If you’re looking to maximize sales productivity and the value that your sales team brings to customers, it may be time to review and enhance your sales territory plan.

Good sales territory planning provides a framework to measure sales potential, set goals, and focus your team’s sales efforts for maximum success. It provides your sales team the guidance to properly identify and understand customers and prospects, assess and measure value, and support customers in a way that leads to loyalty.

Table of Contents

What is Sales Territory Planning 
Benefits of Sales Territory Planning
Factors to Consider When Planning Sales Territories
7 Steps to Writing a Successful Sales Territory Plan
5 Sales Territory Management Best Practices to Follow
Essential Tools to Plan Your Sales Territories
5 Ways to Validate a Sales Territory Business Plan

What is Sales Territory Planning?

Territory planning is the process of creating a plan to ensure your sales team targets the right customers (and the most profitable ones).

Historically, most territories were broken down by geography, but in today’s connected world, sales territories can also be divided in many ways, including:

• Industry
• Sales potential
• Customer type

With a clearly defined territory, sales teams can work strategically to address the needs of their assigned market. A strong sales territory plan allows you to:

• Ensure your sales team’s efforts are focused on the who, what, when, where and why that offer the strongest return on investment.
• Align salespeople to the regions, segments, and/or verticals best suited for their background and expertise.
• Partner intelligently across company teams to drive corporate objectives
• Optimize customer experience by aligning accounts with sales teams that understand their unique challenges and opportunities.
• Set the stage for long-term solid customer and market relationships.

Benefits of Sales Territory Planning

If you’re doubting the value of a strong sales territory plan, consider these inarguable benefits:

More time spent selling

A strong territory plan allows organizations to maximize their sales momentum by aligning the right sales teams to the right opportunities. Studies by industry analysts consistently show a decline in sales productivity due to factors such as extensive traveling, the need to learn and understand new segments, and administrative overhead.

With a clear sales territory plan based on geography and sector, salespeople can spend less time traveling and preparing for customer engagements and more time working directly with customers.

Better customer service

By aligning your salespeople to a set of accounts that aligns to their background, expertise, and geography, they are better able to understand customer needs and build solutions that align. With consistent territories, salespeople can build long-term relationships, leading to higher customer loyalty and repeat business.

Balanced workloads

Workload is measured in time and effort required to adequately manage all accounts in a given territory. A strong territory plan compares workloads and designs territories so that each salesperson is at full capacity, maximizing their potential.

To maximize rep production, you need to do some due diligence when it comes to assigning balanced territories.

Factors to Consider When Planning Sales Territories

When segmenting territories among your reps, you want to make sure they’re allocated fairly. To ensure this, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the workload equally divvied up between each member of the team?
• Does the territory design provide equal compensation opportunities?
• Is there a good mix of existing and new accounts per territory?
• Does the territory route allow easy travel time management?

Once you’re able to answer the questions above, it’s time to consider:

1 | Revenue Source

Current Customers. Where are your best customers and prospects located? Geographic and industry-based clusters are the most common focus because it’s easier to get new customers in an area with existing customers. Historical sales data will become your new best friend as it’s the best predictor of future success.

A sales tracking software will give you a complete history of this data.

Inbound Leads. When inbound leads convert, focus on the demographics such as geography, industry and size. Then, build a strategy to divide them as evenly as possible across your sales force.

The focus needs to be on revenue generated from inbound leads as opposed to volume of leads.

Outbound Prospecting. Sales territory design for outbound efforts begins by first laying out the territories to work, then overlaying them with prospecting territories according to how you’re allocating salespeople.

For example, you assign two sales reps to each state (two territories) and one canvasser (one prospecting territory).

2 | Rank Your Team

Create a scorecard and evaluate your sales reps to identify who your top, middle, and low level performers are.

• How much is their quota?
• Do they consistently achieve this number?
• How many current customers and prospects are in their funnel?
• How many viable prospects are located within their territory?

3 | Rank Your Territories

Most Profitable (Least Risky). Evaluate which of your territories are most successful and double down on what’s already working.

Most Growth. If you’re more focused on the long-term instead of the short-term, focus on territories that haven’t been worked yet. It’s likely to take longer to become profitable, but will generate greater growth over time.

Learning / New Markets. To establish yourself in a new market segment or determine if it’s viable, send a canvasser into this territory to accomplish a specific task. This will help determine exactly what’s needed to succeed in that market.

4 | Track and Measure Metrics

Sales metrics are invaluable in understanding the success of every sales team within the company, and entire sales department as a whole. They help you to spot trends and determine efficiencies, and inefficiencies, within the company.

With sales enablement platforms like SPOTIO, you can easily pull results for:

• Team performance in relation to your sales funnel
• Data from custom statuses and fields based on KPIs
• Graphs representing team performance, best time and day to knock, etc.
• The number of attempts it takes to establish contacts, get leads and make sales
• This data gives you the information you need in order to assign balanced workloads across your sales team.

Actionable Data and Insight

With the help of territory management technology, sales territory data helps you accurately evaluate sales performance. This information helps you design effective sales compensation plans and ensure your sales teams are performing at their maximum potential.

Clarify ownership in complex organizations

In organizations with large and complex sales teams, roles and responsibilities are often tangled. With effective sales territory planning, territories are made clear from the get-go, ensuring that salespeople are clear about their target audience and not creating confusion for the team or the customer.

Resilience to change and turnover

Organizational changes such as personnel loss, mergers, acquisitions, alliances, and relocations inevitably effect customers and internal teams. With a strong territory management plan, change is easier to manage.

A well-documented sales territory plan allows new team member’s to ramp up quickly and avoid confusion regarding roles and responsibilities.

Team cohesion and morale

Strong territory planning optimizes the role of the team. By assigning complimentary teams to each territory, you create and environment which allows team members to benefit from each other’s strengths, share workload, and also avoid conflict that arises from unclear territories and boundaries.

7 Step Plan to Write a Successful Sales Territory Business Plan

The next logical question is, where do you start? In this section, we’ll provide an overview of each planning step, along with key questions and suggestions. Depending on your offering, industry, company size, or various other factors, you may use some or all these steps when building your territory plan.

1. Analyze your business goals and objectives

The first step to drafting a solid sales territory plan is bringing clarity to your company’s landscape, defining organizational goals, and evaluating industry trends. This is a basic step to ground you and your team on what you’re trying to accomplish with your sales territory plan.

As you go through the subsequent process, you should continually refer back to this data to maintain a pulse on whether your plan accomplishes what you’ve set out to do.

To get the juices flowing, start by answering these key questions:

1. What is your organization’s most current vision, mission, and north star objective?
2. What are the key trends in your industry or market?
3. What pain do your offerings solve for customers?
4. What are your sales goals, in numbers?
5. What is your conversion rate? Based on this how many prospects should you have in your funnel at any given time to ensure that you’re meeting your sales goals?
6. Are there specific products/services that you are selling more than others? Why?

2. Analyze your prospects and customers

The next step is looking deep into your customer base. In addition to understanding their businesses, challenges, and unique traits, it’s important to identify what makes them unique and what sets them apart from each other.

Key questions to ask yourself include:

1. Who are your most profitable and lucrative prospects and customers defined by industry, region, product, etc.?
2. What do these customers have in common?
3. Which of your prospects or customers offers the most profound growth opportunities for your company?
4. What are your customers buying today and what does this tell you about their challenges and opportunities?
5. Are their industries you serve with success? Are their industries that you’ve had less success with?
6. When customers and prospects object, what is the biggest reason why?

3. Determine your Total Addressable Market

Your Total Addressable Market (TAM) is the entire body of prospects and customers that fit your ideal customer profile. Traditionally, organizations use data including industry, location, size, and revenue to begin mapping their TAM.

While this is still important, technology and tooling makes it easier than ever to identify prospects within your TAM that may not be so obvious.

Using traditional and modern sources, even tools like social media, look for company and industry look-a-likes that may be a suitable candidate for your offering.

Once an ideal customer profile is solidified, the next step is to figure out how large the market opportunity is that fits the description. You may use a matrix to include a range of large and small markets which present large or small opportunities.

While estimating the size of your market used to be a struggle of guesswork and complicated calculations, there are now tools available to businesses to automate the TAM discovery process.

4. Perform a SWOT Analysis

A simple way to evaluate your position in the market is to perform a SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analysis. Since we all have blind spots, a SWOT analysis is best performed with the help of a broader team, including other company leadership, as well as members or your sales management and sales rep teams.

• What Strengths will you build upon?
• Which Weaknesses do you need to mitigate?
• Which Opportunities in your marketplace are you suited to take advantage of?
• What Threats in your selling environment will you defend against?

In doing this analysis, you will start to see patterns that indicate areas of your business that require more or less attention for various reasons.

For example, a strength that’s also a large opportunity may need a dedicated territory. On the other hand, an area that aligns to a serious competitive threat may require special attention to protect your company’s place in the industry.

The SWOT characteristics you identify will not always be related to revenue or geography. They may be related to more obscure things like training needs of your sales team, gaps in systems and tools, or even gaps in your products themselves.

Doing this analysis will help you be aware of other ways to think about your business and territories.

5. Determine and Document Sales Territories

Based on the work you perform in the sections above, you should have an idea of how to divide your sales territories. It’s important to document these clearly, outlining details of each territory including things like:

• Geographic Boundaries
• Industry or Segment Boundaries (including any overlap and how that is addressed)
• Revenue Boundaries
• Product Boundaries
• Anything else that may be applicable to your sales organization

6. Devise an Action Plan

Similar to the SWOT analysis, devising an action plan is a group exercise that should include various stakeholders in the company, specifically the leaders of each of your identified territories. Just as well, the action plan should be built to be nimble.

