Top 10 Outsourcing Trends to Watch in 2012

Top 10 Outsourcing Trends to Watch in 2012

Great article. Be sure to read #3 - Adding Game Mechanics to Business Processes.

Battle of the tech titans: Ellison vs. Benioff -

Image taken from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/28/ellison-benioff-battle/. Full article is from the December 12, 2011 issue of Fortune. 

#1 Requirement for Hiring a New Sales Rep

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Every sales interview I've been on the same canned questions were asked of me. "Why did you leave that company?" "Tell me about the most complex deal you sold and why you won/loss?" "What drives you?" Blah, blah, blah!


My #1 question I ask a potential candidate is, "are you passionate?" The candidate will always come back with, "passionate regarding what?" I say, "passionate about this industry and the product we sell". 


Why is this so important to know? People overachieve and give 110% when they are passionate about what they do - period. Passion drives results. Passion drives the need for more knowledge. Passion is the fuel that cranks the sales engine. When you are passionate about what you sell, your pitch just flows and the customer hears it. You believe so they believe. 


Passionate employees are infectious and their great attitudes spread like wild fire. 


If you're sitting at your desk and selling a product for a company you're not passionate about, find a new job. You'll be happier, you'll make more money and your quality of life will thank you for it.


If you're a sales manager, ask my passion question during your next interview. I think you'll be surprised at the reaction and answer you get.

Getting burned out from cold calling? - Try the following

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Look, I get it. Cold calling 5 days a week is draining, especially in the age of voice mail, e-mail and social media.   For the majority of inside sales environments, number of phone calls is the most highly tracked KPI there is. The dreaded "phone report" makes many sales reps cringe. So what can you do when "hitting the phones" starts to become literally hitting the phones?

Here is a quick list of action items that may help you:

1.) Sign up for a Twitter account - If you're a sales professional you better be using Twitter as a vehicle to echo your message. Don't get crazy with sharing product promotions at first. Simply start out by 'Following" the companies and people you want to sell to. You'd be amazed at how much information you can obtain on companies via Twitter. Be sure to "Retweet" pertinent industry information that can help increase your Twitter presence and boost your following. Also include # tags when you Tweet and "Retweet". For example: #Salesforce, #Chatter, #ZohoCRM or #Microsoft. Here is a link to a great article: The Power of Retweeting: The 7 Reasons RT on Twitter

2.)  Keep your emails short and sweet - Please stop sending your prospects long winded, three paragraph product pitches via email. You are wasting their time and most importantly your own. On average, it takes you fifteen minutes to draft an email and about two seconds for your prospects to delete it. Instead, compose an email with an attractive subject line and a body no longer than two sentences. When sending prospects emails, think mobile devices. What is your goal and purpose of the email? Example -

Subject: Regarding next Wednesday 10/26/11


Body: Mr. Thompson, are you available on 10/26/11 at 10AM EST to discuss implementing your trial of RepTivity? Should only take about 15 minutes and a great way to keep our momentum going.

That's it folks. Send an email with a goal and increase your chances of getting a response.

3.) Write a blog - A great use of your time is establishing yourself as a knowledge expert. Writing a blog not only promotes your personal brand it also promotes your company's product line. Provide quality content and you'll see an increase in readers and followers. The real reward is when your readers engage in conversations through "comments".  For some excellent tips on writing effective blogs visit: http://www.problogger.net/how-to-write-great-blog-content/

I'm not a self proclaimed sales expert, sales ninja, sales trainer, sales coach or sales guru. I'm a guy in the trenches just like you. The above tips work for me and I really hope they work you! Email me anytime to vent or to bounce around ideas. rlallier@reptivity.com.

Good luck!

Managers Who Manage Through Email -

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

We have all been there. End of quarter stress. Deals falling off the forecast like a lead balloon. Just when you think it couldn’t be any more frustrating, here comes the three day series of emails intended to motivate you when instead all they do is piss you off. Here is my list of emails managers should NEVER send and what they should do instead:

1.   Emails containing motivational video clips – Please don’t send your sales reps video clips from Rocky, Rudy, Hoosiers or Remember the Titans. What purpose does this serve? Instead, what you should do is gather your team in a conference room and deliver the rally speech yourself. You are the leader. Why would you send Sylvester Stallone or Denzel Washington clips in place of what you were HIRED to do? In times of adversity leaders need to be vocal and present and not hiding behind email and sending empty messages.

