the game of work sales by the numbers

The Game of WorkSales by the Numbers

Overview

• The Game of Work – concepts & implementation• Vision – what you can expect• The Stats worksheet

– Variables you can control• Activity• Skills• Policies• Systems• Motivation

• One Minute Manager - concepts• Personal Appraisal Review (PAR)• Personal Improvement Plan (PIP)

– Sharpen the saw (activity & skill)

• Individual and Team Analysis of the stats• Drill for Skill – effective training• Baseline goal setting – individual and team• Contests

– What motivates– Creative ideas

• How to get team buy-in• Cautions

The Game of Work

• Notice… people work harder at sports than they do at work– The same person who has no

motivation at work, becomes an animal on the basketball court

• Sports has feedback– They keep score– Know if winning or loosing

• Stats are used to improve– ALWAYS used by professionals

The Game of Work

• How fun would it be to bowl and not keep score?

• Feedback is the breakfast of champions!

• Professionals track everything– They live and die by the

numbers

By the Numbers… Golf

By the Numbers… Basketball

By the Numbers… Baseball

By the Numbers… Sales

Vision – What you can expect

• 1st year managing a sales team– Discovered this approach in 1982– Looking for ways to improve my

own and teams’ performance– Read, “The Game of Work”– Started tracking my stats– Worked on ONE area at a time and

mastered it, then moved to another area…

• Results?

Vision – What you can expect

• Results– Highest ratios in the entire company– Rated #2 to #5 out of 351– Top Team – 3 consecutive years– Top Region – 2 consecutive years– Top Recruiter– Dare to Win Award– 300 Club member– Eye of the Tiger award– Hawaii, Mexico and House Boat trip

• Later– Top Region– Top Area

• Promoted to run sales for company

Ratios Before After

Door Ratio 24% 97.3%

Close Ratio 27% 47.3%

Sets/Customer 2.41 3.01

Cancellation Ratio 3% .01%

Have since managed two teams of over 300 each, and one over 4,000 people

Vision – What you can expect

• Worked with 4 person sales team– Never tracked anything, just sales– Setup measurement system– Reviewed activity and skill ratios– Reviewed policies and systems– Determined the baseline

• Results?

Vision – What you can expect

• Contacts went up from 37 to 212 per wk– Peaked at 279 in one week

• Return calls went up from 0 to 11 per day per person (0 to 44 per day for team)

• Webinars went up from 4 per week to 14• Same hours – increased income!

Sales increased 620%

Professional Selling

• Sales is a “Profession”• Professions are developed, they are not

casual• They require knowledge and skill to be good

at• You will spend the same amount of time

working whether you are good at it or not• If it is to be… it is up to me• Time to take charge of your professional

career and do what other professionals do• What ere thou art, act well they part

(Shakespeare)

Born Salesperson - Myth

• Born Salesperson – Baby girl– Baby boys– No baby salespeople

• Learned– Transferable sales skills– Effective communications

skills

Wannabuy somesoftware?

Process Selling

• We’re discussing a systematic process to sell• Selling is a skill that involves learning and applying effective communication skills• Anyone can learn this skill—if they learn the principles and practice (drill for skill)

– Missionary knocking on doors for 2 years—thought I would be good in sales– Prior to formal sales training, had a 0% close ratio, all hit and miss (all miss) - 3 weeks of

dismal failure. Got out of sales.– After formal sales training where I learned how to sell, made $1,200 first week, $1,100

second week (as a college student in 1981 dollars)– Finished senior year making $52k in a summer (purchased first Mercedes in college, debt

free at nation’s largest private university)– Read over 20 sales books the first summer– Averaged over 20 sales or sales management books for each of the next 3 years– Listened to over 20 different tapes on selling– Attended seminars by Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, Noel Black, Tom Peters, Brian Tracy, Spin

Selling, plus more– Memorized over 100 closing techniques– Increased door ratio from 24% to 97.3% within 2 weeks of starting to concentrate on it– Increase close ratios from 27% to 47.7% over a 30-day period (ratio within .3% over 3

years)– Averaged 3.01 “sets” versus 2.41– Decreased cancellation ratio from 3% to .01%– Have trained over 4,000 sales people on how to use the same repeatable process selling

approaches

• Once you know what to do, you must get busy (activity)• Anyone can be motivated—with the right incentive (key: find what it is)

Sales Improvement – Broken Down

• Five variables you can control and change1. Activity (increase activity = increase sales)

• calls, contacts, invites to webinars, quotes

2. Skills (training & drill for skill – ratios increase)• presentations, call backs, close ratios, rev/sale

3. Policies (not doing things “because”)• how to use the system, definitions of how to count

4. Systems (efficiency – does not slow you down)• CRM, phone dialers, bid tools, auto emails• Acid test: does it speed you up, or slow you down?