In a world where market opportunities change every day, the sales territory plan should be built to follow, ensuring that your action plan keeps up with changing opportunities and threats.

Gone are the days of an annual territory and action planning session. It’s important that change management is built into the framework to ensure your teams are not caught off guard with changes.

Within each category, you should answer the following questions:

• What is the territory’s quota?
• What is the territory’s quota stretch goal?
• What is the territory’s closed business YTD?
• What is the territory’s gap?
• How much pipeline do I have today?
• What is the territory’s pipeline gap?
• What are my goals for the year?

In addition to the overall territory, you will need to spend time looking at top accounts and where they fit in your territory plan. List top accounts and explain why they are chosen (relationships, industry fit, target profile).  For each, in one sentence, be clear and focused on the outreach strategy.

Next, create an opportunity map and make sure opportunity plans are thorough. What’s the compelling event? Why now? What’s the strategy to engage with a champion and economic buyer? What’s the mutual success plan?

Finally, close out with strategies to build your sales funnel.

In addition to being responsive to external factors, action plans should be reviewed on a quarterly basis to ensure your plan isn’t going stale unintentionally.

7. Track Performance and Stay Adaptable

Once you’ve devised and implemented your territory plan, it’s important to regularly measure success in each territory and adapt as needed.

Metric reviews should happen on a regular, defined cadence such as monthly or quarterly, and should be automated using sales performance tools to avoid making this a manual, costly, and easily avoided overhead.

Measures you put in place will vary based on your unique company situation, but some important measures include:

Gross Sales

The most obvious measurement of sales success, gross sales is the sum of all sales that a territory carries out during a defined time frame. Gross sales is a useful metric because it shows the ability of sales professionals to make sales, regardless of what the profit margin is on those sales.

Gross Profit

This is the difference between the selling price for a product and the price the business paid to develop the solution. This measurement is important for businesses that want to encourage their sales forces to focus on high profit margins rather than just sales.

Total Unit Sales

The aggregated number of product units sold within a particular territory, regardless of price, profit or commission. This method of measurement is useful when a company mainly sells a single type of product.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of leads or appointments that result in a sale of some kind. Sales forces with a high sales turnover number are operating at a high level of performance.

Total Commissions

This is the amount of money the sales representatives for the territory in question take home as personal income. Although this measurement does not directly correlate to the competitiveness or degree of success of the business itself, it is effective to use as a means of motivating members of the sales force to achieve higher numbers.

Return Customers

A sign of true development and sustainable growth in a sales territory is the tendency of buyers in that territory to come back and buy again.

For this reason, one important measurement to make is the amount of revenue or profit coming from clients who have bought before. This amount may be expressed as a gross number or as a percentage of gross sales, gross profits or commissions. 

With each review, it’s pertinent to ask your leadership whether the data being measures indicates the need for an adjustment to your territory plans. If you’re proactively monitoring and adjusting, you will maintain a plan that keeps you relevant with your customers and industry.

5 Sales Territory Management Best Practices to Follow

Managing a sales territory is a skill that needs constant development. Moreover, you should adjust and adapt to changes in your area. With summer underway, you have half a year left to grow your business. Propeller suggests four sales territory management best practices for you to implement this week.

1. Using a call rotation schedule to keep in touch with accounts

During the strategy phase, you and your team determined how often to call on each account based on their needs.  Also, note whether it is a phone call or an in-person meeting. Put these in a CRM or a calendar to keep your schedule on track.

2. Note the seasonal account trends

Another essential part of managing sales territories you addressed when building strategy was to determine which accounts were the seasonal business. It’s an excellent idea to check in before the season arrives and reconnect, so you are in touch when the account is ready to buy.

3. Keep the focus on the long-term, account-based goals.

New business is fantastic; however, it should not distract from the goals set for the targeted account-based marketing goals you set. Teaching the team to balance new business development with account management is a vital skill for any salesperson.

4. Explore new ways to divide the leads.

Many sales territory plans are set up by geography, and the leads from that area go to that sales territory rep. However, not every sales territory plan needs to be geographical; the location of the lead is not always the best way to go.

In cases where your sales reps do not have in-person meetings, you can try dividing new leads based on account type (i.e., verticals) or the referral source. Some people divide leads based on the product in which the lead is interested or by the size of the account.

5. Look for cross-selling opportunities.

Analyze the products that an account buys and look for natural partner-products or services, i.e., the “Would you like fries with that?” strategy. Many times, customers might not realize that you offer the full suite of products and services and can make their lives easier by ordering from one supplier.

Essential Tools to Plan Your Sales Territories

Like any job, when you are planning sales territories, you need to have the right tools. The right tools will help you plan, build, and execute a sales territory plan. There is a multitude of options available.  Here are three essentials you need to set yourself up for success, improve productivity and close the best deals.

CRM: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a how your company keeps track of its customer information and history. Many CRM applications also offer data analysis to help companies with customer retention and account growth. CRM compile data from several sources, including live chat, social media, and email correspondence, among others.

CRM is a significant source for successful sales territory planning.

Spreadsheet: Spreadsheets are data organizers in a tab form that takes data entered in cells and leverages that into different calculations and values, including simple math as well as complex financial and statistical figures. When you have data from various sources, such as a CRM and online sources as an example, you can assemble all the data available in a spreadsheet for quick access and comprehensive analysis.

GPS: Geo Productivity Software (GPS) are software applications that combine standard geolocation and route optimization functions with CRM data to help salespeople address their most relevant and profitable account first. Moreover, the features help salespeople optimize their selling time with customers instead of traveling to and from customers.

Some of the more sophisticated systems incorporate traffic and weather in the optimization of the scheduling.

A 7-Step Template to Create Profitable Sales Territory Plans

Without a strong sales territory plan, your sales team might become disorganized. As a result, you reps may not produce the best results for your customers or your organization. This is obviously a problem. Fortunately, this seven-step template is the answer! Simply follow the process we outline below to build a profitable sales territory business plan.

1. Analyze Your Business Goals

What do you want your sales territory business plan to achieve? Answer the seven questions below to help define and understand your organization’s objectives in this area:

• What is our current vision?
• What are key trends in our industry?
• What pain do we solve for customers?
• What are our sales goals, in numbers?
• What is our current conversion rate?
• How many prospects do we need?
• Which products/services are most popular?

2. Study Your Customer Base

Now that you know what your goals are, take a moment to study your customers. When you understand this unique group of people, you can serve them more effectively.

• Who are our best customers?
• What do these customers have in common?
• Which customer segments offer the biggest growth opportunities?
• What challenges and/or opportunities do our customers meet every day?
• Which industries are we most successful in? Which are we least successful in?
• What are the most common objections our sales reps deal with?

3. Determine Your Total Addressable Market

Your Total Addressable Market (TAM) is the entire body of prospects and customers who fit your ideal customer profile. Use this formula to determine your company’s TAM:

• (Total # of Customers) x (Annual Contract Value) = TAM

Imagine you sell machinery to manufacturers in Texas. To find your annual contract value, multiply your average sales price ($1,000) by the average number of sales you make to each customer per year (3). In this scenario, your average contract value is $3,000.

There are roughly 17,000 manufacturers in Texas. So, your TAM would be $51M, because 17,000 manufacturers multiplied by an average contract value of $3,000 equals $51M.

4. Perform a SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Ask yourself the following four questions to perform a SWOT analysis for your organization:

• What Strengths can my company build on?
• Which Weaknesses does my company need to mitigate?
• Which Opportunities is my company able to take advantage of?
• What Threats in the industry can my company defend against?

A SWOT analysis will help you determine which sales territories need your immediate attention.

5. Document Your Sales Territories

Now it’s time to either create or redefine your sales territories. Once you’ve taken this step, document the details of each territory to keep things organized. These questions will help:

• What location boundaries define my territories?
• What industry boundaries define my territories?
• What revenue boundaries define my territories?
• What product boundaries define my territories?
• What other boundaries will define my territories?

6. Devise an Action Plan

You’ve almost finished building your profitable sales territory plan. The next thing you need to do is outline specific data points to collect and goals to strive towards for each territory you create.

• What is the territory’s quota?
• What is the territory’s quota stretch goal?
• What is the territory’s closed business YTD?
• What is the territory’s gap?
• How much pipeline do I have today?
• What is the territory’s pipeline gap?
• What are my goals for the year?

7. Track Performance

Finally, take time to evaluate your efforts on a regular basis. That way you know if your territories are performing the way you want them to, and can make necessary changes. To make things easier on your team, commit to tracking a few key metrics, like:

• Gross Sales
• Gross Profits
• Total Unit Sales
• Conversion Rate
• Total Commissions
• Return Customers

5 Ways to Validate a Sales Territory Business Plan

Measuring your progress toward your goal is a crucial part of managing sales. By looking at specific parts of your process, you can determine what is working on your behalf and, perhaps more importantly, what is not.

Here are five questions you should ask to validate a sales territory business plan courtesy of Steve Andersen, President and founder of Performance Methods Incorporated (PMI).

1. Is your growth of strategic customer relationships on target?

It is critical that the customers you focus on provide new sales opportunities and growth, so ensure you picked the correct ones.

2. Are you adding to and advancing the opportunities in your pipeline?

Systems build excellent account management, and every salesperson should have a system for developing and moving accounts through their pipeline.

3. What is your close rate on targeted opportunities?

Close rates are the number of sales you get divided by the presentations you made. For example, if you close three deals for every eight presentations you make, your closing rate (or closing ratio) is 38%. The higher your close rate on targeted opportunities, then the more valid your sales territory business plan is.

4. How accurate is the sales forecast?

The ability to correctly predict the sales your territory will produce is a vital skill for managing a sales territory.

