Selling Power Blog

Will Google Glass Revolutionize Buying and Selling?

Google’s Glass Marketing Act

Instead of creating a traditional PR or marketing campaign, Google used YouTube and Twitter as the predominant marketing tools to promote the idea of investing in a wearable computer that performs searches with voice command, takes pictures, connects you to social media, gives directions, and records videos. 

https://twitter.com/projectglass

Google invited prospective customers to A) follow along on Twitter (and more than 88,000 did), B) Tweet ideas about how they’d use Google Glass, and C) buy Google Glass for $1,500.

Google also promoted the new Google Glass experience with action-packed YouTube videos. Here is one that got more than 21 million views:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uyQZNg2vE

Google also engaged notable VIPs in Silicon Valley (e.g., tech evangelist Robert Scoble and Loic LeMeur, the founder of LeWeb).

The Valley boys with toys created "Glass envy" at LeWeb in London. http://youtu.be/uR-6D2iaviY

In this video you can actually spot a flaw in Google Glass: when a Glass owner is within earshot of another Glass wearer, the voice command will be executed by both glasses.

Glass encourages people to create and share more images. Robert Scoble says in his blog that if you see a great scene, you can take a photo in real time – no more pulling your smartphone out of your pocket, clicking on the camera icon, aligning the camera with your target... Your ability to pull the trigger of your wearable 5MP camera (blink activated) allows you to instantly get more killer images and fun videos. Google Glass will make photo sharing and Twitter chatter skyrocket, and it will cause Google's database to balloon.

Faster, Better, Deeper Search – for Omni-Competent Living

In the video below, Google-ites demonstrate how quickly and easily they can tap into Google's gold mine of information using Glass. These wearers get instant answers to their questions.

Imagine wearing Google Glass on Jeopardy!. Imagine salespeople saying, "Glass, search Bill Smith on LinkedIn" in the customer's lobby. Or imagine a customer wearing Google Glass and saying, “Glass, check price on widget A,” and then responding to a salesperson with, “I see that your competitor’s price is cheaper. You need to come up with a better deal.”

http://youtu.be/r7MRdBHz-cg

Say No to Oogle Glass

Google Glass has created the need for greater privacy, and the device has already led to bans at gambling casinos, movie theaters, nightclubs, strip joints, and gyms. West Virginia legislature is already discussing a ban on using Google Glass while driving. The impact of Google Glass on human behavior has inspired many jokes. Conan O’Brien created a skit in which he announced a new, wearable device called Google Ass. SNL’s Fred Armison and Seth Meyers created a hilarious spoof on Google Glass. 

Robert Scoble said at LeWeb in London that he turns his Glass upward when he enters the men's room.

An absentminded downward glance could send a wrong message to the man standing next to him.

Enhanced privacy may save Google Glass from turning into Google Crass. My idea for enhanced Google Glass privacy is to add red, yellow, and green tamper-proof indicator lights that show what the Glass wearer is up to.

The Future Vision of Google Glass

Research conducted by BI Intelligence suggests that Google Glass sales will not skyrocket as they did for the Apple iPhone. 

Find more statistics at Statista. http://www.statista.com/

Apple doesn’t see a bright future for Google Glass. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said at the 10^th D: All Things Digital Conference that Google Glass would not have a broad appeal outside of certain vertical markets.  

http://youtu.be/NzCf1CBD-Yk

Share Your Views

Will customers use Google Glass? Will salespeople wear Google Glass? Will sales trainers create Glass sales apps? Will sales managers be able to coach salespeople in real time? For what price would you buy Google Glass?

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The Challenges of Managing in the Age of Complexity

Years ago, Michael McCafferty, the inventor of Telemagic, urged me to write a story about the coming revolution in sales force automation (SFA). He insisted that computers and SFA software would replace such traditional contact-management tools as the Rolodex and index cards. At the time, our staff was using typewriters, our publication was still in newsprint, and our circulation department had just purchased an IBM computer with a 10MB hard drive.

After we ran a cover story on SFA, we witnessed a period of explosive growth in the field. In 1985, there were only a few dozen small vendors serving the market. Today, there are thousands of sales-software vendors operating worldwide.