5. Motivation (increases activity & desire to grow)• Internal, external (bonuses, recognition)• Prayer – faith, “after all you can do” – demonstrates faith

Sales Statistics

• We can’t improve what we can’t track• What do we track?

– Activity– Skill

• Need to be “self correcting”• Systemized approach to improvement

The Stats Worksheet

• Has four components– The weekly worksheet– The sales reps stats summary– The team stats summary– Graphs that show trends

The Weekly Worksheet

Activity• Calls• Call Backs• Contacts• Webinars

• Individual• Group

• Quotes• Sales• Total Revenue• Avg. Rev / Sale

Sales Rep Summary

Team Stats Summary

The One Minute Manager

• Leadership concepts to increase performance

Putting the One Minute Mgr to Work

• Personal Appraisal Review (PAR)– Review your performance against a

standard of performance– Identify the single weakest area– Work on it first

• Personal Improvement Plan (PIP)– Create a basic step-by-step plan to fix

your weakest area– Follow-up to ensure progress

Personal Appraisal Review - PAR

• How To Complete a PAR1. Record daily activity on the weekly worksheet

2. Transfer your weekly totals (paper) to the stats spreadsheet

3. Circle the ONE activity that is the lowest

4. Circle the ONE skill (stat) that is the lowest

Review - PAR

Your Results

Team Numbers

Standard ofPerformance

Circle 1-2 areas to improve each week

Try to improve your activity and ratios. Discover your maximumactivity and ratios, then maintain

• Complete the PAR first• Use your next weeks weekly tracking

worksheet (where you record your stats)• Under “Sharpen the Saw,” write your activity

and your skill to improve• List the steps you plan to follow to increase

your skill– Example (if “closing” is the area to improve)

• Read closing section in the sales training manual

• Create and memorize two close questions• Practice these questions throughout the week• Listen in on another reps (who has the best

ratio) to see how they do it

• Repeat the process for the activity• Rinse and repeat each week to

systematically master each area

Personal Improvement Plan - PIP

Model Calls

• Often when we are learning a new skill it is helpful to see it demonstrated. This is called a “Model Call.”– Helps you see how it is applied– Shows you variations– Proves that it works—some of the time– Two types: sample, live

• Find someone better than you• Watch at least 3 examples (looking for

pattern and they might vary)• Pick out the differences• Immediately practice what you’ve

learned so you can internalize it quickly

Model Calls

• Examples– Leaving a voice mail– Giving a demo– Committing someone to attend a

Webinar– Overcoming objections– Visualization– Closing

Coaching Calls

• When we review your behavior and provide recommendations and resources it is called a “Coaching Call”– Can review sample or live– Can review live in person, or over

the phone

• Sample coaching call– Anyone?

Coaching Call – How To

• Identify the ONE area to improve (don’t tackle too many points at once)

• Find someone to observe you– Usually your manager, or anyone who is BETTER at the specific area

than you are

• Have them observe at least three examples– Not looking for mistakes (prospects are different)– Looking for patterns (same mistake consistently)– If an in-person meeting, observer says NOTHING (lesson is worth more

than the sale—tempting… don’t save it!)

• Meet after observation for recommendations– Often best for them to point out specific items and then refer to a sales

manual or other source to fix

• Your coach can also model best performance if desired

Coaching Call - Example

• One sales person had a low call-back ratio (# of prospects that would call him back after a voice message)

• He created a PIP to re-learn the voice message dialogue, but the ratio didn’t change

• He observed someone else a few times, but still didn’t get it

• He then had his manager observe him for a coaching call. The mistake was obvious in seconds.

• After 3 calls the manager gave him the quick fix—he was saying his phone number too quick for anyone to write it down. That was all!

• He said his phone number slower and his call backs went from 2 per day to 11. This increased his contacts/day and his sales proportionately—massive improvement!

• Other cases can be more complex to identify, but you get it.

