Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables xvi
Foreword Tara Talbot xvii
Introduction: Why I Wrote This Book 1
Part 1 The Sales Leadership Imperative
1 Challenges Facing the Sales Organization 9
The Top-Three Challenges in Selling Today 11
Buyers Have Power in Knowledge 11
Salespeople Have Fewer Weapons to Differentiate Themselves 13
Sales Rep Overload 14
Creating a Best-in-Class Sales Team 15
A Seat at the Table 16
Street-Savvy Summary 17
2 What Is a Best-in-Class Sales Organization? 21
Laying the Foundation 21
The Role of the Organization 24
CASE STUDY: A Classic Example of Bad Management 25
The Productivity Journey 27
The Sales Leadership Imperative 27
Sales Productivity Is a Journey, Not a Destination 29
The Marketing-Sales Dynamic 31
Defining and Measuring Sales Productivity 32
The Sales Organization Imperative 36
Part 2 The 10 Imperatives
3 How to Recruit and Keep the Best Talent 41
Considerations in the Hiring Process 43
What Specifically Are You Looking For? 45
Key Attributes of Top Performers 46
CASE STUDY: Choosing Five Key Attributes 47
How to Interview for Results 50
Reference Checking: Simple yet Impactful 56
Leadership Competencies to Hire For 57
Do You Promote or Go Outside? 59
The High Cost of Churn 61
Key Questions to Ask 65
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 65
4 Effective Onboarding and Talent Management for Accelerated ROI 67
The Onboarding Process 69
Sales Skills Training 73
Developing a Transition Plan 79
Example of a Sales Manager's Transition Plan for the First 90 Days 80
Key Questions to Ask 84
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 85
5 Breaking Down the Sales Process: From Prospecting to Closing a Deal 87
Benefits of a Standardized Sales Process 91
The Purchase Decision: More Complex than Ever 93
Stages of the Sales Process 95
First Stage of the Sales Process 97
The Qualified Lead 105
Needs Analysis 109
Proposal or Presentation/Offer/Demonstration 111
CASE STUDY: My Humble Opinion on RFPS 112
Negotiation/Ongoing Objection Handling 115
Contract Signing or Closed Deal 116
Key Questions to Ask 119
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 120
6 The Sales Funnel and Account Planning 123
The Role of Forecasting 128
Strategic Account Planning 129
CASE STUDY: The Account Planning Process Is an Inclusive One 135
The Role of Executive Sponsorship 137
Key Questions to Ask 138
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 139
7 The Science of Selling: Sales Management Reporting, Metrics and Analytics 143
Where to Build Your Focus 146
Sales: Science or Art? 147
CASE STUDY: Prospecting through Cold-Calling 149
The Lead Generation Challenge 150
Sales Funnel Data 151
Sales Productivity Metrics 154
Key Questions to Ask 157
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 158
8 Sales Planning: The Key to Execution 159
Sample Company Sales Plan 161
Territory and Account Assignments 166
Segmenting the Sales Structure 170
The Role of Inside Sales 172
Territory Sales Structure 174
CASE STUDY: Defined Territories 175
Vertical Market Sales Structure 177
Complex and Widely Dispersed Sales Model 178
CASE STUDY: The Role of Specialist Teams 179
Individual Sales Plans 181
Key Questions to Ask 186
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 187
9 Sales Methodology: Creating and Delivering Your Story 189
Sales Training: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 190
Methodologies from the Experts 191
Crafting the Story 194
Tell the Story Powerfully 195
Know Your Client 197
Key Questions to Ask 202
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 202
10 Sales Coaching: We All Need a Coach 205
What Effective Coaching Is-and Isn't 209
What's the Motivation? 211
Taking a Lesson from Don Shula 212
Some Personal Insights into Coaching 213
CASE STUDY: Coaching Begins with Honesty and Transparency 216
Coaching the Sales Call 217
Regular One-on-One Coaching 219
Four Key Themes in Effective Coaching 221
Coaching and Career Development 222
Coaching and Performance Management 223
CASE STUDY: Continually Manage Performance 225
Key Questions to Ask 227
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 228
11 Sales Compensation: Reward and Recognition 229
Sales Compensation Helps Direct the Sales Force 230
A Compensation Plan Can Help You Attract (and Keep) Top Talent 231
Considerations in Building a Sales Compensation Plan 232
The Role and Design of Recognition Programs 238
CASE STUDY: The Importance of Having Fun Events with Your Team 240
Key Questions to Ask 241
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 242
Part 3 Change, Culture and the Future of Sales
12 Change Is Here to Stay-Capitalize on It 247
Change Management Do's and Don'ts 248
Change and Technology 250
Social Media 252
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): History 253
CRM: The Need for Structural Change 254
The CRM Value Proposition 256
CRM as a Collaborative Tool 259
Marketing Collaboration 259
Sales Collaboration 260
Support Collaboration 261
Key Questions to Ask 262
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 263
13 Sales Culture: The Glue that Binds 265
How Culture Is Built 266
CASE STUDY: Caring Leadership and Culture 268
Sales Culture versus Organizational Culture: The Same but Different 270
Leadership Principles for Creating a Winning Culture 272
An Environment of Accountability 272
Play at the Level of Your Best Practice 273
Competitive Fire 274
There Is a Solution to Every Problem 275
Focus on the Right Things 277
Help People 277
Do the Right Thing 278
Build a Culture of Trust 278
Values and the Making of a Team 279
Using Off-Sites to Set Expectations and Foster a Strong Culture 280
Key Questions to Ask 286
Key Takeaways and Priority Actions 287
Afterword: My Closing Advice 289
Appendix: The Hallmarks of Top Sales Professionals 293
Acknowledgments 297
Notes 299
Index 305
About the Author 314
