The Top 10 Ways to Integrate Field Sales With Inside Sales

By: Jim Domanski

Do your field and inside sales team work harmoniously with one another or do they operate unto themselves in separate kingdoms?

Unfortunately many inside and outside sales teams exist in open conflict with one another vying over accounts, sales and territories. The time and effort it requires to handle the subterfuge is simply not worth it. Not only does it impact the morale of your reps (and your company), it affects the relationships and perceptions of your customers and prospects, not to mention your sales revenues.

Inside sales and outside sales can and should work in unison to produce stellar results. Here are 10 ways to bring these two powerful sales teams together and maximize their results.

1. Report to a Single Executive

If the field sales team reports to a sales executive and the inside sales team reports to a customer service or operations executive (as it often does), conflict is inevitable. Each department has different priorities and there are bound to be clashes. But the moment a single sales executive is made directly accountable for the results both teams is the moment that the squabbling ends and entire department begins to fire on all cylinders.

2. Develop Blistering Clear Plans & Communicate

The biggest battle with inside and outside sales teams is ‘who handles this and who gets credits for that.’ While there will never be perfect division of accounts and territories take the time to think and plan your approach. Marginal, inactive and geographical remote accounts are perfect for your tele-sales team and will force you field sales team to focus on priority accounts.

Explain the rationale in writing so it is indelible to them and to you! If accounts are given up or traded, reduce sensitivities by paying double commissions for three or four months. This step will save you hours of needless conflict and help make the transition smoother.

3. Compensate and Motivate in Like Manner

You do not have to pay your inside sales team exactly the same as your field sales reps but you must pay in ‘like’ manner. If your field sales comp program includes base, commission and bonus so too should your inside sales team on a proportionate basis. This strategy reduces the ‘have’ and ‘have not’ mentality.

If there is a sales contest, make certain inside sales is an active participant and ‘mind the gap.’ Avoid the temptation of offering lavish rewards (e.g., the trip to Vegas or Hawaii) for field sales and offering pathetic rewards (toaster ovens or movies passes) for inside sales. If the recognition gap is so vast- and it often is- it sends a resounding and discouraging message to your inside sales team.

4. Create an In-to-Out Career Path

One of the best strategies is to develop a career path where you inside reps can be promoted to outside reps; a farm system. This will do several things. First, your inside team works harder and smarter for a chance at achieving an outside sales position. Second, the cost of recruiting and selecting a field rep is reduced dramatically. Third, the customer barely notices the transition because they get an experienced, knowledgeable rep. Finally, once the inside rep becomes an outside rep, the integration process becomes much more complete.

5. Attend Conferences, Trade Shows and Other Event, Together

Tension, frustration and confusion are reduced dramatically when the sales teams meet together at the same events, conferences and trade shows. Typically they have to work as a team on the trade floor. They begin to bond at lunch and dinner. They ‘play’ together in evening. It works if for no other reason then they get to know one another.

6. Attend Sales Meeting Together

This is so obvious that it is very often overlooked. Integrate inside and field sales by having them attend the same sales meetings. Have them participate, present results and be held accountable to one another. If the team is geographically spread out, have a conference call so that communication is fostered. If you have a sales rally or president’s club, make absolutely certain that both attend.

7. Train in Exact Manner

If training is required train the teams together. For example, ‘boot camp’ training is a great way to get reps to bond together from the get-go. If you have skills or knowledge training sessions throughout the year, pull your teams together. Do NOT train inside and outside teams separately.

8. The Day in/Day Out program

Here’s one of the best tips to pull your teams together. Every quarter or every six months have the outside reps spend a day on the phone with the inside rep. Have the inside rep spend a day on the road with the field rep. In short order, each rep will have a great appreciation of the job and one another.

9. Do Not Tolerate, Excuse or Permit Saboteurs

Here’s the cold hard truth: depending on your situation and environment, you can expect that some reps will seek to sabotage the efforts of others. A saboteur is a rep who subconsciously and often consciously, seeks to wreck, dilute or cheat the policies you have established. For example, a field rep might say to customers, “I can’t deal with you any more. You’re stuck with an inside rep” and thus taint the entire program. Equally, an inside rep might remark, “Your field reps never visited you in the first place, so I’m your new account rep” which simply shows the customer that your sales team is on shaky ground.

Sentiments like these will lose you customers in a heartbeat. Deal with these saboteurs quickly, efficiently and if necessary, brutally. Stick to the policies. Do not tolerate belligerence because it will fester and spread.

10. Be Vigilant and Keep Your Word

Continuously monitor the integration of your teams. If you get wind of dissension, act fast and deal with it. Get your managers together and talk. Don’t ignore the situation.

Above all, keep your word. Beware the temptation to change the rules as you go because it will have a significant impact on sales results, morale and customer satisfaction. Walk the walk.

