Why Lead Scoring Will Make You Money

I hear this from clients all the time: "Why do I have to make sales even MORE complicated? I don't need to add lead scoring." Well, you don't need to make sales more complicated, and you DO need to add lead scoring. Here's why.

Lead scoring is a simple system to make your pipeline value visible to the rest of the sales team. I'm a fan of writing 3 or 4 simple scoring lines like When Is The Lead Planning to Make a Purchase (the sooner, the higher the number,) What Is The Budget For The Purchase (the higher the better,) What Is The Interest Level of the Lead (are they contacting you or are you reaching out,) and the like. Ideally, each of these lines will score 1-3 points. The higher the score, the better.

Now, how were those high-scoring leads sourced? Who on the team has the most high scores? Does that correlate to their closing ratio? Should more of the team start sourcing leads in the ways the high-scoring leads are sourced? The answers to these questions will streamline your lead generation, saving time and money, while increasing your closing ratio.

Channeling the Ginsu Knives commercials, I have to say, "And that's not all!" Are your best closers assigned to the high-scoring leads? Or are they your best closers because they close everybody, no matter the score? Why would you give your worst closer your best leads? You can learn a lot about your sales rep's strengths and weaknesses by ranking their leads and seeing if they close. Now you know where to direct your coaching with those individual reps.

"But wait! There's more!" If the scores and the pipeline are public, you have more choices in how to manage your time. Is a rep out sick, and they have a high-score appointment on the board? Does a poor closer have time for a ride along or two with a strong closer? Is Joe a weak closer because he only sources low-scoring leads? You can allocate the team's time in ways that will ensure the high-scoring leads are never left hanging, and can be used as teaching opportunities. And you can learn more about each rep's lead gen process.

And lastly, have your reps defend their scoring. If it isn't challenged, they may just tell you what you want to hear. And when the whole team can see how many high-scoring leads are generated by others, they will compete for that number, too. Nobody likes to see themselves at the bottom of any ranking more than occasionally, so that problem is now solving itself, without much management intervention.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and this won't be either. Add one scoring metric a week until you have the metrics in place that make sense for your business. Don't ask your reps to track too many factors, or it will become a burden. Aim for 3-5, and hold them accountable. And watch your bottom line change!

Elisabeth Marino is an sales process adviser working in Buffalo, NY, and a frequent contributor to LinkedIn. She has worked in sales development and evaluation for 17 years, and helped dozens of organizations improve their sales numbers. Connect with and follow her here, visit her website: www.marinoconsultants.com, on Facebook as Sales Dynamo Consulting, and follow her on Twitter @SalesDynamoNY.

In With a Plan, Out With a Sale

I'd like to say this once and for all - Luck is not a business plan! "Talent" is not a business plan! Whew! I needed to get that off my chest.

I work with small to medium sized businesses, and sometimes really large ones, and I'm amazed at the number of times I hear that there is no skills review or specific process for the sales team to follow. Entrepreneurs hiring sales reps tell me, "they should know what they're doing." Um, yeah, but so should you. Luck is not reliable and repeatable, and without a reliable revenue stream, you're out of business.

Most people who start a business are not sales experts, just like I'm not an automotive expert. But your sales reps should be. They should be going into every sales call with a plan that helps them qualify the customer, and present that customer with the right product to fill their needs. If your reps don't do that, every sale they make is based on luck, intuition, or personality. Not good.

Every sales call should have the same purpose: lead to a sale. The sales cycle for each business is different; selling cars is different from selling medical equipment. Each one will have a different call plan. What are the necessary steps for a prospect to go from zero to sold? All of them are part of your sales process. What needs to happen in person? Those are the parts of a sales call plan. Every sales rep should be using every part of the sales process. If they aren't, they're not doing their job. They should be able to discuss it with you, and they should be able to fine-tune and improve it over time. That way, they can share best practices between them, and all improve steadily.

While we're at it, let's stop selling like it's 1995. There is nothing your customer can't learn or find on the internet. They can probably buy it cheaper, too. That means you need to be there, where your customer is doing their homework. Have some solid online support for your business and your reps. Have a great website, and include a FAQ page. Do some inbound marketing, with social media (anything retail), white papers (business and professional services, technology), a blog (food, fitness, arts, in-home services) or newsletters, all linked directly to your website. People don't buy from businesses. People buy from people. Create a web presence that helps your customer learn your business's personality, and help them know, like and trust what your business will provide.

So, to recap: have solid web presence to help your clients learn about, know, like and trust your business. Sales reps should have a specific set of skills and a plan to learn to "right size" the solution they offer your client. Your company should have a clear, repeatable sales process that evolves over time based on the successes of your sales pros. And you can't rely on talent or luck to provide a steady revenue stream. You need a plan.

Elisabeth Marino is an sales process adviser working in Buffalo, NY, and a frequent contributor to LinkedIn. She has worked in sales development and evaluation for 17 years, and helped dozens of organizations improve their sales numbers. Connect with and follow her here, on Facebook as Sales Dynamo Consulting, and follow her on Twitter @SalesDynamoNY.

Want Better Sales Numbers? Take This Quiz!

This is an abbreviated version of the basic State of the Sales Team Evaluation that I go through with each new Sales Training client, well before any contracted curriculum is developed or taught. Have your Sales Managers (or Sales Pros) take this quiz anonymously, and you'll quickly identify some hidden weaknesses in your sales team. It's much easier to develop an effective solution when you're attacking the real problem!

1.       How many team members are at or above quota? How many on your team total?

2.       What are your team’s strengths? Prospecting, cold calling, follow up, presentation, closing, account management, referral generation?

3.       What is your team’s weakest skill? Prospecting, cold calling, follow up, presentation, closing, account management, referral generation?