5. Do you have the right resources deployed to help your team?

Managing resources is significant in the overall strategy of a sales team. The right resources along with the right motivating activity can be the key to success in a sales territory business plan. Ensure you have both deployed appropriately.

Sales territories tells salespeople where they can do business. Proper sales territory planning by you and your team can help them take care of business. Work with your team in a collaborative way to help them target the right accounts that give them best results and you have built a foundation for success that benefits the salesperson’s, the company’s and your bottom-line.

And who doesn’t want that?

A 7-Step Template to Create Profitable Sales Territory Plans

Without a strong sales territory plan, your sales team might become disorganized. As a result, you reps may not produce the best results for your customers or your organization. This is obviously a problem. Fortunately, this seven-step template is the answer! Simply follow the process we outline below to build a profitable sales territory business plan.

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Think about the last time you wanted to buy something on the web. Chances are, you spent hours scouring the internet for people’s reviews on the products you want to buy. But, let’s say there were no reviews. This could put a damper on your purchase as no one likes to buy something without knowing what previous buyers thought about it.

Suppose your brand is in this category where your products have little to no reviews, or the ones left by the customers are not as captivating. Then, it is time to implement a strategy that will bring more customers to your website and increase sales.

You can start by creating B2B video testimonials strategies on your website. Using video reviews brings a human touch to your products as customers can relate to the person reviewing the products. We are in an era where everything is digital and from the look of things, video testimonials dominate the business world, so why not give video testimonials a try.

You may get the impression that taking a video and posting it is easy. But that’s not the case, as a lot goes into making powerful and engaging video testimonials. Let us explain what B2B video testimonials marketing is and why you should use it.

A customer video testimonial is a video that shows your customers speaking honestly about their experience using your products and services.

So, what are the benefits of having video testimonials in your business?

• It helps show customers that your brand is credible and trustworthy
• The customer helps explain how to use the products, benefits, and experience, which can appeal to your target customers.
• Improves conversion rate
• It is natural and user-friendly. It is easier to believe a person than an ad.

Here are eight tips to use when making B2B video testimonials. First, before filming, find the right customers, those who wholeheartedly love your products.

1. Do Not Use a Script

Customers rely on video testimonials because they are authentic, so when you post a scripted video review, your customers and potential clients will know. This might make it hard for them to trust your brand.

Do not push the person making the video to speak the way you want as it might stress them and make them nervous. You can view some video testimonial examples to give you an idea of what other businesses are doing.

2. Humanize the Video with Real Emotions

The best B2B video testimonial is when your customers tell a personal and emotional story on how your products and services impacted their lives. It’s best to start with an issue that had plagued their lives, but became history after using your products. Then, you can use these video testimonial examples as your inspiration.

3. Keep it brief

Keep your video testimonial short and to the point. Nobody likes to listen to someone speaking about something for hours. A brief video will capture the attention of your viewers while getting out your message across.

Therefore, ensure that your video is about 3 minutes long or less. In addition, it would be best to caption your customer’s name and experience on the video to increase the time they spend talking about the product’s benefits.

4. Tell a Story

Present the testimonial in the form of a story. Try and make the story interesting for the listener irrespective of the interviewee’s age. To make the story authentic, write the questions following a particular order.

For example, you can start by asking what problem they were facing. How did they find out about your products? How did your products help them solve their problem?

The way they communicate the answers will create a narrative that is relatable to everyone watching.

5. Keep it Simple

Do not complicate your video testimonial by using complex terms. Use simple language and words that are understandable to your target market. You can incorporate data and statistics in your testimonial, but keep it short.

6. Send Out Questions Before the Interview

Make sure to provide your interviewee/customer with the questions before the scheduled interview. This allows them to familiarize themselves with the questions and avoid any awkward moments during the filming.

This does not necessarily mean that they need to memorize the answers for the recording. Instead, it gives them an idea of what to expect, be present, and humanize their responses.

7. Make it interesting

Don’t just set the camera only to capture the speaker’s face; it would be interesting to show his/her face at different angles, enhancing their expressions by zooming in and zooming out. This will help viewers get a perspective of the speaker’s emotions.

However, it is not a must since it requires several cameras to achieve this and a large crew, which would be expensive. That’s why it might be best to outsource the task to specialists for remote video testimonials to get the best outcome.

8. Don’t Interrupt

When filming, do not interrupt the speaker because it might appear scripted. Let them go with the flow when filming. Before posting, edit the video to remove the parts you feel are unnecessary. So no matter what the situation is, do not interrupt.

Suppose you are a small business and do not have the resources to film or hire a video testimonial service. You can request your loyal customers to send videos of themselves talking about your products or services, then ask for permission to post them on your website.

Ensure to end your video with a call to action and ask your viewers to share their experiences in the comment section.

Now let us see how to boost sales using video testimonials.

How to use B2B video testimonial in marketing to drive sales

After creating a powerful customer testimonial video, you must position it in a manner that is going to boost sales. For example, a survey conducted in December 2020 shows that 84% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching the brand’s video.

In addition, the survey found out that after three days, people remember about 10% of what they heard but still retain about 65% of the images in the video. This clearly shows that B2B video testimonials are a powerful marketing strategy for any business looking to boost sales.

Where should you use the B2B testimonial videos?

Landing Page

This is the first place your customer lands upon visiting your website. Statistics show that landing pages/ homepages increase the conversion rate by 86%. Customer testimonial videos help to:

• Generate leads
• Persuade prospective client to buy your products

You can also add a testimonial page on your website where clients can go to see other customer reviews.

Social Media

Almost everyone, from teens to baby boomers, is on social media. So why not post your customer testimonial video on social media where you will have a broader reach? From small enterprises to large corporations, you will find they are all present on social media.

A Digital 2020 report, published in collaboration with We Are Social and Hootsuite, shows that digital, mobile, and social media are indispensable parts of our daily lives worldwide. Over 4.5 billion people are using the internet as of Jan 1st, 2020, while social media users are above 3.8 billion. These are all potential customers you can target.

Make a habit of posting customer video testimonials on your social media pages to increase brand awareness and drive targeted traffic to your website. You can also run a campaign on your social media pages.

Analyze your testimonials

Since the video does not provide in-depth information, make an individual case study for the client by explaining how the customer used the products to the final results. This makes it easier for your customers and prospects to follow.

For instance, many people are advertising their nutrition programs by showing their clients’ before and after pictures. While this is encouraging, it doesn’t show you the whole process or how long it took. So a case study would be best at this strategy as it would explain their nutrition and exercise in detail.

After creating the video and publishing it on multiple channels, automate some tasks, such as data entry and sales tracking. Automation will improve your team’s productivity by approximately 46%. This is because it eliminates the data entry tasks since it logs every potential interaction in real-time.

In addition, the Sales tracking feature provides you with clear insights and analytics, which show you whether your video strategy is working.

Final Thoughts

Scaling a business is easy if you know what you are doing. The way you use customer reviews to promote sales plays a crucial role in your business. As we’ve seen, B2B video testimonials are here to stay, so don’t get left behind. Get creative and start posting.

Also, be ready to tweak the videos as each channel is different from the other. Don’t give up because the first video does not convert as per your predictions. Everything takes work and time. Doing it consistently will lead to better results.

About the Author 

Sam Shepler is the founder and CEO of Testimonial Hero. 150+ B2B revenue teams at Google, UiPath, Medallia, InsightSquared, and many others use Testimonial Hero to easily create customer videos that engage prospects, reduce friction in the sales cycle, and drive more revenue faster. Twitter | LinkedIn

With that said, having a good understanding of the what motivates us as humans and specifically as sales professionals can put you in a better position to get the most out of your team.

Its a common mystery of both experienced and new managers alike, “What is the best way to motivate our sales reps.”

In this post, let’s spend some time going through each type of motivation, I’ll throw in some research by people much smarter than myself and then sprinkle in some real life, actionable steps you can take today to start motivating your reps on several different levels.

The goal by the end of this post is to walk away knowing what has been scientifically proven method on how to motivate sales reps to perform at its highest level and discover what you may be doing that is actually DEMOTIVATING your team thus resulting in a performance drop.

Bottom line, its going to be an eye opening experience.

Proven methods on how to motivate sales reps

1. Extrinsic Motivation – being motivated by external forces
2. Intrinsic Motivation – the opposite of extrinsic motivation or being motivated by internal forces

The Carrot vs. The Stick Method

The most well know example of extrinsic motivation or simply how to motivate sales reps is The Carrot vs. The Stick or Reward vs. Punishment.  Can you hold a reward in front of somebody and “pull” them to perform certain actions or “push” them with punishment from behind.

The Carrot Method for motivating sales reps

It would be easy to think that all sales people are motivated by money.  After all, it is the sales person that typically risks a more stable salary to have some or all of their monetary compensation be based on performance.  So the money is all it takes right?

Not so fast.  There have been plenty of studies showing that money is not the main reason sales people remain at a job or perform at a high level.

A salesperson might initially take a job because of the “Carrot” or potential compensation but that won’t keep them at the job.

Dr. Linda Hill, Professor at Harvard Business School, believes that many inexperienced managers believe that money is the chief motivator of their staff.

If you are training your sales team to only work for the carrot then it must be increased again and again to have the similar effect. Economist Anton Suvorov said, “Rewards are addictive in that once offered, a contingent reward makes an agent expect it whenever a similar task is faced, which in turn compels that principle to use rewards over and over again.” (3)

You know that sales contest you are running this month where the person who gets 15 sales first wins $1,000, well according to research the reps are going to expect that mentally each time they get 15 sales in a month.  So when they don’t because it’s a one time contest they are mentally demotivated.

