SalesMail Blog

Have you ever wondered how top sales teams are so effective at turning leads into loyal customers?

Maximizing sales success relies on cultivating a competitively supportive team culture, leveraging downtime for strategic planning, and mastering the art of listening to build lasting customer relationships.

A recent conversation with Bill McGovern, Vice President of Sales at SalesMail, revealed strategies to elevate sales performance. Here are the key takeaways.

Creating a Culture of Selling

In American pop culture, there's often an emphasis on the lone, charismatic salesperson—the type who single-handedly closes deals with sheer charm. However, success in sales isn't just about individual prowess. It's more important to foster a team environment where collaboration and healthy competition coexist to maximize revenue for the company.

Meet Regularly with the Team

"We bring in the smartest people to keep ourselves fresh and our heads on a swivel," expert Bill McGovern shared. Regular team meetings involving a diverse range of company talent allow the team to level-set, exchange knowledge, and strategize on how to attack goals with a shared vision.

Individual Check-Ins Put Oil in the Engine

Complementing team sessions, Bill organizes individual meetings with every salesperson to address personal challenges and prevent roadblocks from building up. While team meetings focus on big-picture strategies, one-on-ones ensure things stay well-oiled. This mix of group & personalized approaches ensures that everyone is pulling in the same direction.

The Water Cooler Company

Casual interactions—like water cooler conversations—are crucial for building a healthy company culture. More actionably, hosting informal gatherings, like team lunches & dinners, go a long way in establishing a healthy culture. These events reinforce social connections between the team and strengthen the company bond.

"You need to be the most competitive, but support each other more." -Bill McGovern

Competition breeds productivity and fuels new wins for the business.

Salespeople are encouraged—and should be eager—to share successful tactics to elevate the entire team's performance. Think of it this way: if you learn something new and share it with ten colleagues, and they each do the same, you've effectively learned ten new things instead of just one. In the senior living and multifamily industries, where understanding the nuances of where leases can be found is vital, leveraging this network effect can give you the edge.

Embracing the Seasonality of Sales

Industries like senior living and multifamily often experience slower sales during certain seasons, known as "drought time." Bill's advice? "Take advantage of the downtime. Do the things that line you up to kick ass in the new year."

Use slower periods to:

1. Set up new outreach methods: like AI responders, which require significant effort to set up, making downtime an ideal opportunity to implement and optimize them efficiently.
2. Create marketing assets such as virtual tours, automated email campaigns, or personalized follow-ups using SalesMail.
3. Plan events to engage current residents so you're better prepared and organized when busy season hits.

"Recognize and embrace the seasonality of your business," Bill stressed. Preparing during downtime leads to better performance when business picks up.

Mastering the Art of Listening

A successful salesperson is genuinely curious about their customer, which is reflected by hearing their client out - the customer should speak 70% of the time during interactions. This natural curiosity not only encourages the customer to open up but also provides valuable insights into their needs and challenges. By listening more and talking less, salespeople position themselves as trusted advisors who understand the customer’s specific concerns.

"Be so curious about the other person that they don't have a choice but to talk about themselves." -Bill McGovern

Understanding the Three Critical Whys

Your curiosity will unlock:

1. Why do they need to make a decision?
2. Why do they need to make it now?
3. Why do they need to make it with us?

Understanding these critical questions empowers you to uncover who the economic buyer is, meet their specific needs, and provide you with context to forecast their success.

Who is the Economic Buyer?

The economic buyer is the individual with the final authority to approve a purchase or allocate budget. Understanding who the economic buyer is within a prospect’s organization is powerful because it allows you to tailor your pitch to their specific priorities and decision-making criteria. Knowing their needs ensures that your solution resonates where it matters most and increases your chances of closing the deal.

Build Relationships

Bill McGovern's insights boil down to a few key strategies that can make a real difference:

• Collaborative Competition: Encouraging a culture where people push each other to improve while still working together.
• Embracing Seasonality: Taking advantage of slower times to get organized and prepare for the busy seasons ahead.
• Active Listening: Focusing on what the customer has to say you can uncover the economic buyer and address their needs.