A sales methodology is the system a sales organization follows to win business. In one sense (not the best sense), every sales organization and/or salesperson has a sales methodology whether it is the remnants of one that had once been put in place, the norm people follow, or what a particular salesperson has figured out for him or herself.

An effective sales methodology is one that a sales organization has thought out clearly and provides it to its salesforce. The differences between a sales methodology that just exists because a company or most salespeople pretty much operate that way and a highly effective sales methodology boils down to six critical success factors.

Documentation: Map out clear steps as a guide for salespeople to follow/repeat.

Best Practices: Embed it with what your top performers consistently do.

Training: Prepare your salesforce to ensure they have the knowledge and skills needed to carry out the steps.

Tools: Give salespeople and sales managers tools, such as easy to use CRMs, planners, access to research … to make them more productive.

Execution: Follow it and coach to it.

Assessment: Ongoing feedback, tweaking and refinement.

The goal of having a sales methodology is to win more deals and to win them more quickly.

The initial question was do you have a sales methodology. The second question is if not should you have one?

Take the time to map out the steps it takes to identify and convert a lead into a customer. Make it a collaborative process with marketing team and your top performers. It is more than worth the effort. 10% of your reps will do fine without a clear sales methodology. But 80% will do better with one.

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I was introduced to the head of competitive sports at the military academy at West Point.  We talked about measuring commitment.  Commitment at the military academy is at a different level than what we consider as commitment.  We think in terms of committing to prospecting activity; they commit to bringing entire companies of soldiers back to the states alive.  However, we both have the same problem:  "how do you measure commitment".  I think it’s simple:

• Achievement of stated and agreed to non-negotiable goals

• No excuses when you fail to accomplish goals

As simple as this concept is, and with all the leadership taught at the academy, this seemed to resonate and help them realize that, yes, even at this high level of performance, people are susceptible to performing less than they are capable of.

Their objective of focusing on building teams of significance and winning with honor is to prepare cadets for battle, for fighting, for protecting our country.  They measure success by lives not lost and those not wounded.  These are their objectives, their metrics for success, and they have fun, they joke, and they enjoy a deep commitment to each other and to the cause.  It is truly a remarkable environment.

In addition to our discussion around identifying and measuring commitment, we discussed how they work to develop commitment and cohesion within their teams.  I asked them what they do currently. Their response:   they talk about and coach to vision, goals and core values, having the right team members and creating a culture that enables teams to succeed.  Sound familiar to what it takes to build a committed and cohesive sales team?  It was comforting to hear that one of the best learning institutions in the world addresses this crucial element of success the same way sales organizations must.

 Here are some of the other lessons from my visits:

Lesson 1:  There is time, and then there is military time:  We met at 0600, began our program at 0610 and finished at 0640. I shook hands with this group of majors and corporals as they filed out to go to formation in the square prior to heading to mess hall and then to their first class of the day at 0700.

Cadets pack more stuff in before breakfast than most people do in a day.  It is truly amazing to observe the capacity for work and effort that this group has.  And their intensity is unmatched in anything I’ve ever experienced.  Imagine what you could achieve if you approached your professional career with this kind of intensity.

Lesson 2:  If you want to be good at something, I mean really good at something, desire and commitment alone won’t be enough.  You have to drill, drill, and drill and then drill some more so that you can perform your task with near perfect execution every time. These cadets go through ‘the routine’ of preparing for battle in everything they do, so that when faced with the most difficult scenario, they can perform automatically and with precision.   In selling, you may not think it’s critical, but at the academy, it means someone’s life.

Lesson 3:  If you commit to something because of the desire for great reward (BHAG:  Big Hairy Audacious Goal), you have to be willing to pay a substantial price.  You need to invest.  And not at the level that anyone would be willing to pay.  No, if you want the big reward, you must make the big investment.   These cadets willingly complete their 47 months of training and development knowing that they will be asked to make the ultimate investment.

Lesson 4:  You must have standards of excellence. These standards of excellence rest upon your vision, your mission and your core values. The core values at the academy are Duty, Honor, and Country.  Every cadet lives his or her life by those values.  Those values become their DNA.  As a sales person, how you approach what you do for a living has to be in your DNA.

