More and more IT staffing firms are renewing their focus on sales improvement initiatives. When IT staffing organizations invest in sales training and enroll their salespeople, they’re eager to know how their investment is paying off. However, these initiatives leave little time for the most critical step: measurement. Even the best sales training initiatives fail without proper measurement and monitoring.
The painful truth is, if you've been struggling to grow or your growth trajectory has the peaks and valleys of a roller coaster, it's because you're not ready to grow. Predictable lead generation is the #1 lever to driving revenue growth. Repeat business from existing customers is great and we all want and need that. But if you can’t predictably go out and generate new leads and opportunities and win them profitably, you are going to struggle to grow.
Learn our proven 7 step methodology for turning cold calls into hot leads.
I have to say, it is pretty amazing how quickly things have turned (for the better) in the just a few short months. I speak with customers, CEO's and senior leaders of IT staffing firms every day, and they continue to tell me "we're seeing record-breaking numbers with new job orders and fills." As a result, most staffing firms are in growth mode. Yes, growth mode! 90% of the firms I speak with have and/or are planning to add new recruiters and salespeople in Q2. This is great news!
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many staffing firms to confront the brutal facts of reality; how to train a remote workforce? And even more importantly, the ability to deliver an engaging remote and mobile learning experience?
Today, more then ever, recruiters and sales professionals rely on technology to help them engage customers and candidates and improve their productivity and effectiveness.
In my my blog post Understanding Which Sales Enablement Software You Need Part One, I discussed Sales Content Management, Learning Management Software (LMS), Video Simulation Software for Skill Certification and Sales Engagement Software. I also highlighted the specific challenges these sales enablement tools and software solve and the solutions they provide.
Thousands of forward-thinking organizations around the globe are seeing success from investing in sales enablement software. Sales reps are having more meaningful and productive conversations, AI certifies whether or not reps are staying on message, analytics guide them through lead nurturing and follow-up. Yet those benefits don't even scratch the surface!
Sales has never been an easy profession, but research shows that more salespeople than ever (including recruiters) are struggling to make quota. CSO Insights reports that over the last 5 years the average number of salespeople making quota has dropped by 10 percentage points! The percentage of companies achieving their revenue goals has also dropped nearly four percentage points!
IT Sales Leadership | Sustaining Change
2020 was the year of adjustment. The Covid-19 pandemic taught us that nothing is for certain and that we must be agile in order to survive and thrive. Perhaps that is why the 50+ C-level staffing industry executives I have spoken with this year have all shared with me that they have numerous growth initiatives planned for 2021.
According to a survey conducted by HubSpot, 65% of sales leaders who outperformed revenue targets in 2020 reported having a dedicated person or team working on sales enablement efforts instead of making it a “side gig.” As sales enablement continues to evolve, so too have the practices and supporting technologies. One such practice, one that was gaining traction Pre-Covid and has since exploded, is video sales coaching. With a remote salesforce, video sales (and recruiter) coaching has become a popular means for ensuring sales readiness for sales new hires and upskilling tenured sales reps.