E    Emails containing quotes – Really? Another Vince Lombardi quote? That will definitely NOT motivate your sales team. Instead, come up with your own quote and deliver a message from the heart and gut. Don’t send this message via email. Walk out of your office and address your team publicly. While you’re at it, point out some recent achievements by your team or individual reps. For example: “Billy, I know this month has been tough but I appreciate you making 30 phone calls this morning and grinding it out for the team.” Again, no email.

<!   Avoid anything negative – Don’t email the call report from the day before. When was the last time you made 65 cold calls in a day? Exactly. Instead, come out of your office and announce to the team that the person who creates the most sales opportunities in Salesforce.com will receive a $100 AMEX gift card.

<!   Never embarrass your team – Never make fun of, be negative of, discredit or belittle any single rep or sales team on an email. It’s cheap and a sign of insecurity. It is also the single fastest way to have your team turn on you and never trust you again. Instead, send out an email publicly acknowledging your team achievements and highlight specific individuals. Follow up this activity with a visit to each sales rep mentioned in your email and give each of them a pat on the back.

This article is not intended to be negative.  I have seen way too many sales managers manage this way and it’s the perfect formula for team failure. Comments and ideas encouraged.

Check out the Old School Sales Leaderboard - Coffee Is For Closers!

100 points or $100 - Which Would You Rather Have?

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Gamification is exploding. Some critics claim it has reached its peak while others believe the surface has barely been scratched.  Gamification is now making its way into the workplace with executives and managers deploying game mechanics to motivate and publicly acknowledge their top performers.  One of the key ingredients of gamification is the use of points to recognize achievements.  I have a problem with this concept.

Points are great for airline miles, football games, fantasy sports leagues and credit card awards. Unless you’re willing to equate points to monetary items they carry little value in the workplace, especially in a sales environment.  As a sales person myself, I could care less about 100 points. What I do care about is money, spiffs and public acknowledgement for doing my job well.  I also care about my sales rank in relation to my peers. Sales managers don’t care about how many points I have. They care about how many deals I’ve closed, my current forecast, my pipeline and whether or not I am doing the required activities to be successful. Giving sales reps tangible awards instead of virtual points for achieving these goals delivers significant value and is proven to be motivating. My point is I’d rather receive $100 instead of 100 points.   

One Good Reason to Have Your Product Demo on Your Website - Preferably Your Homepage

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Last night I presented RepTivity to a group of 30 attendees during Boston New Tech Meetup August 2011.  First, I want to say thank you to Chris Requena and Dave Rafkind for organizing the event and a second thank you to Dave for letting me borrow his laptop! Yep, I had to borrow his laptop. Right as I was about to present, my mouse pad decided to lock up and my presentation froze.  Dave quickly plugged his laptop into the overhead projected and launched my website. As I looked up at the big screen I internally said to myself, “oh thank God”.  Thank God for Dave and his awesome act of kindness and because my recorded demo was featured on our homepage. All I had to do was click play and begin talking.

Imagine this scene, me the sales guy presenting in front of 30 plus technical folks and I can’t get my laptop or my presentation to work. Even worse, I went last and the five presenters before me had no problems whatsoever.  I was definitely rattled for the first two minutes of the presentation but having my product demo running in the background helped me get into a groove. As the presentation continued I looked out into the crowd and noticed several smiles, head nods and intellectual face squints.  What I was saying was making sense and more importantly this room of very smart people thought my product was pretty cool.  I ended the presentation and fielded about ten to fifteen questions.

In the end, disaster was averted and the “techies” took it easy on me for my laptop debacle. I learned one lesson and was reminded of one thing. First, in crisis use the pre-recorded demo on your website and if you don’t have one – record one now! Second, in time of need people help people. Even though my situation wasn’t catastrophic the community last night was supportive and willing to help. So if I could summarize my experience with Boston Tech Meetup – It’s a Community of Supportive People Willing to Help.