• Baseline Goal Setting– We don’t achieve satisfaction from setting goals, we achieve it by meeting

goals– We should set two sets of goals

• Our target goals• Our baseline goal

– Baseline is the minimum level of activity or skill we will accept• Based on our historical ability – we KNOW we can achieve

– Our goal is to minimize the valleys and flatten them, so our overall average is higher (usually by 30% or more)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2 3 4 5 6

Weekly goal

Baseline goal

New Avg

Old Avg

Baseline Goal Setting

Baseline Goals - Example

• You set a main goal to give 10 demos this week• You set a baseline goal to give 6 demos (since you have achieved at least this amount 3 weeks in a row

and feel confident)• Friday rolls along and you only have 4 demos• The most you’ve ever given in a day is 4, so you have NO confidence you can achieve your main goal• Without a baseline what do you do? You shut down, realize it is pointless to try, and start doing “pain

relieving, non-productive work” (busy work) and say, “I’ll get prepped so I can do better next week.” • Can you relate? Most of us can.• However, with the baseline—you say, I can’t get 6 demos to get my 10, but I KNOW I can get my two,

“I’ve done that countless times.”• Now, you are motivated to try—and you not only get 2, but you get 3 demos!• The result: you have not given up hope, you stayed motivated to fight for your baseline and you increased

your demos almost 60%. If your other ratios hold true—your sales increase proportionally.• You leveled your performance and your overall sales average increases.• Later, when you are more confident, you can set a higher baseline goal and achieve even more.• Your manager should review your personal and your team baseline monthly to see if it makes sense to

bring it up. Eventually, it will hit a maximum—and you are now maximizing your capabilities, which are usually a LOT higher than we would have ever thought.

Baseline Goal Setting - Tips

• Baseline is a Goal we know we can ALWAYS achieve

• It cannot be set until there is clear evidence and confidence that a minimal amount is achievable

• It might take 3 weeks or more to build this confidence

• Manager does not set the baseline, the individual sets his own, the team sets theirs together (they must ALL agree and commit)

Motivation

• Two types of motivation – internal & external

• Internal is based on goals (main & baseline)

• Self-correcting and self directed

• External motivation often jumpstarts internal vision

• Start with external, it builds confidence and establishes easier goals that helps internal motivation to grow

What Motivates?

• Basic Concepts– Money does NOT motivate (nor does anything that can be cashed in

—same as money)– What you can get with the money motivates– Anyone can be motivated – if you find out what they want– Needs motivate a person to work– Wants motivate a person to work harder– Money that can be used for a need is not as motivating as money that

MUST be used for a want– If we give money—the practical side of us will often use it for a need…

so take the option away• I will work hard to pay for rent, but I will work a LOT harder to cover rent—and

get a free trip to Hawaii

– Pay covers their needs, and bonuses will cover their wants and ONLY allow them to get a want

Motivation - Example

• One of my manager’s asked for a list of things I “wanted.” Not needed, but wanted.

• I had a beat up Volkswagen & I wanted running boards—but was too practical to get them (I was in college)

• They were only about $50 and he said if I got 5 people to the recruiting meeting, he would get my running boards

• I ended up with over 15 people to the meeting (later I won Top Recruiter)

• He gave me $50. I was stunned. I put in over 20 hours to get that many people there. $2.50 an hour was an insult—but not the running boards.

• I was mad because I knew I would use the money for pay my electric bill—but I would have figured out a way to pay it anyway, but I couldn’t be irresponsible and get “wants” when I had a bill to pay.

• I resented it, but the lesson was worth it.• During that summer, I motivated my team members with

“wants,” but I NEVER allowed them to use it for a need. I usually gave them the item—never the money.

• I never got the running boards until the end of the summer (I did make $27k in 13 weeks (in ‘83)), but by then I could cover any of my needs).

Running boards

Motivation - Carrots

• Does dangling carrots work?• Only if you are a rabbit• If you are a wolf, you would rather

eat the rabbit!

• Key: Find out what motivates you

Motivation – Finding Wants

• Everyone make a list of five things that you WANT for each of the amounts $10, $25, $50, $100, $250 & $1,000

• For example (personalized carrots)– $250

• iPhone (towards) – RED case• Panasonic Blue Ray DVD player w/wireless for NetFlix• Cobra Radar Detector Jammer

– $1,000• 5 day cruise for two to Cancun (price via Travelocity

• Must submit the list and printed photos of the items• Put in a folder so it is ready for a contest• Pull the item out of the folder and put it in front of you

during the contest• When you win the item, it can be given to you—or you

can get it but MUST turn in receipt and show the item (NO cash)

