• Breaking News

    Friday, March 2, 2018

    How to incentivize sales team to sell multiple products when in fact business ultimately cares about total revenue sales. Sales and Selling

    How to incentivize sales team to sell multiple products when in fact business ultimately cares about total revenue sales. Sales and Selling


    How to incentivize sales team to sell multiple products when in fact business ultimately cares about total revenue sales.

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 04:52 AM PST

    I work in a B2B company as a product manager and I have a bit of a conundrum in terms of how to correctly incentivize a sales team.

    I'm going to simplify the scenario a bit for purposes of an easier conversation.

    • Company has to product lines Product A, B, C and D.
    • The products are complimentary and serve the same market so there is only one sales team selling both products.
    • Each of the products has a product manager (of which I am one).
    • The product managers have targets for their respective products, and are expected to achieve these targets through the sales department
    • The company has a revenue target of lets say $1m. And this target rolls down to the product managers ($250k each)
    • The full $1m target also rolls down to the sales department and then naturally gets split up and allocated to all the sales agents.
    • Sales is not incentivized to sell one product over another. They just need to get that $1m number. So essentially the product managers have no real mechanism to ensure that their product gets pushed by sales. Sales in theory could sell $1m just of product A and they've hit their target.

    As a product manager I feel this system works against me. I have a revenue target and I have to find a way to motivate sales to sell my product, but their is no proper incentive for them to do so. If they can hit their revenue target without selling much of product then good for them.

    At the same time, I totally understand why the business has structured itself this way. Business only cares about the bottom line. They've create multiple product lines and incentivized the managers of those products so that they (the business) can achieve its revenue ambitions. But why should the business force sales to sell the products in certain proportions.

    So its a bit of a conundrum. Is their a middle ground that makes business sense? ie a mechanism that allows me to incentivize the sale of my product without being unnecessarily constricting on sales.

    submitted by /u/whowantstoknow11
    [link] [comments]

    Where did you hear about you sales training of choice?

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 08:55 AM PST

    The purpose of this question is to see where some of you geniuses in sales heard about whatever training you have gone through.

    Was it facebook, word of mouth, a magazine, a referral, etc?

    I know some companies will send their salespeople through training, so that counts too.

    Any input?

    submitted by /u/mrguyfawkes
    [link] [comments]

    Advice on filing state taxes for a territory sales rep covering multiple states

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 09:35 AM PST

    Hi all,

    Hoping somebody can help me out here. I'm trying to file my taxes. I am a sales representative based in Ohio, but my territory covers Pennsylvania and Michigan as well and I generally spent 2-5 days per month calling on customers outside of my home state.

    My question is for sales reps calling on customers in multiple states -- do you file state taxes for each state in your territory, or only the state where your office is based?

    Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

    submitted by /u/Diiiiirty
    [link] [comments]

    Things You Should Know About Yourself

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 11:42 AM PST

    "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." - Socrates

    Hello everyone,

    I recently landed my dream SDR role which I am starting this Monday. I will be meeting a lot of new people and will need to know how to introduce myself better. I realized from interviewing that you need to be able to effectively communicate about yourself just as well as you can listen and understand the other person. When you open up, it's easier for them to open up too.

    I am getting lunch with a coworker on Monday. What are some areas that I really need to know about myself?

    For example:

    • Why sales?
    • My goals
    • What do I do with my free time?
    • Favorite movies / books/ place traveled to/ TV shows/ Business leaders etc
    • Stories
    • Certain causes or volunteer work that get me going
    • Why I chose my career path
    • Why I chose my college and major
    • Why I like about this company and product?
    • News events and my opinion on them
    • People I admire
    • Things about my family

    What are some other good talking points?

    Also, what are some good questions to ask them to get them going that are business related and personal?

    Lastly, any quick general tips for working in corporate America for my first career position after graduating college?

    submitted by /u/madden462
    [link] [comments]

    How to improve my sales approach and numbers

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 07:36 AM PST

    First off, I live in the Midwest and our primary clients are facility maintenance staff, construction companies, architectural firms, engineering groups, etc.

    I do not have a sales background or a degree, I was hired as an archival manager as I have 7 years of experience in digitization and records management. After being hired I was told I had to sell generally when I do not have an over flow of archival work.