Why Badges Should Have Monetary Value (At Least in a Corporate Setting)

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Over the past month I have seen an increase of negative press regarding badges within the gamification space. Is it really that bad? When did awarding someone with a symbol of achievement become a bad thing? For me personally, you couldn’t give me enough virtual trophies for winning my fantasy football league.  As a professional sales person, it is an honor to be awarded President’s Club to later have the seal (badge) embossed onto your business card. I can understand the argument for badges being overkill in the consumer space however, in a corporate environment your personal brand is everything.  Supporting your employee’s corporate identity through recognizable achievements is a powerful motivator and goes a long way towards increasing revenues.

Just like being awarded President’s Club though, badges in the workplace should carry more than just bragging rights and increased identity. Badges should equate to monetary value for the recipient.  Which badge is cooler? Badge A. goes to the employee who retained the most customers this week. Badge A. is a huge gold star that goes next to your employee profile so everyone in the company can see it. Badge B. goes to the employee who generated the most qualified leads this week. Badge B. is a huge gold check mark and the recipient also receives a $100 Amazon gift card.  Which badge would you rather have?

The problem is not the badge itself. The problem is how easy earning a badge has become. You shouldn’t receive a badge for completing simple everyday work tasks because the value of the badge will diminish over time.  This is exactly what is happening today and why so many gamification “experts” have turned sour towards them.

In summary, Badge = Monetary Value. Give it weight, give it meaning and make it an honor to receive it.

RepTivity Now Supports International Currency Settings -

Customers of RepTivity's leaderboard application can now select any currency model they require. Prior to today, RepTivity only supported the US dollar in their application. Whether your company has offices in China, Saudi Arabia or the United Kingdom, RepTivity can be deployed. To download your free trial of RepTivity, visit us on the AppExchange.

Click Image to Enlarge

RepTivity's Avatar of the Month Award - June 2011

Congratulations to Michael Stella with ServiceCEO in Boston, MA. He won RepTivity's Avatar of the Month Award for June 2011.

ServiceCEO makes it easier for field services companies to get customers, schedule jobs, dispatch work crews and bill customers. To learn more, visit www.serviceceo.com.

RepTivity Sales Leaderboard on a 60 inch plasma TV

Contractjobs.com displays their sales leaders using RepTivity's Sales Leaderboard for Salesforce.com on a 60 inch plasma. If you're a hiring agency or individual looking for contract work in the UK, check out Contractjobs.com today!

Congratulations to The Boston Bruins! 2011 Stanley Cup Champions!

Monthly Sales Tracker - Whiteboard Style

Does your office have of one these? You're not alone. We're willing to bet it's updated within the minute of a deal closing in your CRM (sarcasm).  Enjoy the laugh and have a great weekend.

Inside Sales Hiring Market Snapshot - Courtesy of The Bridge Group Inc.

Why Do The Wrong People Get Into Sales?

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Why do the wrong people get into sales?  I’ve been asking myself this question for 14 years. When I got into sales it was by accident. I went to college to become a teacher and wound up becoming a salesman. I remember being in my parent’s kitchen looking through the newspaper under the classified section for jobs.  I saw an ad for a sales role with a company called Connecticut Telephone. The description was pretty vague, the only thing I saw was salary, plus bonus based on performance with excellent benefits. I sent in what I thought represented a decent resume and before you know it I was called in for an interview.

My interview started with me meeting the area Sales Manager, Michael Zerbini and VP Sales, Richard DeLorenz. As soon as we sat down, the first question Mr. Zerbini asked me was, “why aren’t you wearing a sport coat or suit?” I was like a deer in headlights. I was shaved, got a haircut, pressed my pants and shirt plus wearing a tie. I answered the question without delay and as honest as I could. “Mr. Zerbini, the reason I am not wearing a sport coat or suit is because I can’t afford one right now. I just put myself through college and this is all I have.”  The rest of the interview seemed to last five minutes. We spent the majority of the interview discussing the opportunity, commission structure and what my day to day duties would be. They also informed me that Connecticut Telephone offered new employees a work clothes program through Men’s Warehouse. The program provided up to $1,000 for new work clothes, with zero interest during repayment, with payments taken out over four paychecks. What a deal! Not only did I land the job, I was fresh dressed like a million bucks too!

