New sales leader can use as much help as they can get to add value to the business. As a new sales leader, you do not have the leisure of time. Time is the biggest setback in your new position as a leader. Being a new sales leader means you will have to close more businesses in the least amount of time. Moreover, you do not get the time to get the job done in a veracious manner. Therefore, as a new sales leader, you should avoid wasting time entirely on the things that are of no value.

To get your new sales leader job a good push, there are ways you can make it happen. For you to give your new job a head start, you can follow some of the following groundbreaking rules or ways to add value:

Build the Relationships

For a sales organization to be successful, it requires success oriented members. Therefore, the best way to start is to get to know those members; especially if the organization that you are a part of has many sales representatives, and the people that you are supervising are most likely the sales managers. Therefore, the first step is to get to know those people. You really have to take the time to understand the organization, since for a sales strategy to work; you need to know the business strategy. The things that you should be familiar with are:

  1. The management structure of the organization;
  2. If a cadence of accountability is present, you need to familiarize yourself with it;
  3. What is the missive being delivered by the leaders above you?
  4. The ways of engagement in the activity management.

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It is crucial for you as a new sales leader, to evaluate the abilities of the sales managers on a managerial level. It is for you to determine whether those sales managers are leading the sales reps towards success or not. In order to do that, you will have to communicate and build trust with the sales managers.

However, in a scenario where you are directly supervising the salespeople, you need to assess their performances. Evaluate the sale reps and determine: how the reps fit in to the organization, do they work collaboratively, do they use the sales stack tools, and do they improve their skills with each passing time?

Lastly, the most important thing or a news sales leader to do is to take part in the daily activities of the organization with his team. As a leader of sales manager, you can attend the meeting and get to know their management approaches. As a leader of the sales rep, you can be a part of the team and a source of motivation for all by being a selling sales leader.

Understand the Data

In this age, everything and everyone is data driven. What everyone does not do is harness that data. This is where you can add the value. Use the metrics like:

  1. Where are the customers? The vertical analysis, or through company size or other measurement tools;
  2. Does your company have a high close rate?
  3. Average deal size;
  4. The close deals your team has had in the past month or year;
  5. The quota that your sales reps are achieving.

The data can tell you a lot of things; data is something that determines the outcome of the sales process of an organization.  Understand the metrics that your company’s sales reps are using. Where their time is being spent and how? You need to understand all this in order to figure out the sales activities to prioritize.

To determine this, the best way for you is to interview the reps and find which the most efficient one in their view is.

Evaluate the Sales Process

Here, you will have to assess the sales process that is being run in the organization where you are the sales leader. To ensure the credibility of the organization, you will have to determine the most important activities and their purpose in the sales cycle. The most basic processes that you can find are:

  1. Determining potential lead through outbound planning;
  2. Connection with the lead in order to turn it into a prospect;
  3. Used cases can be developed, and the value proposition is communicated;
  4. The prospects are provided with a demo in order to turn it into an opportunity;
  5. In the final stage, the opportunity is then turned into a sale;
  6. In the end, the customer is attained.

The process is the important part; if the current sales process looks efficient, then you can go with it. But if you think it needs to be changed, you will have to determine the how part of it and the time frame it will require to be developed.

That is what you need to add value as a new sales leader. More importantly, as a new sales leader you have to be willing to make changes and adjustments to the organization as you deem fit. This method might be difficult to implement, but once you get the hang of it, there is nothing that can stop you.

Unlock Your Sales Potential with Teamgate CRM

As a new sales leader, adding value to your role is essential for success. By building relationships, understanding data, evaluating the sales process, and making necessary adjustments, you can make a significant impact in your organization.

To streamline your sales efforts and maximize productivity, consider leveraging the power of Teamgate CRM. With its robust features and user-friendly interface, Teamgate CRM can help you manage your sales pipeline, track customer interactions, and enhance collaboration within your team. Take the next step in accelerating your sales growth by exploring the benefits of Teamgate CRM today.

