The Pipeline

JULY 13, 2012

The second area where you see strong evidence of hoarding is in their approach to territories. Time after time we see scenarios where the top 10 accounts in a rep’s territory accounts for up to 60% – 80% of their revenue base, if you look at the top 20, that number is even bigger.

Territories 257

Territories Pipeline Guidelines Account 257

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 10, 2012

While they always talk about quality over quantity, when it comes to hiring, they seem to favour quantity over quality, preferring to have a body in a territory vs. the patience to wait for the right body. As for the argument that at least having a performing body is better than an empty territory, I am not sure.

Hiring 254

Hiring Wireless Sports Territories 254

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Beyond specific activities, this needs to include an overall annual territory plan; key account plans; prospecting plans; and most importantly at a minimum monthly activity plans, although it would not kill you to have one that continuously covers the next two weeks.

Wireless 303

Wireless Face-to-face Pipeline Distribution 303

The Pipeline

JUNE 13, 2012

There does come a point when sales people establish themselves at a company, in a territory, and they go into cruise control. This one reason I recommend to clients that they employ a combination of changing territories, shrink them, or change reps, requiring reps to always use their experience, rather than just ware it as a badge.

Territories 267

Territories Government Discount Account 267

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Every day there are new sales people stepping into new jobs, often into underperforming territories, and they not only make a go of it, but thrive. If they were starting their sales job today, if they were new to the company and or territory, how would they approach it? What differentiates the two?

Territories 292

Territories Follow-up Up-Sell Segment 292

The Pipeline

JANUARY 12, 2017

I have had managers tell me that they’d rather have someone in the territory than have it vacant. I get it, but I firmly believe and have seen that the long-term damage to revenue in such territories, when an average rep is sent to compete against accomplished sellers.

Hiring 120

Hiring Territories Policies Cold Calling 120

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

“Lower Hanging Fruit” is great if you are a new rep to the company or territory, but in most instances sales professionals need to close more than ” Lower Hanging Fruit ” to meet or exceed quota.

Territories 255

Territories Quota Groups Pipeline 255

The Pipeline

APRIL 17, 2013

I remember when I first started working for a company back in the early 1990’s (before we had web mail), the company had two main product lines, and had the usual territories across the continent, primarily driven by geography.

Demand Generation Agencies 296

Demand Generation Agencies Top of Funnel Territories Demand Generation 296

The Pipeline

MAY 7, 2019

I remember a rep about two years in the territory, telling me he has earned the right not to prospect. Specifically, direct prospecting , not indirect, not merely answering an inbound call generated by marketing. Salespeople have always been at their most creative when it comes to avoidance, rather than mastering prospecting.

Handbook 235

Handbook Lead Rank Hiring Top of Funnel 235

The Pipeline

JUNE 8, 2017

Numbers 1 & 4, will require you to change your territory and account planning, while challenging who you prospect and how. To change any of the above, you will need to develop a strategy for change and improvement. As you implement the plan, you will be able to measure and review, and make changes based on the results.

Proposal 228

Proposal Quota Commission Territories 228

The Pipeline

MAY 15, 2017

An overall corporate sales strategy, territory and account strategies, and then a strategy for every encounter with a laser focus on logical next steps. The difference would be in the intent and purpose. Execution should be the tactical manifestation of a strategy, or more accurately strategies.

Face-to-face 250

Face-to-face ACT Territories Intent 250

The Pipeline

JULY 9, 2015

One example is territory optimization, and not just in the traditional sense, but by matching types of buyers with types of sellers. With the right analysis, you can take this to a level of alignment that could more than likely allow you to run leaner, making up for additional costs that have led to traditional territory make ups.

Data 120

Data Hiring Margin Buyer Persona 120

The Pipeline

JANUARY 22, 2019

I don’t like objections any more than anyone reading this, but it is part of the territory, just like 100 mile-hour pucks coming at your goalie mask; until you accept that you will always lag. What if every time they responded you see it as a question, an opportunity to educate?

