A Guide To Growth Hacking A Sales Team

A Guide To Growth Hacking A Sales Team
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Growth Hacker Sean Ellis (pictured above) at TechCrunch Disrupt

Growth Hacker Sean Ellis (pictured above) at TechCrunch Disrupt

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Coined in 2010 by legendary Silicon Valley marketer Sean Ellis, “Growth Hacking” is defined as a process of rapid experimentation across marketing channels and product development to identify the most efficient ways to grow a business. This was originally thought of as a marketing concept; whereby a “growth hacker” would come in and set up hyper efficient user acquisition systems, processes, and mindsets, designed to be turned over and maintained by someone else. This absolute focus on efficiency and growth has given rise to a number of methods, tools, and best practices. So the question is - can these tactics and mindsets be applied to a sales team?

It all begins with a sound methodology; but then again - this is the basis for any well ran sales organization. Let’s examine the basic needs first, then we can move on to the more advanced tactics.

1 - Start with the right sales scripts.

Agents should know exactly what to say when the sales call goes to voicemail, as well as what to say when a prospect picks up the phone. It’s okay to spend a lot of time here. The finished product needs to be a script that provides proper introduction, encourages rapport building, and efficiently articulates the value. A great sales script will even get the prospect talking on the other line. Remember - the salesperson should always tailor the approach to the prospect and the product or service being sold. The goal is for the salesperson to come off as a helpful consultant – not as someone who is untrustworthy and just trying to meet a quota.

2 - Follow up with the right training and support.

It’s hard to build a successful organization if the sales agents do not understand what success looks like. Keep a close eye on performance, so you can quickly spot gaps in effort or ability, make assessments, and take action when necessary. Ensure your sales agents understand what is expected of them, both on an activity and performance level. Spend as much time as needed in the beginning, give plenty of feedback, and be open and willing to answer all questions.

3 - Don’t settle for good enough - encourage mastery.

Successful individuals (in any field/area) are those who nurture their craft and are always eager to self-help and improve. Encourage agents to read books and blogs, listen to podcasts, and seek out mentors who can teach strategy and mindset. Set goals for your agents and continually motivate them using positive reinforcement. Create an environment that encourages and thrives off of success.

Next, let’s sharpen our knives and move on to the right tools, sales tools allow the agents to be productive, and cut’s down on a sales team's most precious resource - time.

1 - Email Finder Tools

Most salespeople burn a considerable amount of time doing research, wasting countless hours scouring for potential clients and the proper contact information. Basic essential finder tools such as data.com allow you to query for a prospect’s contact information in their own database. More sophisticated tools such as Hunter.io stop can stop sales agents from wasting time with trial and error trying to guess a prospect’s email address, and instead automatically locates a likely email combination.These tools can also be utilized to find a prospect’s email from their LinkedIn profile (and, most importantly, verify that the email result is valid so it won’t bounce.)

2 – Scheduling Tools

Scheduling is a nightmare, and another massive driver of wasted time. The time spent going back and forth with a client trying to schedule a meeting or a call can kill hours in the day. Scheduling tools can save valuable time and provide valuable information critical before a meeting. Instead of wasting time going back and forth in order to set a meeting, use automation and let your client book a meeting that suits the sales person’s schedule. Tools such as Calendly index your calendar and display your availability to the prospect on the other side for efficient self scheduling. Calendly also allows for the setting of pre-meeting questions to help qualify a prospect before the meeting.

3 – Email Automation Tools

Examining how salespeople use email, you will discover numerous repetitive and time-consuming tasks, as well as missed opportunities. Tools like Prospect.io can really save time sending cold emails to prospects found online, on LinkedIn, and other methods is part of the sales person's duties. Outreach.io is the go-to tool for outbound email and lead gen. They are great for importing prospects and scaling outreach.

Perhaps the most important tool; and biggest difference maker on a hyper efficient sales team is the dialer system used. A good dialer by itself isn’t enough, however, when combined with a smart CRM system, it gives unparalleled ability to the sales agents to easily manage relationships. Tools such as PhoneBurner – dial for the sales agent, leave voicemails for the sales agent (without having to listen to the voicemail message of the person they’re calling), streamlines workflow, and automates lead management. The result is that it enables sales agents and teams to reach 4x more contacts with no added effort. It’s cloud-based software that also delivers the tools teams need to monitor agent activity, intelligently distribute leads, build relationships, track email engagement, and create more engaged sales pipelines - all major keys of sales team growth hacking.

Image of PhoneBurner dashboard

Image of PhoneBurner dashboard

phoneburner.com

What’s important to remember when applying a growth hacking methodology to a sales team is that it requires rapid testing an iteration; which is why testing and trying new softwares is extremely important. It’s about finding the best fit for your team that what you are trying to accomplish. Startups are constantly popping addressing old pain points in new and unique ways, so perhaps the most important factor to growth hacking the perfect sales organization is staying alert on the newest tools to hit the market, and quickly leveraging them before your competition.

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