Read. Learn. Sell.

Source: #WOCinTech Chat

The most successful leaders all have one thing in common: They've read How to Win Friends and Influence People.

As a salesman at one point in his life, author Dale Carnegie made his sales territory the national leader for the firm he worked for.

When your sales team is still young, even relatively minor challenges can have a huge impact. After all, you don’t have much margin for error.

Fortunately, some of the most common obstacles that plague growing companies have relatively simple solutions.

What it means to be an effective sales leader is constantly evolving in a competitive talent market. Millennials now represent the majority of the workforce, according to a 2015 report from Pew Research. This means a new generation of sales professionals is on the rise, which requires a new approach to sales leadership.

We all know how this goes.

We open our inbox, and the too-familiar feeling of dread consumes us as bold subject lines inundate the screen. We don’t even want to look at the number in parentheses next to “Inbox.”

When you become a sales manager, your “customers” become your salespeople. Your top priority should be helping them succeed. After all, if every individual reaches their potential, you’ll definitely hit -- if not exceed -- your team quota.

Building a repeatable, scalable sales process is tough. There's no shortage of diagrams, methodologies, or experts with opinions on exactly how you should be doing things. So where should you start? Right here. We’ve pulled together an introduction to all things “sales process” to help you get started down the road toward defining what your company’s ideal sales process should look like.

Timing can be a salesperson’s greatest friend -- or her biggest enemy. Reach out to a prospect just after they’ve experienced a major trigger event, and they’ll usually be receptive to your message.

Salespeople are very aware of their quotas and the need to reach them. However, they're not always clear on the steps they should take.

Working with your prospect during the sales process makes you far likelier to ultimately close.

Not only will they feel more invested in the deal after they’ve done some work, they’ll also feel beholden to you -- after all, you’re their partner.

You know what tips buyers off that the email they're reading is a sales pitch?

"Hi, my name is Jane Doe, and I'm a sales rep at Company."

Yup. That'll do it.

Sales management is one of the most difficult jobs out there. Your responsibilities span the organization -- along with the VP or director of sales, you’re working with people in Product, Marketing, HR, and so on.

Sales can be an emotional roller coaster. One week, you feel on top of the world: Your message is clearly resonating with buyers, you’re setting a record number of meetings, and you close a major deal you’ve been working for months. The next week, however, you can’t seem to hit a break. No one’s picking up the phone or answering your emails, and a prospect you thought was sure to buy decides to go with your competitor.

Nothing boosts your sales team’s excitement and energy more quickly and reliably than an incentive. After all, most salespeople are born competitors -- adding a compelling reward to the mix makes them even more enthusiastic.

It’s no secret that salespeople often fail as sales managers. Nonetheless, many of the best reps within an organization often end up in management positions.

Sales and marketing teams both directly touch the customer, but for some reason, the average company just can’t find a common ground after that.

Amy, the head of sales operations, was cheery and laughed easily. She nodded enthusiastically as the rest of the sales leaders around the table discussed the final tweaks to the new sales compensation program.

As the meeting ended and everyone began to leave the room, I mentioned I thought the compensation plan was excellent.

A lot of people get into sales at one point or another … but not a lot make a successful career of it. Can’t hit quota, not good at handling rejection, too disorganized, too aggressive, not aggressive enough -- there are a lot of ways a person can not be cut out for sales.

Just like every scientific activity requires a process, so does sales. And while there are umpteen versions of sales processes you can follow, the biggest challenge in sales management from my perspective is not figuring out which process to use, but to ensure that your team actually follows it.

After you spend enough time on the phone with prospects, you can usually tell when a call is going well. Some reps can even gauge how likely a specific buyer is to close by the time they hang up.

While it would be fantastic if we could be in GSD (get sh*t done) mode all the time, sometimes we need a little reminder to kick things into gear. And what's better than motivational quotes -- especially ones that make for a beautiful visual -- to get you in the right mindset to tackle your to-do list for the day and beyond?

Many top sales organizations use mentorship programs to both ramp new salespeople and groom senior reps for leadership roles. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned mentorship programs lack proper strategies and planning.

Hi. My name is Michael Pici, and I thought I'd share some content around writing emails in order to ...

Okay, I'll stop right there. There’s a good chance your eyes have already glazed over. That’s why it’s shocking salespeople actually use this structure when they’re reaching out to new prospects.

Having hired dozens of business development and sales reps I am always amazed at how many candidates make a crucial mistake in the interviewing process. That is, they make it all about them -- instead of about the hiring manager, and what he or she is looking for in a new hire.