Objections 267

Objections Prospecting SME Cold Calling 267

The Pipeline

AUGUST 27, 2019

If you are a full-cycle rep, with a demanding client base in a defined territory, 23% is not bad. While it may be realistic to expect inside sales teams to sell more than 23% of their time, it is not for others. Consider travel, time understanding the clients and market, generating leads, and more.

Wireless 264

Wireless Discount Face-to-face Scale 264

The Pipeline

AUGUST 8, 2011

One that permeates many aspects of sales, starting at planning and territory alignment, right down to day-to-day tactical aspects of sales. Territory Alignment. Last week I wrote about the follies of having a shorter sales cycle , beyond the points highlighted, I think it raises another trend in sales these days. Saturday Sales Tip.

ACT 244

ACT Pipeline Top of Funnel Hiring 244

The Pipeline

JANUARY 8, 2019

Whether it is a discussion on quota, territory, or the state of an account, these are all excellent indicators of where a rep is will to invest their skills and time, and more importantly, your time and resources. You don’t need to ride along with a rep to be part of the drama; you can see it unfold back at the office.

Face-to-face 223

Face-to-face ACT Quota Territories 223

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 10, 2012

While they always talk about quality over quantity, when it comes to hiring, they seem to favour quantity over quality, preferring to have a body in a territory vs. the patience to wait for the right body. As for the argument that at least having a performing body is better than an empty territory, I am not sure.

Hiring 120

Hiring Wireless Sports Territories 120

The Pipeline

JULY 3, 2014

Rather than settling for a B or another C, due to timing and being afraid of having a vacant territory for more than week, smart sales leaders pick up the talent when it is available. Which means it is a great time for “the right talent” to go out and market themselves, demonstrate how they can fit in now and into future growth plans.

Hiring 275

Hiring Sports Sales Talent Territories 275

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Again, I understand wanting to reward star sellers, but there are other ways, ways that allow you to avoid leaving a territory short, and a disappointed sales team. Hire someone who can lead a sales process, who can lead people to execute, the how is secondary.

Hiring 296

Hiring Lead Rank Sales Management Lead Scoring 296

The Pipeline

MARCH 10, 2014

They study their territory, understand who potentially will benefit from their offering. That is why it is a “sales process”, not a “buying process”. Sales people are not standing at the checkout counter waiting for the next buyer to walk up.

Webinar Metrics 316

Webinar Metrics Intent Objections Sales Methodology 316

The Pipeline

MAY 22, 2013

Many are often reluctant to do this, telling me they can’t afford to have a vacant territory, if you ask me, the opposite is true, you can’t afford having territories run by these X Players. You can’t afford having your clients be attended to by these X Players. By the way, you don’t have to wait for the end of the year.

Hiring 287

Hiring Quota Territories Groups 287

The Pipeline

AUGUST 6, 2019

So will the number of time reps can spend time developing their skills and territories when they stop chasing marginal things. This why teaching them to disqualify may seem counter-intuitive but leads to better opportunities. Sure, the overall number of opportunities may decline, but the quality and revues will rise.

Sales Qualified Lead 242

Sales Qualified Lead Buyer Segment Margin 242

The Pipeline

AUGUST 21, 2013

Second, is a territory that flourished under the rep in question, now sits vacant while the “new manager is replaced”, risking customer satisfaction and retention. In an attempt to keep them, companies will promote them to being managers, and without a managed and planed transition, they instantly create two problems.

Lead Rank 317

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sports Promotion 317

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

Again, knowing that rejections are part of the territory, learning how to handle and manage the most common objections before they come so you can help your prospect get from reactionary mode to interaction mode is also key. A key preparation is to ensure that you are working from a “position of plenty”.

Face-to-face 288

Face-to-face Sports Objections Territories 288

The Pipeline

JUNE 20, 2016

There is no doubt that the pattern for a long time has been to start off a sales career prospecting, because unless you adopt a territory, there is no other way to build a base, (even if you’re good at referrals, you need someone to refer you). .” Or at least his definition of an A Player. We’re All The Same At The Start.

