Sales in the Subscription Economy #6
Sales makes the world go 'round – time to get to work, here's how:
Since WWII, there hasn't been a more important time to provide demonstrable value to your customers and prospects. You don't have a chance to weather this storm without that at the forefront of your mind.
The focus of my newsletter during this season will be actionable tips on managing remotely and upping your team's game. I'm also offering a value-based Sales Battle Card service right now that will be customized with your UVP in mind, think: objection handling, social proof, empathy statements, and more at the fingertips of your sales team during every call. Email amanda@subscriptioncoach.com for more info.
Also, I'm hosting a podcast series by subscription Sales VPs for subscription Sales VPs so we can help each other get through this. Email me if you're interested in being a guest or know someone who is: amanda@subscriptioncoach.com
I posed a question this week that Profitwell's Abby Sullivan published in their daily newsletter today, "How do we short-circuit the length of the economic downturn and start to pick ourselves back up as a global economy asap (after the acuteness of the virus)? How do we move forward now, practically speaking, with so much uncertainty?" Please reply with your thoughts and tips and I'll share them next week.
We all know that sales makes the world go 'round, so let's do it – here's what you need to know this week:
Selling Your Way Out of a Crisis by Anthony Iannarino
Key Takeaways:
Take back your power: Your mindset is critical because it is what will determine your actions. Nothing gets better unless you make it so.
Being confident doesn't meaning ignoring what's going on, rather the belief that you are going to succeed despite the challenges you face, period.
Adversity is a gift, one that stretches you, that causes you to grow, to improve yourself — and your company and your clients.
Make a plan of action: Double down on your prospecting activity. Sell more to existing clients, get to clients, and raise your prices if you can.
Improve your effectiveness: every opportunity counts, let's get back to selling fundamentals and a high degree of discipline in building pipeline and your sales cadence.
Study past sales, figure out what it took to make them, and double down on the right efforts – there's no room for shooting in the dark here.
Create a (proverbial, or at least remote...)war room: this is the headquarters for sales effectiveness where you plan, communicate, and adjust your approach as things change. You need leading indicators, not lagging indicators, of your sales processes' effectiveness. Test, assess, adjust, repeat.
You do not benefit from waiting for the crisis to end before you decide to improve your sales results. The way out of any crisis is always to sell your way out. Get moving.
I just learned about Mary Grothe, CEO of Sales BQ last week and am loving her content! The following is my interpretation/mashup of 2 of her articles, found here and here.
Key Takeaways:
Core attributes of top sales performers:
Relentless pursuit of winning, fueled by hatred of losing
The inner desire to be #1
Competing in everything
Product/industry knowledge and the ability to effectively communicate how you bring value to the table for your customers
Passion: passion shows the prospect that you are emotionally invested in solving their problem and that you believe in your company’s products and services, through and through. Your passion builds the emotional connection that’s needed to increase your prospect's comfort in potentially buying from you.
Conviction: Conviction comes through as a position or a stance on solving the prospect’s problems. Salespeople who have great conviction typically use proof of concept, third-party stories, and case studies to create social validation in sales conversations.
Enthusiasm: use enthusiasm once the case is built and ready to close. Transfer from passion to enthusiasm to motivate and create a sense of urgency when it’s time for your prospect to make a buying decision. After the case has been presented and both the salesperson and prospect agree on a solution, it’s time to enthusiastically discuss moving forward and the next steps.
How to lead a (remote) sales team without micromanaging everyone by Steli Efti CEO of Close.com
Key Takeaways
"Great managers orchestrate rather than do. Like the conductor of an orchestra, they do not play an instrument, but direct their people so that they play beautifully together. Micromanaging, in contrast, is telling the people who work for you exactly what tasks to do or doing their tasks for them." —Ray Dalio
Micromanagers feel that they must consistently control their employees. They are always monitoring everything at work and continuously operate at high levels of stress, which stresses out their employees and can hinder work relationships. Sounds like you, maybe? Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward making a positive change!
Having excellent communication in the workplace is key to a leadership position. Good communication is what separates a weak leader from a great one. And strong communication skills are crucial to being a good leader. This is especially important as we're all working remotely. Having your expectations clearly written and visible for your team is imperative. Be crystal clear about the how, when, and what of updates from each team member.
As a sales leader, you must be able to take feedback from your team. And, if you model that behavior and show that you are open to feedback, you’re encouraging your team to do the same. So ask for feedback regularly and it's okay to dictate how and when you want to receive said feedback.
Learning how to stop micromanaging your employees starts with learning how to let go of some control. Motivate your team to come up with their ideas and give them decision-making power, so they have some say in the work they are producing.
By getting yourself to stop micromanaging, you will be less of an overbearing sales leader, and you’ll be empowering your team to be the best they can be.
That's a wrap! You’re fully informed for the week on subscription sales & recruiting news – let’s go make sales!
Visit Subscriptioncoach.com. Maybe you're suddenly on a hiring freeze, but need help navigating how to make sales (with tools like a killer, value-laden Sales Battle Card that I mentioned up top) as we move headlong into a recession – let's talk strategy!
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