Not only that but the Carrot method of rewards assumes that the sales rep isn’t working as hard as they can and it is going to take extra incentive to get them to actually do their job.

Compensation isn’t enough for lasting motivation for motivating sales reps

Compensation by its definition is Extrinsic motivation in that we are paid for what we do and in commissioned sales it is even more so because those that perform at a higher level will make more than those that don’t.

The commission model has been around for over 100 years and no doubt works but the model is incomplete in that Extrinsic motivation alone isn’t enough.

As a matter of fact, this type of motivation has been found to have a good short term effect that diminishes over time because once the reward was achieved, it no longer had the same motivating qualities.

As someone who has both managed salary + commission and commission only sales reps I can attest that compensation alone does not drive sales performance or motivation.  I was BLOWN AWAY by some of the commission only sales people that couldn’t get their lazy butt out of bed in the morning to go and make sales calls knowing that they wouldn’t make a single $ unless they did.  It never ceased to amaze me.

Have you had a similar experience motivating sales reps?

And then there are those other reps, the ones that are killers and can close deals and get the sell better than anybody.  But sure enough, as soon as they made a certain amount of money in a month or quarter they pretty much shut down.  Maybe it was $5k in a month or maybe it was $25k but there was a number that once it was hit there was no motivation left to keep pace, it was golf course or casino or you name it place where sales people like to spend money.

Nigel Nicholson, Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School, verified that “all available evidence suggest that external incentives – be they pep talks, wads of cash, or even the threat of unpleasant consequences – have limited impact.” (2)

The Stick Method for Motivating Sales Reps

Ah yes, the ol’ stick or inflicting punishment if performance isn’t where it needs to be.  Aka a threat.

Similar to the Carrot, the Stick can produce short term motivation and results therefore it is often used by managers (4). Although they may not realize the negative effects this type of motivation has on a sales person whose performance can be highly impacted by their attitude and confidence.

Dr. Howard Leventhal of the University of Wisconsin has studied why some fear based appeals do not work.  Leventhal’s research findings demonstrate that fear based communications ceased to be persuasive when the one being exposed to the fear was not shown how the fear could be avoided. (5)

There’s always a place for punishment in the workplace if the sales rep broke company policy but as an ongoing means of motivation it just won’t work.

4 Problems with the stick method which will prove difficult on how to motivate sales reps

1. Reduces Sales Performance – Research by Bain & Company identified that when employees feel demotivated their productivity can diminish by a staggering 25% – 50%. (1)
2. Can Physically Hurt Sales People – fear causes stress which does all sorts of nasty things to our bodies.
3. Creates a Hostile Work Environment – want your team to hate you and despise working for you?  Just keep motivating with fear and it’s sure to happen.  You are creating feelings of disrespect where the employees will become defensive, resentful and will evade responsibility and the manager. (6)
4. Promotes a Negative Mindset – nothing can kill a sales persons and teams momentum like negativity.  So much so that as a manager controlling and eliminating negativity is a top priority.

Are you guilty? If so, don’t worry we’ll show you how to motivate sales reps the right way.

If you are guilty of using the carrot and/or the stick when managing a sales team don’t worry you are in good company because I too have resorted to those methods.  Not because I knew they were the best or right thing to do but probably because they are nature and easier than finding out what really motivated the individual reps and then taking action to bring the best out of them.

We all grew up getting either the carrot, “if you finish your vegetables then you can have dessert” or the stick “if you paintball the neighbors car one more time I’m going to shove it right up your ass” so for a new manager, like I was, it’s easy to default to Extrinsic motivation.  After all, how much fun are sales contests?

Now we know that using too much carrot or stick provides a fleeting motivational boost and may actually be deflating your team and causing under performance, mediocrity or high turnover.

What the heck are we supposed to do?

The inner drive to motivate sales reps

While there is a place in a sales managers repertoire for Extrinsic motivation such as the Carrot and the Stick science has proven that intrinsic motivation will get the highest productivity out of your sales team.

As a reminder Intrinsic Motivation is when someone is compelled to do something internally and not driven by external factors.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, two respected leadership experts, show the difference of the two methods on how to motivate your sales reps, “People do things either because of external controls – the possibility of a tangible reward if they succeed or punishment if they don’t – or because of an internal desire. People do something because they feel forced, or because they want to…  Which condition is more likely to produce extraordinary results?  On this, the research is very clear.  External motivation is more likely to create conditions of compliance or defiance; self motivation produces far superior results.” (7)

Since intrinsic motivation must come from within you have to make sure these type of people are on your team to begin with. You want those that are intrinsically motivated to win and blow past their goals and not just because if they do then you’ll give them a new set of steak knives but because they just can’t stand to not win or be at the top. They love competition, learning and improving their skills to be the absolute best they can be. I hope this article helps on how to motivate sales reps.

In their article called “What Makes a Good Salesman?,” David Mayer and Herbert Greenberg state that one of the two main factors is that they are Ego Driven. “His self-picture improves dramatically by virtue of conquest and diminishes with failure.”(8)

Think back to the top performing sales people that you have either worked with or have worked for you.  The money is a result or scoreboard for their success.  They are motivated to succeed because they have a large ego. want to be the best, like the adrenaline rush that comes with closing a huge deal or feel like they have something to prove.  All the things I just listed are intrinsic motivation.

Supporting intrinsic motivation

After diving in to the research I think we can all agree that we’d rather manage somebody that was self motivated to be their best.  So now that you have these types of reps on your team what can you do to support this type of motivation or even increase it?

Here’s a few ideas on how to motivate sales reps:

1. Public Recognition – this is the biggest one for ego driven sales people. During your weekly meeting make sure point out those that are achieving.
2. Give Credit Where its Due – if a sales rep is working hard and getting better or contributed to the companies success in other ways make sure and let them know you appreciate it.
3. Sales Leaderboards – a little friendly competition can go a long way to bring out the best in intrinsically motivated sales people
4. Setting Goals – set goals with your team so they are their goals
5. Job Ownership – give responsibility or get input so the rep feels they have a meaningful impact on the success of the company and team

In conclusion

Extrinsic motivating factors such as the Carrot vs. the Stick can cause short term motivation for your sales reps but in the long run you will do more harm than good.  Get the most out of your sales team by hiring intrinsically motivated reps and then bringing out their best by implementing the tactics above. This method has been proven its effectiveness time and time again on how to motivate sales reps.

Do you manage outside sales reps that you want to motivate?

SPOTIO has several features that will allow you to bring out the most of your intrinsically motivated sales team, from a Leaderboard to Daily & Weekly Reports.  You’ll have the tools at your disposal to support intrinsic motivation. In other words, our door to door sales app will prove how to motivate outside sales reps along with increasing your sales bottom line.

For more great information on how to motivate sales reps read “The Science of Motivating Sales People” by the Hoffeld Group.

1. F.F. Reichheld with T. Teal. “The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind the Growth, Profits and Lasting Value.” (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996). p. 1
2. Nigel Nicholson. “How to Motivate Your Problem People.” Harvard Business Review, January, 2003.
3. Anton Suvorov. “Addiction to Rewards,” presentation delivered at the European Winder Meeting of Econometric Society, October 25, 2003.
4. Walter Nord.  “Beyond the Teaching Machine: The Neglected Area of Operant Conditioning in the Theory and Practice of Management.” Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, vol. 4, 1969. p. 383
5. H. Leventhal, R. Singer and S. Jones. “Effects of fear and specificity of recommendations upon attitudes and behavior.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2, 1965. p. 20 – 29.
6. Jennifer George. “Emotions and Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence.” Human Relations, vol. 53, no 8, 2000. p1027 – 1055.
7. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.  The Leadership Challenge: Fourth Edition. (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2007)
8. David Mayer and Herbert Greenberg. “What Makes a Good Salesman?” Harvard Business Review, July – August, 2006.

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the best field sales automation and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

There’s a little-known, well-hidden closing technique that you’ve likely never heard of called “risk-reversal language”. It’s an exceptionally effective strategy that’s very easy to add to your bag of tricks. There’s a good chance you’ve even used it before without knowing, just not on a consistent basis.

The science-backed data provides credibility to the legitimacy of this strategy by showing that win rates skyrocket when salespeople take advantage of it. Sales reps using risk-reversal language experienced an average conversion rate increase of 32% with this one technique. It’s actually so easy to use that I highly doubt you’ll even have to practice it.

We’re Getting Ahead Of Ourselves – Let’s Backup

Have you ever been on the verge of pulling the trigger on a purchase but felt so uneasy about the decision that you were already planning the cancellation or return? Maybe it’s the first big purchase you’ve ever made, or perhaps it initially sounded good before a widespread panics set in that only intensifies with every thought passing through your wandering mind.

If you’ve been in this situation like I have, you know there’s nothing you want to do more than run faster than Forrest Gump would if President Kennedy told him where another Dr. Pepper was. The self-talk I experienced as I sat there with a blank stare on my face mulling over whether I really wanted to go through with this or not, created a continuous back and forth in my head.

• What if this doesn’t work out like I hope?
• What if the salesperson over-promised and under-delivers?
• What if the company turns out to be complete idiots and I’m stuck in a long-term contract?
• What if I get fired from my job and can’t afford it anymore?

As I sat there pondering life’s lovely hypothetical scenarios that will most likely never happen, unsure if I was actually contemplating a decision or just wrapped up in my own curiosity, I suddenly snap out of the alternative universe I was visiting. It’s funny how this always seems to happen at the perfect moment.

“Just In The Nick Of Time”

It’s a good thing I pulled my head out of my ass when I did, because if I hadn’t, I would have missed what I needed to hear most to help finalize my decision. Trey was the sales rep I was working with, and as I re-entered reality, I heard him say:

“Jordan, I forgot to tell you: Our success is directly linked to your success. We understand this is a big decision, but if you change your mind or are unhappy for any reason, you can cancel the contract at any time. No questions asked and no hard feelings.”

