This is a guest post written by Aaron Ross of Predictable Revenue and Matt Smith of Full Stack Sales.
There’s a system to help reduce the variability in your business called Predictable Revenue.
[Editor's Note: Those interested in combining Predictable Revenue sales strategy with Pipedrive will find a special surprise at the end of this article.]
Here are 10 ways you can immediately implement the Predictable Revenue system:
Finding new customers can be difficult — so you need to focus on developing a system for lead generation. One way to improve your lead generation efforts is to implement new technology into your process. Leveraging LinkedIn lead gen apps like LeadFuze will allow you to piggyback on LinkedIn data to build your lead lists. Clearbit Sheets is another killer product for lead gen — all through your friendly Google Sheets interface.
What most entrepreneurs don’t understand is that sales growth comes from lead growth. The more leads you have, the more deals you will close. Ergo, if you want Predictable Revenue, you need a steady predictable flow of leads.
The saying “sales is a numbers game” is true. More sales email will lead to more revenue. By using these cold email tips from sales performance experts, you could work to increase leads by sending more emails.
Keep It Short, Sweet and Simple.
Write no more than five sentences. Don’t use industry jargon or buzzwords. Talk about what the prospect will receive — not what you do. Pitch the benefits of your solution — not the features.
As venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said, “Software is eating the world.” There is a specific app for each part of the sales process — apps for lead gen, apps for email automation, apps for contract management . . . It goes on and on.
If you are interested in learning more about Predictable Revenue & sales tech, check out my free course.
The easiest place to find new revenue is with your existing customers. Develop a specific plan that includes an outreach cadence with built-in upsells. For example, after the initial deal is closed:
Predictable Revenue is a best-selling book and is the sales bible for Silicon Valley according to Inc.com.
You can get the Predictable Revenue e-book for free here.
This dashboard must include:
This is the number of people/businesses your team found that fit your ideal customer profile.
This is the number of people/businesses that contacted your business about your products/services. They are looking to buy from you. These are not existing customers.
This is the number of closed deals.
On average, how much is each win worth in dollar terms?
How long does it take to close each deal?
These metrics can be tracked in a simple Excel or Google Sheet.
Sales consists of three defined functions.
If you have multiple sales team members you should specialize their roles by having them focus exclusively on one of the above functions.
If you are the only person doing the selling, you must specialize in terms of your time. An example 12-hour day may look like this:
To improve your sales process you first must have a sales process. To improve your email open rate you must standardize your email subject lines.
Testing components of your sales process like email subject lines allows you to optimize and improve your process.
Use templates for everything, from emails to phone call scripts, so your sales reps can be more efficient. These templates set the baseline and the standard for all your sales communication.
You absolutely have to keep following up with every prospective customer until you get an answer. A “no” is fine. But “no response” is unacceptable. “No response” most likely means your sales reps were too lazy to keep following up. You should ALWAYS be able to get a response. If that prospect says, “not interested,” that is a response.
Define an outreach cadence for your new leads. It may look something like this:
A cadence like this removes the guess work for your sales reps. Now they know exactly:
Sales is evolving at a rapid pace just like the Internet. Because it’s part art and part science, it requires multidisciplinary study. Technology, marketing, psychology and finance all play a part. Study the new sales apps. Learn copywriting skills. Read psychology and persuasion books. Practice spreadsheet wizardry.
[Editor's Note: If you are interested in utilizing Predictable Revenue strategy with Pipedrive, check out the free Predictable Revenue Pipedrive Mastery Course ($300 retail value).]
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