This is an example of how an interview should be conducted. Good managers recognize talent or the potential for future success. I believe the wrong people go into sales because the hiring manager is more interested in putting bodies in seats and making money for him/herself.  Anytime the sales manager puts them self first, the wrong person gets hired.  So many people think they can sell. The reality is, it’s a profession not something you “take a crack at”. You have to be of a certain genetic makeup built for rejection and fueled by persistence.  I’m not saying I am the greatest sales person in the world but, during my interview with Mr. Zeribini and Mr. DeLorenz I closed my first deal without even knowing it.  I was hit with immediate rejection, (no sport coat or suit) and my persistence carried me through my answer and honesty prevailed.

So why do the wrong people go into sales? I believe it starts with the person’s very first interview. It really is a defining moment.  

Is it Bad to Leave the Office Before My Sales Manager? - Three Opinions

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier


I recently posted a question on Quora that asked:  As a Sales Manager do you frown upon sales reps who leave the office before you do? I got some really awesome answers and wanted to share them here.

Dan Staggs, Sales and Marketing Manager with Bon Vivant wrote:

“That all depends on what value is placed upon being in the office? Is this a purely inside sales operation or do the sales reps work from home when they are not meeting with accounts? More often than not there are not any accounts/prospects/clients in the office.

I guess the larger question revolves around trust. Do you trust the sales reps you hired to behave like adults when you are not watching them or do you believe that if they are not in the office they must be skiving off?”

Kendrick Jackson, Curator of Media that Inspires wrote:

“As a sales manager, you should instill internal goals and discipline within your team. As long as the discipline is helping them execute their goals on time, I couldn't care less what time they showed up or left. In some cases if they showed up at all. We place too much value in the concept of the "office". In doing so we tend to expect others to have that same reverence. Talk to your team and find out their personal and individual goals, relate them to the companies goals and you will never have to worry about what time they leave.”

Kit Wetzler, Technical Solutions Architect with Cisco wrote:

“I'm not a sales manager but I have been an SE manager. You should probably distinguish between inside sales and outside sales. In a mature tech sales organization, Inside sales people generally work in and office, and cold call / prospect for sales leads for the outside sales folks to follow up on. 

The inside guys are generally expected to put in a full day and to put in that day in the office, although I've seen some orgs that let people work remotely. But, taking rejection after rejection is tough and usually easier when you are working tightly with a team, so you can take the knocks and the victories together. 

Outside sales people shouldn't be in the office anyway, because if they are, they aren't out in front of their customers, which is where they should be. 

Realistically, if you are worried about leaving early, there is a reason for it, unless you are new to the job. If you are performing and making your number, you shouldn't have to worry about where you do you work. 

If you are a sales manager and you're worried about people leaving early, you should ask yourself a few questions... Why are you worried? Are the people leaving early the ones that aren't producing? If they are getting their work done (and by done, I mean exceeding their goals!) then they should be given latitude. If they aren't, they should move on to something that is more aligned with their skill set.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Cold Calling Tactic #1

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Calling on the C-level while prospecting is hard enough, but when you’re a junior sales rep it’s even harder.  When I say junior, I am referring to those sales reps who are 1-3 years into their sales career. Some new reps are fearless while others are simply willing to try anything. Leaving a ton of voicemails and sending canned emails is fine for filling activity reports and fulfilling your daily metrics but, if you want to be successful early on in your career, you should deploy some of the prospecting tactics used by the more senior level sales pros. Here is Cold Calling Tactic #1.

Prior to making cold calls, savvy sales reps run web searches on their prospects, not so much on the companies but more the people they are trying to connect with. They’ll try to locate information from past events in which their prospects were keynote speakers or special guests. Reading their comments from these events and using their material as ammunition for your prospecting efforts gives you immediate creditability. For example, when making that cold call, start off by introducing yourself followed by the reason you’re calling. Don’t bother with “how are you” just yet. 