Did you see it, did you see it? We just released the second episode of Sell Like a Human featuring the one and only Seth Godin as our special guest. When it comes to modern-day prospecting, Seth has so many golden nuggets. We put together a compilation of the best ones from the show. 

At the end of the day, you’re the only person responsible for meeting your quota -- not your manager, not your team members, and not your mentor.

Case studies and testimonials are useful to have on hand. They help you earn a prospect’s trust, show them what life would be like as your customer, and validate that your product or service works. 

The most well-guarded winning sales tactics for the year ahead -- those that lie outside the 101 Go-To-Market playbook -- are only truly understood by a handful of experts at the forefront of the cutting edge business. We’ve spoken to these industry experts for insights on standing apart in the next fiscal year. They all seem to agree on the following trends as springboards for success.

“What’s keeping you up at night?”

“How important is X to you?”

“What do you know about our company?”

No one is immune to burnout. But salespeople may be uniquely vulnerable: Sales is typically considered one of the most high-stress, demanding professions.

Unfortunately, selling performance is highly correlated to mindset.

Your sales close rate is a number you need to keep a close eye on -- out of all the deals in your pipeline, what percentage do you actually close?

You might be a horrible leader, but if you stay in sales long enough, you will be promoted to management.

However, your chances of ascending higher -- to a VP or Director of Sales position -- are zero. Only successful sales managers become sales executives.

Maintaining consistent contact with your clients is of utmost importance to salespeople. Not only will you build rapport during the sale, but it'll help you keep the relationship alive after you've closed as well.

Marketing experts always talk about how we must have a unique value proposition or a unique selling proposition. They believe this helps us look different in the marketplace or accentuate what makes us distinct.

Sometimes we need to define and accentuate our differentiation to catch the attention of our prospects and others who are important to our business.

It’s the last week of the month, and you’re fairly confident your team will hit its quota. You’ve been spending a lot of time coaching your two lowest-performing salespeople, as well as jumping in to help your superstar rep close big deals.

When was the last time you walked down the breakfast aisle? The children’s cereal is always brightly packaged, with fun imagery and fonts. Brands know how to attract young consumers with their designs.

I’m a big believer in preparation, so whenever I can, I create a sales plan with my prospect. The sales plan should cover whatever your prospect suggests but will generally encompass the remainder of the sales cycle, how to sell the product internally, and the implementation of the product.

Sales and customer service reps face similar challenges. After all, the modern buyer is also the modern customer: Self-reliant, sophisticated, and eager to do her own research.

According to a 2016 HubSpot Research report, more than half of salespeople say buyers have become more independent in the past few years. 

You can use a single question to determine how experienced a sales manager is. Ask them, “What has a bigger impact on your team’s success: Sales skills, or motivation?”

Newer managers tend to say the former, while more experienced ones pick the latter.

Standing out from the crowd is never easy, especially when you’re trying to differentiate your email from the tens or hundreds of other unread ones in your prospect’s inbox.

One of the most effective ways to catch their attention? Create a sense of intrigue. The buyer will satisfy their curiosity by clicking on your email.

Remember that great client who bought your product six months ago? Or the customer who gave you tons of referrals last year? If you’re like most salespeople, then you have many existing clients like these whom you’ve lost touch with over the past several months -- or even years.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could press a button to make prospects more generous during your negotiations? Rather than fighting for every concession, you could have friendly, amicable discussions resulting in agreements that satisfy everyone.

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most powerful tools in sales today, and yet, it remains deeply misunderstood and underused.

In my extensive sales training work in North America and abroad, even when I’m working with highly experienced professionals, I find many can’t fully explain word-of-mouth, how to create it, or why it works.

Ah, the good old days of sales. Open the phone book or buy a list, start calling, talk to prospects, book meetings, and make the sale. Rinse and repeat. Top sales reps become managers. Top managers become executives. Then, some venture into entrepreneurship and start their own sales coaching, training or consulting business.

Prospecting by email can be challenging -- and unrewarding. After sending thousands of emails and receiving only a handful of responses, many salespeople give up entirely. But instead of resigning yourself to getting sent to spam, it’s time to take a hard look at your ineffective prospecting emails and figure out what they’re missing.

Networking is critical to your career and professional development. It helps you generate social capital and expand your influence. You might have incredible skills, but few people will notice them or see what you accomplish without a network. 

Crafting a great sales email isn't easy. In fact, you may need to try out many different angles, subject lines, questions, and CTAs before you hit on a winning formula.

While experimentation is necessary, it also has an opportunity cost. Every prospect who receives a sub-par email is a prospect who might have responded if you'd only used more effective messaging.

Imagine you were telling a friend about your vacation. Would you spend the most time describing the sights you visited? The music you listened to? The emotions you experienced?