Hiring 198

Hiring Referrals Territories Prospecting 198

The Pipeline

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

What it also highlights is that savvy buyers will usually put more stock in the company they deal with than the person parked in the territory at the time of the deal. Sadly a high percentage of those who would barter their “book” or think they are the pied piper their clients will blindly follow.

Company 261

Company Loyalty Hiring Face-to-face 261

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

As a sales person, your territory is “your business”, and when you look at successful business people, one of the things executives do well is delegate. There could be a question of priorities and changing objectives; a host of factors that could make someone ready now that may have hesitated in February or March.

Outsourcing Services 306

Outsourcing Services Closing Hiring Social Selling 306

The Pipeline

APRIL 20, 2017

Some will take longer to ramp up, some will hit slumps, but there are some, obvious to most, who will never cut it without some form of “corporate subsidies”, i.e. changing quota, territory, or just allowing compromise on required activity or metrics.

Face-to-face 159

Face-to-face Quota Incentives Incentive 159

The Pipeline

FEBRUARY 27, 2018

They are rarely as desperate as a manager is to fill a vacancy in a territory. And while it may be easy to get a sales job with little experience, it is harder to convince an experienced buyer to give you the same break. These and other, day to day things lead salespeople to say the entirely wrong thing when the unwitting prospect answers.

Prospecting 215

Prospecting Skype ROI Face-to-face 215

The Pipeline

MARCH 28, 2011

Fearing that if they “lost” the rep they would somehow be behind, the vacant territory syndrome. Ask me, they would be better off with a vacant territory than having these under performers who are likely not aware of opportunities in their existing accounts, and have declared their right not to bring on new prospects.

Pipeline 220

Pipeline Twitter Hiring Territories 220

The Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

If you are in sales and your mandate is to sell to companies within your geographical territory, you have probably faced a scenario similar to the one that follows. Territory Alignment. The Pipeline Guest Post – Trevor Stevens. Saturday Sales Tip. Sell Better. Selling to Executives. Shorter sales cycle. Social Buying. Voice mail.

Pipeline 226

Pipeline Social Media Face-to-face Ideal Customer Profile 226

The Pipeline

JUNE 12, 2014

I asked what expectations are set either in terms of activities, pipeline coverage, or territory contact/coverage/penetration. This would seem OK if they were blowing their numbers away, but that’s not why I was there. Apparently, they don’t like to exceed quota either.

Penetration 267

Penetration Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face Coaching 267

The Pipeline

JUNE 1, 2012

These are further accentuated when you have to do both hunting and farming in the same territory; in fact I think farmers hide it better, maybe that is why it seems more pronounced among hunters. Common characteristics of ADD include inattention, easy distractibility, disorganization, procrastination, and forgetfulness.

Face-to-face 282

Face-to-face Cold Calling Territories Outside Sales 282

The Pipeline

DECEMBER 31, 2012

Often less than nothing, because they stand in the way of those who could deliver given the chance; but of course the current incumbents – the reps in the territories and those in the legislator – make sure that nothing gets done by anyone.

Energy 241

Energy Territories Exercises Groups 241

The Pipeline

APRIL 3, 2013

How many sales strategies, account and territory plans sit gathering dust on a shelf, right next to the last sales training manual, the one that focuses on execution.

Account 296

Account ACT Territories Sales 296

The Pipeline

MAY 26, 2016

Sales Manager Survival Guide: Lessons From Sales’ Front Lines , is a book I wish I had way back when I was promoted from being territory rep to sales manager. But when the subject is one you can relate because you have lived it, it is a bonus.

Sales Management 180

Sales Management Coaching Sports Promotion 180

The Pipeline

MAY 23, 2014

From getting organized for greater efficiency, to prioritizing your accounts to develop better territory call plans. Salespeople face it every day and have to learn how to handle rejection with a calm but determined approach to move forward. Lee presents what information you’ll need to best sell your company and its offerings.

Face-to-face 244

Face-to-face Call-back Territories Negotiation 244