consultative selling | sales methodology
As a sales professional, your time is your most precious and valued resource. Time is the currency with which you purchase your success. The key of course is deciding where to invest your time by choosing which customers and sales opportunities offer the greatest potential return with the least risk or downside. This is accomplished through sales qualification.
If you follow my blog then you probably know I have put together a short series of posts on the topic of sales training ROI. My first post discussed the formula for tracking and measuring sales and recruiter training ROI. My second post discussed the importance of understanding metrics for tracking and measuring training ROI and in my most recent post I discussed the Kirkpatrick Model to Evaluating Your Training Programs. I've packaged all of these blogs and additional ideas, tips and best practices into our eBook, The Definitive Guide to Tracking and Measuring Sales Training ROI.
Learn our proven 7 step methodology for turning cold calls into hot leads.
In my most recent post, Understanding Metrics to Track and Measure Sales Training ROI, I discussed the importance of tracking leading indicators, lagging indicators and return on expectations (ROE) for measuring the ROI of your (sales) training and onboarding programs. In this post I'm going to spend a little more time talking about tracking and measuring Return on Expectations, AKA, the Kirkpatrick Model, which refers to measuring adoption of the skills, knowledge, systems and processes you teach.
For revenue leaders including sales enablement, learning and development (L&D) leaders, you know sales and recruiter training is necessary in order for your team to improve productivity and effectiveness. But nowadays, you have to demonstrate the quantifiable value of your training programs in order to win the resources and budget you need to deliver those programs. Once you understand the formula for tracking and measuring sales training ROI, you have to understand metrics for tracking and measuring sales training ROI.
Sales and recruiter training is critical to attracting and retaining talent, boosting revenue and shortening ramp-up time for new hires. To remain relevant, it’s no longer good enough to simply “check the box” on training completion. You need to prove that it’s having a quantifiable impact on the bottom line.
For as long as the sales profession has been in existence there has been a belief that sales is an art and not a science. Everyone believed (and many still do) that sales is all about the relationships and that great salespeople have “the gift of gab.” Today however, modern sales and recruiting leaders and sales enablement leaders know that sales (and recruiting) is just as much science as it is art.
The first thing a prospective customer or candidate notices about your organization is how well your recruiters and salespeople understand them including their role, their job function, their industry and what it is they want to achieve. In today’s hyper-informed world, customers and candidates no longer want, nor do they need to be informed about your products or services. And they certainly don't want to be on the receiving end of a sales pitch. They can read all about your opportunities and service offerings on your website and through your social media.
Research shows that more salespeople than ever are struggling to make quota. According to a study from CSO Insights, over the past five years the number of salespeople making quota has dropped by ten percentage points and the percentage of companies achieving their revenue goals has dropped by four percent.
This SIA Staffing Index report from April 26th shows that staffing revenue grew by 14% year-over-year in March. Travel nurse staffing, allied healthcare and legal staffing led the way followed by industrial and IT staffing. This isn't just great news, this is outstanding news!
In 2000, Marc Benioff, then the CEO of a tiny startup that nobody had heard of paid professional actors to carry “anti-software” signs. They "picketed" in front of Siebel Systems annual user conference. At the time Siebel was the dominant provider of CRM software. And at that time, it was on-premise software. Remember on-premise software? That is software that actually runs on the customer's servers. Today, Salesforce.com is a $13B monster in the SaaS industry. Some would argue or hail Marc Benioff as a "celebrity CEO" and the story of Salesforce.com is taught in business schools all across America.