Back in ’85, most salespeople could not envision email, sending faxes from a laptop, or remotely uploading new sales leads while sitting in an airline lounge. Today, SFA has accelerated and simplified the communication process. With one mouse click, a marketer can send a hot sales lead directly to a salesperson's computer.

Information technology also speeds up the buying process. Today, every four seconds a new Website is added to the millions already in existence. It’s commonplace for prospects to shop for products and solutions online, bypassing the salesperson. As customers become more educated, salespeople must know more – and more relevant –information to stay competitive.

Sales technology has fundamentally changed the way people buy and sell. Has selling become easier? No. Has sales management become easier? No. Has the cost per sales call decreased? No. But the speed of sales, sales and work volume, and complexity in data and people management have increased. The biggest paradox about sales technology is that, although in many ways it has simplified the management of information, it has increased the complexity involved in managing technology.

Who will win the race for sales success? Sales managers who are able to master the complexity of sales technology and thus simplify the process for their sales team. That involves choosing the best vendors, consultants, trainers, and selling system. It also involves a constant commitment to upgrading and improving the technology.

Companies that win today train their salespeople to reduce complexity for the customer. Top salespeople today have the best technology and possess a greater ability to access, comprehend, interpret, package, and simplify information for the customer. Customers will buy more from the salesperson who offers them all the information they need to make a decision. In the age of complexity, customers will seek out salespeople who make the buying experience faster, friendlier, and simpler.

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How Well Do You Manage Your Message?

In many industries and before the recession, selling was like shooting fish in a barrel. Now the fish are shooting back. The power has gone back to the customer, and a lot of sales managers feel frustrated. It’s tougher to find, qualify, and see prospects. It takes longer to persuade them, and it’s even tougher to close sales.

One thing is certain: the old ways of selling and marketing no longer work. Just as overused jokes lose their power to make us laugh, old sales or marketing messages no longer stimulate the vigorous interest seasoned salespeople are craving. Here are some key trends that Selling Power has uncovered during interviews with CEOs, VPs of sales, authors, and consultants.

1. CEOs are very cautious. Some are optimistic that the market will continue to improve, but they are not counting on it. Their mantra is “cost control.” CEOs demand a higher level of competitiveness, but they are more attracted to cosmetic changes, rather than structural changes. One CEO said to me recently, “Business is an unforgiving, relentless, competitive struggle. We’re constantly refining our customer message and expanding our marketing and sales effort.”

2. Surprisingly, there is still a gap between sales and marketing, though it’s imperative that these two teams work in alignment. One key conflict lies with customer-message management. Marketing is more focused on product facts, while salespeople are more focused on relationships. Salespeople speak the customer’s language, but the people responsible for creating marketing materials don’t. This often leads to the following problems:

• Marketing messages are not in sync with customer concerns. Experts estimate that 80 percent of a company’s marketing material is never used. Top salespeople often create their own messages and close sales, but the rest just miss sales opportunities.

• Marketing messages don’t offer enough substance. Today’s customers spend time online researching competing solutions, and they dismiss boilerplate information. The last thing they want to do is listen to a long pitch. When prospects ask questions at a deeper level, salespeople are often unable to differentiate their company’s capabilities or substantiate its claims.

• Marketing messages are far too complex.  If your salespeople speak about your product or solution in a language that customers can’t understand, customer interest will fade quickly.

It’s imperative that companies cultivate a collaborative relationship between sales and marketing, which will lead to effective customer-message management. But many CEOs are frustrated because there is so little desire to improve in this regard. One CEO told me, “I am always dissatisfied. I preach dissatisfaction. In my mind, everything needs to be improved or we risk extinction.”

Rapid changes challenge companies’ core missions. Progressive CEOs help recalibrate their core marketing messages to hit the quickly vanishing sweet spots in the marketplace. They boldly redesign their ad messages using customer input gleaned from active social media use, refocus their unique selling proposition, and encourage their sales teams to capture customers’ hearts and minds by engaging them on social-media platforms.

Business rewards those who understand their customers’ pain, are capable of offering valuable solutions that deliver results, and above all, speak their customers’ language.

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3 Reasons To Apply for Our 50 Best Companies to Sell For List

Here's some great news to start the summer: Selling Power magazine is currently accepting applications for our annual 50 Best Companies to Sell For list. Here are three reasons I believe your company should apply today. 

