5 barriers that block salespeople from hitting quota

in/ralphbarsi

@rbarsi

@rbarsiSources: SaaS Benchmark Report, Xactly (2014); Inside Sales Metrics & Comp Report, The Bridge Group (2015)

@rbarsi*They’re all self-imposed

@rbarsi

The state of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant

Hint: It’s not just

about HAVING

a LinkedIn or Twitter

profile

@rbarsi

If you

Google yourself and there

are NO search results,

do you REALLY exist?!

The goal is not to achieve social

media greatness, but rather to

achieve your goals by being great

at social media.

@rbarsi

Publicly recognize (and tag) your successful team

The more people tagged, the more exposure

@rbarsi

@rbarsi Publicly recognize (and tag) your successful team

@rbarsi

Want to find the best?

Strive to BECOME the best!

Help people learn about you

• Optimize your social media profiles

• Share on LinkedIn, SlideShare, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube

Use social media as another way to reach your goals

• Recognize your customers, prospects, and team

• Use hashtags and tags to expand your reach

• Stay in the stream

Hustle until you no longer have to introduce yourself

• Contribute more value than you consume

• Teach others what you’ve learned

• Earn a reputation of service for others, for your customers and industry@rbarsi

@rbarsi

If you chase two rabbits, they will both escape

@rbarsiSource: David Rutherford, bit.ly/set_goals

*Unless, of course, you’ve not written them anywhere

@rbarsi Source: Brendon Burchard, bit.ly/bb-1pg

@rbarsi Source: Brendon Burchard, bit.ly/bb-1pg

@rbarsi

You can’t win if you don’t keep score

Measure daily, weekly, & quarterly progress – as an individual & as a team

Post weekly goals in your desk area Create individual dashboards

Actually write down your goals

• Consider the outcomes you want

• Make them measurable, keep them visible, be accountable

Own your day (or it will own you)

• Work on no more than 3 wildly important projects at a time

• Reach people you must speak to, as well as people you must hear from

• Do what must be done today, no matter what – work the priorities

Measure your progress – daily, weekly, quarterly (think “x to y by when”)

• Know where the #’s need to be by when, then work backwards

• Pin notes to your monitor, schedule alerts in your calendar

• Build an individual dashboard in your CRM – stay in your own lane@rbarsi

@rbarsi

Don’t just do something, stand there!

@rbarsi

You can’t take a

fishing boat out

and just EXPECT

fish to jump in the

boat!

Know your fishing spot

Territory at-large

Major metro areas (“NFL Cities”)

Top 5 industries in the territory

Know when to fish

Most B2B’s buy in Q1 & Q2

Most execs talk on Tues & Thurs

Call between 10am & 4pm

Know why to fish

Find relevant trigger events

Similar companies = similar pain

There’s no bait like yours

Know who to invite

Ask senior leaders for intros

Leverage channel partners

Bring a customer on your call

Know what type of fish you want

Company size

Target Industries

Exact titles, roles

Know your bait

ROI analyses

Personal, brief messages

Customer references

Referrals

Get a fishing license

Get certified as an Inside Sales Professional (CISP)

Complete a Sales Development Workshop (Sales Hacker)

Sources: onforb.es/1wgyf5D, bit.ly/UnbreakableCh15, bit.ly/1t9xLJS, www.aa-isp.org/CISP.php

Set multiple fishing lines

Concentrated effort on Tier 1 accounts

Calculated effort on Tier 2 accounts

Schedule your social media outreach

@rbarsi

Consider a “bookends” approach to each week

Mondays & Fridays are admin days – Tuesdays-Wednesdays-Thursdays are blocked for sacred prospecting

Source: VorsightBP

@rbarsi

Along with SLA’s: Demand Gen SDRs & SDRs AEs

Source: Velocify

@rbarsi Source: Joanne Black, The Bridge Group

Read this book (bit.ly/pickup-phone) And start dialing!

Make outbound prospecting an activity, like fishing

• Don’t expect prospects to just appear – work hard to attract them to you

• Optimize all your tools & resources (CRM, sales intel, dialers, auto-emails, etc)

Calendar your prospecting & daily work

• Use the “bookends approach” to your weeks – every minute counts

• Mondays & Fridays = admin days, internal meetings; Tues-Thurs = phones!

Pick up the damn phone

• Conversations = relationships = pipeline = sales = referrals

• What you put into your work is exactly what you’ll get out of it

@rbarsi

Every disappointment in your life is a result of not taking enough action

• Business leader, Grant Cardone, said that…

@rbarsi

With one breath, with one flow, you will know synchronicity

The Police

Source: Art Sobzack, bit.ly/10-dumb-mistakes

#1 Making it about YOU and not THEM

#2 Not getting or using any INTELLIGENCE about the prospect

#3 Trying to go through, AROUND, or above the gatekeeper

#4 Using OPENING STATEMENTS that create resistance

#5 Using VOICEMAILS that create resistance

#6 & #7 Inadequate QUESTIONING, and inadequate ELABORATION

#8 Not RITUALIZING your calling

#9 Feeling REJECTED after calls

#10 SOUNDING like a cold caller

@rbarsi

Think in terms of tweets and texts

@rbarsi Source: http://three.sentenc.es

Stop asking yes – no questions

@rbarsi Source: Barry Rhein, Selling Through Curiosity

How does this / that compare to what you’re ideally looking for?

How does this / that compare to your ideal situation?

Tell me about...

What do you mean...

How so...

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Elaborate…

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@rbarsi

By Title

By Industry

By Location

By Source

By Company

By Offering

By Connection

By Event

Make the conversation about them

• I challenge you to not mention your company’s product in that first call

• Leverage sales intelligence to know the when it’s time to engage

Consider every detail of your messaging

• From email subject lines to voicemails to emails to in-person, know your rap

• Keep your writings brief, concise, and actionable

Ask open-ended questions

• Is this a good time to talk? “No.” Now what?

• Are you currently using a product like ours? “Yes.” Now what? @rbarsi

Have the same conversation over and over, to build momentum

• Talk to the same titles, areas in the territory, & verticals at one time

@rbarsi

If we did things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves

Thomas Edison

@rbarsi

@rbarsi Source: Best Sales Books: 23 Great Reads that Give Salespeople All the Answers, bit.ly/bestsalesbooks

Anticipate plateaus

• Raise your standards. Change your beliefs. Create new strategies.

Sales leaders: Surround yourselves with winners and serve their teams

• Recognize your team, get to know them personally, help them develop

• Show your team the many great paths their careers can take

@rbarsi

Sales reps: Stay in the present and master the role you’re in right now

• Embrace the grind, learn as if you need to teach someone else

• Work to improve yourself 1% a day

• Skills you master today will get used deep into your career

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Sales topics I’ve written or spoken about

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Places you might have seen me

VP, Field Operations

Writer, speaker

in/ralphbarsi

@rbarsi

ralphbarsi.com