FAQ: Creating value in sales

Q: How can I create value in sales? A: Creating value in sales involves understanding your customers’ needs and delivering solutions that meet those needs effectively. Here are some key steps to create value in sales:

  • Listen actively to your customers and identify their pain points.
  • Offer tailored solutions that address their specific challenges and goals.
  • Showcase your expertise and industry knowledge to establish trust and credibility.
  • Focus on delivering outcomes and highlighting the benefits your product or service provides.
  • Build strong relationships with your customers by providing exceptional service and support.
  • Continuously improve your offerings based on customer feedback and market insights to stay ahead. By following these strategies, you can create value in sales and build long-term customer relationships.

Q: How can I understand customer needs and create value? A: Understanding customer needs is crucial for creating value in sales. Here are some approaches to better understand customer needs and deliver value:

  • Actively listen to your customers, ask relevant questions, and empathize with their challenges.
  • Conduct thorough research on their industries, competitors, and market trends to gain insights.
  • Tailor your offerings to meet their specific requirements, showcasing that you understand their needs.
  • Clearly communicate how your product or service addresses their pain points and delivers benefits.
  • Provide exceptional service and support to exceed customer expectations. By understanding customer needs and offering tailored solutions, you can create value that resonates with your customers and sets you apart from competitors.

Q: How can I differentiate myself and create value in sales? A: To differentiate yourself and create value in sales, consider these approaches:

  • Identify and communicate your unique selling proposition that sets you apart from competitors.
  • Focus on customer outcomes and highlight the positive results your product or service can deliver.
  • Build strong relationships based on trust, understanding, and personalized attention.
  • Continuously improve your offerings to stay ahead of market trends and meet evolving customer needs.
  • Demonstrate thought leadership by sharing valuable insights and educational content. By implementing these strategies, you can differentiate yourself, create unique value, and establish long-term relationships with your customers.

Related: Why Many People Fail to Achieve Their (Sales) Goals and 6 Entrepreneurial Lessons You Can Learn From an Olympian

From the 9th until 25th of February 2018, the South Korean city of Pyeongchang will host the 23rd Winter Olympic games. Over fifteen days, sportsmen and women from approximately ninety countries will compete in seven sports and fifteen different disciplines in the hopes that countless hours of training, years of physical and mental preparation, and boundless reserves of dogged determination might be rewarded with a place on the winners’ podium.

But it’s not just about the winners. Ever since the inaugural Winter Olympic games – held in Chamonix, France in 1924 – there have been innumerable stories of success and failure, accomplishment and disappointment, and a complex compendium of emotions which reside somewhere in between.

There have also been stories of inspiration. The inspiration which displays the human ability to strive for success, even when pitted against the odds. The inspiration which has driven athletes forward when others have given up. And, the inspiration which has borne lessons applicable, not just to the world of sport, but to business, and to life in general. For example, the determination that athletes demonstrate in their pursuit of victory is similar to the persistence shown by essay experts at MyAssignmenthelp, who demonstrate supper excellence every time in their work to assist students in their academic journey.

One such example where this inspiration is exemplified is in the well-documented story behind the American speed skater, Dan Jansen.

Jansen was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, on June 17, 1965. As is the tradition in that particular part of the world, it wasn’t long before the future speed skating world-record holder would don his first pair of ice skates and begin his slippery encounter with life and sport.

Winter Olympics

At the age of 12, Jansen was already winning national speed skating championships and turning heads right across the world of speed skating. Through hard work and dedication to his sport, Jansen continued to progress until as an 18 year he was selected to represent Team USA in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. The debutant Olympian finished a very respectable fourth in his specialty 500 metres, and sixteenth in the 1,000 metres events.

After Sarajevo Jansen continued to persevere with his rigorous training regime in preparation for the 1998 Winter Olympics, due to be held in Calgary, Canada. His preparations were going according to plan as Jansen placed himself among the best skaters in the country, and perhaps the world at the time.

Unfortunately, in early 1987, Dan’s sister Jane was diagnosed with leukemia. The young skater stepped forward and offered his own bone-marrow in an attempt to aid his stricken sister. His sister refused, on the grounds that if he did this selfless deed he himself would be too ill to compete in the fast-approaching Olympic games. In turn, Jane received her transplant from another family member, her sister, unfortunately, the treatment was unsuccessful and by the end of December, she had returned to the hospital.