    We sell print services, scanning, and KIP Machines, I am also our KIP certified technician.

    So going from there, our company doesn't have any set sales members, and the last one that worked for the company was in 2014. There currently exists no sales strategy or scripts to assist me, and our database is completely mix and matched with over 6,000 companies listed; however, many are either not competed, or they are closed/missing important data. The notes inside of it are not helpful either.

    For the month of February, I focused mainly on cold calling and sent a few emails. I generated 45,000ish in business, 15,000 of which was from one machine sell of a 7170 to a smaller office, which I had to spend 2 full days setting up and training staff on. 20,000 of the work came from existing clients that I got to send additional work with. The remaining 10,000 was all from scanning and smaller print jobs I managed to bring in; however, most of them where not continuous jobs, and I cannot count on seeing them again this month.

    I've started making my own database and trying to research clients before calling them, but our owner has pushed back hard on this stating that I just need to call their numbers and ask for printing and scanning, most of which usually results in the front desk people telling me no.

    What would be the best way to go about this?

    Any tips would be appreciated, sorry for the rambling.

    submitted by /u/PotatoeTater
    [link] [comments]

    Recommended reading for folks selling through partner organizations?

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 07:34 AM PST

    I'm in sales for a top 10 tech firm that sells almost exclusively through partner organizations with the exception being large enterprise accounts.

    I've read many of the recommended sales books, but wanted to see if anyone had book recommendations or suggestions for ways I can motivate, enable, and all around improve the success rate of my partner reps. If they win, I win.

    It's easy to be reactive in this type of sales organization, and I'm always looking for smart ways to be more proactive to exceed my number.

    submitted by /u/zuccharia
    [link] [comments]

    Anyone in the chemicals industry?

    Posted: 02 Mar 2018 06:22 AM PST

    Hi everyone,

    Recently I noticed a job open for a global chemical manufacturing company that makes products for healthcare who were looking for an AE. I'm currently happy where I'm at but the job seemed fascinating as it involved plenty of international travelling (I'm in aus, company originally is based in Europe) and decent incentives. It got me thinking if this might be an industry to consider in the long run once i get bored of software. If you happen to work for one, please share how you've found the work to be. Thanks

    submitted by /u/alkmaar
    [link] [comments]

    In a sales rut and I'm really, really getting down on myself about it. Don't really know what to do now. (Brewery Sales Rep)

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 01:21 PM PST

    I have worked for this small brewery in Denver for about a year now. It's an awesome company and I'm incredibly lucky to be working for them. Unfortunately, I don't think I can say the same thing about the inverse.

    I met the founder of the company when he came into the restaurant I was working at, pitching the beer. At this time, they only had five people in the company. They had an accountant, a head brewer, an assistant brewer, one salesman, and the founder/CEO.

    All five of them were making sales calls. The beer was only available on draft and average sales per territory were teetering on $4k (and that was a good month).

    I was hired to replace their sales rep and I started getting trained. Pretty much any sale was considered progress since the company was new and scraping by.

    Fast forward to now: the beer is in cans and now we have three sales people and a delivery guy.

    I am getting literally crushed by these two new people. Absolutely obliterated. Both of them came from enormous distributors and they have the confidence, charisma, know-how, etc. They are phenomenal sales people who have been in the industry for years and years.

    And there's me. I sold $12k worth of beer in February whereas the newer reps are selling upwards of $18-20k. I look terrible in comparison, it absolutely kills my confidence and spirit. I honestly have less motivation to sell better because I know I'm not even going to touch their numbers. They know everyone in the industry whereas I have to basically cold-call everyone, and correspondingly they treat me like shit.

    I'm not a confident salesman anymore because of this and I have thought about quitting just so the company can have a better salesman in my territory who actually knows what he's doing instead of whatever dog-and-pony act I've been putting up for the past year.