Lesson 5:  Finally, I learned that the best of any class are the best of any class because of their willingness to learn.  It amazes me that these cadets, one and all, are sponges when it comes to learning.  They devour information.  They ask questions. They ask for clarity.  They want to practice what they’ve learned. They want to execute and implement.  They strive for extraordinary and do not make excuses for failing to meet "agreed to" objectives.  Imagine pursuing your own goals the same way.

My parting thought is this:  As you go about your day today, remember that selling isn’t life or death.  However, if you prepare and have commitment, your approach is based on solid core values, and you execute and work to win with honor, then you will win more than you lose. You will thrive and you will be proud of this business of selling.

Bob Duffy, in an email string to Kelly and I, responds with the following:

Saying Social Media doesn’t drive purchase is like saying, talking and listening does not lead to decisions. Study is flawed because it does not consider reciprocity of the conversation.  Also flawed because they assumed the association needs to be with the site and a purchase decision and they ignored the association is between trusted sources and purchase decisions.

I have to agree. First, advertising on social media sites is not participating in social media.  That’s talking AT the conversation; not IN the conversation. As I have said before, the true essence of social media is direct-one-to-one conversations between two people; in this case a consumer and a brand (when I say brand, I am referring to a community manager of sort). Now, we all like to bash MLM; but the reason companies like Amway are so successful (they are a billion dollar company, I think) is because everything they do revolves around direct interaction and communication.

Additionally, the study states “less than 5% of social media users regularly turn to these sites for guidance on purchase decisions”. While this may be true; it doesn’t mean that they cannot be influenced in the social web by participating brands or influencers. The premise of the study is whether people use social media to “seek” product information. Perhaps the study should have asked, “have you been influenced by others’ in the social web to buy a specific product/service” instead.

My two cents for what it’s worth. Follow me on Twitter if you like me or I make any sense. : )

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The short answer, as determined by PROMO Magazine and reported by eMarketer, is “maybe.”  PROMO surveyed some marketers, and although rather few of them had a problem with digital marketing, a whopping 44.7 percent marked either “Do not measure,” “Do not know,” or “Does not apply.”

But 34.0 percent of respondents thought interactive marketing is more profitable than traditional types, and another 13.9 percent said it’s equally profitable.  Only 7.4 percent felt the newfangled approach is worse, which is encouraging.

What’s more, as results from 2007 and 2008 were stacked up against the 2009 numbers, it was apparent that interactive marketing is becoming more well-regarded as time goes by.

So if you’re looking to increase sales and haven’t fully embraced the online world, this may be a good route for you to take.  Beat your competitors to using digital marketing, and you might even see some larger-than-usual gains and solidify a foothold.

Called AttentionRank http://www.videoegg.com/attentionrank , the new service aims to optimize the placement of brand ads, on a campaign level, to capture audience attention rather than evaluate it on an impression basis. VideoEgg believes that brands are struggling with online media because they are stuck on the idea that attention = impressions, but that this is not so anymore.

It’s an interesting concept that takes into consideration the increasing control that consumers have over what marketing messages they receive, and when. What AttentionRank claims to do is help advertisers identify and connect with audiences when they are at their most receptive.

By evaluating three key factors - engagement with the ad, time spent with a brand message and secondary user actions such as click-through rates – AttentionRank finds where to place brand messages to capture attention.

“We’ve seen dramatic differences in the value of media placements across the internet and feel that traditional media buying approaches create unacceptable risks for advertisers,” said http://www.videoegg.com/press/videoegg_attentionrank Matt Sanchez, CEO of VideoEgg. “Adding the dimensions of time and engagement to how impressions are valued is an essential evolution in a media world where user attention varies dramatically and can be discretely measured.”

AttentionRank is showing early signs of promise. According to VideoEgg, a packaged goods advertiser increased time spent with ad content by 18% and a major automotive advertiser by 13.2%.