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How to Hire a Sales Superstar

By: Andrew Botieri

With the economy making a slight comeback in the first quarter of 2010, several of my recent coaching work with my clients has been concentrated on improving upon and/or adding to their current hiring efforts. During our calls, we’ve been discussing the challenges they are facing during their hiring and interviewing process for sales and service professionals. A re-occurring theme was their lack of formal training in their own interviewing/hiring skills. Let’s face it…if you don’t interview for a living, like a recruiter, then it’s easy to become “atrophied” in this process. In addition, if you don’t have time to practice your interviewing skills, then you’ll continue to make hiring mistakes. Let me pose a question to you…can you afford to continue to make hiring mistakes? Have you calculated what it costs to hire a replacement, especially in this challenging job market?

Here are some of the common mistakes that are made by interviewers:

1. The expression, “First rate people hire first rate people and second rate people hire third rate people” should say it all. The insecurities or confidence of the interviewer will show in their hiring process, especially if the position is within their own department.

2. Not having a formal job description. The only way you can “inspect what you expect” is to set the expectations with a written job description. This allows each candidate to know what is expected of him or her and creates personal accountability.

3. An inadequate screening process. Utilize a telephone screening process before bringing a candidate in for an in-person interview. Your time is valuable. I use a formalized telephone questionnaire to give me a “snapshot” of the foundation of each candidate. If you would like a copy of this questionnaire email me.

4. Brush up on your in-person interviewing skills and the types of questions you want to ask. Ask questions that illicit an emotional response vs. the responses they think you want to hear. After a candidate response to your question, follow that up with “How did that make you feel?” Do you have a written list of questions to ask each sales/service candidate? If not, ask me for one.

5. Not utilizing a second opinion. If you feel you have a strong candidate, ask one of your managers or a top sales/service professional to meet with the candidate for a “mini” interview. This gives you a second set of eyes and eliminates the “halo” effect. The “halo” effect is when you are “blinded” during the interview process when the person reminds you of yourself.

6. Not checking references thoroughly. When I ask my sales/service coaching clients ‘who handles their reference checks, some of them say their assistants’ do the reference checks. OUCH! If you are being held accountable for your hiring decisions, then you need to be the one who does your own reference checks. Your assistant may miss some crucial information or miss what the reference is saying “between the lines” that could save you a big headache down the road.

7. Utilize assessment tests for every new hire to find out what motivates this individual and what their work habits are like before you hire them. It can save you a lot of angst later on. Email me if you’d like information on the assessment tests I offer my clients.

By implementing these seven key areas in your hiring and interviewing process you will eliminate the chances of making a bad hire. Remember….hire the “right” person the “first” time!

TPP Tip: Before you conduct a telephone interview, know what you’re looking for in each sales/service position you’re hiring for. If the candidate sounds strong on the telephone, immediately set up an in-person interview. Don’t let them get away. In addition, do your homework before the candidate comes in, by reviewing their resume and making notes in the margins about questions you may want to ask, aside from your prepared list of formal questions. Most importantly, take the interviewing process very seriously, because the success of your sales/service company and your career depends on it! If you’d like more information on hiring a sales SuperStar or other sales interviewing tips please email me.

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Sales Managers Top 7 Mistakes

By Trevin Bensko-Wecks

Managing a sales team effectively is difficult. Many sales managers find themselves promoted to the position directly from sales because of their outstanding individual sales performance. They often have no previous management experience and are given little training to develop leadership skills. In the absence of direction and development they’re usually compelled to take control of their sales force rather than develop and lead it. Here is a list of the top 7 mistakes made by sales managers, and how to overcome them:

* Micromanaging. While delegation is an exceptional tool for experienced leaders, it is extremely difficult for inexperienced managers to grasp. In the absence of confidence and self-awareness they frequently attempt to control every facet of a salespersons work day. They often base these instructions on what worked well for them in their own sales careers without taking into account individual strengths, personalities, habits and learning styles. Instead of removing roadblocks they create them, making a salespersons job more difficult and less rewarding. Efficiency, effectiveness and moral all suffer as a result.
* Creating blanket policies. Issues that arise in management are often specific to an individual salesperson(s) rather than the team as a whole. Individual conversations take time however, and can be uncomfortable. Sales managers tend to avoid confrontation by issuing blanket policies and communications that negatively impact the entire team. The team doesn’t understand the reason for the policy/communication and as a result, feels unjustly suppressed. Mean while the individual(s) that was the cause never has the benefit of a direct conversation enabling them to understand the root issue and participate in the discovery of a solution.
* Requiring excessive paperwork & reporting. Insisting that all team members produce exhaustive reports about their daily activities is both inefficient and ineffective. While call activity might be an important coaching opportunity for a new salesperson, it probably isn’t a good use of time for your top performer(s). “What’s good for one is good for all” is nonsense. Team members should be assessed on an individual basis and asked to report on information that can positively impact them. Make sure the information tracked is relevant and important to their success and give them access to any tools and technology that can increase the efficiency of their reporting.
* Allowing mediocrity. There are almost always people on a sales team that will never perform at a high level, regardless of how much training and technology is invested in them. Evaluate people fairly but if it’s clear that they aren’t going to cut it, get rid of them. Putting off the inevitable is not good for them or the company.
* Not providing enough 1-on-1 time. We all have different strengths, personalities, learning styles, and needs. For sales people to grow they need individual attention and help. Figure out a way to get time alone with every member of your team regularly and consistently. Review the information you intend to discuss a day in advance – this will help you do a better job of listening and discovering areas of need. It’s no different than selling; if you don’t understand their needs, you can’t show them how you can be a benefit to them.
* Not spending enough time on the street. To really understand how a sales team is performing managers need to get out on the street with them. There isn’t a coach in the world that shows up for practice but skips the game. The field is where we see theory put into practice, and it’s where true coachable moments appear.
* Not listening. Telling team members how to perform better isn’t the same as teaching them how. We have to listen to fully understand issues, roadblocks, and what the solutions might be. There is always something to learn, even for managers.
* Not giving credit. Sales managers too often assume that they have to prove their worth by demonstrating the effectiveness of their own efforts. The reality is that managements effectiveness is reflected in the performance of the team. Give credit where credit is do. Promote the successes of individuals and of the team. It boosts their confidence and moral, and shows that you are more concerned with the success of the company than with your own success.

