“A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi
Travel is meant to inspire. It’s a way to expand our knowledge, meet new people, and gather insights and wisdom that you can’t learn from a textbook. That’s why Salesloft hit the road with Modern Sales Pros (MSP), so we could learn from the very best in sales!
Over the last few months, Salesloft partnered with MSP, an invite-only group for sales management and operations professionals, to embark on an eight-city Salon Tour. What’s a salon? We’re glad you asked! It’s a formal gathering where individuals can have in-depth discussions.
The tour brought us all over the country, and along the way, we discussed a wide range of sales topics. The main focus? To learn the best practices and strategies leading organizations employ to increase the effectiveness of their sellers.
We were amazed by all the wisdom and advice that the top modern sales pros shared. So amazed, in fact, that we just had to share our favorite pieces of advice and quotes with you! Below are some of the best pieces of advice and quotes that we overheard over the course of the MSP Salon Tour.
Onboarding, Coaching, and Mentorship
It’s not a sales tour without a discussion about onboarding and coaching new sales reps. Increasing sales knowledge and continuously improving performance is the key to building a successful sales team. The Modern Sales Pros understand this, and share their best pieces of advice to help leaders coach and onboard effectively.
“What motivates the individual is a big key driver. Praise in public, critique in private.”
– Brian, MSP Austin
“Don’t focus too much on how to sell, or how the product works – most importantly, the training needs to be focused on the customer and why they approach your product. Reps won’t ramp or be successful without an understanding the customer’s ‘why.’ Get them to put themselves in your customers’ shoes right off the bat.”
– MSP NYC
“To succeed, a company must create a culture of learning and support with an eye to long-term success vs. trying to squeeze short-term gains from new team members.”
– MSP Seattle
“How do you ensure the mid-levels are becoming high performers? Good fishermen know where to cast their line. Pair up the good fisherman with your low-level performers, and they’ll help each other.”
– Shawn, MSP Atlanta
“The top reps instinctually do it [mentor], so how do you replicate that? Establish a mentorship program. Reps don’t always want to do it, but if you include it in their promotion track, they’ll buy in. This should be a top to mid performer program, and different from the new hire buddy system.”
– MSP San Francisco
Seller Effectiveness
We all want our sellers to be as effective and productive as possible. Whether it’s replicating the techniques of top performers or celebrating wins, there are a lot of ways our MSPers are bringing the best out in their sales teams.
“Look at your best rep and your worst rep: they both have a process. Take what your best rep does and scale it out to everyone else. How you execute that is up to you, but the concept is the same.”
– MSP Atlanta
“Show your teams what great salesmanship looks like – highlight the people doing great stuff, and make sure what they’ve done is shared. ‘This person had 50% talktime, way to go!’ Call out wins with the group, and that will motivate the mid-performers to reach those levels or seek support from top performers.”
– MSP NYC
“Never underestimate the power of role-playing. It’s huge for confidence in new reps.”
– Colby, MSP Atlanta
Technology
Sales technology continuously evolves. As such, the best technologies to promote sales success is always a hot topic along the Salon Tour.
“We like Salesloft and how it allows us to automatically strategize for our reps. There are so many options depending on the customer profile. It’s so flexible; I get to decide where I want to put people and then the reps execute.”
– Nathan, MSP Austin
General Takeaways
Sometimes great advice doesn’t need a category. These are pieces of wisdom we just had to share!
“Qualifying is what separates good salespeople from GREAT salespeople.”
– Shawn, MSP Atlanta
“Teach your reps that it’s not a discovery call, it’s a two-way conversation. Look for cues in the conversation to dig deeper into the problem. Role-playing is huge for this!”
– MSP NYC
“People don’t do enough reference selling! Encourage your reps to ask, ‘would you mind making an intro?’”
– MSP San Francisco
“Idea: have reps do a demo to take down a major competitor. The best demo gets $1,000.”
– Dan, MSP NYC
The MSP tour isn’t over! We still have one stop left, and this time it’s virtual! Stop in and join the conversation from the comfort of your own home, and learn more about what modern sales pros are discussing. We’d love hearing bits of wisdom and advice, so share your best sales advice in the comments below!
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