Two months later, in Calgary Canada, Dan Jansen figured differently. On the morning of February 14th – Valentine’s Day – Dan’s family called to say his sister was near death and wanted to say her last farewells. Four hours later the young Olympian received the heart-breaking news that his sister had died, but her last singular wish was that he should carry on and compete regardless.

When failure isn’t the end

Sometimes talent and hard work just aren’t enough. Life gets in the way, as Jansen discovered, slipping and falling on the ice in both the 500m and the 1,000m events; shattering his dreams and the hopes of the medal he so longed for.

Pyeongchang Olympic Games
Image credit: Junji Kurokawa (Getty Images)

After the loss of his beloved sister, he continued to train hard, more determined than ever to win that Olympic medal which he had decided he would dedicate to his late sister.

At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Jansen was once again favourite for gold going into his events. Fate, once again, saw things differently and following bruising stumbles in both the 500 and 1,000 metres events Jansen went home dejected and medal-less.

Despite winning world titles after the Albertville Olympics, Jansen was left frustrated at not reaching the goal he had set himself. With time running out he realised that the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, would be his final chance for the gold he craved. Once again he was favourite for the medals’ podium in the 500m event, as he had been in the past, but once again the dice had been cast against him and another slip on the Norwegian ice saw him finish disappointedly in eighth place.

Sales CRM

The 1,000m was not Jansen’s favoured distance and was accordingly omitted from the list of favourites to take the podium. However, after so many years of hard work, determination and disappointment Dan Jansen beat all the odds and won both the gold medal and the hearts of fans all over the world. Finally, he had the medal he had so long yearned for and which he dedicated to the memory of his sister and to the baby daughter – also named Jane – whom he held in his arms as he skated his lap of honour. Dan Jansen was finally a winner.

There are lessons to be taken from the story of Dan Jansen, lessons which can be also applied to the world of business and to our everyday lives.

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time
more intelligently – Henry Ford

Learning lessons from failure

The lessons we learn from failure are essential to human cognition; to the learning process and to our ability to move forward after setbacks. Ultimately, these are the steps and the building blocks of eventual success.

Regardless of your sphere of endeavour, be it entrepreneurism, sales, project management, literature, or music, you can be sure that the road to your success will be paved with failure and rejection. The real difference between success and failure is how the individual chooses to deal with it, and move above and beyond such impediments.

One prime example of dealing with rejection, and more importantly, using it as a force for good, is  – one of the most popular internet music streaming services on the market.

Winter Olympics
Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora

Westergren’s success was born on the back of failure; firstly as a student of medicine, and then as a musician in a world where rejection is a constant companion. Having experienced over 350 rejected attempts to secure funding for his fledgling Pandora project, Westergren drew on his experience in the world of music. He strongly believes the mantra that, “No, is a part of life’s transactions” and as a consequence, he regards rejection as a normal process.

Despite continuous rejection, Westergren firmly believes that if you pick something you really love, no matter how many times you fail, no matter how many setbacks you may face, you can always bounce back.

In the world of business, and especially the world of sales in business, the same holds true. However, being well-prepared and well-armed the chances of failure will be greatly diminished.

Using a smart Sales CRM, such as Teamgate, you can substantially increase your chances of success and profitability. Just like the training regime of a top athlete, the Teamgate Sales CRM can help you plan the whole process by which you intend to succeed. Teamgate will enable you to analyse your sales team’s process along every step of the sales journey, to plan accordingly or change tactics, in order to reach your goal. Being prepared and willing to adapt are key factors in success – even after failure.

Statistics:

Historically – First-time entrepreneurs have less than a 10% chance of success. Those who have previously failed have a 20% chance of success.

In a survey of small business entrepreneurs:

  • 96% believed that prior work experience was an important factor for success.
  • 76% said that learning from previous failures was important in present success.
  • 73% cited good fortune as an important factor.
  • 40% said having at least one failure was “extremely important”.
  • 98% of small business owners feel potential entrepreneurs are only held back by ‘a fear of trying and failing’.