Eliminating Negative Feelings & Emotions

The anxiety and angst I felt about deciding whether or not I wanted to take the risk of being locked into a lengthy contract for a product I was confident in, but not certain of, was instantly lifted. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders in a big way.

At least now I wouldn’t have to ghost him like the numerous women before me had done without an ounce of remorse, so I felt good about that. (Yes – That’s a joke, it’s okay to laugh)

I signed an autograph for him, became a customer and it’s worked out quite well.

The ‘A-ha’ Moment

It wasn’t more than 24 hours after this conversation before those little wheels started turning and that mythical light bulb flipped itself on.

What Trey did is what all salespeople need to do: Outline the language in your agreement that you can use to your advantage. Thinking about it deeper, he presented a solution that enabled me to become a customer while drastically reducing the amount of risk I inherently took on.

“Risk-Reversal Language” Revealed

Risk-Reversal Definition: Any strategy reducing or eliminating the actual or perceived risk that a potential customer has about investing in your product / service. In other words,
the risk needs to rest solely on your shoulders.

It doesn’t matter who the prospect or homeowner is, you can bank on there being some pre-purchase anxiety or doubts. I know you think that overly jacked up prospect claiming that your offer is a “no-brainer” will be a “sure thing,” but it won’t be long before one or more of these has ice running through their veins in a way you didn’t know was possible, if it hasn’t happened already.

While this won’t tell the whole story, it will tell some of it: A HubSpot survey found that only 3% of people view sales reps as trustworthy. It’s no wonder why they freak out so much when it’s time to fork over some cash.

The fact is when it comes time for customers to put their “big-boy pants on,” a variety of emotions take control. Whether it’s fear, anxiety, or something else, it leads prospects to go darker than the night is black when they know you want the digits off of that piece of plastic.

In my search to explain this sales tactic, I came across Gong. They identified just how powerful this strategy is, specifically as it pertains to closing. Gong analyzed 25,537 sales conversations with the help of AI.

Sales reps utilizing risk-reversal language to eliminate friction see win rate probabilities shoot north by as much as 32%.

How To Use It

The reason risk-reversal language is so effective is because it tackles the issue head-on by relinquishing the usual pre-purchase fear and anxiety. By mitigating consumer risk through the use of this type of terminology, you’re empathizing with, and soothing their concerns.

There’s a direct correlation among surging win rates and the liberal use of risk-reversal statements. This low-hanging fruit is ripe for the taking. The ease of implementing this technique can’t be stated enough.

Offers That Protect Customers & Reduce Risk

• Easy Cancellations
• 90 Day Opt-Outs
• Quick & Easy Implementation
• Reduction In Long-Term Contracts
• Service Level Agreements (SLA)
• Money-Back Guarantees
• Proofs Of Concept (POC)
• Free Trials

Frequently discuss deal terms that are designed to protect customers from being exposed to higher levels of risk. This can be as simple as throwing in a sentence like “you can cancel at any time.” The key to using risk-reversal language is to present it everything as a positive, like this was created just for them, and them alone.

3 Risk-Reversals That Protect Customers & Spike Conversions

#1 | Zero Money Down

In the case of a new roof, some people need it immediately but their budget was not ready for such a large expense. $0 down is a great way to bring customers in and build an empathetic relationship. You know their need (a new roof), understand their pain (they can’t afford it right now), and are humanizing the relationship by placing their needs above yours: a new roof now and a payment later.

#2 | Free Installation

Homeowners have many choices and many service providers offering the same value and service to them. Free installation is a great way to get a leg up on the competition and entice home or business owners to buy from you.

#3 | Guarantees

Guarantees give tremendous piece of mind. If the consumer isn’t satisfied for any reasonable reason, they get a refund. The harm, no foul. The most commonly used guarantees are:

Money Back Guarantee. This shows your confidence in your product, which translates to confidence on the side of the buyer. Neil Patel found that by adding a money back guarantee increases sales 21% and overall revenue by 6.4%.

Quality Guarantee. It’s not easy to admit, but your product will fail from time to time. Nothing is perfect 100% of the time. Letting customers know that they will not be on the hook for any defects provides great piece of mind. You’re guaranteeing results.

Price Match Guarantee. If a competitor is offering the same product for a better price, let your buyer know you will refund the difference. This technique gives sales great leverage in a competitive market place.

Even the smallest of protections can tip the scales from a “no” to a “yes.” It may not seem like a lot to you, but could mean the world to the consumer. If you tell the prospect they can cancel at any time, cool – that’s it, that’s all there is to it.

More Than Just Words

93% of your communication effectiveness is a result of non-verbal inputs, meaning your uninterested, “I don’t give a damn” body language could actually be what’s costing you the sale – not the risk that the customer is telling you instead because they don’t want to work with you.

However, if you act like the consumer’s ability to cancel whenever they please is the greatest thing since sliced bread, you’re using the principles of persuasion to influence. While reducing their risk, you’re also adding value. If you’re the only competitor in your market that offers this perk, let the customer know!

To be effective using risk-reversal strategies, you have to understand how to incorporate all of your sales skills to make something small appear larger than it is. It’s not always what you say, but how you say it. Tone is 38% of your communicative effectiveness, 31% more than the words you actually say.

It’s all of these minor details put together that form a high-powered selling machine. It starts with your communication. Knowing how to close more sales by using the right tone is just another component that makes you one of the people actually achieving that 32% win rate increase compared to just seeing a small bump.

The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown Down

Why sales professionals would resist this technique is beyond my comprehension, but it happens. My thought process leads me to believe it’s because they don’t want to deal with the headaches associated with customer cancellations.

Our Challenge To D2D Sales Reps: YOU, as the seller, accept and own the risk instead of relying on the company to shoulder the responsibility.

Increasing cancellations will be an afterthought compared to your soaring win rate. On average, cancellations only tend to go up by about a point – that’s nothing. When the dust settles, you’ll be sitting pretty in paradise city on a thicker wad of cash than you’ve ever earned.

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SPOTIO is the #1 field sales automation and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

Background

It was originated and developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler in 1975. Grinder had a background in linguistics and Bandler had a background in mathematics and gestalt therapy. They developed this for the purpose of making explicit models of human excellence.

In their first work, The Structure of Magic Volumes I & II, they identified the verbal and behavioral patterns of therapists Fritz Perls, who was the creator of gestalt therapy, and Virginia Satir, an internationally renowned family therapist.

Their following work, Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. Volumes I & II, chronicled the verbal and behavioral patterns of Milton Erickson. As the founder of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Erickson is one of the most widely acknowledged and clinically successful psychiatrists of our time.

The 3 Most Influential Components

Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a powerful sales psychology that is composed of the three most influential components involved in producing a human experience:

• Neurology: controls and regulates how our body functions
• Language: determines how we interact and communicate with other people
• Programming: determines the types of models we create in the world and how we view certain things

Encompassing all of this together, Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental essentials between the mind, our language, and how this combination affects our body and behavior.

The reason NLP is so important in your sales pitch is because it involves the development of behavioral competence and flexibility. At the same time, it also involves strategic thinking and an understanding of the mental and cognitive processes behind behavior.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming gives us the tools and the skill set to develop states of individual excellence, while also establishing a system of empowering beliefs and presuppositions about what human beings are, what communication is and what the process of change is all about. Remember that sales is all about communication. It’s about how you can move one person from their thinking to align with your own.

NLP plays a large part in self-discovery and exploring your own identity. When you’re able to understand your own self, you can begin to understand others, especially for the purpose of aligning their thoughts and beliefs with your own.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming will help you in your sales pitch because it largely pertains to wisdom and vision. This is critical in knowing how and where to take a conversation when you have a potential customer who doesn’t align with your vision from the start.

Two Fundamental Principles of NLP:

1. The map is not the territory
2. Life and mind are systematic processes

The scholars of NLP believe it was founded on these two fundamental presuppositions. What they’re saying is that as humans, we never actually know reality. Instead, what we actually know are our perceptions of reality. We experience and respond to the life experiences we have which shape our version of the truth in our mind.

It’s our neuro-linguistic maps of reality that determine how we behave and that give those behaviors meaning compared to reality. The processes that take place within us and our environment are systematic. Everything from our bodies to our societies form and ecology of complex systems and subsystems, all of which interact with and mutually influence one another.

All of the models and techniques of NLP are based on the combination of these two principles.

Simplifying NLP

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who didn’t speak the same language as you and, as a result, couldn’t understand you?

The most basic example of this is when you go out to a restaurant in a foreign country and think you’re ordering a nice, juicy steak, but when the food arrives you’re shocked to see what you really ordered was liver.

This is the type of relationship that most of us experience within our own unconscious mind. We think and believe we’re “ordering up” more money and a happier, healthier life, but unless that’s what is showing up, something is most likely getting lost in translation.

NLP is like a user manual for the brain and learning how to become fluent in the language of the mind.

Using NLP In Sales

Understanding NLP is one thing, but translating this into your sales pitch when speaking with a potential customer is completely different. The strategies below are Richard Bandler’s recommendations for incorporating Neuro-Linguistic Programming into your sales pitch.

• Be aware of your body language and others
• Pay attention to your intonation and others
• Focus on verbiage and grammar use
• Build rapport
• Pacing and leading
• Be aware of your emotional state and how to keep hold of that state

Body Language

Your body language can cost you a sale without you even realizing it. You have only 7 seconds to make a good first impression that will establish credibility, trust, status and empathy.

During face to face meetings, 93% of people’s judgment of others are based on non-verbal inputs like body language. And these stats are based on personal meetings altogether. Throw in the sales aspect of it and you can easily see how important it is.