“More than ever, we’re looking for ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of media,” said Quentin George, Chief Digital Officer, Mediabrands. “It’s become clear that buying on a CPM basis does not account for user attention. AttentionRank is a great step to help us to maximize the value of the media buy.”

The AttentionRank Sketchbook is available http://www.videoegg.com/files/pdf/attentionrank_sketchbook.pdf online, and takes the reader through the thinking behind the new service.

Great directive, as this will increase profitability. But, after 20 years of conducting comprehensive Market Analysis projects for all types of companies, I find that too many companies base their market share knowledge on “gut feelings” instead of a real analysis.

For example, I hear explanations like “We’ve been in business for 50 years, and everyone who needs our product knows us, so we feel we have a big share of the market”.

This is almost always not true. Just because a consumer, whether it be B2B or B2C knows a company or their brand doesn’t mean they will purchase nor does it mean they are a qualified prospect. Branding does not equal sales or effective lead generation. And, it does not enable you to retain or grow market share.

I have yet to run a basic analysis for any company and not found at least 30% more prospects than their sales reps were contacting.  Plus, this missed 30% were prospects like their best customers – not just anybody qualified for their product. More . .

It’s one thing to have a feeling for how your company has penetrated a given market. It is quite another thing to actually analyze and understand your share and potential, then see the results on maps and charts, and be able to effectively act upon the information. Unfortunately, many companies, even large ones, don’t have the internal expertise or resources to effectively perform the necessary analysis.

You Can’t Retain or Grow What You Don’t Know

Before you can retain and grow market share, you must first thoroughly analyze and understand your current share and potential.  You must be able to, at least, answer the following basic questions:

* How much of the market currently belongs to you?
* How much more is out there?
* How profitable are your existing customers?
* Which existing customers are the most and least profitable?
* Who are your most profitable prospects?
* How do you get a bigger share of current customers, profitable prospects and market?

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Yes, in the 2008 annual report, Google admitted that it still “has yet to realize significant revenue benefits” from the $1.65B video site, even though it’s by far the most popular video destination on the Internet. Some recent studies suggest YouTube stands to lose $470M this year. As Ad Age puts it, YouTube is still “Google’s toughest sell to advertisers.”

Meanwhile, YouTube is expanding one of its money-making programs (which means it’s successful, right?). Announced six months ago, Click-to-Buy adds links to purchase copyrighted music featured in videos. The new expansion will bring the service to eight new countries, including the UK. The program was already running in the UK, which is notable because recent copyright disputes between British record companies and the video giant, YouTube blocked access to thousands of music videos in that country.

In the announcement, Google links to a recent study in the UK that showed that 50% of adult users in the UK went on to purchase music after watching a YouTube video. 36% actually bought a CD (how 1998!), while 15% went for the digital download. An additional 7% purchased concert tickets. Could all this be a move to help the music companies and Google work out a deal?

Click-to-Buy places an overlay on professional and UGC videos containing copyrighted music (although a quick search of YouTube shows that his is far from universal—no pun intended), as well as links below the video:

Google, the music company and the MP3 vendor all make money from this arrangement (in a typical affiliate kind of way, I’m sure). Originally, the links only appeared below the video; the overlay has been added since the original announcement.

Have you ever purchased a song through Click-to-Buy? Do you think you would? Do you see other opportunities for expanding this type of deal (say, maybe, click to buy DVDs from movie trailers)?

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A veteran direct marketer would tell you that direct marketers don’t easily distinguish between sales and marketing. After all, if you are sent a catalog and you rip out the order form and send it in, where did the marketing stop and the sales begin?

But most companies can easily separate their sales from their marketing. I mean, most companies have a Chief Marketing Officer on one side and a VP of Sales on the other. Any communications that go to big groups of customers are called marketing, while interactions with individual customers must be sales.

That’s because brand marketing, which is what most companies do, is easily separable from sales. Unfortunately, Internet marketing, and search marketing in particular, are based on direct marketing–on tying each individual sale back to the marketing that produced it.

