How to leverage your sales support team (Part 2)
How to leverage corporate resources close more and earn more
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How to leverage your sales support team (Part 2)
Learning to leverage corporate resources is an important step in building a successful career in sales. In part two of “How to leverage your sales support team” we’ll discuss key steps you should take to get the most out of your support team and sales resources.
In part one of How To Leverage Your Sales Support Team we discussed the importance of developing and maintaining relationships with your support staff. In modern companies, both big and small, Sales Professionals depend on support teams who assist them in almost every step of the sales process.
“We know that salespeople who effectively leverage these resources are much more successful” says BILL STRUGGER, Sr. Director of the Global Competitive Group at the EMC Corporation. These successful salespeople maintain ongoing strategic relationships with the people in their companies who have the resources and know how to back them up in the sales process with things like competitive research, pre-sales engineering, custom sales collateral and presentations, product research and comparison, supply chain and forecasting, team presentations, top to top meetings and executive sponsors, strategy, financing, implementation and much more.
By leveraging these important resources smart Sales Professionals are able to demonstrate a level of commitment and focus to their clients that sets them apart from their competitors. By involving a diverse group of people who have specialization in key areas these Sales Professionals are able to offer more robust and relevant solutions to their prospects’ problems.
And, because they delegate key tasks to their support staff they have more time to spend prospecting and selling than those salespeople who attempt to go it alone.
Taking time to develop relationships with your sales support team so that you gain their trust and respect is the most important step. However, it is only part of the equation.
Taking time to develop relationships with your sales support team so that you gain their trust and respect is the most important step. However, it is only part of the equation. To truly leverage your sales resources you must become effective at planning, organizing, motivating, and leading your support team when you engage them in a deal.
This means looking at each prospect and customer strategically. The moment a new opportunity enters your sales pipeline you should begin mapping the sales process and answering core questions about decisions makers, influencers, competitors, products and services, and your engagement methodology. When it comes to strategy I’m a fan of Miller-Heiman’s Strategic Selling methodology but no matter what works best for you, planning and organizing by asking and answering key questions up front is critical because it ensures when you do go to your support staff for help you a) know what to ask for and b) respect their time by having the information ready that they will need in order to help you.
Once you have your team engaged you must provide consistent and ongoing communication. One of my favorite sayings is “In God we trust, everyone else we follow up on.” Communication is critical because it ensures that your sales support team remains engaged in your deal and keeps the ball moving forward. It demonstrates that you care and keeps you connected to the people you need on your side. Regular communication also gives you the opportunity to provide positive feedback and appreciation which in turn motivates the support staff to work even harder for you.
Far too many salespeople fail to communicate on a regular basis and find themselves scrambling at the last moment because critical tasks were left undone or incomplete. These same salespeople are quick to point the finger at their support staff but in reality they have no one to blame but themselves. Because you get the commissions, you bare the responsibility to consistently communicate and follow up – not the other way around.
Finally, you must see yourself as the quarterback in the sales process. It is your responsibility to align all of your resources to get the deal done. This requires both the strategic planning I mentioned earlier and leadership. You must understand though that leading a sales support team is not like managing employees. In most cases these people don’t work for you and you don’t have the authority to tell them what to do. Instead you must use something called personal power. When you use personal power you are convincing your sales support team to work in your best interest not because they have to but because they want to.
It is your commitment to plan and organize around strategic objectives, your self-discipline to communicate and follow up effectively, and your work to build and maintain relationships that give you personal power. And with the respect and trust you’ve developed through the relationships you built along the way you’ll find that when it comes to leveraging your corporate resources, anything is possible.
This is Jeb Blount, the Sales Guy. If you have a sales question please send it to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email.
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