Personalized Carrots - Example

• One team member was always low on hours (our team was averaging 50 hours/week for the summer)

• Found out that he always wanted “Rocket Fins”• Set objective that if he worked 60 hours I would get him the Rocket Fins

– By the next day – doggie does trick, doggie gets bone (we all like immediate rewards)

• He worked 62 hours and also sold 4 times more than any other week• It cost me about $40, but my override more than made up for the difference

and he was more motivated than ever

Motivation - Prestige

• Top Gun Award (best of the best in skill ratios)• Top Sales Person (sales leader for month/year)• Eye of the Tiger Certificate (2 week focus)• Dare to Win Award (for extreme dedication)• 100 Club (achieving select levels)• Leader for a Day Award (“Take the Ball” trophy) • Monthly Leaders (Name on plaque)

Contest & Reward Ideas

• Individual– Everyone who makes

100 calls gets…– Person who sells most

• Everyone– Entire team hits 200

contacts, then everyone gets…

• Teams– Pie in the eye (2

against two)

• Closed deals• Highest ratios• Most call-backs• Demos or

presentations• Beats % record• Greatest margins• Leader for the day

Training Schedule

• Individual works on “Sharpen the Skills” list

• Team works off a summary of the team (Mgrs list)

• Pick a skill to train and work on as a team each week

• Skill training is scheduled (slow work hour)

• Contest and goals are aligned to improve this area during this week

• Graphs show progress

Systems & Policies

• CRM System – slower or faster with it?– Test it– Hybrid (existing, new, paper) as it is

getting fixed

• Policies – hinder or help?– Who are they for? Management or

to increase your sales?– Review and modify to increase sales

Systems - Example

• Most CRM systems SLOW sales teams—don’t speed them up. Siebel and others are great for managers, but terrible for sales.

• Mgmt touches the CRM 3-5 times per month, sales touches it 2,200 time/month EACH! Should be optimized for sales—not management.

• CRM system was web-based (required twice the keystrokes, had delays). Slowed team and rythem.

• Screens were in the wrong spot – couldn’t find needed information (and lost info if switched screens). Reps would write details on paper.

• Took over 22 minutes to generate a simple quote from three separate systems. Disruptive to sales pace and slow.

• Took 1 min 11 seconds to open an opportunity– Times 100 times/day time 4 reps = 7 HOURS/person/week– Turned a 4 person sales force into a 3 person sales force

• Changed system and approach – sales numbers increased 22%

Junky Policy Example

• Required sales to leave long voice mails– 2 return calls in 1 ½ years—TOTAL (for entire

team!!)– Changed policy and approach—averaged 11 return

calls PER rep PER day!! Helped increased contacts from 37/week to over 200!

• Required sales to “open opportunities”– With system, taking over 7 hours each week/Rep– Only opened opportunities when interest was

confirmed – save over 6 hours/week/each!

• Mandated going to website prior to every call– Disrupted pace, took about 3 hours/week/EACH

• Often, the person making policies… had NEVER worked the phones and NEVER seen the garbage process the reps have to jump through.

Policy & Systems - Resolution

• Review the CRM system and other systems in detail.• Outline all the bottlenecks and get it fixed or replaced• Consider using a popular CRM/Contact Mgr that is better

designed, rather than a home spun version—it is NOT just a database, but is optimized to increase sales (Goldmine, ACT!, others). Interface and speed are critical.

• Review all policies and scrutinize—will they increase sales, or just gum up the works

• Get creative, but get it fixed—some are MAJOR roadblocks to increasing sales and the resultant sales can quickly pay for any difference.

Review Questions

• Can almost anyone become effective at sales? How?• Who is responsible for improving your activity and skills?• What can we learn from sports?• What are the three primary ways to improve?• What should we track?• Explain the daily and weekly self-improvement

procedure?• What is baseline goal setting?• Why don’t many people set goals?• How does achieving your goals make you feel?

What Next?

• Track your stats• Complete PAR• Complete PIP & submit• Work on PIP• Work on specific weekly contests• Increase your skills with weekly training• Optimize your CRM system• Streamline your policies

Vision - Winners

• Rise from amateur status to true professionals

• Know all your ratios – like a pro baseball player

• Know how to self-improve your skills• Leverage the contests for personal

motivation• Increase your activity, maximize your skills

and• MAKE MORE MONEY!!• Remember: Same time, more success—

but have to focus on the improvement process to win

Any Questions?

Q & A