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Did you know that in 2015, Millennials (20-35 year-olds) surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest segment of workers in business? Did you also know that by 2025, these tech-savvy Millennials will represent 70 percent of your workforce?
As a result, you need to make sure that your sales team has the infrastructure for Millennials to be productive and successful. If not, you'll be dealing with the following three issues:
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A few years ago, I invested in an Apple iPad, an iPad case and a Bluetooth Keyboard to supplement my laptop. I've researched and tested over 200 iPad Apps so far. The following are my favorite Apps that help me get my job done in 18 key areas of our Business.
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Top Salesforce Training for Administrators, Managers and Users
Over the last five years, Salesforce.com has become very complex to successfully implement and manage.
However, the CRM System is still very easy to just turn on with their standard configuration and start working. It's quick, not too painful and many companies just do that. They really need some training basics before they start using it.
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We've been working with various partner programs for the last 20 years. Some very good... many NOT so good.
Today, setting up partnerships in business is a standard practice for many new companies.
It's a lot of work to do it right. Since so many companies now have partner programs, it's also very hard to compete with all the other companies pitching their programs. So how do you stand out from the crowd? How do you get your partners to use your product over the competition?
Here are our Top 10 "Must-Have" Tips for setting up a successful partnership program:
As you know, there are many more projects and tasks needed to build a successful partner program. I hope this list starts some conversations going with your team. Feel free to add your comments or other tips below.
Photo credit: freedigitalphoto.com
Contact Us to help you set up a Partner Program for your company or start-up
Many Small Businesses are looking to increase sales this year by expanding or upgrading an Inside Sales Program. In this article we outline the Top Five business-to-business strategies for implementing fast-selling Inside Sales Teams in a company. There are many factors that determine which strategy is best for your organization. Although Social Networking and Marketing are very Hot Topics this year, you still need a fast-moving, high quality sales team to grow a small businesses. The common benefits of adding or expanding inside sales programs include:
Note: For this article we define Inside Sales Reps as staff with "Sales" Skills and Training. Reps that only focus on Social Marketing, Lead Qualification, Lead Generation and Demand Generation are NOT addressed in this article.
Less Experienced Inside Sales Reps can sell products from $100 to $5,000 over the phone.
They can either complete outbound sales calls and/or accept inbound calls through your Company's toll-free 800 (or 888) number. They usually can close low-end products within one to five calls and emails or social conversations.
Senior Inside Sales Reps can sell more complex products from $5,000 to $500,000 over the phone and internet.
These products and services need a one to 18-month sales cycle. The Reps work with your customers throughout the entire sales process.
Inside Sales Reps make follow-up calls to prospects testing your product. Prospects typically sign-up for a trial on your website. Reps then call during the trial, at the end of the trial, and after the trial period, to close business and make quota.
Inside Sales Reps can be assigned to Existing Customers, Partners or Re-sellers. Their goals are to increase sales from existing customers, increase customer satisfaction and reduce your cost of sales. They also provide a great defense from your competitors' Sales Reps calling on your own customers.
Inside Reps can be teamed with Outside Sales Representatives in a territory.
Some Companies create a team territory between an Inside and Outside Sales Team. They share Commissions from the shared territory. In one situation, you can assign Inside Sales to the bottom 80 percent of their Customer/Re-seller territory and Field Reps to the top 20 percent of a territory.
In another case, a Fortune 1000 Account Territory Team will have an Inside Sales Reps Assigned to new Division Contacts and a more Senior Account Rep assigned to short-term opportunities and key contacts.
Very often, the "Boss" or "Decision Maker" decides the strategy based on their past experiences, a business associate or friend's recommendation (yes, this does happen) and the company philosophy. When you have a new Sales Executive join the company, they'll usually bring a strategy that they've used in the past, like and have had success.
Building and growing an Inside Sales Team sounds like an easy concept. However, it's the strategy and implementation details that will make the difference between average sales and significant sales growth.
Please share your comments on other Inside Sales Best Practices that worked for your Small Business.
Many Small and Mid-sized Businesses (SMBs) are looking for ways to Increase their Sales Productivity over the next few months. We have always been told (and believe) that "If you do a few things well, you will be successful."
The following 5 easy-to-implement Tips should significantly increase your sales and reduce your cost of sales.
William Hewlett, Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard often said: "What gets measured gets done." You can increase Sales Productivity if you focus on Tracking, Reporting and Reviewing these Metrics on a regular basis.
Five Key Sales & Marketing Metrics
Here are the Five Key Sales and Marketing Metrics and their descriptions:
Measures the number of Sales Orders Closed divided by the number of Total Sales Deals that were listed in a Sales Forecast.
Example: It takes 5 Qualified Leads to close 1 Sales Order. This would be a 20% Close Ratio.
Measures the number of Qualified Leads divided by the number of Pre-Qualified Leads in the Sales Funnel (or Sales Pipeline).
Example: It takes 10 Pre-Qualified Leads to get 4 Qualified Leads. This would be a 40% Qualified Lead Ratio.
Measures the number of Pre-Qualified Leads divided by the Total Suspects that responded to all marketing events.
Example: It takes 100 Suspects to get 30 Pre-Qualified Leads. This would be a 30% Pre-Qualified Lead Ratio.
Measures the number of Suspects divided by the total number of contacts sent marketing communications documents.
Example: It takes 1000 names on list to get 20 Suspects to respond. This would be a 2% Marketing Response Rate.
Measures the Date a Suspect has first Contact with a company minus the Date an Sales Order is Closed/Booked by the company.
Example: It takes an average of 6 months for a new Suspect to become a New Customer (or book its first sales order). This would be a 6-month Sales Cycle.
