Everyone wants a winning sales strategy.
But sales encompasses so many aspects of a business it’s often hard to know where to start.
Luckily, in this Takeover episode, host Sanjana Murali from Hippo Video speaks with Kent Holland, VP of Sales at Copper, about 3 areas you can focus on right now to step up your sales game.
Personalization at scale
We all have too many tools currently deployed in our organizations.
We’re getting too many emails from other organizations trying to sell us on a new angle or solution to engage our customer base.
So, it becomes incumbent on us as sales professionals to stand out.
We need to differentiate ourselves from all the noise that is flooding everyone these days.
And that means personalization — at scale.
“If you’re not differentiating and personalizing at scale now, then you’re not going to be able to drive your conversion rates in the way that you want to.” — Kent Holland
To have effective marketing these days, whether we are doing outbound or inbound, means finding ways to drive efficient, personalized outreach.
And this should be obvious when you think about the emails flooding your inbox.
How often do you get an email where it’s clearly a lifeless copy-and-paste job? Do you respond to these?
No; if you are going to respond to a cold or warm email, you want the sender to demonstrate that they have at least done a modicum of research on you and the issues they might be able to help you solve.
This is different from volume-selling — which is all too often the source of those lifeless emails you never respond to.
And, frankly, if you keep relying on volume selling, you will find yourself behind the curve in no time.
The noise is only going to increase. You need to stand out now.
The right KPIs
Okay, so you’ve crafted some personalized messages. You’ve differentiated yourself from a crowded field of competition.
Or have you?
You want to make sure your message is resonating.
And the only way to do that is to make sure you have the right KPIs in place to measure your efforts.
“Your guideposts should always come back to setting up the right KPIs.” — Kent Holland
The best way to measure your success is to have KPIs that track every stage of the funnel, from top-of-funnel marketing all the way to the handoff to sales and beyond.
This will give you a clear picture of what you are doing well — and where you can improve.
Be sure to think about how the components work together.
Sometimes, when you’re killing your numbers in one area and not another, there could, counterintuitively, be a problem in the area where you are seemingly doing well.
For instance, if you are always getting meetings, but not the opportunities, that could mean your message is great, but maybe your product can’t live up to your messaging.
Or maybe your SQLs lead to conversion every time. That’s good, right?
Yes, but it could also mean that you’re choking the funnel early on and you need to try and get more into the funnel in the first place.
Ultimately, you need to find the right balance.
The right motivation
Another area where balance is key is your definition of success.
Often, your sales team works really hard to crush their targets. At the end of the year, their hard work pays off as the company goes above and beyond its high expectations.
Everyone is happy and proud of the work they’ve accomplished.
But then, next year, the target becomes even harder to achieve.
It’s not much of a reward for all that hard work, is it?
In fact, it’s demotivating.
“If you get into a position where you’re continually raising quotas, that can be very damaging to a team.” — Kent Holland
You want your team to be successful. And seeing your team enthusiastically go above and beyond to crush their goals is amazing.
But you need to keep a sense of perspective. No one can give 110% effort 110% of the time.
It’s not only terrible math, it’s a recipe for burnout, demotivation, and a headache for everyone involved.
You need to set expectations high without pushing your team to its breaking point.
If you keep moving the goalposts, then your team will never feel like they have a firm grasp on what they need to do.
No one will ever feel they can be successful if you keep changing the definition of success.
So, yes. Aim high, but maintain some continuity in what your expectations are.
Wrapping up
There is a lot you can do to improve your sales success.
But tackling these 3 areas is a great place to start:
Better messaging, better measurement, and more motivated teams will get your sales team far.
So, take a good look at each and see where you can improve.
This is a #FlipMyFunnel podcast. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or here. To learn more about Hippo Video, you can visit their website!