4.       How have you addressed this/these weakness(es)?

5.       What are the most frequent objections your team hears? Are they written down for the team?

6.       Have you helped your team develop effective responses to these objections? Are they written down for the team?

7.       What are the weaknesses of your product line?

8.       Do you train your team on how to answer (not deflect) questions about the weaknesses?

9.       Do you study competition offerings?

10.   When is the last time you trained your team on the offerings of the competition?

11.   What do you do regularly to keep your team inspired and motivated? Does it seem to work?

12.   How often do you have team meetings? Never   Daily   Weekly   Monthly    As Needed

13.   How often do you praise team members? Never   Daily or more   Weekly  Monthly   Can't Remember

14.   How often do you correct, scold, or discipline individual team members? Daily or more    Weekly    Monthly  

15.   How often do your team members praise each other?  Daily or more Weekly Monthly  Less than monthly

16.   Do you believe your team members have enough sales materials? If no, what do they need?

17.   Do you believe your department has adequate support in your organization? If no, why not? What do you need?

18.   Once a sale has been made, are there any consistent problems with fulfillment? If yes, what are the problems? What have you done to resolve this?

19.   Does your team use a CRM? Is it within a week of up to date?

 

20.   What is your management style?

21.   Have you sought other employment within the last year? If yes, why?

22.   If no CRM, how do you keep track of and manage your pipeline?

23.   How current are your client and prospect files?  Up to date   Within a week Within a month   More than 30 days out of date

24.   How many hours per week do you work? 35-45  45-55   55-65   65+

25.   Do you have any selling responsibilities? What percentage of your time is spent selling?

26.   How many hours per week do you spend on paperwork? 5-8 9-12  3-16  17-20  20+

Look at all the answers in context of which teams are the most successful, and which are the least. What answers surprised you? Now you have somewhere to start from...  

Visit us at www.marinoconsultants.com

The 4 Most Common Shopper Personalities, and How To Sell Them

There are millions of individual personalities out there, but most of us fall into one of 4 categories when we are shopping: The Expert, The Connector, The Prisoner, or The Evaluator. Each one of these shopping styles requires information and service to be presented in a particular way in order to make the shopper feel respected and interested in doing business with you. At first glance, it may seem like patronizing people, but really, you're just addressing your prospect in their own language. If their language was Serbian, you wouldn't speak French, would you?

Here are the 4 most common shopper types, and a few pointers on how to speak their language:

The Expert

This shopper believes they know it all already. Saving face is very important to them. You must respect the knowledge and experience they have, or think they have. Use reinforcement phrases like: I like what you just said. -and-  That’s a great question. Start sentences with: As I’m sure you already know… Question with: I’m curious about your thoughts on…

  

The Connector

This shopper is always looking for familiar context.  Everything will remind them of a story, person, or movie. They want to trust you, and want things to make sense. Use phrases that emphasize the familiar: Use their own words and phrases whenever possible. Analogies are usually helpful with these shoppers. Start sentences with: You may have thought it would be nice if… and then follow with a feature. Questions should be grounded in recent statements the shopper has made: “How soon are you looking to buy (whatever they just said)?”

The Prisoner

This shopper doesn’t want to be in the market. They want to get it over with. All they need is trust to move forward. Trust that you will take this issue off their hands, and they won’t have to cope with it anymore. Write things down! Never ask them to repeat themselves. De-escalating their emotions is very important, but it needs to be done in a way that is not minimizing the importance of their feelings. Start sentences with: Thanks for bringing that up. -and- This must be a frustrating position for you. Question with: Do you think we should talk about ________?

The Evaluator

This shopper loves the shopping, and always wants more time and material to consider. Helping them to the decision phase may be seen as pushy. They will walk away if they don’t feel educated. They want a lifeline, so they will ask about guarantees and warranties. Comparison shopping is the norm for them, and they may lead you on in hopes of getting a deal to take to your competitors. Start sentences with: “As you may know from your research…”  Question with: “To answer you better, I’d like to ask you a question.”

Volunteer for Higher Sales

When your prospecting and cold calling are letting you down, what can you do to freshen things up? How can you get doors to open instead of close?  Volunteer, and do so in a strategic way.

Volunteering is a wonderful way to stay involved in your community, and most communities have literally hundreds of opportunities open to you.  When you participate in a charitable organization, you inevitably meet new people, and strengthen your reputation.  You can sign up as yourself, or as a representative of your company.  I strongly recommend you volunteer in circumstances that will bring you into contact with a lot of people, not situations where you interact with only a couple. Your goal is to meet and interact with as many people as possible.  There are charity walks, charity runs, Habitat for Humanity community projects, and many more places to volunteer where you'll be exposed to dozens or even hundreds of people.  

Choose a cause you believe in and respect.  It's key to participate in community efforts that are genuinely important to you. If you are only volunteering to increase your network, you'll resent every moment of effort, and it will damage your reputation.  Instead, the idea is to aid your organization of choice while you add new members to your network to help you reach deeper into your target market and overall community.  If you’re like most people, there are several groups you’d be happy to help. Find local groups and events on websites like Volunteer Match and Volunteer Connection.  How does it work?

While you're working at your event, make an effort to get to know your co-volunteers. It's a networking opportunity on a much more personal level than the usual.  The fact that you're volunteering shows that you're responsible and hard-working. You and your co-volunteers have an interest in common, and you both care enough to donate your time. You'll have some business cards in your pocket, so you'll be able to share them with your new contacts before you leave. Make sure to take their information, too.

During the next work week, treat your new contacts like you would for any other networking opportunity.  Reach out to your new contacts and remind them of your meeting.  Invite them to coffee or happy hour.  Slowly move your new relationship in a professional direction.

Any of your new connections may be a door to a new level of professional networking.  The more people you know in your community, the more doors will open for you.