1. Every sales organization needs reps who understand today's selling environment.  

As the buyer controls more and more of the sales cycle, reps who practice old habits will become irrelevant. Sales organizations are not going to be able to compete unless they can attract reps who have the right mindset to win in an economy controlled by the buyer.

Takeaway: A spot on our list will showcase that you're ready to have conversations with reps who can help you win against the competition. 

2. Sales organizations are in a war for top talent. 

Sales reps like the thrill of chasing higher commissions -- and many sales managers fear that unless they dangle more dollars for reps to strive for, those reps will jump ship. In fact, it has been proven that a supportive culture and the right kind of praise from top-quality managers can engender just as much (if not more) loyalty.

Takeaway: A spot on our list will announce to the world that you have successfully built the right culture for reps to succeed. 

3. Sales organziations need a budget to help reps succeed. 

Training has really evolved from the old days of setting up reps with scripts and walking them through a sales process. It is really about sales enablement. Yes, reps need to know what to say in front of prospects, but they also need help finding those prospects and getting the mobile and social tools necessary to stay in touch with those prospects. This requires resources. And some CEOs can be reluctant to loosen the purse strings for this badly-needed investment. 

Takeaway: A spot on this list will help you prove that you've earned the budget for more resources to help the sales team win. 

The deadline to apply for the list is June 24th. Visit this link to download an application today: http://www.sellingpower.com/50-best-companies-to-sell-for/

Five Tips for the Catch

Today's blog post is by Gary Coxe, life strategist, personal-growth expert, and author of You Can’t Fillet a Nibble… It’s the Catch that Counts!

If you’re in sales or any kind of direct- or network-marketing company, you’ll understand how difficult it can be to persevere and make those sales that count. Here are five tips, discussed in You Can’t Fillet a Nibble…It’s the Catch that Counts!, to help you adjust your sales mind-set – and stay the course – for better results.

Tip #1: Have the guts of a burglar.

The idea behind this is that you have to become fearless in pursuing your prospects and goals in order to see greater success. This also includes learning how to not cave under pressure, stay persistent, and keep going, even when you feel like giving up because it’s too tedious or difficult or discouraging.

Tip #2: Don’t get on the roller coaster.

Nope, not at the amusement park; don’t get on the emotional roller coaster that a “nibble” can cause. This seems to happen to people who are new to sales. They’re unsure if they’ll be any good at it, and they try to build up their confidence by pinning their hopes on people who seem interested in buying – also known as “nibbles.” If those same people shoot them down, it’s just about as bad as being rejected by your high-school crush. Ouch!

Tip #3: Control your own destiny.

Calling can be a difficult task. Sometimes you just don’t want to face that rejection. Other times, it just seems tedious, even if your emotions aren’t riding the coaster. This same emotional or mental process can happen if you’re out looking for a job.

But consider this: if you want to do business with someone, you call that person, right? If you want or need a job, you follow up with all the companies where you submitted an application or resume. If someone wanted to do business with you, however, that person would be in touch with you. If someone wanted you to hire him or her, you would expect the applicant to do the legwork.

By doing the legwork when you need to, you are taking control of your own destiny.

Tip #4: Keep mentally tough and conditioned.

To follow this tip, you have to be consciously aware of your thoughts and emotional patterns as they relate to your thoughts, and you have to have a willingness to condition yourself for only constructive thoughts (note that I said constructive, not positive – positive thinking just isn’t enough). This ability – and everyone can develop this ability – is the first key to mastering your thoughts and emotions.

Emotions are so powerful, they can easily drag us down. All too often, people become slaves to their own feelings without even realizing that they have control over their emotions, not the other way around. Blaming failure on stress is buckling under pressure. Giving up because of one bad day or a handful of no’s is buckling under pressure.

Tip #5: Mind your side effects.

What do you think is worse, being poorer or ticking a few people off? These are the key differences between being passive and persistent, and being persistent usually brings more success than being passive. Being poorer or aggravating to some are the two main byproducts of each mind-set.

This is the kind of mind-set you should be working toward: “Who cares if I tick a few people off? I know who I am. I know the company I represent. I believe in both.”