Here is a sample: “Hi Mr. Johnson, Ryan Lallier with RepTivity out of Boston. The reason for my call is I read your keynote from last month’s Gartner event where you stated aligning sales and marketing is a priority for you in 2011. My company provides a software solution which increases the efficacy of your marketing programs which in turn could boost your sales efforts. In addition, both sales and marketing can have access to this tool for better collaboration and lead scoring. Can we schedule a 15 minute web demo so I can show you how?”  C-levels appreciate the sales reps that do their homework and don’t just make “blind” phone calls.  If you’re going to call someone unexpectedly and disrupt their day, (because that is what you’re doing) you can at least extend them the decency of showing some respect and learning about WHO they are.


Give it a shot. I’d love to hear your feedback on whether or not this tactic works for you.              

For Sales Reps Who Still Don’t Use Twitter!

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

I am still shocked when sales people tell me they don’t use Twitter. It honestly drives me crazy. I have heard every single excuse out there. Here are some of my favorites –

No one cares what I have to say – That is the wrong attitude to have. You are the product expert and the consultant. If you focus on promoting your customer base with links back to their sites, tweet about industry experts, and provide relevant information, over time people will care about what you’re saying.

I don’t get it – You are not alone. In fact many people don’t get Twitter at first! I certainly didn’t. Follow this, follow that, tweet, retweet and DM? There is nothing wrong with asking a marketing rep from your company to give you a breakdown of what Twitter is and its value in the business world. I’d be happy to tell you how I’m using Twitter to promote my personal brand and the brand of RepTivity (my company). When used effectively, Twitter is a powerful business development tool. For a formal description of Twitter, go to http://tweeternet.com/

No one is going to ‘Follow ‘me – You are right. Well sort of. No one is going to follow a person who has no clue what they are talking about, that’s for sure. But if you market yourself as an industry expert and commit to delivering value to your prospects and customers, they will listen. Oops, I mean Follow!  A great place to start is by tweeting your favorite articles and industry news. This tactic does three important things: drives traffic back to your website, promotes your personal brand and highlights the hot topics in your industry.

In summary, your prospects use Twitter so why aren’t you? Cold calling and emailing are still critical pieces for prospecting and building your brand but, Twitter is a great way to augment that process and reduce your stress level.

Dashboards, Spreadsheets and Whiteboards – Do these “tools” motivate your sales reps?

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

I have been in sales for over 12 years now and every organization I have worked for tracked our sales metrics on either excel spreadsheets, dashboards or whiteboards. The excel spreadsheet would arrive around 5PM with sales metrics from yesterday. By the time the excel spreadsheet was populated, the sales rep who was #1 yesterday on the leaderboard rankings is now #3 today. How motivating is that? How about the dreaded dashboards in Salesforce.com? Pie charts, bar graphs, zigzag lines, a speedometer and a list of call leaders is supposed to make me want to strive to be the best? Seriously? How about the ugly dry erase whiteboard on the wall? Talk about old school. Congratulations John, you just closed a deal, now go up and erase your old sales number and update it with your new one! While you’re up there, can you update the year to date numbers and oh can you update the monthly sales number too? Good times, right?  

Why do sales organizations continue to use these methods of metric tracking? I encourage you to comment like crazy and let me know your opinion. But, in my opinion the reason sales organizations rely on these methods is because they are not intended for sales reps. Pie charts, spreadsheets and whiteboards are management tools.  Managers rely on this data format, not sales reps.  They can be negative and often times display how far the organization is from their actual goals. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to know where your company stands revenue vs. goal wise but, don’t forget about the engine which drives the sales machine – your sales reps. Sales reps live in a world of make phone calls, send emails, do web demos and sell more. Do them a favor and put away the dashboards, spreadsheets and whiteboards.

Can you suggest alternative methods for tracking sales metrics while keeping your team engaged and motivated?

Workstreaming: Two definitions from Anne Zelenka -

From Anne Zelenka - Workstreaming: The New Face of Time. Date 3/3/2007 via Gigaom.
The benefits of workstreaming include satisfying your boss (or client) that you’re making regular progress towards shared goals, notifying team members of your status in case it affects their work, and even giving yourself a sense of accomplishment and progress. Because it’s oriented to what you’re producing and doing and not just about how much time you’re spending on it, workstreaming isn’t so burdensome and misguided as face time requirements. 
Read the Full Article


From Anne Zelenka - Workstreaming: One Secret of Web Work Success. Date 1/12/2008 via Gigaom. How can you do workstreaming? Message boards can work well for corporate teams: post a message when a project milestone is reached, a document is available for review, a sale has been closed, a bug fixed. 
Read the Full Article 

Please post your definitions of Workstreaming in our comments section.