It’s difficult to manage a sales team effectively, but by identifying common mistakes and working hard to correct them, over the course of time, sales managers will find themselves capable of elevating individuals and teams to a new level of success.

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Make Your Business Grow by Supporting Sales Staff

By Charlotte Sorrentino

A few years back I worked for someone who actually said his product sold itself. Goes to show you smart people say stupid things. I often wondered if he actually “believed” this.

It’s no accident that people buy from one company versus another. It’s a group effort by all but Sales is at the forefront. Yes a good product is the nucleus but if the price isn’t right or the service stinks then what good is it? If you are offering a product no one else has then your product may just sell itself in a way; there’s still advertising and marketing as people need to hear about it. But for most businesses competition is fierce and they need to do it better than the other guy.

People buy from people they like is heard often what this means is people buy from someone they trust to service them, they can depend on in a rush situation and even more importantly when there is a problem they can rely on fair dealings.

Yes like anything in life people do get settled in with a company and don’t want to change until something goes wrong. If it does for a company giving a lot of business to a vendor it’s a no brainer but when the company is small and doesn’t do the volume then sometimes they don’t get the same treatment. Being in sales, I have always given customers the 4-star treatment.

I have worked for many small to midsize companies and not one of them ever sat with the Sales Dept and worked as a team it was almost like the Sales Dept. were piranhas and cashflow or production seem to have been more of a focused, concentrated effort then building and expanding sales. I think management’s attitude is, “What am I paying Sales for if they don’t promote and sell?” Often management has lots of meetings about why Sales’ hadn’t achieved numbers but rarely talks about how Management could partner with sales.

If I had my druthers all businesses should be created by natural born sales or marketing people. These businesses seem to thrive better than most. Yes if you have the cheapest prices and service, well you can do business but it seems one would want to be the best of the best and not just settle for mediocrity no matter how much money you are making. Is it the money or the passion to do the job?

Ever try to sell someone and can’t then the owner of the company intercedes, drops the price and he GETS the sale only to rub it in your face? It takes no skill to give something away any idiot can do that. Many salespeople would love the authority to be able to make these kinds of decisions without prodding and convincing management to give a concession to a customer. Management will allow an accounting person to handle all their money with, sometimes, little overview yet haunt Sales for wanting to give a 2% discount on an order to keep a customer happy.

All aspects of your business needs attention much like gardening. If you plant seeds they need attention, water, good soil, sunlight, fertilizer and patience. This is the same for businesses and people. Quit replacing and start to make your business grow.

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How to Make Your Sales Meeting Effective and Fun

By John Yoder

I don’t know a thing about you, but I’ll bet that people find it tiresome and grueling to attend meetings that include not even the smallest amount of fun. Yes, business meetings should be formal and geared towards accomplishing the agenda but that does not mean it should not be fun, right? Why not include sale meeting entertainment sometimes just to maintain that enthusiasm of your employees and at the same time, energize them for another round of work?

Having sales meetings are vital for the development of your company. During these meetings, issues regarding marketing strategies and progress will be discussed and if problems arise, solutions will carefully be thought of. It is therefore very important that these meetings are well prepared and will serve their purpose.

There are different things that you can do to make sure that your sales meeting will be effective and will be beneficial to you, your staff, and the clients. How? First of all, sales meetings should be well planned. Having meetings with no specific agenda, or not giving guidelines to the people who are needed in the meeting will make things confusing. In fact, it may even make the meeting useless. Why? It is because you and your team won’t have a specific and concrete idea of what to accomplish.