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Seven Low-Tech Tips for Helping Customers Solve Their Sales Problems

I used to say that problems were nothing but wake up calls for creativity. Although that's still my opinion, I also recognize that successful problem solving requires a methodology, a reliable approach that leads to a solution most of the time.

In 1957, Robert Solow of MIT estimated that of the total increase in United States output per man-hour in 40 years (1909 to 1949), only 12.5 percent was due to increases in capital equipment, while 87.5 percent was due to technological progress and other gains in human knowledge and skills. Solow received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for his discovery. His research suggests that our ability to apply new technology and ideas to business problems is the most important factor for business growth. Likewise, in selling, the most important factor for developing new business is the salesperson's ability to solve problems.

There are three factors limiting our ability to grasp, define, and solve problems: First, there is a limit to our ability to focus on problems. During a sales call, we often move from problem to problem without getting a clear sense of which one is the most important to the customer. Our attention tends to bounce from one thing to another, leading to an insufficient understanding of the big picture.

Second, customers have a limited vocabulary for describing their problems. They often don't know what they really need, and as a result they go out and shop for solutions instead of define their problems. Third, we often overestimate the size of the problem and the time necessary to develop a workable solution.

Here are seven tested ideas for helping customers solve problems and increasing your business.

1. Take notes as you listen to your customers. Use your customer’s language. For example, a customer may say, "We need to pick up the pace in our finishing department." It's to your advantage to refer to the customer's problem as "picking up the pace" and not as "speeding up finishing."

2. Encourage your customers to give you more details. The more time they invest in talking to you about their problems, the greater your chances of seeing the total picture. Also, your listening shows that you care. 

3. Offer statements that clarify and help your customer thoroughly understand his or her situation. For example, you may ask, "You've mentioned that you need to pick up the pace in the finishing department. What options do you have for achieving this goal?" Or, "We've discussed several problems involved in this department. What would you consider as the three most important ones?"

4. Always ask your customers about solutions they’ve already considered. This will reveal their ability to think creatively. Also, you may find out if your customers have spoken to your competition.

5. Identify the consequences and penalties for leaving the problem alone. Ask, "What would happen if you did nothing about these problems?" This question tends to increase the customer's sense of urgency about finding a solution.

6. Present your solution as one choice among several possible solutions. For example, you might say, "There are several ways to look at this problem. First, you may consider upgrading your existing system. Second, you may want to leave the problem alone. Third, you could talk to one of my existing customers about his experience converting to our new system." Instead of presenting your best solution as the only choice, let your customer pick your best solution among two other, less desirable alternatives.

7. Help your customer discover the advantages of the best solution. Ask, "Let's assume for a moment that you would choose this solution. What benefits would you see in making this choice?" This question will tell you how much value your customer places in your solution. If your idea represents the best solution to the customer's problem, you're ready to close the sale.

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Facts Every Sales Manager Should Know about Motivation

Today's blog post is by Christopher Cabrera, CEO of Xactly Corporation, the industry leader in sales compensation automation.

 

Xactly just wrapped up our third annual CompCloud user conference in San Francisco last week. It was great to spend a few days listening to our customers and sharing our plans for the next year or so.

We were pleased to go into more depth with them about our new products and services, including Xactly Insights, which I wrote about in March. We’ve analyzed eight years’ worth of anonymized customer data from hundreds of companies to establish benchmarks and best practices in incentive compensation and motivation.

Our principal compensation strategist, Erik Charles, will detail some of our findings on Wed., May 22, at 10 a.m. Pacific time in a free joint webinar with Selling Power. He’ll discuss quota attainment, and what our data shows on issues including:

• Quota timing, and why short and long measurement periods can deliver different results
• What to look for when determining the true total cost of a sale
• How you can hurt performance by measuring too much

The benefits of having this “big data” analysis are very real. Michael DeLeonardis, our VP of Insights and Benchmarks, says that “companies that use data always get a better ROI.” Imagine, for example, if you had two similar territories with a $1 million difference in spend. A deeper look could pinpoint the cause and help you get expenses in line.

DeLeonardis says that when strategic business decisions are driven by data, he’s seen revenue increase by 10 percent, productivity by 30 percent, and margins by a significant amount.

