As if the sales/marketing 2.0 craze over the past few years has not created enough buzz words to fill an encyclopedia, lead grading is an all too important function in closed loop lead generation programs that is rarely mentioned. It is often confused with lead scoring. Where lead scoring is used to determine the potential sales readiness of a lead before it is passed on to sales, lead grading is used after it has been handled by sales. Lead grading is a useful function that allows sales to score the effectiveness of leads derived from marketing efforts. Not only does lead grading give sales a say in how effective the lead was (or was not), it allows marketing to better understand what sales perceives as truly sales ready. Comparing both the scores and grades of a lead once it has swung full cycle can serve to validate your lead scoring formula.
We implement lead grading in all of our lead generation programs. In teleprospecting or telemarketing, this is a great way to get post hand-off validation of lead generation success. In order for it to be effective, the grading scheme has to be consistent and defined. Each sales rep must understand how the grades are assessed. We use a simple worksheet with 3-4 key metrics and ask questions around these metrics in a post hand-off interview with each sales rep to assess the final lead grade. I have found this practice to spur productive conversations around lead development while helping sales better appreciate marketing’s efforts.
If you have another method of assessing the effectiveness of a lead post hand-off I would like to hear about it.
Many companies still adhere to the “pay myth” that holds that pay is the cornerstone for managing sales performance. The belief is that, if you set sales compensation right, you’ll get better sales results. While we certainly agree that sales people, by their very nature, will “follow the money”, our work has shown that an integrated approach — which involves building a true sales “culture” — results in far better sales performance.
So, why do some still cling to the “pay myth”? Because (a) it’s a handy lever to pull and to yield short-term results and (b) true change is never easy  or fast, especially in the life of a sales leader who is responsible for sales revenue targets and other metrics including gross margin, account receivables and customer satisfaction. And, because the daily routine (if you can call it that) of a sales leader consists of reading and responding to emails, calls with direct reports and customers, internal conference calls, sales planning and forecasting, strategy development and interviewing and — very often — travel three to four days a week for in-person customer/prospect sales calls. Consequently, sales leaders rarely have the time for the focused and integrated approach that building a sales culture requires. But, for those companies who really want to see a performance payoff, I’ll share a few guidelines for developing a sales culture in future posts.
How can you increase the effectiveness of your existing sales force? For starters, skill gaps can be successfully addressed with targeted orientation sessions (instead of expensive training events) by utilizing your sales managers as coaches to support sales representatives in the field. The effectiveness of this approach is based upon business outcomes, not inconsequential metrics like attendance or testing normally associated with training events. Orientation sessions are much more affordable using technology to hold “webinars” than flying in salespeople from across the country for a two or three day training event with little accountability. Using meaningful content within the framework of a sales coaching program will solidify learning and change behavior through activities that will drive greater business results. The results are measurable and can be significant. For example, a company that adopted this method increased their total contract value by 41% and reduced their sales cycle by 25%. There are no silver bullets to obtaining and developing high quality sales talent. It can be difficult, time consuming and complex at times, but the payoff can be high for companies that are dedicated to developing a high performance sales culture.
Once hired, a new sales person needs to be productive as soon as possible. A commitment to intense on-boarding or induction programs can help new hires effectively interact with clients and produce results within a few short months. The induction should go beyond “features and functions” product or service knowledge to include the specific business issues a product or service solves and the economic value it creates for the client. The induction should also include a selling toolkit complete with specific messaging that helps new hires have relevant, compelling discussions with clients and prospects. And finally, there should be a certification process along the way with a significant graduation exercise at the end. One company that instituted such an induction program shortened the sales cycle significantly. Prior to launching the program, the shortest selling time of a new hire was typically seven months or longer. After completing the course, 39% of the new “graduates” achieved sales success in six months or less.
Recruiting high quality sales talent is universally viewed as the most important attribute to achieving world class performance; however, a tight labor market for top sales talent compounded by many companies increasing the size of their sales forces this year requires a more rigorous approach to recruiting. New methods and channels will be required to attract sales talent in today’s competitive market. Innovative approaches such as identifying passive candidates through online recruiting strategies and advanced search techniques can yield a greater candidate-to-hire ratio, increase the quality of hire, and reduce the time it takes to find the right candidate(s) by as much as 20%.
Achieving tangible business results through the performance and productivity of people (especially salespeople) can be very difficult. There are challenges and opportunities in maximizing the value of one of the most valuable assets in your company: your salespeople. Shifting the performance curve of your sales people can drive greater business results quickly and upgrade your overall talent.
Most companies have a distribution of sales talent that looks like a standard bell curve: granted there are many factors but usually there are a small number of both high and low performers with a majority of performers who fall somewhere in the middle. These middle performers represent the largest group (and greatest opportunity) to drive change and achieve significant results that close the gap between middle and star performers. World-class sales organizations recognize this distribution of talent and develop sales effectiveness programs that affect behavior change with measurable business metrics within each of the following three segments. While there are numerous factors that can help shift the performance curve, these three areas tend to show the quickest and most dramatic returns:
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Attracting top performers to upgrade the talent within your sales force;
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Developing new hires quickly;
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Boosting the skills of your existing sales force in a fast-changing, dynamic and competitive environmentÂ
Upgrading the talent (existing and new) within your sales force can have a dramatic effect on your bottomeline. By focusing your calories on the middle stars to behavior more like super stars is key. Having your star performers share best practices, identify successful activities and effective coaching of the middle stars by the sales leader to utilize process and tools to drive the “right” activities will yield results quickly. In most situations we see a 5-6X increase in overall effectiveness.Â
Happy Selling! Â Â
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