During the meeting per se, you must encourage your people to talk. It’s not all about you, the head, or any speaker. Knowing what your team has to say about the strategies, tips they would want to share with others, or discussing any difficulties or problems encountered. In this way, you would be able to interact with them, and at the same time, discuss business related matters.

Lastly, do not fail to acknowledge the effort given by your team. Congratulate people who have achieved their marketing goals, appreciate their allotted time for the project, and thank them for working on deals. These positive reinforcements will serve as motivation to your sales team.

Now, aside from the tips given, another way to keep your meeting productive and fun is by including sale meeting entertainment. Sale meeting entertainment will make old style meetings exciting, memorable, and at the same time, effective. There are a lot of entertainment forms that you could choose from. For example, hiring a comedian to experience sale meeting entertainment to your employees is a good idea.

Variety acts like mentalists, jugglers, and magicians are also another option. Interactive events and game rentals add to the many ways of sale meeting entertainment. Sales meeting entertainment will not only bring in the fun to work, it would also help build team work and camaraderie between your employees. It is still best to work in an enjoyable environment where you could laugh with your teammates, right?

For 25 year, Funny Business Agency has been a top resource for companies and event planners looking for expertise in the corporate entertainment market. With over 3,000 entertainers and events nationwide, Funny Business has provided entertainment for such companies as Legos, General Foods, Kelloggs, Pfizer, Honda Transmissions, Frito Lay, Iams, Proctor & Gamble, Perrigo and more.

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Five Simple Techniques to Build a Cohesive Proposal Team

By Olessia Smotrova-Taylor

It is a known fact that people tend to work harder and more intelligently for the people they like and care about. This is why building a team- putting names to faces and faces to names, so to speak, and adding personal spin to make people real and likable on your proposal team- goes a long way towards helping the proposal effort.

Any proposal requires a little or, more often, a lot of extra effort from a person- extra creativity, extra dedication, extra hours, extra resourcefulness… the list goes on. Anything that goes beyond the call of duty requires people to exhibit good will, and the fact that we do more for the real people we know and like is programmed in our psyche. Especially if there are no other incentives, such rewards to winning proposal teams or promotions to new positions on the program that was awarded, generating good will through team building is essential.

Here are five simple techniques you can implement on your proposal immediately.

Technique 1. Require the ENTIRE proposal team to be present at the kick-off meeting. This includes ALL the writers and contributors as well as the management. This is one of those non-negotiable things where management has to clear their calendars, and people dedicated to their day jobs on projects have to let their customers know that they have to attend the kick-off. This has to be a factor in your scheduling and budgeting.

Insist that people attend your kick-off meeting in person, since the first most important kick-off goal is to make people more willing to do a lot more for the people they like and care about. If a couple of people, no matter how much they try to clear their schedules, cannot participate in your meeting, you will need to plan to do a mini-kick-off session for them later, and also to speak about them in detail at the original kick-off. Prior to the original kick-off, request their resume, their information, or even their photo to show to the team.

If a physical meeting is not feasible, video teleconferencing technology is the next best alternative – even if it is as simple as using Skype. Also, don’t rely on just a phone line and emailed presentation. Instead, use collaboration tools, such as NetMeeting, LiveMeeting, and GoToMeeting. This will reduce the likelihood that the attendees will lose track of your presentation’s progress as you flip the slides, and get distracted. Make an extra effort to get remote attendees involved and speaking up, and insist that no one multitasks.

Technique 2. Start your meeting with ice-breaker introductions. Even if some people know each other, there is no better way to get everyone to liven up than asking each attendee to take one minute to answer the following three questions about themselves:

1. Their name and company

2. How can they best contribute to this proposal based on their experience

3. One fact about their lives or themselves they consider unusual, special, or fun.

Answers to the last question transform the atmosphere in the room. People start laughing, they make jokes, they ooh and aah. After everyone has shared their information, they stop being strangers in suits and turn into fellow human beings. You can get really creative with an ice breaker question. For example, you could ask, What are you most proud of in your life? As you invent more ice-breaker questions, important rule for this exercise is to not ask a question people would lose face or get in trouble for answering. Keep it light and positive.

Technique 3. Explicitly state that proposal is a TEAM EFFORT. Basketball or Football teams have the word TEAM used every day as part of their coaching, and being a team player is emphasized over everything else. Somehow, on many proposals this message gets lost, and people focus on getting a bunch of individual performers together instead of emphasizing collaboration. It is amazing that many of us spend so much time implying things, beating around the bush, and feeling like heroes, all without ever asking for what we need. Since the goal is team building, state it, and explain what it means. Team effort means clear, open, and honest communication; collaborative decision-making; seeking people’s input; collaborative brainstorming to capitalize on the team’s expertise; collaborative writing; and no pride of authorship.