55% of the effectiveness of your communication comes from sales body language, 38% from the tone of your voice, and only 7% from what you actually say. Check out the 5 body language mistakes that could cost you the sale.

Intonation

Intonation is the rise and fall of your voice when speaking; it’s essentially your tone. Have you ever noticed yourself copying a friend or family member, or them copying you? No, not copying your school work, but the terminology you use or the way you speak. You may not even know you’re doing it, but you can close more sales by using the right tone.

We instinctively copy other people, especially those closest to us. This is actually a sales psychology called mirroring, sometimes also referred to as matching. When you mirror someone you’re adopting their physical and verbal behaviors.

This doesn’t mean you should try to be exactly like that person. The key to this strategy is to be subtle with it and go unnoticed.

Several studies have found that mirroring or matching someone consciously helps salespeople to move others easier and sell more. Your ultimate goal is not to make someone believe something they don’t, but to move them to your way of thinking.

Mirroring happens when you match the mannerisms or characteristics of the person you’re speaking with.

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SPOTIO is the #1 field sales engagement and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

Think about how you communicate with prospects at all stages of the sales process. You use three different methods to get your message across, and need to understand how your tone will affect all of them.

Tonality isn’t just in the words we speak, but our body language as well. Considering that you only have 7 seconds to make a good first impression, you need all the help you can get. Avoid the 5 body language mistakes that can cost you the sale.

The Importance of Tonality in Body Language

Door to door and field sales are completed almost exclusively in person at the customer’s home. With most of your presentations occurring in person, 93% of the prospect’s judgment of you will be based on non-verbal inputs, like your body language, during these face to face meetings.

Furthermore, only 7% of the effectiveness of your communication is a result of what you actually say. This is surprisingly low considering the majority of trainings in sales are focused on what we say.

“A greater emphasis should be place on our body language, and our tone instead of just the words we say.”

55% of the effectiveness of your communication comes from your body language, and 38% comes from the tone of voice you use in your pitch.

The Building Blocks of Tonality

Tonality is probably a lot more complex than you’ve ever realized up to this point. This commonality of perspective, along with fostering likability and trust, is what is at the root of real building rapport. You have to understand the three methods of communicating in order to improve the tone of each method.

The 3 Primary Modes of Communication

1. Verbal
2. Vocal
3. Visual

The rapport your build with a prospect at the door is essential to your success. Simon Sinek said, “People like to buy from people they like.” Creating this level of connection requires capturing and keeping your prospect’s attention by genuinely connecting with them.

What’s more important is that they connect with you on both a conscious, and unconscious, level. Tonality is a key fundamental component of building rapport and establishing trust.

The visual component of your first impression, and overall communication, relies heavily on how you present yourself, or how you dress.

I bet you didn’t know the color of the shirt you’re wearing conveys a message to the homeowner. It does! And the message being conveyed has a tone to it. Find out what the color you’re wearing says to a potential customer, and the tone behind it.

The 8 Tonal Patterns

1. Scarcity/Urgency
2. Reasonable Man
3. Absolute Certainty
4. I care
5. Using a question when it should be declarative
6. Series of 3 up-tones
7. The presupposing tone
8. I really want to know

Your tonal patterns and body language are what allow you to establish yourself as someone worth listening to. Certain tones and gestures are pleasing to the ears and eyes. They imply certainty in regards to what you’re saying. If you’re struggling with getting people to listen to you, try locking through examples of successful sales pitches, then test a few to determine which is the most effective for you.

Examples of the Tonal Patterns:

Scarcity/Urgency – “We’re running a special in your neighborhood since we already have 14 other customers here but you will have to make a decision today.”

Reasonable Man – “That seems like a reasonable thing to do, doesn’t it?”

Absolute Certainty – “I can absolutely do that for you, 100%.”

I Care – “I completely understand and agree with you that this high end product is a little outside your budget…”

Declarative as a Question – “Hi this is Trey?”

Three Up Tones – “Hi this is Trey, with ABC, stopping by because I’m in your area” – each time when the statement is finished you raise your voice at the end.

Presupposing Tone – “By installing solar on your home not only will you save money on your monthly electric bill but the value of your home will increase”

I Really Want to Know – “Are you doing good today Mr. Jones?”

Pro Tip – Keep your prospects attention by combining tones during your presentation otherwise they will tune out.  Changing your tone from high when asking a question or seeking agreement to firm when making a bold statement to going down to a whisper when you want to peak their interest will help keep whomever your talking to engaged.

The “3 in 4 Rule”

The “3 in 4 Rule” is a guideline to follow in order to quickly capture the consumer’s attention and gain interest. These are the three things you must do in the first four seconds of your conversation with a new prospect.

The rule is designed to help canvassers and sales reps build rapport and establish credibility to make a good first impression. You need to make each of these things clear regardless of which method of communication you’re using: verbal, vocal or visual.

1. You’re Sharp

You must come across as being “on-the ball,” and a person worth listening to. Nobody wants to listen to someone they don’t believe. If they doubt what you’re telling them, or they question it, you’re doing nothing more than wasting their time.

2. You’re Enthusiastic

This tells the prospect you have something great to offer. It shows that you believe in what it is that you’re offering and piques their interest to pay attention. If you’ve ever had someone come to your door to try and sell you something, you’ve more than likely encountered this situation in two ways.

The salesperson who’s reading a script word for word and sounds like they don’t want to be there
The salesperson who knows their script so well that they’re able to have a conversation that’s full of energy

3. You’re an Expert

This tells potential customers that you are an authority figure, and a force to be reckoned with. From a young age, our society teaches us to respect and listen to people of authority. The concept authority is also one of the six principles of persuasion.

Why Scripts are Critical to Tonality

Scripts allow you to maximize the key forces of tonality and body language. They’re the root of your sales pitch at the door and a guided road map for you to follow. They help you to consistently focus on the end goal of your pitch and help you understand where you want to the conversation to go.

The most important reason to use a script as a guide is because it eliminated the need to think about the words that you’re going to say next. When a prospect is talking, it gives you the ability to actively listen and focus on the other forces of communication. These factors ultimately have more power to influence your prospect.

While the script is your road map, it’s important to remember it can be changed. At any point you can deviate from something in the script if it’s not likely to add value to the prospect. You’re should never just be reading the script word for word.

This is why understanding the goal of each section of your script is so vital to your success, and your ability to focus on the key factors of communication. One of the most challenging aspects to a sales pitch is the hook. This is a key struggle for a lot of canvassers and sales reps. Learn how to set the hook with your pitch at the door.

Scripts Affect 5 Core Elements of the Pitch

Your script is essentially all of your best lines, used in exactly the right order. Not every sale is going to follow the exact same path, and that’s perfectly fine.

When you employ a script for every part of the sales process, you have absolute certainty about what you’ll say in virtually any situation. You’re not trying to write a script for the perfect sale, your goal is to create a comprehensive script for every possible rebuttal or objection that a potential customer might have.

1. Scripts build certainty around your product
2. Scripts build certainty around you
3. Scripts build certainty around your company
4. Scripts allow you to lower the prospect’s action threshold
5. Scripts allow you to raise the prospect’s pain threshold

Incorporating the proper use of tone when training your team on their sales script will help take their success to the next level.

Put it all Together

The importance of tone in sales is more complex than most realize, and highly undervalued. We’re so conditioned to focus on what we actually say, instead of how we say it and the tone we say it in.

Build your script with the tone of it in mind. Teach your canvassers and sales reps why the script is written the way it is, and help them to understand the key points of inflection and tone throughout.

Remember, you only have 7 seconds to make a good first impression. To do this, there’s 3 things you need to do in 4 seconds that will present the salesperson as a sharp, enthusiastic expert who prospects want to speak with.

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SPOTIO is the #1 field sales engagement and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

That classic has been used in movie’s and sales lore for years but it won’t paint the full picture of whether or not the applicant is a fit for your team.

Below are 5 questions that will really get down to the nitty-gritty when hiring a new person to join your sales team.

1. Tell me what you know about this position?

Asking this question will let you know if the applicant spent any time learning about the position or your company.

Heck, did they even read the job ad completely.  With all the job applications being online today many job seekers apply to anything that falls into the “Sales” category or has the opportunity to make a high income.

An answer like, “well, I know that I will be selling your product to potential customers” isn’t going to cut it.

If the applicant didn’t even thoroughly read the job ad, how serious are they about working for you?

2. How do you generate leads?

No matter what type of sales job you’re hiring for the rep is, at some level, going to have to generate leads.  Even if you provide leads for the rep to close, they still need to turn closed sales into a referral which is a very effective form of lead generation.

If the applicants response is, “I’m a closer dude, you give me the leads and they are as good as sold” you are going to want to dig deeper.

So does this mean that you are going to sit at the office and wait until I give you leads or will you at least make an attempt to generate your own?

Or you may get a cold calling machine that will knock, knock, knock or call, call, call all day long but has no interest in generating low hanging fruit with the highest closing rate leads from referrals from existing customers.

I would like to see a good mix of cold calling, referrals, networking and maybe some out of the box thinking that only a self starter would do.

For instance, this past weekend I was giving a talk to a group that does door to door sales and met a new hire sales rep that took some crazy initiative to warm up a cold market right after he was hired.

On his own, with approval from the company, he paid to have a postcard designed, printed and distributed to his territory that introduced himself, gave some background and said they could expect to see him soon at their door.

A sales rep that takes matters into his/her own hands like is few and far between.  It’s no surprise that later on in the day he won the award for the top rep in the country out of hundreds of companies.

