Are you experiencing any of the following common sales issues?
Inability to take sales “to the next level”
Difficulty finding the “right” salesperson for your company
Not sure where to start – “I don’t know what I don’t know”
Lack of a formal sales process
Stalled out proposals
Not being able to effectively articulate the value proposition, solution or service
Great companies deserve a great plan
You have developed incredible offerings. You have solid leadership in place. Yet, you still need some help with improving your sales productivity.
Let the Genesis Sales Plan by Sales Xceleration and delivered by New Sales Expert LLC provide you with the structure and key personnel needed to surpass your goals.
Your sales vision statement should be a clear, concise, and future-focused declaration of where you want your sales efforts to lead and the path you’ll take to get there.
Clear
Concise
Future-focused
Destination-driven
Path-Oriented
Inspiring and empowering
With such a critical tool in place, your sales team can boost sales by looking forward. If you do not know how to create such a plan, we are happy to help you. Please contact us via our Contact page and we will sit down with you to discuss how we can help you accelerate your revenue.
The following is a transcript of the podcast video above. It has been sparsely edited to increase its readability, but many of the idioms and poor spoken grammar have been left in place. The transcription was automatically generated by Sonix.ai and, as capable as that product is, there are times when words are missed, or sentence structure was incorrectly interpreted. We have tried to catch all of these software misses, but we are confident that some still remain. The below text is provided for those that would rather read than watch a video.
Earl Ameen: [00:00:00] This is Earl Ameen, with a 20/20 Foresight podcast, where CEOs of small-to-global companies share their insights. It is six questions in nine minutes because top CEOs know how to listen and be concise. So let’s get to it. First of all, welcome. Tell us who you are and what you do in just a few sentences.
Sean O’Shaughnessey: [00:00:22] My name is Sean O’Shaughnessey. Thank you very much for having me on your program. I am a Fractional Vice President of Sales. My company goes into other companies, and we run the sales department for those other companies. We help them grow, we help them accelerate their revenue, and we help them create a process that makes predictable revenue possible.
Earl Ameen: [00:00:45] Outstanding. Well, tell me, Sean, what’s the best thing about being the CEO of your company?
Sean O’Shaughnessey: [00:00:51] So for me, the best thing about being the CEO is actually not just being a CEO, but actually giving back and allowing myself to help other companies. So, I am in the service industry. As I said, I’m a Fractional VP of sales. I like having the ability to take a company that is struggling to make its revenue targets and help them achieve those revenue targets. I can help them become a prosperous, sales-oriented culture. So, I love doing that for other companies and doing it for multiple companies at the same time.
According to ZipRecruiter and the Wall Street Journal, people are hesitant to go into sales for a career. ZipRecruiter shows the number of sales roles advertised has risen steadily this year, up 65% to more than 700,000 open positions around the U.S., after big layoffs decimated the field at the outset of the pandemic a year ago.
Many young workers erroneously assume that sales work means convincing customers to buy with high-pressure tactics and are turned off. In recent years, the sales profession has dramatically changed from cold calls to potential customers to consulting with companies that often seek out products.
It’s time to rethink the way you think about sales. The new template for a salesperson is not about cold-calling. You have to be empathetic and deeply curious about your clients’ businesses. Sales is not about high-pressure cold calling techniques, but rather it is about understanding your clients and using your products to achieve their goals.
Sales is not about high-pressure cold calling techniques. Sales is about building relationships with people. If you are looking to grow sales, stop focusing on the trade tricks and start focusing on understanding how to sell effectively. According to top influencers in the field, the best way to do this is by listening more than talking and asking open-ended questions that allow for two-way communication.
Sales is a profession that helps businesses and people solve problems. As salespeople, managers, or executives, you help your company make more money. You also help customers find solutions to their problems. Sales is about solving problems for the betterment of both parties involved in the transaction. The skillset and mindset needed for this profession are not innate but can be learned with hard work and practice.