One of the most powerful applications of our Insights data is that it can be used to drive behavior much more effectively than by simply making assumptions about how to improve sales results. Our data highlighted three factors that are widely assumed to drive behavior, but in fact seem to have a negligible effect:

• Holds and releases: Sales reps commonly aren’t paid their commission when they make a sale; they’re paid at a later date because the company wants some secondary behavior, such as invoicing or collection. Some companies use holds to influence sales behavior as well, but our data found no evidence that that’s the case.
• Plan components: Some customers have designed compensation plans with 10–15 measures. Our data validates the industry belief that two or three measures are ideal, and that performance drops at five.
• Credit assignment: Examples in which many people were credited on deals also showed no improvement in sales behavior.

On the other hand, some that drive behavior effectively:

• Quota timing: Shorter, more frequent periods can improve performance. A higher percentage of reps meet quota when they have monthly or year-to-date quotas than if they’re measured quarterly or annually. The exception is for products with very long sales cycles, when it’s not realistic to shorten the time.
• Pay mix: The mix between base salary and variable pay does have a correlation to performance. The ideal mix varies by sales role, industry, and other factors.
• Capping: The practice of setting a maximum amount that sales reps can earn, regardless of their performance, has a negative impact on sales behavior. Caps prevent reps from reaching their peak performance, and indirectly encourage them to relax after their quotas are met.

These are just some of the ways we’re using data to develop our Insights services. I hope you’ll join our webinar on Wednesday for more on how Big Data can help you incent your sales team to attain and exceed quota.

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Can You Duplicate Success?

I recently attended a conference where one of the speakers gave this advice to sales managers: "All you have to do to increase sales is to teach your salespeople to repeat their own best performance more often." This sounds like a good idea, but I know that many salespeople can’t transfer their skills from one situation to another or from one job to another. They suffer from an inability to change and adapt. Here are some illustrations:

1. A change in product line
   
   A sales rep in the multilevel marketing field who made $1.2 million in commission only a few years ago told me that, last year, he barely made $50,000. The company he represented lost a legal battle, and they had to cut their product line in half. At the height of his success, he led a flamboyant lifestyle – bought a Rolls Royce and overinvested in real estate. He tried to take his skills to another company that offered him greater opportunities, but he could not make the emotional connection to the new product line. His rigid mind-set impaired his skill set, and today, only his creditors follow his footsteps.
2. A change in the market
   
   Last week, I spoke with a sales trainer who served the magazine industry for 20 years. Only six years ago, her annual income was more than $400,000, but last year, her income barely reached $100,000. Her sales and training skills are still sharp, but she didn’t have the courage to take her skills to another market sector that would have exposed her to richer opportunities. In her case, the fear of change prevented her from realizing that the best skills and talents lose their value in a rapidly shrinking marketplace.
3. A change in self-image
   
   After a string of successful experiences, some salespeople feel that they have arrived and believe that they are the masters of the universe. I remember interviewing a sales manager whose resume stated that he helped his previous company increase sales by 150 percent. After checking his story, I found that he did well because the company had a great product that reached the market at the right time, and his salespeople were diligent order-takers. During the interview, I sensed that he had an inflated self-image. He bragged too much about his success. When I asked him to explain a nine-month gap in his resume, he claimed that he was traveling the world. Later, I learned that he had spent those nine months trying out three other jobs and was quickly let go from each one. He made me think of the Wall Street saying, “Don’t confuse capital gains with brains.”

Success has many authors, and it is hard to determine the origins of success. Yet there are salespeople who successfully carry their skills from one company to the next and deliver great results. I know salespeople who left the New York Times to join AOL and dramatically boosted their incomes. Later, they joined Google and continued their success trajectory. These are the salespeople who continuously learn, adapt, and change.

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson once called the key conflict of growing as a struggle between generativity and stagnation. Stagnation leads to an erosion of skills. People who stagnate become so involved with themselves that they become unable or unwilling to take on new challenges. They have bought the illusion that they have "arrived" and feel entitled to being celebrated and waited on.

Generativity, on the other hand, is the drive for renewal, the hunger for growth, the need to achieve that next level of positive transformation. While the forces of generativity become responsible for advancing and growing, the forces of stagnation arrest growth and spur erosion. We know that there are limits to our capacity for growth, just as there are limits to how much we can slow erosion.

