive advantage. Their sales can be contributed to the high demand for the product and them being the sole or rare provider. With a semi-monopoly company, it does not take great sales people to sell the product, service, or brand. An example of a semi-monopoly company would be Apple prior to Samsung becoming a competitive force in cellular devices.

The unfortunate reality is companies (regardless of competitive positioning) rarely push their sales team to perform beyond a particular baseline level – typically some annual growth rate objective. In the “semi-monopoly” circumstance, the actual act of selling is often little more than order-taking. Typically when a company grows beyond the annual required low to mid-double digit growth rate, there is little push to improve sales performance. As a result, sales teams often become “fat and happy” and attribute success to their own efforts when much of the credit should go to the product, service, or brand. Imagine if the sales team had a process and accountability for how they sell… An undisciplined sales team will never realize their full potential.

As indicated previously… While it is every sales professionals job to be the “obvious choice” to the Customer, semi-monopolies are often temporary as a result of strong branding and/or a “first mover” product / service offering that Customers especially desire. As competitors copy the branding and product / service offering, semi- monopoly power erodes when they are not the “obvious choice” due to a poor sales team.

2. Reduced or No Accountability Semi- – Companies whose product / service is viewed as having relatively close substitutes (but not a perfect commodity) are more of a “semi-commodity”. “Semi-monopoly” companies almost always become more of a “semi-commodity” company as competitors begin to copy their product. Without accountability, semi-commodity companies are left more “open” to the competitive forces. The level of overall sales success in a “semi-commodity with reduced or no accountability” company is more dependent upon the sales skills and job fit of the sales team. Success is predicated upon the collective sales team’s ability to differentiate the product / service through consultative sales. Without accountability systems, semi- commodity companies rely on their sales team members to police themselves – to determine and shape their activity levels.

therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

4 As an illustration… We often perform “activity audits” of sales team members to review how “busy” they are. An excellent indicator is how much time sales team members spend talking with Customers over a four to eight week time period. We often find that most sales team members spend less than 45-90 minutes a day talking with Customers.

How much time does your sales team spend talking with Customers?

It is important to note that many companies begin as a “semi-monopoly” and become “fat and happy”. Competitive forces beckon. Companies that create a strong dominant strategy that Customers demand, enjoy higher-than-normal profits that act as a “signal” to the marketplace. Unfortunately, the incumbent company often continues to behave as if they are in a “semi-monopoly” world - even long after the competition begins to copy their dominant strategy. The result is the incumbent company often ends up losing market share and profitability over time because their Culture lacked accountability. Quite often, dramatic management, employee, and philosophical changes are necessary to create a culture of accountability.

“What kind of competitive advantage would a company with strong job fit sales talent and strong accountability have over their competitors?”

3. Strong Accountability Semi-Commodity – Take the prior example and add strong accountability systems to the “equation”. Companies with the right sales talent coupled with strong accountability systems that ensure the right activities get done every single day outperform relative to competitors. This is achievable but infrequently found. Apple is still sustaining in the market even with the arrival of Samsung’s devices because they have strong Accountability Systems.

Accountability Systems – A Singular Focus on Results Is the Wrong Strategy

therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

5 Average companies and sales managers often set their sales talent up for failure without realizing it. The traditional approach to sales is to identify the monthly, quarterly, and annual goal and then basically say, “Good luck!”

While some sales people have the discipline and diligence to follow their own monthly, weekly, or quarterly activity plan, most do not. Most flounder or get lucky.

• Mediocre sales managers focus on whether or not the sales team member made their sales numbers for the month, quarter, and year.

• Rainmaker Sales Managers ensure the right activities are completed each and every single day that lead to the traditional sales numbers. Every day. Without exception. Rainmaker Sales Managers know the conversion rates of daily activities to actual sales.

A powerful way to ensure the right activities are being completed daily is through a consistent reporting approach; however, self-reporting through spreadsheets or actual paper are time-consuming and have little additional strategic benefit – they do not provide “ intelligence”. This type of approach is also “draconian” in nature – feeling almost like punishment.

So how do you track sales activity daily without the “draconian” method?

Salesforce is an efficient way to track activity levels, create , and increase sales without punishing. Actually – there are other CRM tools but Salesforce is the gold standard. Rainmaker Sales Managers use Salesforce to ensure the right activities are completed.

Rainmaker Sales Managers focus on the completion of the right activities that lead to the desired sales. Rainmaker Sales Managers realize that the completion of the right activities and objectives daily increases sales results for the month, quarter, and year.

The AOR Accountability System

Activities – Objectives – Results

Rainmaker sales teams need a solid process and discipline to follow that process. This process begins by meeting with subordinates to set AOR goals for the next several weeks and quarter.

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The activity / objectives / results goals must be written down, transparent, and SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time oriented. These goals must reach across the “AOR spectrum”. It is not enough to say, “I will achieve $3m in sales this quarter. One must commit to the quarterly sales goal and have an AOR plan to get there. In other words – what daily activity levels and objectives will be accomplished to make the quarterly goal happen?

Sales team members must commit to their goals. Sales management’s role is to assist in providing information, additional resources, coaching, training, and motivation.

Regular sales team member feedback is critical.

Rainmaker Sales Managers hold their team members accountable without exception. Discipline in the sales team demands accountability for getting the right things done consistently.

Sales team members require “constant gentle pressure” – continuous feedback looping with regard to their AOR – daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly. Without continuous feedback, bad habits and poor culture standards will result. The format for these meetings is simple.

• Review performance against the AOR. • Praise AOR achievement. • Problem-solve AOR and other failures. • Set new AOR goals for the upcoming period.

therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

7 The Big Picture

Creating a great sales team starts by getting “the right people on the bus.” Ensuring you have Top Sales Professionals is possible through the use of Pre-Employment Assessments during the employee selection process. Once you have team members that actually fit the sales position and company culture, you must create Accountability Systems to be sure the right activities are being completed each day. In other words, you must create a Culture of Accountability and select only the best Talent possible.

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therainmakergroupinc.com • 2012

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