Thanks - RepTivity

A Message for Inside Sales Managers - Apply Spiffs to Key Performance Indicators

The first time I won a spiff was in 2002. I was an inside sales rep for a UK based company. We sold address validation software.  I remember the rules of the contest like it was yesterday – the person who booked the most web demos by noon would receive a $20 scratch ticket and free lunch in the cafeteria for a week.  We had nine sales reps in a sales pit and on the wall hung this huge whiteboard tracking our KPI’s. Once noon time hit, I was named victor of the $20 scratch ticket and free lunch spiff, later to be named “the scratch and sniff spiff”.

The power of spiffs should not be underestimated in the modern day sales arena. Sales organizations can increase their chances of exceeding their goals when they provide compensation for the activities that are essential to the sales process. For example, booking and conducting a web demo doesn't necessarily mean a deal will be closed.  However, as a sales leader you can still compensate your sales reps for achieving such an important sales metric.  Activity will always breed results so why shouldn't activity also breed compensation? Let's face it, cold calling and call blitzes are not fun. They may be for the managers who want to fill their phone call reports and whiteboards but, they are not fun for your sales reps.  


I'm not suggesting that you give $20 scratch tickets and free lunches out for sales reps exceeding their daily sales metrics. What I will suggest is that you reconsider what you're doing to motivate your sales team. Last time I checked, sales managers are compensated based on their teams hitting their numbers. If your company is budget strapped (as many companies are, especially start ups) then perhaps reaching into your own wallet and committing to $300 per month for sales spiffs is a good idea.  Go out and buy fifteen $10 iTunes gift cards and fifteen $10 Amazon gift cards. Monday thru Thursday hold daily sales contests and give a $10 gift card to the winner. On Friday, the day in which most sales reps are unmotivated give out three gifts cards - one in the morning and two in the afternoon.  Frankly, I don't understand why more sales managers are not doing this.  You can pretty much guarantee that more opportunities will be created as a result of increased sales activity. Would an extra five sales opportunities per month be a good ROI for your $300? How much better would your reports look to your board members and investors?


The final and most important step in the spiff process is recognition. Do not overlook this very important component. Be sure to announce the daily winners of your sales contest and acknowledge them publicly. You can do this by sending out a company wide email and posting your winners on a sales leaderboard.


As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic.


Thanks,


Ryan
CEO & Founder
RepTivity Inc.

Sales Leaderboards and Fantasy Sports - The Perfect Marriage?

What if the concept of fantasy sports; live participant ranking, up-to-date statistics and engagement were incorporated into the traditional forms of sales leaderboard presentation?

Fantasy sports leagues involve individual participants virtually selecting real life athletes to represent their teams. The object to winning is to have the best performing team based on various statistical categories.  Leaderboard ranking is live and can change at any given time based off statistical performance.  

For example, your fantasy baseball leaderboard could look something like this:

The left side of this image represents the league participants with the overall point leader being highlighted.  You'll also notice on the right center of the above image, the stat categories by which each participant is being measured.  

How does the fantasy sports model compare to your sales organization and leaderboards?

Let's start by comparing stat categories in fantasy baseball to some of the key performance indicators tracked on a sales leaderboard. Fantasy baseball measures performance by # of hits, stolen bases, batting average, home runs and so on. Most sales leaderboards track # of phone calls, web demos, % of quota and closed deals. See the similarities? Phone calls equal hits and closed deals are essentially home runs.

There is one alarming difference, though. Your sales reps spend significantly more time checking their fantasy sports leagues than your sales dashboards, whiteboards and spreadsheets.  These formats often display obsolete numbers and do not promote engagement.

If you could marry the concept of fantasy sports and real world sales would it have a positive effect on your sales organization?

We would love to your hear comments on this topic!