Prepare to succeed

Just like Dan Jansen, as he finally held his gold medal aloft after so many attempts, those successful people you see on the Forbes’ Rich List had to take many risks and battle many failures in order to get where they are. According to Bloomberg, another fact to illustrate this statement is that 73 of the top 100 world billionaires are ‘self-made’ – which means a lot of failure and a lot of hard work.

 

There are no easy answers for success, there are many ingredients which combine to facilitate its accomplishment. However, having the right business tools in your armoury is just one of those ingredients. The Teamgate Sales CRM might just be the ingredient to give you the edge over your competitors and see you finally reach the goals you’ve set for yourself and your business. 

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Once you understand this single thing, you will be able to reach any goal you could ever set for yourself.

Understand That Success And Goal Setting Is Boring (Here Is Why)

That is true. That is what makes most sales people lag behind. Before jumping to any goal setting exercise, you have to understand that goal setting is a dreary thing. It is like you are making life hard for yourself, instead of having fun and doing whatever you want.

It is a life of self-denial. It is repetitions of the same principles and fundamental until you get to an “auto-pilot state”. That “auto-pilot state” is where doing almost anything seems natural to you. The truth is ONLY few salespeople reach that state.

How to Make Goal Achieving an Automatic Thing for Your Mind

Once you get that setting goals and success is boring subject, then the next logic thing is doing whatever you can to make it second nature in your life. Fortunately, there are some principles that you need to follow every single day to make the goal setting habit and a second nature in your life.

Here is what you need to do:

1. Learn to Motivate Yourself

If you are in sales and all you do is wait for your sales manager to give you a pep talk, then you will never get ahead. Successful people are those who motivate themselves every single day.

Now, you are probably asking, “How do I motivate myself?” It is simple. All you need to do is read more books in the subject of sales. At least, read one book a month about the topic of sales and marketing.

Doing this simple thing will give you more confidence and make you be able to think about sales. You will come up with more ideas that can help you improve your sales results improve each single month.

2. Know the 5 Systems in Sales and Improve In Each Area

Maybe you have sales goals, but the main reason why you are failing is that you do not know the 5 systems that go into a successful sales system. If you find yourself failing in sales and marketing, it is because you have not mastered the following key areas:

For you to be successful in selling, all you need is to learn the five key areas and improve on them.

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Now, take a sheet of paper and give yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how you are good at this critical area. Once you have identified that, go to the bookstore and buy a book that can help you improve in that vital area. Read it, take good notes, and practice it. The best time to read is early in the morning before you leave for work. That will give you more motivation.

Related: How To Increase Sales In 2017 Using The Power Of Inbound Sales and Lost (And Won) Deals: 3 Things to Take Into Account

3. Write Your Daily Goals Every Single Morning

You have heard it countless number of times, “You can’t hit a goal that you can’t see.”

You need to put your goals in writing. You must feel it and see it. And writing it down happens to be the best way of getting your goals to stick into your subconscious mind. The other benefit of writing is that it helps you achieve clarity on what you want to focus the most. When doing this process, you will face one setback. The first two days will be easier for you to write down your daily goals. However, the third day you will feel bored. It happens to every person, but you have to keep going.

photo-1455390582262-044cdead277a

Related: Steps for Writing a Winning Sales Proposal in a SaaS

4. Make Goal Setting a ‘Habit’ In Your Life

For you to make goal setting a routine in your life, you need 40 days. You need 40 days to make plans and to follow them non-stop. If you keep a goal of getting 50 prospects in a day, you have to force yourself to do whatever the circumstances call to get those prospects. If it is doing 10 presentations a week, it should be that. If you can do that within the next 40 days, couple of things will happen.

  • You will get the confidence and motivation to boost your sales
  • You will be in the ‘auto-pilot’ state where you will have mastered all the sales systems.

Finally, the 40-day challenge can help you bring a new habit or learn new techniques in sales. And if you can maintain it for the long-term, your sales goals will improve. Setting goals and achieving them is difficult and easy. It will be easy if you follow the above four principles. It will be hard if you make it hard for yourself. Goals are important because they act as a forcing system that can get you ahead in life. From today, see goal setting as a bridge to your dreams in life.

