At First Glance

"I have not yet begun to fight!"

In Portsmouth, NH, this weekend, taking a mini-break from work, we came across the "John Paul Jones House" on Middle St., where the famous Revolutionary Naval War hero lived between 1777 and 1782.

John Paul Jones is most famous for NOT giving up, even as his own ship, the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, sank around him.

As the legend goes, after conducting sea raids on the coast of Britain, he took command in 1779 of a rebuilt French merchant ship, renamed the U.S.S.Bonhomme Richard to honor Benjamin Franklin. On September 23, 1779, Jones engaged the British frigate Serapis in the North Sea, daringly sailing in close, lashing his vessel to the British ship, and fighting the battle at point-blank range. During the fight, 2 of his cannon burst, and the British Captain asked Jones if he was ready to surrender. Replied Jones: "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!"

The American crew finally boarded the Serapis after the British had surrendered her colors, and from the deck of the Serapis they watched the U.S.S.Bonhomme Richard sink into the North Sea, but having won the battle and captured the Serapis.

So, what did John Paul Jones have in common with elite sales pros of today?

• He had a good team;
• He thought highly of his abilities;
• He took risks;
• He assumed he would win the battle, even as his ship was sinking around him;
• He never gave up;
• He psyched out the competition, who must have thought he was crazy for not perceiving his own eminent defeat;
• He inspired his team with his stated confidence in his and their abilities.

Who knows what was the key to Jones' victory....was it his belief in himself and his team, or did he intimidate the competition with his loudly proclaimed self-confidence?

Today's sales pros face similar odds: According to a recent CSO Insights report, only 52.4% of sales reps at the companies surveyed made sales quote in 2009. As a point of comparison, that number was 61.1% in 2007. So what do you do? Think like John Paul Jones....get together a good team, take risks, think positively, psych out the competition, and above all, as the ship is sinking, yell out, "I have not yet begun to sell!"

-- Carla Gates, Director, Marketing

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Adherence to Sales Process Drops, With Negative Results

More interesting insights from CSO Insights' Sales Performance Optimization 2009 Survey:

I was surprised by the fact that 62% of all companies surveyed have a random or informal sales process! The CSO Insights Report points out that, in fact, year over year, companies using formal or dynamic processes have decreased, and that loss was converted to increases in informal processes.

Why does all this matter? Well, businesses that have implemented more formal or dynamic sales processes have:

• higher conversion rates throughout the sales cycle,
• better predictive ability to forecast, and
• better ability to adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace (e.g., recessions)

Clearly, it takes much more discipline and rigor to implement and maintain formal sales processes than not (I know because I watch my friends in Sales here at Glance do the hard, sometimes tedious, work of maintaining our formal process!) But it's worth it. In difficult times, sticking to formal sales processes can give you a significant competitive edge.

A few resources on sales processes, to get you started:

• The New Strategic Selling: The Unique Sales System Proven Successful by the Worlds Best Companies, Miller & Heiman.
• Systematic Selling: Process Map Portfolio, Smith, Selden, and Burton
• BNET.com's 84 Resources for Sales Processes

And of course, my own plug: Make every conversation count, throughout your sales process -- Try Glance, the only screen-sharing tool built for sales pros, free for 7 days...

-- Carla Gates, Director, Marketing

How Are Your Sales Leads Generated?

Like last week's blog post, this week I'm posting more interesting observations from CSO Insights' Sales Performance Optimization 2009 Survey:

If you're like us here at Glance, you'd probably rather have your sales reps spend more time actually selling rather then generating leads, right? The CSO Insights Report goes on to suggest that the best way that Marketing can help Sales find more leads is to improve the company web site. In fact, 54% of Sales reps interviewed in this study, feel their company web site needs improvement!

Marketing: point taken! After all, the first step in any prospects' buy cycle is visiting web sites to research purchase options, hopefully registering (friending, following, etc.) for more information, and therefore, becoming a lead. For prospects, your company web site needs to engage their attention, garner their interest, and make them take an action to become a lead.