Salespeople who know how to duplicate their success have learned that the bend in the road is not the end of the road – unless we refuse to make the turn.

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The Four Trends That Shape the World of Selling

The world of selling is changing at breakneck speed, and sales leaders need to adapt quickly or risk becoming obsolete. Here are the four major trends impacting sales organizations today:

1. Social media. A recent study by the Aberdeen Group shows that 79 percent of salespeople who incorporate social media into their sales process make quota, compared to the industry average of 43 percent. A HubSpot survey finds that companies using Twitter get two times more leads than companies that don’t. Research by InboxQ shows that 64 percent of customers are more likely to purchase from a business that answers their questions on Twitter.

To stay ahead of the curve, it may be a good idea to create a new strategy that includes “social listening” and the creation of engaging content. If your company doesn’t have a LinkedIn group, it’s time to start one. Every salesperson should have a LinkedIn profile that enhances your company’s brand. Teach your salespeople how to use such tools as HootSuite to track clients on Twitter and share content with customers and prospects.

2. Mobile. A Gartner survey predicts that by 2015, tablets will outsell PCs by 72 percent. Last month, laptop shipments realized their biggest monthly decline in years. More and more applications are now available on mobile devices, such as CRM; configure, price, quote tools; sales intelligence; compensation management; social media; and online collaboration and presentation tools. The most successful companies have equipped their sales teams with smartphones and tablets that are connected to the company’s sales-enablement content. Customers are impressed when salespeople can answer their questions by tapping a mobile-device screen and playing a quick customer testimonial on video or configuring a complex product on an iPad.

3. Cloud computing. More and more companies access Cloud-based apps through a browser while the data are stored on servers in a remote location. The simplest example is Google Docs. You have access from any browser to documents that you’d otherwise have to store on your laptop. Software-as-a-service is another example, such as Microsoft Dynamics. Cloud computing makes server-based computing nearly obsolete.

4. Big data. The recent bombing in Boston has shown how fast the FBI can analyze massive amounts of information gleaned from photographs and videos to track down suspects. The police crowd-sourced the investigation and located the suspects in record speed. From the dawn of civilization to 2003, five exabytes of data were created. By 2010, the same amount was created in only two days. As of January of this year, the world is creating five exabytes of information every 10 minutes.

Since companies have rapidly growing amounts of data that are often stored in multiple systems, conventional data analysis is no longer sufficient to optimize insight. New tools on the market allow companies to organize, analyze, and monetize data quickly. While conventional analytics explained the past, predictive analytics can predict future sales opportunities. According to Frost and Sullivan, 49 percent of companies are not using predictive analytics. This is the time to cash in on big-data tools to improve revenue.  

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Six Quick Tips for Jump-Starting Sales

With the economy still sputtering and CEOs keeping a tight lid on spending, sales managers report that paths to decision makers are blocked with obstacles. This is frustrating for the entire sales team. I recently spoke with a number of seasoned managers to get a firsthand look at their challenges and coping strategies.

1. Real opportunities are harder to identify. Most sales managers direct their salespeople to explore opportunities with companies that are doing well. But often, salespeople are not capturing these opportunities. Why? Because the decision-making process has migrated upward, and salespeople are struggling to make connections with these upper-level executives.

A solution: Higher-level executives can join in on sales calls.

2. Real solutions are harder to justify. The salesperson proposes a great solution that will do wonders for the client, but the client does not see enough benefits to justify the purchase. Why? Because many companies are still in a budget-saving mode and don’t even think beyond the current quarter.

A solution: Have your salespeople spend more time mapping the pain points earlier in the call. Ask the client to put a dollar figure next to each pain. Justify the economic wisdom of your solution by using your client’s numbers.

3. Friendly relationships are not always productive. Some salespeople work hard on making every call a pleasant experience, yet they are often surprised when a competitor calls on the client and walks away with a sale. Why? Because some salespeople have a strong need to be liked, and their need for approval prevents them from asking some of the tough questions that would advance the sale and actually help the customer make a favorable decision.

A solution: Train these salespeople to sell with the customer’s needs being priority number one. If training has no effect…move them to customer service.