Technique 4. Prepare in advance and pass around the Contact List to fill in missing data including home numbers, and a field stating “Availability During the Proposal.”This sets expectations correctly for when someone may be unavailable and therefore when they could be reached ahead of that time. Or, it enables them to show that they are busy working during the day, but are committed to donating their evenings and weekends to proposal work. This is especially useful when your proposal effort takes place in the summer, around holidays, or vacation seasons. This way your team will have a chance to plan their interfaces better. Another useful field is “Time Zone” if you have the team across the country or across the globe.

Technique 5. Feed your proposal team. There is nothing like food that conveys hospitality and caring for people. Proposals do cost a lot of money, but it is baffling that so many companies try to save money on food, while food is by far the smallest budget item in the proposal. As inexpensive as good food is, it goes a surprisingly long way to make people feel welcome and appreciated. There are many ways to avoid paying high catering fees, and to feed the whole team a gourmet breakfast at a third of the price that a caterer would charge. Just make sure that you get a small budget pre-approved from the start, so that you get reimbursed for the receipts, and then stop by a grocery store to get fruit, and bakery on the way to get bagels, pastries, and real cream for coffee, and you will feed a couple of dozen of people for under forty bucks.

Also, do not bring in the same old tired sandwiches and pizza for lunches that feel like a brick in one’s stomach. For the same price or cheaper, you can get chafing dishes from caterers, which are often advertised as feeding 10 but that can easily feed 15 or 20 – and they are WAY healthier and easier on one’s waistline. I also usually ask people whether they are vegetarians, vegans, Kosher, have major food allergies, or have major likes and dislikes. You will be asking people to sacrifice their personal time and energy, so this is the least you can do to make everyone feel welcome and cared for.

There are, of course, more advanced techniques for creating fun and team spirit, such as contests, spot awards, games, and ways to reward individual performance, but these five simple techniques will get you the most mileage. These are the basics without which cohesive proposal teams are difficult to pull off. These techniques don’t cost you much to implement, but their impact lasts longer than the proposal itself and creates better work environments and better companies.

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Professional Sales Training – Managing Leads to Generate New Sales

By Kate Tammemagi

Many sales professionals are very comfortable maintaining long term relationships and developing repeat business from existing clients. However, it is the goal of every company to retain existing business and to develop new clients and new sales. This involves identifying a pool of sales leads, and converting some of these leads to new business.

Key Points with Sales Leads

There are several key points when it comes to beginning work on developing your leads.

1. EVERY lead is precious, do not dismiss it easily.
2. Keep an open mind about every lead. Sales people make assumptions about the potential of each lead, whether this person is likely to buy or whether they will be interested in our products. Unfortunately, clients that prove to have a huge spend do not come with a label on their foreheads! Work every lead until you have firm evidence that this is NOT a prospect.
3. Think of yourself as competing with another very good Sales Person rather than an opposing Company. If this lead is a real prospect, they WILL buy from someone. Is it going to be you, or is in going to be the other guy who gets the sale?
4. Plan how you will work those leads effectively, develop a good personal management system.

Set Targets

Sales is a numbers game, the bigger the numbers the better the Sales Person! However, when it comes to managing leads, it is better to think in terms of conversion rates rather than flat numbers. The reason for this is simple. Take 2 sales people, one with 10 sales and one with 20 sales in a week. You might at first think that the second sales person with 20 sales is the better of the two. However, you then find that she contacted 100 people to generate those 20 sales, while the first sales person contacted 20 people to get their 10 sales.

The sales person with the 50% conversion rate is by far the better sales person. Indeed, the first sales person, with the 10% conversion rate may well be a liability. It would be much more productive to give her leads to your good sales person. This is the way to think about your own leads.

Plan how you will manage each batch of leads and set your targets in terms of conversion rates. Set a target of -

• How many leads you will convert to contacts
• How many contacts you will convert to clients

Managing your Sales Leads

To manage your leads effectively there is a useful model called the Sales Cycle. This gives us the stages from lead to advocate.

1. Leads
2. Contacts – we make contact with the decision maker, perhaps on a telephone call or casual meeting
3. First Contact Meeting – our first sales presentation meeting, where we build rapport, establish needs, present our offering and, hopefully, close a sale
4. Active Prospect – we have met, and the prospect may buy, but hasn’t made the decision yet
5. Client – the client buys from us
6. Advocate – the client is so pleased they recommend us to others

The idea is to work at each phase to improve our conversion rate and effectiveness at sales. The more leads we convert to contacts, the bigger the pool we have for the next phase. Work conversion rates for each phase of the cycle.

Improving your Conversion Rates

We improve our conversion rate at each phase of the Sales Cycle by using skills, recording and tracking systems, and good motivational techniques. Above all, every good sales person plans HOW they will improve each week and each month. As well as managing the normal weekly activities, they focus on an improvement area so that they are constantly increasing their potential.

For example, you could concentrate one week on improving the first phase of the Sales Cycle, generating more contacts from your leads. Isolate a time for making appointments. Prepare a list of contact names and telephone numbers, and anything else you will need to carry out an effective period of calling. Set a target of number of dials, or number of contacts or number of appointments made. Work out how you will motivate yourself to keep going till you achieve your target. After the batch of calls, review your performance, and use this review to plan your next session.