Related: Some Businesses Could Fail to Make the Leap to CRM – Here’s Why

Customer Relationship Management software, in theory, is a godsend for companies everywhere. It offers many different capabilities in all areas of operation. It offers the capability to handle automated phone calls for customer service, generate marketing campaigns based on the stored information of customers, and streamline data entry processes so employees can spend less time inputting information into spreadsheets. Companies should be leaping at the opportunity to use this technology and cut back on other operating expenses, then, right?

CRM Software – Pitfalls and Confusion

As it stands, CRM software is subject to the same pitfalls and confusions that any disorganized department within the company would be, and these pitfalls cost money. Data gets inputted incorrectly or not at all, leading to inaccurate information; records of phone calls aren’t recorded properly, so customers may receive duplicate calls regarding a product or issue; inaccurate data on a person’s whereabouts leads to completely irrelevant marketing campaigns being generated for them. The issues are numerous. So why invest a bunch of money in this new software and then have to double back and input the data that CRM software misses? It’s understandable that many companies out there don’t want to use it just yet.

While there is hope on the horizon, it’s difficult to say how close or far away we are from a point where the software can be effectively utilized across the board from a technological standpoint. There are issues that need ironed out, for sure. But companies have a lot to figure out in the interim, as well – there are some key issues that they face to implementing said software.

First, using CRM company-wide can prevent a lot of issues where the topic of keeping complete records is concerned. If every department utilizes the same technology, it greatly reduces the number of gaps in the records that are likely to be left. Many companies already utilize a common operating system that is slightly specialized for each department, for example; those companies that purchase the license for the software would be able to utilize CRM in the same way, specializing the platform slightly for each department so that the tools better suit their needs.

Related: How CRM Helps Companies in Logistics Industry to Improve

Is CRM Software A Substitute For Good Communication?

Communication is also key. CRM software at its peak is definitely capable, but it’s not a substitute for good communication within a company by any means. If departments just rely on CRM doing what it does and don’t bother to communicate otherwise, it will just lead to more confusion and inefficiency, which hurts the bottom line. Especially where sales and marketing departments are concerned, good communication is absolutely crucial, and the best way this can take place with CRM in use is to allow employees the ability to update information as necessary. With customer service complaints, for example, this function could be extremely important – for an issue that requires follow-up, the original person who spoke with the customer may not be available. And how frustrating would it be if the next person to help the customer had no prior knowledge of the situation, and CRM hadn’t effectively recorded the information? The customer and the customer service rep are both unhappy and more time has to be spent gathering information again. Giving employees the ability to update the information lessens the chance of this happening greatly. Again, CRM can be a very efficient tool, but employees need to be able to act as a safeguard against inefficiency when necessary.

photo-1431605695381-f4a9c3cdd150

Related: How to Win Friends and Influence People? Vs. What is CRM?

Data Flow in CRM

Data flow is also extremely vital – systems used by a company have to be able to communicate. Without the ability to translate the information received across different programs the company uses, CRM is significantly less useful. The technology has to be able to suit everyone in the company, from a sales representative to a top executive. After all, what good is it if the data a customer service rep needs is in the CRM database, but is unavailable to the program used to handle customer service issues? We end up with a situation like the one previously mentioned: frustrated customer, frustrated employee. Data flow and the ability to cross-communicate will make all the difference in the world for companies looking to use CRM to streamline their operations processes.

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CRM software is a big investment for a company to make, especially in terms of time and budget. To make it work effectively requires a top-down overhaul: programs already in use need to be made compatible with CRM. Employees may need training to properly use the software. Policies regarding operations may need to change to reflect the way the new software is being used. Despite all of this, it can be worthwhile and can eventually save companies money in the long run by allowing them to cut down on expenses like payroll and preventing the need to outsource to more call centers. But these companies will have a lot to figure out about how the new software will require them to adapt. Without proper communication between employees and programs alike, and without making sure the system is used company-wide, CRM implementation can easily fail. That’s why you must take a closer look at charts of top CRM tools and make sure that CRM you plan to implement is capable to overcome all these pitfalls and confusions mentioned.

