SalesNote )
June 2009
In this issue
  • Sales Webinar, 6/10
  • Selling Time
  • Sales Rule #18
  • Quotation

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    Extended New Sales Ramp-Up
    Many executives believe the ramp-up time for a new sales rep to full productivity is less than 3 months. This is predominately a myth. Ramp-up times of 6 months or less have decreased from 60% to 30% over the past 5 years (CSO Insights).

    Big problem. What happened?

    Product line complexity, increased competition and growing customer sophistication have been some reasons why even experienced new hires struggle to get ramped-up. Interestingly enough, sales product training and industry experience are not key fixes. Rather, competency testing and easy access to sales knowledge and information are more critical to fast start success.

    Are you hiring smart reps and giving them easy access to the information they need to effectively sell?


    		Sales Webinar, 6/10

    Playboox Your Playbooks Webinar - Wednesday, June 10th @ 8:30am PDT
    Come see how companies large and small are increasing the likelihood that their sales reps are saying, asking and doing the right things at the right time.

    Join us for a free 1-hour webinar this week and learn:

    • What's is Playboox?
    • How are sales teams automating sales playbooks?
    • What's in it for a Major Accounts Manager?
    • What's in for an Inside Sales Rep?
    • What's in it for a VP of Sales and other Executives?
    • What's in it for Sales Operations?
    • What's in it for Marketing?

    MXL Partners' Mike Griego and Playboox' Dan Zamudio will host and demonstrate a exciting solution that customers are calling "a game changer."

    Join us June 10th at 8:30am for Playboox Your Playbooks Webinar

    		Selling Time

    Sales Time Allocation
    10 years ago sales reps spent 47% of their time focused on selling. Today that number is down to 37% giving way to other non-selling activities. So says CSO Insights in their 2009 Sales Performance Optimization study.

    How do sales reps spend their time today?

    • Selling: Face-to-Face Meetings or over the Phone - 37%
    • Generating Leads and Researching Accounts - 20%
    • Administrative Task and Meetings - 17%
    • Account Service Calls - 15%
    • Other (Travel, Training) - 11%
    The research supports the logical correlation that more time spent in front of customers translates to more revenues. CSO Insights suggests making higher quality sales calls with tools automating needs analysis call guides and questionaires. MXL agrees. It's the best way to streamline process and arm reps with the information they need to sell.

    		Sales Rule #18

    Rule #18 - Reading Makes Perfect
    .... I learned this lesson as a naive college student during a summer job selling books door-to-door....We were told that if we read a little bit each morning, by the end of the summer we will have finished these three motivational books given to us...I did read those 3 books that summer... Better yet, I developed the habit of reading good material to get my head and heart right. I've been reading these types of sales, business and inspirational books 15 minutes every morning since that summer of 1976. My personal library has expanded greatly over the years. More importantly, my mind has expanded and grown strong and wise through the consistent feeding of good content that educates, stimulates, motivates and encourages. Indeed, the cumulative effect of consistently reading good material for the profession you have chosen, even only 15 minutes per day, is profound. (book excerpt)

    Michael Griego, MXL Partners' founder/president and sales consultant and trainer to Fortune 500 firms and leading Silicon Valley technology firms, has reduced the keys to sales effectiveness to 42 rules in his forthcoming book 42 Rules to Increase Sales Effectiveness. This book, to be released in September 2009 by SuperStar Press, applies modern fundamentals to sales and sales management.

    		Quotation

    Good or Bad Leadership?
    "A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him."
    - General Douglas MacArthur

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