Follow-up Questions:

1. What is your process for cold calling?
2. How do you ask for referrals?

3. How were you deemed successful at your last sales job? Did you hit it?  Why or why not?

This question will allow you to dig in to whether or not they can hit a quota or goal or even if they have been given such at previous jobs.

You can start off by asking what the expectation was for them to hit the last time they were given a sales goal.  Was it sales per month?  Quarter?  Etc.

I have found that the more specific you can get in the question the more specific the answer will or should be.

For instance, “Mr./Mrs. Applicant, think if the last time you were given a goal or quota to hit by your manager.  When was that?”

“What was the goal?”

“Did you hit it”

“How”

“What about the month, quarter, year before that?”

The good thing about asking for specific times is that they can’t be general.  If you ask, “Did you have a company quota?” then “Did you hit it” the answer can easily be “Yes and sometimes.”  You’re going to want more detail than that.

Follow Up Questions –
Tell me about a time when you didn’t hit your goal.  What happened?  And what did you do to make sure it didn’t happen again?

4. Can you provide me with two recent customer references and two employer references?

This one is my FAVORITE because it immediately knocks out the majority of applicants that job hop or provide a bad customer experience.

I don’t want a customer that you sold back in 2004.  I want somebody who bought from you in the past few months then I want their contact information and I’m going to call and ask them, “why did you do business with X?”

If they can’t provide you with examples then either they haven’t sold anything recently or they didn’t create enough rapport to feel comfortable to reach back out and ask permission.  Both red flags.

Part of every interview is asking for references but there are a couple things you need to be specific about.  Understand if the applicant is currently employed they more than likely can’t give you a manager reference from that job.  So two in the recent past will work.

If the applicant makes it to the second round of interviews and before you make an offer call the past manager and First – let them know that anything said during this call will remain confidential and the last question you ask is, “If you had it to do all over again, would you have hired X?”

An applicant that has no problem providing you with these references is at the very least organized and doesn’t burn bridges.

Follow-up Questions:

1. Why don’t you have these references?
2. When I call X, what do you think they are going to say about you?

5. Why are you leaving your current position?  Why did you leave past positions?

In addition to looking at past job history and the amount of positions held and for how long this question will let you in to how they view accountability.

The last thing you want is a victim on the team that is not willing to take any personal responsibility for their failures and/or is unable to take coaching.

If they left their last three sales jobs because A) the leads are bad, B) the territory was horrible, C) the manager was mean, D) the company was out to get me then you just may have a victim on your hands.

There’s a million different reasons why the job may not have been a good fit, the drive was too far from home, technology has changed the industry to where it is not as lucrative as it once was, regulations recently put in place are hindering industry growth, I relocated my family for a better opportunity, etc just make sure you feel comfortable with the reasons and look for commonalities.

If it is ALWAYS the company’s fault that sales didn’t happen then do you really think its going to change when this person comes and works for you?

Wrapping Up

Interviewing is a tough thing to do well (you can learn more on how to recruit door to door sales reps) but coming prepared with a few questions you want to ask and acceptable answers will put you in a better position to determine if the applicant is a good fit for your company in terms of sales style, culture and attitude.

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SPOTIO is the #1 field sales engagement and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

Yep, that’s what I thought.  A TON!

Ok, you can put your hands down now.

Next question, how many of you that just raised your hand input the leads information into a database?

Alright only a few, and how many of you just write it down in a notebook?

Again as expected.  Most of you only write down on paper the prospects who are interested in what you are selling and are ready to take the next step and don’t even commit it to a database.

Come on!

Stop being lazy and start making more money by tracking each and every attempt you make.

Here are 5 reasons why:

1. You Will Only Talk to 1 Out of 3 People Your First Pass Through a Neighborhood

Out of all the doors we see knocked here at SPOTIO the fact of the matter is that at about 67% of them nobody will answer.  That is a lot of potential business that needs to hear your amazing offer.

You need to go back through your territory until you talk to around 75% of the prospects.  This is effectively working your area.

Sales bring on more sales and neighbors talk.  If you treat one customer right one day then when you come back next week and he has already heard about your amazing offer from his neighbor then he will be a layover sale.  Heck he may even call you.

Here’s some quick math for all the statisticians reading:

Lets say your territory has 500 houses in it so to hit 75% contact rate you must talk to 375 of the homeowners.

Remember that 2 out of 3 or 67% aren’t going to answer.

1st pass through you talk to 33% of the prospects or 165 people.  This leaves 210 more contacts you need to make (375 goal less 165 already contacted)

2nd pass through you knock the ones that weren’t home at the first pass and talk to another 33% of them.  This will give you another 110 contacts so your total is up to 275.  Still 100 shy of the goal.

3rd pass through you again knock the ones that weren’t home the previous two times and you talk to 33% of them.  You reach another 75 contacts and now your total is up to 350.

So it will take 4 passes through the neighborhood to reach 75% of the potential customers.

Unless you have some sort of photographic memory there is no way you would be able to remember what houses were not home the previous 3 times and you would knock on a customers house or better yet somebody that was very rude to you last time.

Take a good look at this picture.  See all the red Pins?  Those are the ones that were Not Home on the first pass.  Think about the confidence you have going to the door knowing exactly what happened on previous attempts.

2. Not Interested? You Mean Not Interested at This Time

I talk to outside sales reps all over the world and quite a few of them pride themselves on the fact that they are “Master Closers” and if they don’t close the deal at the first contact then they never talk to them again.

If you are one of those people then good for you but for those of us that aren’t there yet we are going to have to do some follow up.

There is a difference between Not Interested and a Lead so for now I am just talking about the ones that said they are Not Interested.  Maybe its because they don’t have money or are in a contract for another year or are happy with their current provider.

Whatever the reason you need to know it and mark it down into a database.

The next time you are in the area and have a new offer you need to stop back by.  When you are there you will be able to see the reason they weren’t interested last time and reference that.

“Good afternoon!  Last time I was by it wasn’t good timing for you to consider doing business with us because you were in a contract.  I was in the area and wanted to make sure and stop by because we are running a promotion now where we will actually buy you out of your contract and give you a free months of service….”

Know why they aren’t interested, log that info in your database and use that info as a reference next time you stop by.

3. The Fortune is in The Follow-up

Lead, what is a lead?  I call a lead somebody that is interested in your product or service but for whatever reason isn’t ready to buy yet.

Leads are great.

Just because somebody isn’t ready to buy now doesn’t mean you should cast them off into oblivion.  Nurture that lead until they are ready to buy or move them out of your sales pipeline so you can focus on those that will eventually convert.

At the end of the month when you need to hit your quota what are you going to do?  Need 5 more deals closed to get the bonus?

Go back through your leads and focus on pushing some over the edge.

You will only be able to do this if you keep track of each and every one of them and take notes on their specific situation and where they are at in the buying process.

4. Manage Your Activities to Achieve Your Desired Result

The sales process can and should be viewed as a funnel.  With the wide part at the top and the narrow part at the bottom.  How many do you have to put into the top in order to get one to come out the bottom.

How many attempts do you have to make to get one sell out the bottom.

If you know for a fact how many need to go in the top to get one to come out the bottom then you can manage your activities on a daily basis to fill the top of the funnel to get your desired end result.

As both a sales manager and a sales rep wouldn’t it be great to know what you need to do on a daily basis to hit your sales numbers?

The only way you are going to be able to do that is if you track each and every attempt.  Start at the top of the funnel.

If you only start tracking when somebody is interested then you are skipping the top of the funnel and going all the way to the middle.  That isn’t predictably repeatable.  To get to the middle of the funnel you have to start at the top and that starts with making a sales attempt.

Bonus: SPOTIO is #1 Sales Tracking Software on market for door to door salespeople and managers.

How many attempts does it take for you to get a sale?  You need to go knock 500 doors and see.  Then you will know what you need to do on a daily basis to hit your sales goals.

Managing the activities is less stressful than trying to manage the result.

5. Passing the Torch

You got the big promotion and are being moved to another state to run a new office that the company is rolling out.  You are asked to find your replacement, get them trained up and as soon as that happens you can go on to the next stage in your life.

You take a look at your team because promoting from within, if possible, is always best.  Your assistant manager has been a fantastic employee and would kill it taking over your roll.

Heck, you hired her three years before and coached taught her they know.

Naturally, you want to leave the new manager in a position to succeed.

Imagine if giving over the keys to the castle also came with a detailed database of the status of every house in your region.  You know the status of every house because you have tracked every attempt since you started there.

No wonder your numbers are the highest in the company and you just got the promotion?  You are more organized and on top of your area than anybody else in the company.

Now you don’t have to spend weeks trying to remember where you worked and what happened and where the “hot spots” are and where to definitely not go.  Its all done for you.

The new manager steps in and immediately takes over where you left off.  The branch doesn’t skip a beat, their numbers are just as good as they were when you were there.

What’s next in line for you?  That’s right CEO!  Taking it all the way to the top.

Wrapping Up

Remember these five reasons to track every attempts you make and it will always be crystal clear why that extra few seconds after each attempt is totally worth it.

1. You will only talk to 1 out of 3 people your first pass through a neighborhood
2. Not Interested?  You mean Not Interested at this Time
3. The Fortune is in the Follow Up
4. Manage your Activities to Achieve your Desired Result
5. Passing the Torch

________

SPOTIO is the #1 field sales engagement and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

As a student of productivity and a sales person it was an interesting read which broke down the % of hours that each sales rep spent doing what and what the ideal situation was.  I suggest you take a look at it because it tells us a lot especially that there is room for great improvement.

Here’s a visual representation of their findings:

So as a sales rep we are only spending 22% of our week actually selling.  Selling is defined as activities designed to seek out new business such as cold calls, follow ups, visits, presentations, etc.