To establish yourself as an effective salesperson, manager, or executive, it’s important to know how sales works from all angles – customer-facing interactions and internal processes alike. It is also important to always be curious about your company, product, and prospect’s business.
After 36 years in Sales (and God willing many more to come), this is the greatest career in the US industry. I encourage all bright, young professionals that want a daily mental challenge to go into Sales.
The average cost of a face-to-face sales call is reportedly $250 – $500. With virtual sales calls, you can talk to your prospects for a much lower price. Virtual sales calls are an easy and inexpensive way to start building relationships and generating leads.
Virtual sales calls have become more and more popular in the past few years, especially during and now after the global pandemic. The most apparent advantage of virtual sales calls is that they can be conducted from anywhere and anytime. This means that companies can save office space while still conducting meaningful business conversations with customers and prospects. Salespeople can save time by using virtual sales calls to get on the radar of potential buyers or secure new leads.
Another advantage is the cost savings of not having a physical presence at an event or trade show. Virtual sales calls also offer a level of confidentiality.
I recently spoke to Robert Gillette, the host of the podcast Reclaiming Sales. It was a great conversation! We discussed many things that will benefit beginning sales professionals. Specifically, we discussed:
Get to know your prospects better, understand how they make and lose money.
Get curious, and stay that way… even when you’ve heard your 100th prospect tell you the same thing.
Build your belief, it will keep you company when times get tough.
You can listen to our conversation by subscribing to Robert’s podcast here. You can also subscribe by going to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and many more that are listed here.
The following is a transcription of our conversation for those that prefer to read rather than listen. The transcription is as close as possible to the spoken word but effort was made to try to make it a little more readable with fairly grammar correct phrasing, sentence structure, and paragraph structure. Where the commentary overrode grammar or the use of synonyms, the spoken word was chosen.
Announcer 0:30
You’re listening to Reclaiming Sales because you don’t need to sell your soul to be successful with your host and fellow salesman, Robert Gillette.
Robert Gillette 0:41
Robert Gillette Reclaiming Sales Podcast Host
Hey everybody, welcome back to the show. My name obviously is Robert Gillette, and I have a new friend of mine. I know everybody I meet on the show, I say my new friend, but it’s true so far—a gentleman named Sean O’Shaughnessey. Honestly, the reason why you’re on the show, to be totally honest, is he, you engage with me, you commented on the things that I post, and you send me messages. And you know, when you’re doing a podcast, it’s like screaming into the void. And so when the void reaches back out and gives you feedback, it’s incredibly helpful. I’m used to performing on stage, in general, so I just wanted to have you on the show, first of all, to get your perspective on what we’ve been talking about so far. But, still, you also have some pretty deep claws into this whole sales game as well, and you have some perspectives that I just want to explore and see what we can uncover over the next 20 minutes or so. But before we get onto that, Sean, why don’t you, I guess before you take off your sales guy hat, what do you sell and who do you sell it to.
Sean O’Shaughnessey 1:42
I am the CEO of a company called New Sales Expert. I sell sales management to companies with bad sales management or don’t know how to have sales management.
Robert Gillette 1:56
Okay, and we don’t have a lot of, you know, people on the show who aren’t salespeople. But I guess my first question to you before we move too far into this is. Do you think it’s harder to sell to salespeople or to sell to non-salespeople? Is it hard to sell to people who sell for a living?
Sean O’Shaughnessey 2:16
Sean O’Shaughnessey CEO and President New Sales Expert, LLC
So it’s I think it’s easier to sell to salespeople because we like to hear a good pitch. I actually sell, though, to the CEO that is frustrated because he doesn’t know how to manage a sales force. So that’s actually whom I sell to. And that’s the problem I solve.
Robert Gillette 2:32
Okay, so you’re actually selling to a CEO or someone at that C suite level.
Sean O’Shaughnessey 2:37
Correct. I’m usually selling to the founder of the company. And he is in a situation where he can’t figure out how to manage salespeople, how to recruit salespeople, and how to make salespeople better. So that’s what I do for him or her.