What about your company -- how/where do you generate most of your sales leads? How is Marketing helping Sales generate leads?

Follow us on Twitter for more daily tips about effective sales and lead gen.

-- Carla Gates, Director, Marketing

Research Results: Top 3 Sales Objectives for the Next 12 Months

From CSO Insights' Sales Performance Optimization 2009 Survey:

So, what objectives do you have at the top of your list?

Consider making "increase sales effectiveness" a very close #2. There's a whole host of Sales 2.0 tools out there, that help sales pros make each call more effective, as opposed to simply making more calls.

[And if you want to maximize your impact on every phone conversation, try my company's sales-focused, screen-sharing product, Glance, for free!]

-- Carla Gates, Director, Marketing

Riding Shotgun = Sales Coaching

I'm writing this post from my Blackberry while riding shot gun; my 17 year old daughter, Sophia, behind the wheel earning hours so that she can take the test to join the ranks of the privileged.
 
Many of you have already had the same thought as I have; "shouldn't he be paying attention?"
 
If you have gone through this process with a teenager, you know the answer is clearly 'no'. I'm learning as the father of a 17-year-old; to give space, observe, and only take action to avoid potential tragedy; and I’m not just referring to the driving.
 
Come to think of it, this challenge is similar to coaching fledgling sales professionals; when you have been doing something for so long that its second nature, it’s hard to not comment on every small infraction.

Today I am trying to take my own medicine. Prior to this drive, I asked my daughter to:

1. Pick a clear destination,
2. Understand the directions,
3. Review the various roads which we will travel, and,
   
4. If she has questions about challenges we may find along the way; to make sure that we discuss ahead of time.

But once on the road, she owns the deal.
 
So here we are barreling down I-95 South. Sure, there have been a few hiccups, yes, I would rather her not actually turn the car into oncoming traffic, yes, it would have been nice to give the poor old man out walking his dog a few more inches, or possibly things may improve when she understands the that “Yield” does not mean “stop completely”...
 
But that is why I sit here, texting this blog; peripheral vision in overdrive, heart rate pegged, and palms so sweaty I can barely type.
 
I am doing my best to promote a healthy learning environment, without saying it, letting her know that I have confidence in her, to not over coach, so that ironically she can relax.
 
Will I point out later that “Speed Pass Lane” is not for literal interpretation? Of course I will. But I will do that at the right time, not in the middle of “the deal”, not when she needs me most.

Like my daughter, the budding sales pro needs similar guidance:

1. To explain the value of establishing a clear destination,
2. Assistance in building a roadmap to keep them focused,
3. The teaching of required sales skills, and most importantly,
4. The leadership to build the confidence required to drive revenue in these toughest of times.

When sales coaching, remember to ride shotgun, not drive.

-- Tom Scontras, VP Sales & Marketing

LinkedIn: 10 Best Practices for Sales

Remember when you got that first LinkedIn invite 6 years ago and you thought it was spam? So much has changed! Today, LinkedIn is officially a phenomenon -- with 50 million users worldwide -- and growing roughly one new member/second! When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days to reach their first million members. The last million took only 12 days.

So, how do you make the most of LinkedIn in your prospecting, negotiating, and closing efforts? I’ve collected 10 great best practices; from some of the wisest Smarketing thought leaders I follow every day on Twitter:

1. Take a few regularly scheduled minutes each week to expand your network. Develop your network before you need it. [Mark Hunter ]
2. Include a personal note when you invite others to your LinkedIn network (i.e., go beyond the standard form greeting). Consider adding, “If you feel you have received this invitation in error or simply don’t want to connect, please archive this message”. This way they are less likely to ‘I don’t know’ you  [Viveka von Rosen]
3. Send a LinkedIn request to anyone you meet in a professional setting. Even if you don't see immediate opportunity, there's a chance something may materialize down the line with that person or someone in their network [Aaron Goldman]
4. Start writing quality recommendations for people you can vouch for. If they can do the same for you, ask for one back. If not, hold off. No sense making someone feel awkward. [Chris Brogan]
5. Focus on being genuine and offering something of value to your connections. [Bill Rice]
6. Use your LinkedIn connections to create meeting opportunities (breakfast, lunch, phone conferences, etc.) Simply connecting on LinkedIn is not enough. [Nathan Kievman]
7. Create a power public profile (including a professional headline, a regularly updated status, a summary that tells people what you do, and links to your web site for SEO bonus) [Gail Milton]
8. Make sure your profile sizzles! Tell your audience not only that you’re great at your job, but passionate about it. [Trish Bertuzzi]
9. Include a link to your LinkedIn profile as part of your email signature [Guy Kawasaki]
10. Participate in, and initiate LinkedIn Q&A forums and polls to assert your thought leadership. [Doyle Slayton]

Follow us on Twitter for more tips on Sales and Marketing.

-- Carla Gates, Director, Marketing

Sell Yourself!

Last night I attended a mixer for sales executives here in Boston.  I had a nice time, however, couldn’t help but notice the undercurrent. Although most did their best to “keep on a happy face”, it was clear that these are tough times.
 
I spoke with senior people, top sales producers; all feeling the pain, many were unemployed.
 
As these events go there is never enough time, nor quiet, to hold a meaningful discussion.  If its the case that you were one of those folks with whom I had the chance to chat, or simply find yourself reading this and know someone conducting a search during this holiday season, I’d like to pass along a few suggestions to help you sell yourself that came to me in the quiet of my late night commute:
 

• Go Social: Whatever your reasons for not being on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter; put them aside right away and establish a social presence for yourself.  Reach out to new and old friends, don’t be shy.

• Polish Up Your Shiny Persona: If you already have a social presence then polish your on line persona. Have a professional appearance in you profile pic; no shots of your dog, or sail boat, or girlfriend.  Just a simple clean pic, and a smile is always great.  Along with your new image, review your summary and brush up your employment history.  Make sure your bio sells you, that it is current, hip, and uses language aimed at the industry which you target. If you are not a great writer seek help from pros who are.

• Tweet & reTweet: Follow every company that you are targeting and master the art of reTweeting their posts.  Essentially, via retweets, pitch their product for them.  As these companies begin to follow you, and trust me if you do this they will, thank each one of them. Leverage this point of engagement to connect directly, if the opportunity presents itself, make them aware of your interest in their firm.

• Join Groups & Seek Alumni: Join LinkedIn Groups. Speak with other sales pros about what groups they find helpful, sign up and actively engage in the give and take. Be smart and get noticed. Most importantly sign up for old company “alum” groups; you’ll be amazed at the career path of that former 23-year old telemarketer that once made cold calls for you.

• Evangelize: Blog; if you don’t have a blog, create one.  Write about your own experience, subject matter which reflects your IP, and your philosophies. For example, if you have been selling database technologies for 10 years, discuss lessons learned, new innovation, sales best practices. You may not get 10,000 followers, that doesn’t matter, what does, is that when send your resume yours contains a link to your blog, and the other guys does not.

• Proof of Concept: There are tons of companies today that need to hire Sales Professionals but budgets simply do not allow the expense that comes with the best of the best.  Find these companies, especially the small ones.  Get connected with the CEO or VP Sales and discuss their challenges. If there is a specific need that you can fill, offer to address it via contract, commission only, or if it has great potential, for free.

• Join the Human League: Leverage all of the above, but ultimately you have to get out there.  Find events like the one I attended last night, sign up for user groups, go to trade shows.  Don’t solicit for jobs within the venue, but build some rapport, offer a lead or two from your executive network.  Making something happen for them first will go a long way!

-- Tom Scontras, VP Sales & Marketing