How to Radically Reorder Sales in a Crisis [WEBINAR]
Dave Boyce, CSO for Xant, hosts this webinar with guest speaker Kraig Kleeman on how to radically reorder sales in a crisis.
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In this article:
Reorder Sales: Still Build Toward a $Billion Outcome
Meet the Speaker
Kraig Kleeman is an accomplished author and speaker, dubbed the world’s greatest cold caller. Kraig is a world-leading growth advisor, a sales strategist, and he hosts his own instructional sales enablement YouTube channel – KraigKleemanTV.
Kraig’s concepts around radically reordering the way we think about sales is especially relevant during the current crisis.
The Current Situation
Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, a lot has been happening in the world, almost like a tectonic change. The world seems to be restructuring itself; layers of culture and society, including businesses, will need to be significantly reordered.
The sales function within the business will specifically need reordering, possibly whether we like it or not.
The Sales Function
The world has changed, but your organization’s business sales function needs to go on, so this might mean changing your outlook to achieve primary goals.
Consider these points?
- What is the purpose of a sales organization?
- How do you load-balance headcount as it relates to appointment setters and appointment closers?
- How do you put together your sales team in your organization now?
- Have you re-examined your sales organization recently?
- What sort of content/ what kind of language are you using in customer-facing mode?
- What sort of touchpoints are you using to reach out to customers, and how is it all architected?
The purpose of a sales team is to create valuation – to build and drive the valuation of the company, perform well for employees and shareholders, and be a strategic weapon or tool to drive the valuation.
If you turn sales off and underinvest in that function, your valuation disappears. If you ramp up sales and step on the gas, then valuation increases.
Knowing how to step on the gas appropriately to extract the most yield from that particular environment at this turbulent time is key to success.
Expanding the lifetime value of a company is essential. The four indicators to add valuation are: –
- Rapid growth
- Reduce customer acquisition costs
- Increase the lifetime value of the company
- Retention
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Reordering Your Sales
Review
Look at how many demos (or meeting 1s – or whatever you call the first real introductory meeting that starts the sales cycle.) your sellers do per person per day?
What ratio of appointment setters (SDRs – Sales Development Reps) to closers do you have?
What messages and content do you use? Examine and understand how your messages are being delivered to customers. How do you deliver the messages, for example, is the content automated, structured, etc. or do the SDRs just complete a daily task list?
Structure
Load balance your SDR team to a minimum of 5:1 ratio, i.e., five SDRs minimum per seller.
Those SDRs need to be equipped with messaging and content that’s been highly customized, and that’s rooted in hermeneutics (the science of language) and sales proposal writing.
The SDRs should sit in on the demo meeting and take all the notes, put all the information in salesforce, and do all the administrative tasks relating to CRM. The SDR should carry all motions and follow the customer meetings until close.
Sellers should barely use your CRM, only to check which appointments they have and get themselves acquainted before they go into the sales meeting. Ultimately their role is to take the demos and sell/pitch and close the sale.
Content
The message, or content, should be highly customized and include the four pillars of buyer thought – topics, trends, metrics, and outcomes. You will begin to appeal to buyers when you understand the way they think, i.e., they think topically, and they want to know what’s trending.
Look at what’s trending, and what outcomes could result, then lead with fact-based research instead of product gains. Your customers will think quantitatively and will be more interested in outcomes than the features and benefits.
In adhering to task management, the SDR should incorporate key language, which is highly valuable and conforms to power persuasion that makes it difficult for the customer to say no.
Try to automate every message so that they are pre-created in advance for all SDRs to use so that SDRs don’t have to think about what message to send; instead they simply follow a set of tasks and adhere to task management.
Therefore, the language needs to be highly assumptive. Incorporate principles like ‘power response to power.’ For example, “my managing director has asked me to schedule a meeting.” Use different terms and keywords for different companies.
Sales Meeting
Ensure that the sales data projected to the customer in the sales meeting is relevant.
Focus on three very poignant points by citing fact-based research but stimulating the customer to talk that then creates some communication and some engagement around problems and issues that they’re having internally.
Key attributes to a successful sales meeting should include citing valid research, having at least three fast facts, let the customer talk, use open-ended questioning techniques, be a great listener, and qualify deeply in the context of the fact-based research.
Use a demo to explain how your product can make a big difference to the client, specifically honing in on the outcomes your customer has described. Once you build value in the mind of the buyer, they will want to make an investment in your product.
Reorder Sales in a Crisis – Summary
Make sure you have a structure or formula that works within your sales team. The goal should be to build valuation. You will need:
- A ratio of 5:1 SDR to sellers.
- Refined content and delivery.
- Your SDRs to be following all administrative steps until close.
- To let your SDRs invoke power by referring to persons in the management team.
- Your sellers to be the revenue carrying employees who should be concerned with closing sales only.
- Make your sales demo relevant, based on factual research and honed in on client needs.
How can you reorder sales in a crisis? What processes have worked for you? Share your ideas in the comments section below.
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