    Can someone PLEASE tell me how to progress from here? My bosses are clearly trying to help me get better numbers, but compared to the other sales people, I'm absolutely shit. I've had no other sales experience besides this and being a fucking waiter. I feel useless and stupid and dead weight on a company that I want to see thrive, but I can't because of my terrible sales. Fuck.

    submitted by /u/BaffledApple
    [link] [comments]

    Contract Sales Force Experience

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 10:39 PM PST

    Looking at adding an SDR or two for lead gen, was wondering if instead, could using upwork or other freelancers/contract sales people would work. Anyone have experience with utilizing outsourcing or freelancing services for sdr/cold calls/appointment setting? I've only used direct hire talent in the past.

    submitted by /u/GoPackGo8810
    [link] [comments]

    Is there an online repository that has all the sales scripts different tech companies use?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 08:24 PM PST

    Losing sales motivation at this time. Need tips on staying motivated.

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 10:06 PM PST

    I work in staffing and my job is to recruit contractors specifically for high tech positions and some admin. I had a great start to 2018 with 6 hires averaging 3+ interviews weekly which is pretty solid. Anyways I'm hitting a slump, and my numbers for the last 3 weeks have not been good. Averaging 1 interview and haven't got much traction the last few weeks.

    Is anyone here in recruitment? What methods do you use to keep that fire going? Anything helps sales fam.

    submitted by /u/just4funtho
    [link] [comments]

    Which are the other shitty tech companies like Yelp in silicon valley when it comes to working in sales?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 11:32 PM PST

    3 Month Sale Drought

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 06:41 PM PST

    Coming up on my first year in sales. Our industry is a major copier company, I started out very well and the last 3 months I have had no sales. We had a new manager come on in the middle of my first year, which threw things off. Any advice on how to break out this slump? Worried about my job security, which new manager as made it known it's in jeopardy. I was doing very well before he started.

    submitted by /u/PROV1_KU
    [link] [comments]

    SaaS sales and working from home.

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 06:30 PM PST

    I recently started working in software sales, and am still being trained (first 2 weeks). I made a comment today that working from home is shitty because that is what I was doing prior and my boss kind of gave me a weird look. I was told that I could either work from home or from work when I started however I looked back at the old job posting and it mentions that having the ability to work from home in the description. (I'm probably going to get fired)

    So, my question is how common is it to work from home in SaaS sales? Personally, I really don't enjoy working from home because it gets lonely and I have ADHD so getting out of the house everyday and excercising really helps me in terms focus and what not.

    submitted by /u/Spatz90
    [link] [comments]

    What are some of the best door to door products/services to get into selling?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 08:36 PM PST

    I'm interested in doing door to door sales but I'm not sure what are some of the more lucrative things to go selling would be. I live in Cleveland, OH. Can anyone give me recommendations of things to sell? Thanks!

    submitted by /u/AstralSurfer11
    [link] [comments]

    CC HR managers

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 04:02 PM PST

    Having trouble cold calling HR managers for our Safety Training products.

    The size of business we are calling have the HR managers wearing many hats including OSHA compliance.

    I understand they're getting bombarded with 20+ calls per week from staffing agencies and myself.

    How can I connect with them and get past the intro.

    I'll introduce myself, then they nearly always respond with what do you want, not interested, we're fine etc...

    As soon as I begin to speak they talk over me and hang up.

    What are some tips from people that CC HR managers successfully?

    submitted by /u/NickF135
    [link] [comments]

    Why am I such a shitty SDR?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 05:02 PM PST

    Ive been in the tech sales biz about a year and a half, but had about 9 months at two prior roles. The first was a total joke, basically a "heres a phone book. knock yourself out." type role, with literally no sales instruction whatsoever. I then transition to a sales training organization, which was the most dysfunctional work environment I've ever been a part of - ended up being there for 3 months before the entire SDR team was laid off...

    So finally, I've been in my current role for almost 2 years and I have struggled from the get go. My first patch was Manhattan, Long Island and New Jersey and everyone acknowledged that I had the most difficult patch in the company. Then I transitioned to an apparently easier territory, which consists of Dallas, Alabama, ATL and the Carolinas. I did okay my first quarter, but halfway through the second quarter, I'm now just under 50%.