So, if your company is tossing and turning over whether you need to align search marketing with marketing or sales, you might be asking the wrong question. Instead, try to figure out how to make search marketing align marketing and sales with each other.

If you’re thinking, “We don’t sell things online, so we can’t do direct marketing,” it’s not so. I admit that it’s harder to count offline sales than online sales, but it’s just as important. If you can’t tie your offline sales to how they started on the Web, then you don’t know what you did right to get that sale. Once you figure that out, you’re a direct marketer. And probably a successful search marketer, too.

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The economic downturn has placed even greater pressure on the sales function. Sales leaders must increase sales effectiveness while external forces reduce the number of real opportunities and threaten top-line revenue growth. Business leaders need actionable data to align sales behavior with business objectives and rapidly adapt to changes in the market.

Aligning and automating sales execution with organizational goals requires a holistic approach that includes compensation management, process optimization, and data analysis. Research reveals that traditional manual compensation processes reduce productivity for multiple functions, such as sales, finance, operations, and IT, which impacts both top and bottom line growth.

A recent study, (available as a FREE download), “Optimizing Sales Performance Through Data Integration and Analytics,” conducted by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company, finds that managing sales performance is a high or top three priority for 59% of all survey respondents in 2009.

“Lack of automation means manual processes become cumbersome and costly, and it’s difficult to rapidly adapt to market volatility,” says Alex Jefferies, Senior Research Associate in Aberdeen’s Customer Management Technologies Group.

“All respondents want sales to be selling as much as possible to get their share of the opportunities. This means sales must be compensated with realistic incentives that are in line with the business strategy, and not wasting time on shadow accounting or selling the wrong products. The holistic SPM approach uses elements of ICM, process optimization, and business goals to identify exactly what products or services to sell, how to sell them, how to incentivize the sales force to maximize the opportunity in the market, and how to maximize resources to meet business objectives.”

The report demonstrates the value of collectively leveraging organizational practices in process, performance measurement, knowledge management, and technology to provide a foundation for sales success. By combining organizational capabilities and technologies, such as CRM/SFA solutions and incentive compensation management tools, Best-in-Class companies are able to positively affect bid-to-win ratios and annual revenue growth.

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A lot more salesreps are working from home now than even a few years ago.  But working from home isn’t for every salesrep or every company.  Now’s the time to look at this issue.  It could mean the difference between your home-office reps making their numbers or not.

A post on (Jigsaw’s CEO) Garth Moulton’s blog about the profiles of inside sales reps brought to mind some of the discussions we’ve had with VPs of sales about the challenges related to telecommuting for their salesreps.

I recently discussed an underperforming  home-based salesrep with his VP of sales.  Intent on  diagnosing the problem, I asked, “Do you have evidence that he’s working 50 to 60 hours a week…  for you?“  The VP said he didn’t know whether the rep was working the hours, or full time for his company.  He should have known the answers to both parts of that question and the answers should have been two yesses.

Here are some recommendations…

• Don’t hire a rep for a home-0ffice situation who can’t prove they’ve been successful at it in the past.
• Some salesreps need the support and camaraderie associated with an office environment. Others aren’t capable of working from home due to lack of discipline or motivation.  Still others don’t have the knowledge, experience or skills to get the job done.  Make sure you know all the strengths and weaknesses of your own reps and anyone you are looking at hiring.
• Certain selling  jobs require a fair amount of time in the office.  If that’s the case, no one should be based at home. A day a week, fine, but no more than that.
• Don’t let a good rep strong-arm you into allowing them to transition to a home-based office unless you’re certain they’ll get the selling job done.
• Make sure you’ve got the right sales performance measurement system in place.  You need to be able to spot trends in individual performance before they impact your forecast.
• If you’re going to have reps working from home, provide them with the equipment they need, including hardware (for example, a backup hard drive), the appropriate sales enablement software (a strong knowledge management system, for example) and a high-quality headset.

Finally, the risks associated with home-based sales reps are mitigated when you have a pragmatic sales methodology, (and a supporting sales force automation system), in place and used across your entire sales team.  If you don’t have one, that’s what you need to do, starting today.

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