Spend the next week focusing on improving your recording and tracking system, with the target improving the conversion from your Active File to Clients. A good sales professional is always working at his or her role and is always working at improving.

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What To Look For In An ISO Provider In Credit Card Processing – Part 1 (Sales Support)

By Evan Schweitzer

Congratulations! You have made the transition from being a sales rep – the feet on the street so to speak – to opening an office on your own. You are now an Independent Sales Office (ISO). Priority #1 is the evaluation and selection of the company you are going to partner with and represent and how they can help you grow your business.

This is no more evident than in the credit card processing industry. As a leading credit card processor, we see firsthand that the landscape for ISOs is constantly changing. Unfortunately, many ISO’s now find themselves in financially difficult times. Why? Because they either a) didn’t take the time to research their partner provider; and b) may simply not have known the right questions to ask. After all, picking the right partner is critical to your present and future success.

With this in mind, we are authoring and posting a series of articles on what to look for in an ISO provider in this industry. Following are questions pertaining to the sales, marketing and informational support that should be considered.

Key “Support” Questions when researching ISO provider partners:

· Comprehensive On-Demand Agent Portal

One of the most essential things to look for when selecting a provider is the information portal ISOs like yourself can access anytime online that contains all the information you need on a daily basis. Many providers today have nothing more than a simple database with minimal information.

To optimize your sales efforts, you need a partner who offers a comprehensive on-demand agent portal. For example, we provide our ISOs and direct sales reps with access to a proprietary ISO Agent portal where you can:

- Schedule daily appointments

- Track and manage submitted deals from stage 1 to activation

- Review commission breakdown in detail

- Access all training material / documents

- Receive a detailed breakdown of residual report

- Keep track of sales reps performance from month to month

Much more than a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, the ideal agent portal should also be able to:

- Submit merchant applications online to expedite customers through the approval process

- Provide batch reporting on a daily basis

- Flag alerts to customer service issues

· Marketing

When it comes to marketing, first and foremost is the quality and key focus of your prospective partner’s website. After all, this is generally the first place prospective customers go to. Is it a) professional and b) most importantly, is it merchant facing? Too many times, these sites can be geared more for ISO recruitment than new business lead generation. And obviously, lead generation is priority #1.

Other questions regarding marketing to consider: Do they provide you with compelling collateral that helps you communicate the benefits of your organization to your customers and prospects? Is this information downloadable in easily printable PDF format on their website to you? Can print and go when you need it? Do they supply pitch books which help you tell the story in a consistent, easy-to-follow layout? And, are the materials they do provide updated in an expeditious manner or are they using statistics from 1995?

· Training

Training is another key area for your success. Do they help train YOUR staff to grow and position you for future growth? How often is the training – daily, weekly, monthly, never? Let’s face it, having training sessions available on a daily basis, and not just once a month, makes for a most knowledgeable, more successful ISO. In addition, try to uncover the quality of the training and the credentials of the trainer? Do they have a dedicated full professional trainer on staff that has successfully trained thousands of ISOs and sales reps or are sessions conducted by an employee who does that it on his spare time?

If you can do you due diligence, follow the above guidelines regarding sales and marketing support, you should be able to gather enough information to pinpoint the right partner to work with you and help grow your business in these key areas. Please refer to other articles in this series where compensation and other significant areas are explored.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Evan Schweitzer (CPA) is the Chief Financial Officer for Federated Payments. Evan has spent the last 20 years aiding the growth of mid-sized companies and taking them to the next level. He is an expert in all things financial and works with the management team, ISO’s, and sales representatives to focus their efforts of profitable strategic growth initiatives. Prior to joining Federated Payments, Evan worked for Lipman Electronic Engineering (now VeriFone) and its global affiliates as Chief Financial Officer.

Federated Payments is a premier provider of credit card processing solutions and related merchant account services for small to medium size businesses within the U.S. and Canada. Federated takes a consultative approach in developing long-standing relationships with our merchant customers, Independent Sales Offices and Cash Advance Partners enhancing the way they do business. Federated offers a diverse suite of cost-effective solutions that include credit and debit card processing, equipment leasing, gift and loyalty card programs, cash advances and check approval services as well as its industry-leading Agent Partner Portal.

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ITC Channel Partners – A Reluctance to Engage

By Michael Joseph Kelly

What is the biggest challenge facing channel marketing Director’s today? Anecdotal feedback from many indicates that it is the reluctance of channel partners to engage in co-marketing campaigns with them, despite substantial MDF funds being on offer.

This article examines some of the key reasons why partners are reluctant to engage in co-marketing campaigns, and what the technology vendors can do to reduce these obstacles.

Objection 1: “We have already committed our marketing budget for the quarter or year”.

