Posted Friday, July 23, 2010 by SalesPop
In today's profile of sales excellence we interview Brian Baker, managing partner and principal at Plus One Partners, a management consulting firm that aids businesses in increasing revenue through sales engine optimization. Brian is an innovative trainer and leader, motivating his team and industry professionals to consistently exceed expectations.
Under Brian's leadership while working for Hosted Solutions, the company rocketed from $9 million in company-wide sales to more than $49 million only three years later. Brian's contributions catalyzed the company's sale for $144 million.
Prior to starting your own company, you contributed to a massive jump in sales growth for Hosted Solutions. What was your strategy?
My game plan was very straightforward – focus on a solution sales process. The solution should address a client's business challenges and pain points. For example, by outsourcing your IT services to us, you will be able to focus your team on your core initiatives thus resulting in improved efficiency, greater profitability, reduced operating or capital expenditures, etc. Even though we were providing an IT service, we were helping a client solve a business issue.
Our goal was to become a trusted advisor to every prospective client. Although we were a technology company, we taught the sales team to focus on the client's business drivers rather than technology itself. We would understand the client's business challenges and then determine how to best leverage technology to solve these. This became one of our key differentiators, and one of the key strategies that allowed us to succeed. We adopted a client-focused approach that really leveraged the benefits of our services, and we made sales by demonstrating how we could help them get where they ultimately wanted to go. We invested and committed to in-person client engagement. Our belief was to invest in a sales team that would develop relationships with clients in each of our markets. We would remain top of mind as a partner that a problem solver.
Did this change as the company expanded?
The core sales methodology remained constant and was really one of the reasons why we were able to expand. The only change was the size of the client, but the model was consistent. After the first year, we made an effort to move up market from the small business to the middle market client, so the targets were different but the approach stayed the same.
Do you use social tools/technologies within you sales process?
As a managed IT services company, we were well educated on how to best utilize available communications technology during our sales process. Interestingly enough, the key to our success was still the personal, face-to-face relationships we built with our clients. Becoming a trusted advisor for the client was our biggest differentiator and to build trust, it's very often the best idea to stick with some of the tried and true basics.
We did implement a fairly robust CRM platform, which was helpful for the sales team as well as the business. We also leveraged social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter for both our marketing and direct prospecting efforts.
You currently consult for small- and mid-sized businesses. What advice can you provide to help sales professionals optimize their sales force?
At the heart of any good sales organization are fundamental practices that can be taught, repeated, measured, grown and forecasted. Sales should be thought of the same as operations or finance, you can build a sales strategy through a systematic approach resulting in optimal performance and scalability. Good sales people and good sales divisions work well within defined plan, and that is one of the key aspects to success that people sometimes overlook.
This plan includes prioritization and time management, prospect definition and effective messaging, relationship management, solution development, problem solving, and negotiation of commitment by the client to engage us as the partner of choice.. A good plan also includes skills, tactics and strategies that can be developed, as well as key milestones that can be measured, qualified, and leveraged to bring in new business. A process and a well defined plan are vital for small and middle market success, and they are far too often either neglected or just glanced over in favor of a patchwork solution.
What are the key differentiators between selling today versus in 2005 when you started with Hosted Solutions?
Good sales techniques and hard work will always produce results, regardless of technology or time. The key is adapting these things to work in an ever-changing market place. A good example of the difference in the market today compared to five years ago was the downturn in the economy between 2008 and 2009. We quickly adjusted to the market dynamics and understood that the client would require more diligence before selecting a partner – and getting past this requires a change in tactics. If you were not prepared to deliver a solution in a manner in which the client could see your value readily and easily, then you were going to lose. We were able to make these alterations to our methods and ensure our continued success.
What is the single biggest component to a company's sales success?
Too often these days companies are seeking the 'quick fix' to solve sales challenges. Unfortunately this doesn't exist in trying to achieve strong sales fundamentals and good, sustainable growth. Sales require constant care and feeding. Just as a professional athlete has to practice and develop their skills to be the best, so does a sales team. From the perspective of a manager or executive that doesn't really understand the methodologies, sales can be this vague area that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. You need a consistent strategy in place, and you need to work at it. It's a process, and companies who view it that way will succeed and others who don't embrace that will find it more difficult. My biggest advice is to get back to the basics, focus on the Fundamentals, and keep the development ongoing!
For more information on Plus One Partners, visit www.plusonepartners.com.
To see the original interview, visit SalesPop.com.
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About Plus One Partners
Plus One Partners provides strategic, structural and management support to growing companies looking to expand, maximize and achieve their sales and marketing potential. With a unique approach focused on the development of fundamental practices plus implementation of a strong communication strategy, Plus One Partners maximizes market engagement through positive brand association and a proven process catered to meet the individual needs of each client. Plus One Partners offers CEOs and sales leaders with access to executive talent without the executive salary. For more information, visit www.plusonepartners.com.
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