Territory Sales Planning Success Starts with Upper Management per Wes Schaeffer, Ep #292
Wes Schaeffer states that his purpose in life is to rehabilitate salespeople and train their managers. Most managers are hired from within because they were successful. They were successful because they were hungry, aggressive, and impatient\u2014not necessarily because they were the smartest or most detail-oriented salespeople. Those attributes are at odds with the management role. Those skills can harm them because they are aggressive and impatient with their team.\xa0
They\u2019re putting pressure on their salespeople but don\u2019t have the skills to teach them. Salespeople are left on their own to make it or break it. Territory planning isn\u2019t taught. If it is, it\u2019s taught from a book\u2014not from someone who did it successfully. So how do you change that? Find out from Wes in this episode of Sales Reinvented.
Outline of This Episode- [1:08] Why territory sales planning is underrated by salespeople
- [2:43] How to reduce reactivity with territory sales planning
- [5:13] Wes\u2019s ideal territory sales plan
- [8:08] Wes\u2019s version of the ABCs
- [10:38] Why you need to just start writing
- [13:50] Top three sales planning dos and don\u2019ts
- [18:01] How to take control of your territory
Most people are reactive to everything in their lives\u2014it\u2019s not even necessarily a sales problem. The type of people that are drawn into sales are outgoing \u201cpeople\u2019s people.\u201d They\u2019re not engineers or accountants but simply good at making friends. Their personality is not methodical and goal-oriented. They're relationship-oriented. Now, they\u2019re being asked to plan.\xa0
Wes wrote \u201cThe Seven Deadly Sins of Selling.\u201d The first sin is shooting from the hip i.e. winging it. Most salespeople have been hired as a cultural fit. A sales manager probably isn\u2019t detail-oriented or has a methodical process for hiring and onboarding. There isn\u2019t a culture built around territory planning.\xa0
Wes\u2019s ideal territory sales planWes instructs managers to manage activities and pay on results. Just like losing weight, closing a sale is a lagging indicator. If you want to lose 10 kilos in 90 days, stepping on the scale at 90 days only proves how diligent you were at following the process. What did you eat for every meal? How did you exercise? Maybe you hired a fitness coach or a dietician. Maybe you have a tracking app, planned your meals, and planned when to exercise and how much. If you\u2019re diligent for 90 days, you\u2019ll hit your goals.\xa0
Sales managers don\u2019t give salespeople the activities to do. Wes tells people to batch phone calls: before breakfast, during lunch, and at the end of the day to get around gatekeepers. He has different scripts for each call. They\u2019re telling a story through multimedia and different steps. Wes gives his community a way to track their time in 15-minute increments. Whatever you measure, you can improve. Break your big plans down into 15-minute increments, i.e. what you have to accomplish to reach your lofty goals. When you are diligent with this, you\u2019re more likely to be successful.\xa0
The characteristics a salesperson should haveWes emphasizes that the mantra \u201cAlways be closing\u201d is crap. This idea was propagated when people the age of our grandfathers were in sales. Yet we still live by the adage. Wes\u2019s version of the ABCs is \u201cAlways be\xa0curious. Always be\xa0courteous. Always be\xa0concise.\u201d Ask more questions. Take a step back and ask, \u201cWhere are you a product fit? Why do people buy your stuff? What pain do you solve?\u201d Start there.\xa0Where do these people congregate?\xa0
Wes was working for a startup in Austin, TX. The technology was beneficial in the healthcare space. Wes looked at technology in healthcare and there was a huge community with state and regional chapters. He joined those chapters and became active in those communities. He went where the fish were. You can\u2019t just go to the local swimming pool and drop a pole in the water because it\u2019s convenient.\xa0
Tools, tactics, and strategies Wes embracesWes gives out a free guide called \u201cProcess Before Login.\u201d The concept is that you need to document your steps and track your activities before you log in to any tool. Because a tool won\u2019t save you. You know what your territory is. You have to figure out how to get in front of people. Can you knock on their door or go to events where they congregate? Once you plan daily and weekly activities, you can manage them.\xa0How many phone calls can you make? How many emails can you send? How many handwritten letters can you write? Do you have scripts for text messages? How are you engaging people on social media?\xa0
If you're in B2B, LinkedIn\xa0can\xa0be good. But Wes gets more crappy messages on LinkedIn than anywhere else. Why? Because people don\u2019t know how to communicate. People are spending money to get in front of Wes with an awful message. Learn how to communicate. Blog. Write a post for LinkedIn. It can even be a FAQ post. Prepare written answers to objections ahead of time and link it to a blog or LinkedIn post you\u2019ve written. Your prospect will be impressed. They\u2019ll think you know what you\u2019re talking about. If you do anything, Wes implores you to just start writing. Write a daily article for LinkedIn that your prospects would be interested in. Your life will change in 30 days.\xa0
What are Wes\u2019s three sales planning dos and don\u2019ts? Listen to find out\u2014they might really surprise you.
How do you take control of your territory? How do you disqualify a prospect to focus on the important accounts? Listen to hear Wes\u2019s process!
Resources & People Mentioned- Get your\xa0Process Before Login Map
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Selling
- The CRM Sushi Podcast
- The Sales Podcast
Audio Production and Show notes by
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