This comes down to a lack of planning on the part of the Vendor’s channel team. Most company’s financial year is calendar, so every October and November the Vendor’s channel team should be working with key partners on their joint marketing calendar, including budgets, for the following year.

Events and campaigns should be mapped out, using the Vendors marketing calendar as the basis. Good overlap opportunities for co-marketing events and campaigns should be identified, and nailed down. The entire year’s co-marketing plans will therefore be mapped out before the year gets underway.

Channel marketing teams should remember that they are competing with other Vendor’s for their partners time, resources and budget. The partner only has so many resources to share between IBM, HP and Oracle for example, and the early bird will catch the most worms.

Objection 2: “We just don’t have the time and resources”.

Many Vendors don’t understand how much pressure the smaller partners in particular are under. They have to make a profit every quarter, and have a very limited marketing team, if any. They need to focus on making sales – now. Marketing campaigns need to be simple to prepare, launch and manage.

“Campaigns in a Box” are a great way to get partners marketing joint solutions professionally and efficiently. However, this is only part of the solution. The Vendor has to make it easy for the partner to customise, launch, report and claim back funds on the campaign. Often, the solution is to bring in a third party agency that can hand-hold the partner through all of this, and take over much of the administration.

Objection 3: “The minimum project size is too large.”

Some smaller partners find it difficult to even get on the ladder with co-marketing campaigns. While the Vendor may think that a €10,000 investment is nothing, the partner has to consider that they need four campaigns a year with each of their three strategic vendors. At €10,000 per campaign, this is a €120,000 investment. Depending on the margins, expected sales, and size of company, this simply may not be feasible.

Vendors need to offer a range of campaigns to partners, with the minimum investment closer to €2,000. This means that multiple marketing tactics must be on offer, to scale with the investment available.

Objection 4: “We don’t get enough support from the Vendor”

Part of this can be explained by the fact that many of the Vendor’s channel management teams are currently over stretched. During the downturn caused by the credit crises, channel marketing teams have been decimated at many of the large technology Vendors.

Many of the Vendors are now turning to specialise third party channel marketing agencies to provide either strategic or ad-hoc support to their channel teams, and also directly to partners. Support ranges from marketing workshops with partners, aimed at making the most of co-marketing campaigns, to administrative support, demand generation and lead management.

Objection 5: “The amount of co-funding is too small / other Vendors co-marketing offers are better, or better funded.”

There is a wide divergence in both the quality of co-marketing campaigns and level of market development funds available from the different Vendors. Some vendors offer 75% funding on co-marketing campaigns, while others offer zero.

Policy is policy, and there is not much channel marketing managers and directors can do about funding levels if the company policy is limited or no co-funding. However, they can increase the quality and support of campaigns. Free marketing workshops, free lead management, free drip-marketing and higher quality leads can all be provided by specialist third party agencies, and all improve the quality of experience and ROI for the partner.

Objection 6: “The Vendors drive peak-and-trough marketing.”

In the ITC sectors, many solutions have a six to eighteen month sales cycle (at least). Partners can become overwhelmed with the volume of leads from once-off campaigns that quickly generate lots of leads, and then no leads at all until next year. Partners simply do not have the resources to handle the peak, and do not have professional lead management and “drip-marketing” systems to nurture longer term opportunities over time.

Vendors need to take a longer-term view on co-marketing campaigns. The objective should be to provide partners with a steady stream of qualified opportunities, with quantities matched to partner resources. The Vendor, either directly or using a third party agency, should also provide lead management and nurturing support so that return-on-investment is maximised through closed sales from both near-term and long-term sales opportunities.

Michael Kelly is co-founder and Managing Director of TSL Marketing, a specialist IT Channel Marketing agency. Founded in 1999 and employing more than 150 staff worldwide, TSL provides global and local support to ITC Vendors and their channel partners. The company provides demand generation, marketing consulting, lead management and partner engagement services through a network of offices and partners worldwide.

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Design Effective Sales Compensation Plans

By Clive Miller

Why do people choose a sales career? Some non-sales people reply “because they can’t do anything else.”

The most common answer from sales people is “the money.” Most professions require years of study just to earn the title, Architect, Chartered Accountant, Civil Engineer, Solicitor, Barrister or Doctor. Once qualified these professionals still have to build their experience and reputation before they can command the high remuneration associated with their occupation.

Sales people have no such barriers to entry yet those who succeed often earn similar incomes. Some can favourably compare their pay with top Barristers. Earnings in excess of 250,000 pounds sterling are not uncommon in fast growing industries.

Why do sales people get paid so much? Presumably, because companies find that sales people generate business more efficiently than other means. Most employers reward sales success with commission payments because it works. Do the commission earners deserve it?

Sales people, on average, support the jobs of 27 other people, according to one study. If you take into account those working for suppliers, this statistic holds some credibility. It’s not suggesting sales professionals could do their jobs without those 27 people, just that if their sales weren’t made, the jobs couldn’t exist.