Robert Gillette 2:51
Unfortunately, mostly him, but we’re working on that diversity by brute force. We’re doing it as a country anyways.
So let’s, let’s roll this back to the beginning of your career, how did you get into sales. And why did you stick with it all those years?
What’s the Secret Sauce for Better Sales Processes?
A recipe is essentially a process: Add a dash of this, a dollop of that, mix thoroughly, season to taste, and voilà! Success! When it comes to sales, the magic ingredient in the sales process – the secret sauce, if you will – is data. Fresh, relevant, heaping portions of meaningful, actionable data. Here’s why using a data-driven sales approach is so important, and what types of data are essential to the mix:
Where Sales Process Ingredients Come Together
First things first: Your company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is where essential data should be stored, mixed, and prepared. Metaphorically speaking, it’s the pantry, the mixing bowl, and the oven where your sales process recipe comes together. Using sales performance metrics and other key data in your CRM, you can refine your sales processes to achieve new levels of sales success.
This can be true IF you first ensure the quality of your CRM and the data within it. It’s essential, for example, for your CRM to be well-chosen and properly configured.
New Sales Expert LLC helps SMB companies accelerate their revenue growth by helping them set up systems and best practices to bring products to market more effectively and develop new sales.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected your company’s sales, you are not alone. As a veteran sales leader, I utilize my expertise to help companies in times of trouble by building the sales systems, processes, and accountability you need to create record-breaking growth. If the past has taught me anything, it is that those that develop a plan-ahead strategy will far surpass their competitors once the crisis is over.
My goal is to drive sales growth. I do this with Sales Xceleration’s proven system that focuses on creating record-breaking sales for your company, defined in these 3 steps:
Every day at a small or medium-sized company has challenges. You know this. Having been in your shoes, I find that developing the first sales pitch can be both heartbreaking and exciting. Starting from scratch and being ready to take on the world is noble, yet the downside is having absolutely no historical examples to jumpstart the creative process.
You may be lucky. Your company may be biting at the heels of one or more big competitors. If this is the case, you simply position yourself against their value proposition and say that you are better at something than the big guys.
Maybe you are also cheaper than the big guys (I hope not because pricing can always be lowered due to competitive pressures). Creating a value proposition that is “cheaper” may not be enough to differentiate you in the long run, but there is no question that it can be an advantage if your cost model still allows you to be profitable.
Do Not Internalize Doubt But what if you need to create a unique value proposition and you cannot copy the value proposition of anyone else? What if your offering is so unique that it is hard to find another company and copy their idea?
Creating a sales plan is not a one-time exercise, but a living document that needs to be updated and revisiting frequently. Periodically reviewing your sales plan enables you to make adjustments to maximize sales results. If you haven’t created a sales plan, download our free Sales Plan Checklistto get started.
Dean Wiener is one of the best sales professionals that I have ever met. He has made a career out of listening to the customer’s needs, understanding the customer’s business, and helping his customer. Few professionals are as capable as Dean Wiener.
Brian Burns recently interviewed Dean. Brian has done a series of interviews with salespeople and sales management; even I have been interviewed by Brian. This is a great series for salespeople with less than 20 years of experience that want to truly improve their skill in their profession.
Prepared to Lead Your Sales Team This Year? Here’s How to Make Sure!
If you want to know how to be a successful sales manager, you might first think about your experience and track record in sales. After all, if you’ve succeeded in sales, you’re all set to succeed leading your sales team, right? Well, it’s probably not that simple.
Why Sales Team Leadership Matters
Why is sales team leadership so important? If you think the singular benefit of increased sales is the answer, think again. Sales can increase in the short term by using a variety of strategies and tactics. Sales can increase due to
external factors, too. And certainly, the general economic landscape plays a role in whether sales rise or fall. But none of these factors are reliable and sustainable. Truly effective sales leadership, on the other hand, can position your company for long-term sales growth, increasing market share, and sales team member satisfaction and loyalty. Achieving all these elements year after year depends not on trendy tactics but on excellence in sales team leadership.