We come across articles discussing the SaaS sales leaders ranging from Jim Herbold to Sam Blond, about how they have driven a stellar revenue growth for their companies. It can easily be concluded that behind every successful and ravaging SaaS is an amazing VP of sales. However, before you can leap up to the SaaS unicorn, you first have to move forward from where you are to the SaaS VP of sales, and to tell you the truth, it is going to be more of a jump than just a step forward.

So, the question you would be asking yourself is how one can become the SaaS VP of sales. There are two crucial components that can get you there, and these components are no piece of cake.

  1. Make sure you have the ability to identify a great opportunity before anyone else can
  2. Understand the SaaS metrics

Identify a Great Opportunity before Anyone Else

Getting to know how to accomplish this can be difficult, but it isn’t that difficult if you know what you are looking for. To know whether a SaaS company can rocket under your leadership or not, is by having some strong answers for the following questions.

  1. Does the company have an ARR between $1 million and $5 million?
  2. Is the average ACV greater than $3,000 and less than $10,000?
  3. Is the Churn less than 30%?
  4. Product Market Fit: The Product Market Fit should be kept 100% contingent to the answers of the above three questions.
  5. Are there any profits pouring in?
  6. Do they have a strong product team?

When evaluating a SaaS opportunity based on the question mentioned above, then there are just two distractions that can lead you astray:

  1. No leads
  2. Bad Website

Related: 6 Entrepreneurial Lessons You Can Learn From an Olympian and Ways a New Sales Leader Can Rapidly Add Value

Understand the SaaS Metrics

Once the criterion has been determined based on the questioned mentioned above, and then your next goal is to aim for the position of the VP of Sales.

Therefore, there are only two goals left for you:

  1. Master the SaaS Metric
  2. Determine how you can show it

To be able to master the SaaS metric, all that you have to do is to go through all the blog post, twice, that have ever been written about the SaaS. Becoming the SaaS VP of Sales means that you will be the highest paid employee in the company, then you should have a plan, and to become one, you need your playbook. All you have to do is master that playbook.

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There are a few key metrics that you should stick to for the purpose of getting a better chance to be a VP of sales.

  1. Monthly Recurring Revenue

For any SaaS business, all the payments made are upfront. Here before getting the customers you have to build the product by spending on it earlier, and the downside of it is that customers do no pay upfront. However, to build a sustainable business, you will have to survive this far. To do so, you will have to track the monthly recurring revenue. This is the amount of revenue that you are adding or losing of what you expect to receive every month. To achieve this, you will have to dive deep into the financials to get that number. Monthly Recurring Revenue is one the most important metrics that a SaaS business should track.

  1. Churn

Churn is a metric that measures the percentage of the people who leave your product every month. Retaining the customers is what determines whether your business can survive or not. For SaaS, churns are easy as the customer purchase every month; therefore, you will have to build the churn around that.

  1. Cost Per Acquisition

Marketing is an expensive feat, and utilizing wrong channels for the marketing can leave a huge hole in the profit margins. To avoid this, the VP of Sales can go for the tracking of the cost per acquisition of the campaign. If you are spending more money for the acquisition of the customers than what you are receiving, then there is a problem. As a VP of Sales, you will have to find the best solution for it.

  1. Average Revenue per Customer

This metric is straightforward. This is the average revenue that you are already receiving from your customers. Once the churn rate is brought under control, you get a sure way to acquire the customers. The basic keys for increasing the revenue are the up-sells and cross-sells. Up-sells are when you compel the customer to move to the expensive version of the product. Cross-sells are the extra features that you sell along with your product. Here the goal of the VP of Sales is to build the system that increases the revenue steadily, that you receive from the customers.

Understanding these metrics and the way to move around them along with your team members, you get the sure shot of being the VP of Sales. Since none of these metrics can be accomplished with only a single person, it becomes your duty to take the team with you and climb the ladder as you go.

Summary

Your sales pitch matters in order to implement the metrics; hence, it has to be compelling enough to show your scholarly understandings of the problems at some million dollars in ARR and a vision of how the revenue can be grown 2x, 3x, or 4x. Using the defined metrics in the SaaS business, you can determine how the metrics will give you the desired result.