Pace Productivity also said that the managers questions as part of this study expected the sales reps to spend at least 50% of their time selling so clearly there is a breakdown somewhere.

While 50% may be a dream world for sales reps that are responsible for some of the fulfillment process I think any sales rep would agree that the more time spent selling is more time spent earning money, everybody wins – you, the manager, the company.

Just Work More Hours

So do you just work more hours?  That wouldn’t be recommended.  There are a ton of  studies that show how your productivity decreases as your hours worked increases.

HERE is an interesting history of the 40 hour work week.  I especially like the part about Henry Ford.  In an era where factory workers were logging in insane amounts of hours the legendary Mr. Ford conducted his own study and instituted a 40 hour work week.  Now a 40 hour work week may be impossible for you as it is me but good information regardless.  See that article

If you aren’t going to work more hours then your best bet is to squeeze more selling time out of the hours you are already working which as an outside sales rep is about 50 per week according to Pace.

Let’s Find More Time for Selling

When looking at the pie chart of % of weekly hours two slices jump right out at me as something that is easily squeezed down and they happen to be the top two uses of your time other than selling and that is Administration and Travel.

Because I really want to dive into each of these categories to provide actionable feedback I am going to break them up into multiple blog posts.  In this one I am going to cover what can be done to reduce Administrative Work.  The bane of all sales peoples existence.

Part 1 – Reduce Administrative Work

For most sales people, the Administrative type of work is like kryptonite.  A necessary evil that is pushed off until the last second.  Sales and Administrative work must use two different sides of the brain.  But necessary it absolutely is.  By Admin I am talking about paperwork, emails not involved with selling, maintaining customer data, communicating with  your office, expense reports, etc.

If you are an outside sales rep then most likely your Admin type work is done either before or after you are in the field.  I don’t know about you but the last thing I want to do in the morning or especially after work is to sit down and down and do 2 to 3 hours of paperwork or correspondence.  No thanks!

What can be done to transfer your time spent of Admin to Selling is to delegate to others, automate, standardize, batch or complete the Admin tasks during another designated period.

Delegate and Outsource

Unless your company provides you with an in house admin or office manager which is nice but most companies don’t then hiring an assistant would be worth considering.  10 years ago when I thought of assistant I used to imagine somebody following me around everywhere I went with a pen and paper exclusively at my beck and call.  Like I was some hot shot movie producer.

Welcome to the digital age where we now have so many other options.  There are a ton of super qualified assistants that work from all around the world called Virtual Assistants that can do everything from managing your calendar, to answering your emails, processing orders, create lead lists, etc.

You will have to find a good one and train them but for $500 a month for a full time assistant you can easily make that back with a sale or two.

I have used Upwork to hire over 50 contractors to do a multitude of tasks and if you have never done outsourcing before I suggest you start there since upwork has a good rating and feedback system.

Before you get into hiring a VA DO YOUR RESEARCH or you can have a very wasteful experience in both time and money.  I’m reading a book right now by Chris Ducker called Virtual Freedom which has a good road map.  HERE is a link to the book on Amazon.

Automate, Standardize and Batch

With the mobile technology available today you need to be utilizing it as much as you can.  There are so many apps out there and more coming so either jump on the bandwagon now or be left in the dust.

Here are some of my favorites:

Email

I would image that everybody has their email account connected to their phone but if you do not then do it right now.  Stop what you are doing and figure this out.

I routinely check emails while on the go.  Whether its at stop light (or sometimes driving), in an elevator or waiting in line.  Don’t wait until you get home at night to fire off all your emails.  Do it on the go.

One very important piece of advice I will give you is to set up your email as IMAP not POP.  I don’t know what it stands for but what it means in simple terms is that your email account will sync across all your devices.  If you delete an email on your phone it will delete from your main account.  If you create a new email folder on your desktop computer then that folder will show up on your phone.

This one tip alone will save you 15 minutes a day.  I know it did for me.

Zapier

The mother of all automation.  Many of you are familiar with Zapier because I integrated SPOTIO with it a few months ago.  What can be done with this app is limited only by your imagination.  I have written several other blog posts about it which you can see:

SPOTIO Blog: Automatically send an email to a customer

SPOTIO Blog: Automatically send a text to a sales manager

Just take a look at their integrations and see what all you can automate.  Sit down for an hour or two and automate 3 to 5 tasks that will save you 15 to 30 minutes a day.  That just bought you a few more hours a week, forever!

Dropbox

An online place to store files.  I have the app on my iPhone, iPad and computer.  I actually have my whole hard drive on the business version of dropbox which is now over 300gb.  Why?  Because I have a laptop that I bring everywhere and I don’t want to risk losing what has now become my whole life if I misplace the computer.

So I use Dropbox to hold all my data that way if I lose my computer then I simply get a new one, install Dropbox and login and BAM I now have all my data back.

If I am in the field and a customer asks me for a proposal or a picture of a job from 6 months ago?  No problem, I pull out my iPad, open up Dropbox and find the document and can email or text it right from there.  I am never without information.

Dropbox can also be used by teams to manage marketing collateral as well.  I will do another post on this in the near future.  This one is HUGE.

Scanner Pro

There is probably a newer scanning app out there since I got this one a few years ago but it is simple and works like a charm.  Scanner Pro will allow you to use the camera on your phone to scan documents into a pdf and automatically save them to your Dropbox account or Google Drive.

If you close a deal and need to get the contact back to the office to start on fulfillment don’t wait until the end of the day to run it by.  Scan in a copy and get it there immediately.  You can share your dropbox folder or link with anybody and give them immediate access to the document.

Google Apps

Sheets

While I still use Excel for my heavier calculations, forecasts, etc I often use Google Spreadsheets to store online spreadsheets that I share with a team.  I have talked to several construction companies that do all of their estimating from a Google Spreadsheet file saved in the cloud.   It may be a viable option for you too.  With this app you basically have excel on your phone.

Calendar

Although I use an iPhone, I like google for my calendar.  The reason is because I can share it with other calendars so the people I work with can know what my schedule is.  I do product demo’s all day but I also have calls and different things that I need to get done.

By allowing my team to view my calendar they can book appointments for me without having to first ask if I am available.  If I am going to be out of the office or unavailable I block off that time on my calendar.

GroupMe

As an outside sales manager you want to keep informed on what is going on with your team and also use team wide communication to drive productivity and have fun.  You can use a free app called GroupMe to do that.  Did John just get his 3rd appointment for the day?  Let everybody know.  Is there a sales meeting Thursday morning at 9am?  Let everybody know.  Is dinner and drinks on you Friday after work if the monthly quota is beat?  Let ME know!

By using GroupMe you can save time by having all your conversations in one place which will prevent you from having to call or text each rep individually.

Waze

Waze is a social gps where its users provide updates on the traffic.  What a great idea!  Who knows the traffic situation better than those sitting in it.  I always check Waze before I head out to the field so I know the route with the least amount of traffic.  If there is a wreck blocking two lanes on the interstate you will not only know about it but will be given an alternate route around the traffic.

Not only will this increase your productivity but decrease your travel time which if you look above is one of the top uses of your time as is.

SPOTIO

Last but not least the ultimate tool for productivity is SPOTIO.  By logging your sales activities as you do them on a mobile device you will have a permanent record of where you have been and what you have done.  Indispensable information for both outside sales reps and sales managers.  Before SPOTIO you were probably either filling out a piece of paper with the activities you did for the day, sending an email to your manager or worse having to go back to the office after work and enter it all into the company’s CRM.  A real bummer.

With SPOTIO you will save time and increase productivity all across the board.  Spend less time wondering where you need to go prospect today by looking at your pins on the map and running custom reports.

Know who you need to follow up with by setting appointments in the app and they automatically go to your phones calendar.  Set your default calendar up to be your google calendar and then you can share it with your manager or team so everybody knows where you will be and when.  HERE is a blog post I wrote on how to do that.

SPOTIO is the #1 way to reduce admin time to allow you more selling time.  When used properly it will itself have a ridiculous return on investment.

How Much Time Did We Get?

If you start using some of the tips and apps above you should be able to cut your Admin specific time in half.  Multitask by answering emails and calls while driving or walking.  Log your sales activities as you go with SPOTIO.  Reduce the amount of paperwork you have by going to a more digital approach.

Here is what you new weekly time looks like.

Now Let’s Do the Math

What does it mean to you if you can add another 11% of your weekly schedule for selling?  That is what counts and why we are going to all this trouble to automate things and what not.

I’m going to break it down.

for the Sales Rep

For example, right now you are closing an average of 3 deals a week with your current schedule.  You earn $500 per deal so you are earning on average $1,500 a week.

22% selling time = 3 Deals x $500/deal = $1,500 a week in income

Now I am going to have to think way back to my algebra days to work through this equation so correct me if I am wrong but when I add another 11% to selling time I should theoretically get an 11% increase AT LEAST in my # of deals.

33% selling time = 3.33 x $500/deal = $1,665 a week in income

An extra $165 a week or $8,580 a year.

For the Sales Manager

If you are a sales manager with a 10 person team and you increase everybody’s selling time by 11% then you just sold another 3.3 deals per week or 13 for the month or 172 for the year.

AKA, you just became an office super hero.

If your average deal size is $5,000 then

Week: 3.3 x $5,000 = $16,500 in added revenue per week

Month: 13 x $5,000 = $65,000

Year: 156 x $5,000 = $860,000

These are life changing numbers for everybody involved.

Stay tuned because in the next post we will squeeze even more time out of your already crazy schedule to put toward selling in our quest to maximize results by working smarter, not harder.

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SPOTIO is the #1 sales engagement and territory management app to increase your revenue, maximize your profitability, and increase your team’s productivity in just 2 weeks.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.