New Sales Expert LLC helps SMB companies accelerate their revenue growth by helping them setup systems and best practices to bring products to market more effectively and develop new sales.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected your company’s sales, you are not alone. As a veteran sales leader, I utilize my expertise to help companies
in times of trouble by building the sales systems, processes and accountability you need to create record-breaking growth. If the past has taught me anything, it is that those that develop a plan-ahead strategy will far surpass their competitors once the crisis is over.
My goal is to drive sales growth. I do this with Sales Xceleration’s proven system that focuses on creating record-breaking sales for your company, defined in these 3 steps: 1. Create a Sales Plan 2. Find Your Best Customers 3. Grow Your Sales
Great people want to be surrounded by great people. Top athletes want to play on the same team as other top athletes. Top salespeople want to work in the same company as other top salespeople.
Just like in football, the team doesn’t win if everyone isn’t doing their job. Linemen need to block, running backs need to run fast and not fumble, and wide receivers need to catch the ball in bounds. Every individual position contributes to the success of the team.
Good
salespeople on an underperforming team feel like Sisyphus trying to get the stone to the top of the hill. Nothing they do is good enough. They are frequently asked to do more while seeing their less-skilled peers praised or even rewarded for just getting by.
Take a few minutes to rate your sales leadership and uncover any potential gaps with recommendations on how to improve your sales team in any troubled areas.
Sales Xceleration is a fully integrated sales consulting business. It was created to license highly
qualified individuals with 10 or more years in sales management, and empower them to deliver sustainable sales performance improvement to our clients through the creation of sales strategy, process, and execution.
Follow us on Social Media for Ideas and Insights on Driving Sales Growth
I recently met with one of my clients to discuss the company’s sales team. They had ten salespeople on their team.
Five of the salespeople had brought in about 40-45% of the company’s revenue, and two others also brought in about 40-45% of his revenue. A bigger problem, though, was the remaining three that only brought in 10-15%. Those three were dragging down the team.
The biggest problem that the President was starting to realize was that the top two performers were becoming disgruntled and would probably leave the company. As I did my initial interviews with these two, they confided in me they had become frustrated that every time the company needed more revenue, the challenge was given to them to bring it in the door.
To keep their spirits up, I told them that these challenges were an honor. Like in basketball, you have your best players on the floor when the score is tied, with a minute left in the 4th quarter. One of them replied, “But if the 7th man would have made his four free throws, two layups, and grabbed those two defensive rebounds in the 3rd quarter, the score wouldn’t be tied at the end.”
Great people want to be surrounded by great people. Top athletes want to play on the same team as other top athletes. Top salespeople want to work in the same company as other top salespeople.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – October 20, 2020 – Sales Xceleration Consultants continue to see demand for their fractional sales leadership skills to drive revenue growth for small to mid-sized businesses. We have continued to experience growth throughout North America and beyond as the value is recognized in communities where Sales Xceleration Consultants are located. The combination of our proven tools and platform, along with our Advisors’ extensive sales leadership skills, appeals to business owners from a cost benefit standpoint.
With fifteen Advisors, the latest group joining Sales Xceleration is our largest yet, and the following individuals are looking forward to serving the business communities in their respective markets:
“This group of sales leaders will be an excellent addition to our Advisor team. With many businesses looking for areas to make budget cuts, owners realize that getting an experienced sales leader for a fraction of the time allows them to put the processes and people in place to increase revenue without hiring a full-time expensive resource. Our Fractional Sales VPs want to serve their community and take an active role in growing small and mid-sized businesses,” said Mark Thacker, President, Sales Xceleration, Inc.
About Sales Xceleration
Sales Xceleration provides business owners with an experienced Sales Consultant to drive sales growth when it is needed most. Sales Xceleration Advisors build sales engines to create record-breaking growth for your business by:
Creating Your Sales Plan
Finding Your Best Customers and Sales Team Members
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