Commission plans invariably attract criticism, from both those who benefit and those who don’t. Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business extols the wisdom of not tampering with pay systems. On the whole this is sound advice. In the case of commission plans, it is seldom possible to follow.

Most schemes are initially based on simple principles, and then suffer continuous modification, as circumstance change or unwanted side effects are discovered. Hurried or ill-considered plans need more changes.

Let’s consider the options from a management perspective. Commission based motivation gives sales people what they want – a sense of control over their own destiny and non-judgmental performance feedback. Should we be surprised when they act in accordance with their compensation plan and personal needs, rather than in response to management directives?

Changing strategic objectives prompt changes to commission schemes. Instructing sales people to focus on services has little effect if most of their income depends on product sales. Quick fixes in the form of special incentive payments can make the situation worse, as they did at one company I worked for.

The extra incentives intended to increase sales force attention on low-end high volume products, pushed payroll costs over budget, without having the desired effect.

Many variables effect sales behaviour and motivation. The mix of base salary and performance pay, the measurement period, when commission is paid, the method of measurement, accelerators, how high the ‘on target’ bar is set, and capping all play a part. Inconsistent levels of payment for different products and services ads a further layer of complexity. Commission plan design warrants a great deal more attention than it usually gets.

Mix of base salary to performance pay

Attention swings towards winning immediate business as the ratio of commission to salary increases. Aggressive accelerators accentuate the urgency of meeting or exceeding every sales target. Just like water, sales people motivated this way will always find the quickest root down the hill. Opportunity for gain concentrates the mind. Longer-term considerations such as new market development, and even new products, may be ignored unless they generate clear upside earning potential. Advocating team behaviour under these circumstances is like trying to push water up hill.

High base salaries with small commission elements encourage long-term focus and good corporate citizen behaviour. Relationships and reputation are better maintained. Strategic sales opportunities receive more attention. In my first sales position bonus payments based on company performance and individual salary provided team oriented motivation. Sales people were more inclined to visit customers who had no immediate business to place. In larger companies, this approach can direct focus away from profit and revenue milestones towards being seen to do the right thing.

The measurement period

Orders tend to bunch up at the end of measurement periods. Sales people naturally focus on the business at hand and neglect prospecting. Pressure to close business in time for measurement period end dates, pushes pipeline work into second place. Countering this with monthly or weekly sales targets leads to lower value orders as sales people increasingly attend to opportunities with shorter sales cycles.

Quarterly, half-yearly or annual measurement periods tend to result in long famines and larger orders. Activity targets, that are designed to improve order flow, but are left subordinate to the compensation plan, are largely ignored or receive lip service. Attaching payments to activity targets may encourage manipulation.

When they get their commission

Paying commission against orders causes sales people to move quickly on to their next opportunity and reduces their interest in delivery and implementation.

Deferring payment until the customer pays disconnects sales success from the reward, devaluing the commission scheme. With some schemes, sales people may not receive the commission associated with a sale for six months or more.

In my early days at Sun Microsystems, many of us spent a disproportionate amount of time checking indecipherable commission statements and querying pay cheques. We also became involved in the collection of debts.

As you might expect, such circumstances work against the purpose of commission plans. Happily, for the sales force, and for Sun, the scheme was improved.

The measurement method

Basing ‘performance pay’ on profit steers sales people to sell whatever products or services have the highest margin, regardless of management intent. For resellers and distributors this has the advantage of providing automatic feedback of market preferences and opportunities. It also helps control cost of sales.

For larger companies it frustrates marketing strategy. Paying commission on revenue reduces interest in the price paid and helps the pursuit of market share and strategic customers. On the down side, profit margins become more difficult to control.

Accelerators

Changing the value of commission according to performance spurs sales people on to greater effort when the effected number is perceived to be in reach or achieved. This may result in more price pressure from the sales person, so that he or she can buy business forward.

Accelerators can also encourage sandbagging. If a sales person thinks the target associated with the accelerated commission rate is out of reach, he or she is likely to sandbag to preserve orders for the next measurement period. Overall accelerators increase motivation, sales, and earnings. Accelerators are difficult to budget for If more than the expected proportion of a sales team achieve accelerated commission.

Clear goals, careful consideration, consultation, and testing are essential for designing all but the simplest commission schemes.

If the task falls to you, adopt a cynical mood and imagine you are a recipient. Think through how the planned scheme or changes will effect your earnings and actions. Ask peers to do the same. Get some of your sales people to give you feedback. Ask your accountant or financial director to pick holes in envisioned schemes before they are published.

Repairing mistakes after a compensation plan is issued is almost always expensive. Sales people will have made target commitments based on the published compensation plan. If adjustments could mean less money, they will have a de-motivating effect.

Effort invested in planning pays dividends in sales results and reduced need for management intervention. Whenever sales compensation needs revision, remember the 1 – 10 – 100 rule. Right first time costs once. Right second time costs ten times. Right third time costs one hundred times.

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