The Sales Acceleration Formula
Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million
1. Edition April 2015
224 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
The Sales Acceleration Formula provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Everyone wants to build the next $100 million business and author Mark Roberge has actually done it using a unique methodology that he shares with his readers. As an MIT alum with an engineering background, Roberge challenged the conventional methods of scaling sales utilizing the metrics-driven, process-oriented lens through which he was trained to see the world. In this book, he reveals his formulas for success. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology, and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales, including hiring, training, managing, and generating demand.
In today's digital world, in which every action is logged and masses of data sit at our fingertips, building a sales team no longer needs to be seen as an art form. The Sales Acceleration Formula shows that there is a process. Sales can be predictable.
A formula does exist.
Use data, technology, and inbound selling to build a remarkable team and accelerate sales
The Sales Acceleration Formula provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Everyone wants to build the next $100 million business and author Mark Roberge has actually done it using a unique methodology that he shares with his readers. As an MIT alum with an engineering background, Roberge challenged the conventional methods of scaling sales utilizing the metrics-driven, process-oriented lens through which he was trained to see the world. In this book, he reveals his formulas for success. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology, and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales, including hiring, training, managing, and generating demand.
As SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services for software company HubSpot, Mark led hundreds of his employees to the acquisition and retention of the company's first 10,000 customers across more than 60 countries. This book outlines his approach and provides an action plan for others to replicate his success, including the following key elements:
* Hire the same successful salesperson every time -- The Sales Hiring Formula
* Train every salesperson in the same manner -- The Sales Training Formula
* Hold salespeople accountable to the same sales process -- The Sales Management Formula
* Provide salespeople with the same quality and quantity of leads every month -- The Demand Generation Formula
* Leverage technology to enable better buying for customers and faster selling for salespeople
Business owners, sales executives, and investors are all looking to turn their brilliant ideas into the next $100 million revenue business. Often, the biggest challenge they face is the task of scaling sales. They crave a blueprint for success, but fail to find it because sales has traditionally been referred to as an art form, rather than a science. You can't major in sales in college. Many people question whether sales can even be taught. Executives and entrepreneurs are often left feeling helpless and hopeless.
The Sales Acceleration Formula completely alters this paradigm. In today's digital world, in which every action is logged and masses of data sit at our fingertips, building a sales team no longer needs to be an art form. There is a process. Sales can be predictable.
A formula does exist.
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
PART I The Sales Hiring Formula 1
Chapter 1 Uncovering the Characteristics of a Successful Salesperson 3
Chapter 2 Five Traits Great Salespeople Have and How to Interview for Them 11
Coachability 12
Curiosity 16
Prior Success 19
Intelligence 20
Work Ethic 21
Chapter 3 Finding Top-Performing Salespeople 25
Build a Recruiting Agency within Your Company 26
Find Quality Passive Sales Candidates on LinkedIn 28
Find Quality Passive Sales Candidates through Your Team: The "Forced Referral" 33
Understand the Sales Talent Pool in Your Area 33
Chapter 4 The Ideal First Sales Hire 37
PART II The Sales Training Formula 45
Chapter 5 Setting Up a Predictable Sales Training Program 47
Defining the Three Elements of the Sales Methodology: The Buyer Journey, Sales Process, and Qualifying Matrix 50
Create a Training Curriculum around the Sales Methodology 53
Adding Predictability to the Sales Training Formula 54
Constant Iteration on the Sales Process 57
Chapter 6 Manufacturing Helpful Salespeople Your Buyers Trust 59
Train Your Salespeople to Experience the Day-to-Day Job of Potential Customers 60
Enable Your Salespeople to Build Their Personal Brand with Potential Customers Using Social Media 62
PART III The Sales Management Formula 67
Chapter 7 Metrics-Driven Sales Coaching 69
Implementing a Coaching Culture throughout the Organization 71
Creating the Coaching Plan Together with the Salesperson 72
Examples of Metrics-Driven Skill Diagnosis and Coaching Plans 74
"Peeling Back the Onion" 79
Measure the Coaching Success 80
Chapter 8 Motivation through Sales Compensation Plans and Contests 83
Criteria to Evaluate a New Commission Plan 88
Involve the Sales Team in Compensation Plan Design 89
Promotion Tiers: Removing the Subjectivity from Promotions and Compensation Adjustments 90
Using Sales Contests to Motivate the Team 93
The Best Contest I Ever Ran 95
Chapter 9 Developing Sales Leaders--Advantages of a "Promote from Within" Culture 97
Prerequisites for Leadership Consideration 102
From the Classroom to the Real World 103
Common Potholes from New Sales Managers 104
PART IV The Demand Generation Formula 109
Chapter 10 Flip the Demand Generation Formula--Get Buyers to Find You 111
How Can Your Business Rank at the Top of Google? 113
This Does Not Happen Overnight 115
Create a Content Production Process 116
Complement Content Production with Social Media Participation 121
Long-Tail Theory 123
Chapter 11 Converting Inbound Interest into Revenue 127
Marketing's Role in Converting Interest into Revenue 128
Sales' Role in Converting Interest into Revenue 137
Chapter 12 Aligning Sales and Marketing--The SMarketing SLA 149
The Marketing Service Level Agreement (SLA) 151
The Sales Service Level Agreement (SLA) 154
PART V Technology and Experimentation 161
Chapter 13 Technology to Sell Better, Faster 163
Accelerate Lead Sourcing with Technology 165
Accelerate Sales Prospecting with Technology 167
Accelerate Lead Engagement with Technology 170
Automated Reporting with Technology 171
Chapter 14 Running Successful Sales Experiments 175
Generating Ideas for Experiments 176
Best Practices of Experiment Execution 178
Chapter 15 HubSpot's Most Successful Sales Experiments 183
The HubSpot Value Added Reseller (VAR) Program 183
GPCT 186
Chapter 16 Conclusion: Where Do We Go from Here? 191
Index 195
