Dec. 6, 2017
Do you feel like your agency sales needs to grow beyond you, the owner? Are you having a hard time recruiting and training successful salespeople? Then it’s time to start putting the right systems in place in order to build a scalable agency sales team.
In this episode, we’ll cover:
Today I got to talk with Wayne Herring, owner of Herring Coach, where he specializes in coaching and consulting business owners who are looking to scale their agency sales team. Wayne is the guy who teaches business owners to hire, train, hold accountable, and basically build their sales team. Today he’s giving us tips on how you can do the same for your agency.
It’s hard to know when it’s the right time to hire for agency sales, as all agencies are in different situations.
But, I can tell you when not to:
DON’T hire your first sales rep if you’re already overwhelmed. If you can’t spend time with a new sales hire and you’re not prepared to invest a significant amount of time into their on-boarding, coaching, role playing, etc. then you aren’t ready to hire.
DON’T hire a sales rep if you don’t have systems in place. If you're not prepared to hire, train and retain good salespeople you're setting up for failure.
You need to have a strong foundation, including a definition of who you are as an agency and where you are going. You need to know this so you can give direction and keep everyone on the same page.
Have a set audience for them to sell to. Every business is not your ideal customer, define this for your new salesperson and set them up for success.
Start small... Give them one thing, one goal, to focus on. Don’t overwhelm by throwing the whole shebang at them.
Getting someone oriented and quickly on-boarding them to sell a small first step (such as your foot in the door offer) does a couple of things:
Again, don’t go looking for a sales superhero. Instead, help them grow into one.
Another trip-up can be hiring based on gut, without really defining the type of person you are looking for. Think ahead about qualities you need, and don’t completely focus on likability and personality, this can get you stuck.
Pay attention to how they interview. Are they running the show? Are they asking a lot of questions? A good salesperson will do both these things! A lot of times we feel like we need to sell our agency to the candidate by telling them how wonderful it is. This is where there needs to be a shift in mindset...
Treat yourself and the interview process as a prospect you would want them to go after. Let them run the conversation, see how they lead and if they follow-up. Let the process demonstrate how they would work with a prospective client. Then decide if there's a fit and a future.
Salesperson recruiting is a marketing activity. It is something that deserves serious attention.
Everyone needs a little time to prove their worth, but for agency sales it usually depends on two things:
If you have a long sales cycle then you might benefit from creating “ramp up" report, which breaks down the early steps of the sales process, (contacts, meetings, audits, etc.) and charts them in a grid format and plots progress over time. With this data, eventually you’ll discover that salesperson’s “ramp up curve” which indicates whether they’re following a path you know is going to lead to long term success.
Measuring activity can tell you a lot. If they don’t start off coming out the gate fast and hard, it’s a tell tale sign they’re going to struggle.
Be sure to avoid “happy ears” or overly optimistic situations. I’ve been guilty of hanging on to someone because of all the big deals they have “in the works” but never actually come to fruition. See things for what they are and measure the activity.
Ask your salespeople the questions: who, what, where why, and when… “What’s the next step?” or “When’s that going to happen?” When you’re consistently coaching it will become abundantly clear whether they’re going to be successful.
When you’re going to start building a sales team:
Are you overwhelmed by all the information out there on various ways to grow your agency? Do you want direction on how you can grow your agency faster and easier?
Then you’re in luck! I created an innovative mentorship called Agency University.
Agency University is a program which provides the 1-on-1 mentorship and ongoing support that is crucial to the success of your agency. Click here to see if it’s the right fit for you.