Insights and Improvements
Insights, tactics and resources to improve as sales professionals and sales leaders
Hello friends -
In the past several weeks, we’ve had themed newsletters on MEDDIC, Discovery, Becoming an A-player, Front Line Sales Managers, VPs of Sales and more.
This week - i’m sharing a gold mine of nuggets that were not only top of mind, but relevant for myself and hopefully others as well.
As you plan, prepare, build, strategize and implement motions for the team in 2022 maybe you’ll find something helpful here like I did.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Insightful article from Gong COO, Kelly Wright, on the top 18 characteristics of great salespeople
5 tips from Revenue.io on how to get your speed to lead to under 5 minutes
Plus more snippets to keep you and your team sharp, improving and winning more deals.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
Characteristics of a Great Salesperson
It’s no secret that finding, recruiting and landing top sales talent right now is something every sales leader is challenged with.
That’s why when I came across this article from Gong COO, Kelly Wright, on the top 18 criteria that make great salespeople, I wanted to share.
How can we as leaders identify and even “predict” sales success when hiring? Kelly says:
Compelling Storyteller. The best salespeople are more than effective communicators. They are also compelling storytellers.
Good Listener. Active listeners. Engaged listeners. They have eye contact. They pay attention.
Hard Worker. Sales success is highly correlated to hard work.
Challenger. The best salespeople are challengers. They respectfully challenge the status quo
Risk Taker. They step outside their comfort zones on a regular basis.
Empathetic. They are able to put themselves in the other person’s shoes, fully understanding the other side’s perspective and point of view.
Passionate. This passion provides fuel and motivation. When you are around these individuals, you can feel their passion. It is contagious.
Goal-oriented. Big goals, little goals – it doesn’t matter. Activities, calls, meetings, customers, bookings.
Competitive. They are intensely competitive. They compete for everything. They like to land the first deal, the biggest sale, even that contest or SPIFF.
Confident but not Cocky. Words to describe them include assertive and confident, but never arrogant or narcissistic
Get Your Speed To Lead Under 5 Minutes
Another headline and article that hit home. As I’ve built and led the entire sales processes before - the common question is HOW FAST should I respond to inbound leads - and HOW do I do it effectively?
Check out this guide from Revenue.io on how to get your speed to lead under 5 minutes with these 5 tips:
Measure and optimize for better call response times. Get the data. Watch the data. Where do you rank?
Recognize that not all leads are created equal. Prioritize a lead scoring system and route hot leads straight to the top of your sales rep’s list to engage immediately.
Make sure inbound leads are easy to see and routed accordingly. Check your scoring system and create smart lists for routing and alerts (hint: I may know a company that does this *wink) so that leads are routed to appropriate reps (time frames, geos, skills etc.)
Set reps up for success. Act fast! Once a lead is routed, help ensure reps act quickly with scripts, templates, meeting invites etc.
Route or re-assign leads to reps based on strengths (or geo etc.) or re-assign to available reps.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
🔥Look at Lemkin’s list of interesting learnings from the top 20 PLG (Product Led Growth) / Self-Serve companies and see what you may be missing. Whether you focus on Enterprise, Mid-Market/Commercial, or SMB - there are gems/nuggets in here.
🗣 I agree with Dave Kennett when he says that there is ONE thing you can do in your sales calls that our data consistently proves will lead to a higher probability of close and move your deal through each stage quicker - at the end of the sales conversation, simply ask your prospect(s) for a next meeting on the books.
❌ David Premier tells us that to sell more, we need to lose faster. He gives us 3 ways to stay on track: 1- Figure out how long we spend in Discovery on deals we lose vs. ones we win 2- Measure TTL (Time to Lose) and 3- Eliminate confirmation bias and other offenders that threaten to derail your sales cycle.
🤔 Want to be a VP of Sales in fast growing startup? Sure about that? Nadja Komnenic gives us 6 requirements to gauge yourself with.
💰 It’s competitive out there. How do you know if the comp plan and quota you are offering are in line with today’s standards? Check out Bravado’s state of sales comp HERE to see where you stand.
🧠 Mindset
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader, or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Just reply to this email and I’ll be in touch.
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