4. With sales being slow, it’s more difficult to cut off problem clients. While sales managers preach that every sale counts, they often fail to count the time and expense it takes to close certain sales.

A solution: Give your sales team clear directions about when to say no to a customer.

5. When business is slow, creative ideas are harder to find. While it’s easy to say that sales problems are nothing but wake-up calls for creativity, salespeople are often hard-pressed to come up with new ideas for increasing sales. Why? Because they think that they’ve tried everything under the sun.

A solution: Pull in your top performers and list their best practices. Then ask them to mentor your sales team.

6. When business shrinks, salespeople get confused about your expectations. Why? In tough times, salespeople worry more about their job and income.

A solution: Don’t add to their stress with unrealistic expectations or ambiguous leadership. Offer a clear vision of the future and create a solid plan that leads to new opportunities.

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Four Tips to Get Better Results from Your Sales Comp Plan

Today's blog post is by Christopher Cabrera, CEO of Xactly Corporation, the industry leader in sales compensation automation.

According to a recent Deloitte survey about sales compensation, sales leaders are facing a fundamental paradox. Of the 300 sales leaders Deloitte surveyed worldwide in 2013, only half said they were happy with their sales productivity. (The six-year average satisfaction level is even lower: 47.5 percent.) But when asked if they believe their compensation programs effectively drive desired sales behaviors, only one-third of sales leaders surveyed said they did not.

That raises a question. As Deloitte asks, “Why do leaders generally believe that their compensation rewards the right behaviors, yet they aren’t content with their compensation programs or their sales forces’ results?  There’s a missing link in the belief about what compensation plans can accomplish.”

Well then, what can comp plans accomplish? Deloitte found that sales leaders tend to change their comp plans to address lackluster productivity and performance, thinking the plan itself is the problem instead of looking for the underlying cause.

At the risk of stating the obvious, well-crafted compensation plans can and do drive desired sales behaviors. Poorly crafted ones don’t. The problem is, it’s hard for most companies to know which kind they have until the end of each sales period, when it’s too late to make corrections.

Here are four tips to help you get better results from your sales comp plan. 

1) Give them time to work. It only makes sense to change a plan that isn’t working — who wants to repeat mistakes? But to get the complete picture, make sure you have complete data. Use the analytics in your incentive compensation tools to determine if your comp strategy is effective. These reports will pinpoint which incentives work and which don’t.

Some things to consider: Are your territories balanced, or do some reps have more opportunity than others? That could affect turnover. Are some teams consistently underperforming? That could be a sign of a leadership problem. Have formerly high performers slipped to just so-so? They may need more incentives. A non-monetary incentive might help, especially if it’s personalized for the recipient. A new SPIFF could re-energize a complacent team.

2) Build the plan with a broad team. Gather your compensation analysts plus representatives from sales, marketing, and operations, so you can vet your comp plan upfront. By all means, include a sales rep or two — they’re the ones who’ll be living the plan. In fact, try this quick test to get an idea of whether your reps are aligned with company goals: Ask them, “How could max out your earnings this quarter?”

A simple question. But if the answer is too simple (“Um, sell more?”) then your reps don’t understand your comp plan. And if they don’t understand, they’re probably not doing what matters most to the company.

On the other hand, if they know they’ll earn more if they go after SPIFFs, improve margins, bring in new customers, bundle products, include training in deals … then you know your priorities are coming through loud and clear. 

3) Rewards or incentives? Aren’t they the same thing? Well, no. There’s no question that rewards are nice, but they’re recognition for past behavior. Incentives, however, drive behavior. They provide motivation. You want your salespeople to keep their eye on the prize, and do whatever it takes to earn it. Ideally, they have real-time visibility into their performance so they know at any time how close they are to achieving their goal.

4) Measure performance frequently. Xactly has identified several important trends by analyzing years’ worth of data among our customers. Our analysis of that data shows that reps hit quota at a higher rate when they have quarterly quotas: 67 percent average attainment vs. 60 percent attainment for reps who have annual quotas. When you measure quarterly, you can correct course for market changes, competition, the economy, and other variables. 

The Deloitte survey also recommends that managers also consider the complete employee lifecycle when evaluating their sales organizations.