    Since day 1 at the company, I've always been top 5 in terms of dialing and emailing activity. Connecting though has always been next to impossible. Id have spans of well over 250 dials without making a phone connection (we use RingDNA with local presence), and my emails were rarely read or replied to (Tout and now SalesLoft). When I compare my emails to my peers, they're far better written from a grammar (and spelling) standpoint; some are concise, while some a bit more detailed with nuggets of the value prop, but the message is usually inline with what my peers are doing - basically, the only thing that I think is superior is just my writing skills.

    Finally, and this is what hurts my ego so bad... is that I feel that I work just as much if not harder than anyone else, and I'm truly a more intelligent individual. We have some boneheads that literally BEG for appointments - they will leave their cubicles, run into a side office and pressure people into taking calls (Our department has received quite a bit due to it with the account exec's pushing back on our quality of shitty leads), but still, end of the day, those SDR's are still getting more commission than I am and, when it comes down to it, management keeps them around because their volume is so high.

    It's officially gotten to the point where I'm now all-in, using poker terms, meaning that I'm literally going to work, then will go to the gym, then get home and bust out my laptop and work, or on off days, ill go home and have a snack, then work, until I have to wind down for bed. Last weekend, I literally put in an additional 12 hours of straight work time. Conservatively, and I know this isn't insane hours, but I'm putting in about 55 hours a week, BUT I did just start this as of last week... but I'm stumped, I'm just totally f'n stumped. I can deliver the value prop better over the phone than my peeers... obviously, I'm running out of ways now to express what I'm going through, but I simply, dont know what the hell to do. Its not due to a lack of work ethic - I'm simply out of ideas. I've read sales books... What can I do now? What can I try?

    submitted by /u/sparks_mandrill
    [link] [comments]

    Going to hopeful employer in person?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 01:16 PM PST

    Hi all, I know Ive posted something just a few days ago but I have a conundrum of sorts to ask about. There is a company Id really like to break into my sales career for and they put up a posting for an SDR position. I applied on Tuesday and started to speak to one of my college acquaintances who works there for some contact info for the sales manager/HR talent acquisition officer. She responded immediately at first but it has been a little while (about 36 hours) since she originally accepted my LinkedIn link and started conversing. The company is quite close to where I work now and I really want to show some initiative, so Im thinking of just stopping there in person since data mining my college person and looking over their website for useful contact hasn't proved exactly fruitful. Is this a good idea? Thanks again!

    submitted by /u/Painicus
    [link] [comments]

    Thoughts on communication via fax?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 08:55 PM PST

    Greetings all!

    I would like to garner any thoughts or experiences on using fax as means of engagement.

    B2B SaaS is the name, cold calling/emailing is the game. I understand a lot of folk believe fax to be dated, but if that is indeed the case, shouldn't that mean their machines are less crammed than any inbox?!

    I am of the opinion that if a company lists their fax numbers, then they must utilize it!? Especially when referring to SMB and beyond, where the target's sentinel is sure to keep you at bay.

    I have brought this up to my team, only to be met by the cricket's lullaby.. needless to say, the idea was not humored, but I feel as though I could be missing numerous opportunities.

    Any insight is greatly appreciated, and I am grateful for any assistance :)

    submitted by /u/namenamenumber
    [link] [comments]

    Hi there, 1 year in sales first time going to work a booth at a major expo - Anyone have tips?

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 02:02 PM PST

    In about a month I am going to a large expo in Vegas in which I will be working a booth promoting/selling my companies services to primarily owners of New Car dealerships.

    I have little sales experience but lots of knowledge on what my company has to offer, however this is my first expo. We bought a booth space for about a week and the other 2 sales people as well as myself are going to be working it handing out cheap gifts to pull people into our booth and hopefully collect their information if they are qualified leads.

    The 1 year of sales experience I have is all over the phone sales, but we do travel to the customer after they send a signed contract to us.

    If anyone has any helpful information for expos, I would tremendously appreciate it!

    submitted by /u/shittyhotelrooms
    [link] [comments]

    Sales productivity per employee software

    Posted: 01 Mar 2018 03:02 PM PST

    I'm looking for a free/cheap software so I can measure individual sales productivity per employee (monthly, weekly…). I will use it for personal meetings with my employees + data for myself. Thank you redditor

    submitted by /u/NicSui
    [link] [comments]

    No comments:

    Post a Comment