Achieving Quota Is Not A Tech Problem, It’s A Sales Leadership Problem, with Tiffani Bova, Episode #105

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Personal growth is a cornerstone of good sales leadership. Without leaders who are actively growing themselves, sales teams don’t have a chance of succeeding. I can think of nobody better to speak to the topic of personal growth than Tiffani Bova, my guest on this episode of #SellingWithSocial.

Tiffani is the growth and innovation evangelist at Salesforce and the author of my new favorite book, “GROWTH IQ: Get Smarter About the Choices that Will Make or Break Your Business”. It’s a phenomenal book that highlights the 10 simple but often misunderstood paths to growth.

Tiffani’s experience in customer experience, digital transformation, and sales, combined with her research into the future of work make her an ideal person to teach us how the ongoing growth of the sales leader, including how to be an effective sales coach, will exponentially impact the teams they lead. Join us for this conversation.

This podcast is brought to you by the Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summit. Receive a 30% discount on your registration. Join us this April 3rd – 5th in Chicago, IL – Visit http://bit.ly/AAISPVengreso and use the code Vengreso30%.

The Most Difficult Aspect Of A Sales Leader’s Job: The Seller’s Dilemma

Tiffani has coined the phrase “The Seller’s Dilemma” to point out a delicate balance that all salespeople and sales leaders must strike. Here’s how she describes it…

Every sales professional must be growing personally in order to keep up with the changes and needs within their industry. But they also need to be able to consistently close deals. Both require intense focus and significant amounts of time, so the tension between them can be quite a dilemma. Stated as a question:

“How do I hit my numbers today, this week, this month, and this quarter, and at the same time invest the time necessary to transform through personal growth?”

Tiffani readily admits it’s not an easy problem to solve, but insists it is one that must be solved. For sales leaders, in particular, her belief is that if you can improve the people and process side of the business the entire boat rises. Listen to hear a number of examples of how it can be done, in this episode.

Achieving Quota Is Not A Tech Problem, It’s A Sales Leadership Problem

As a sales leader, if you are running your sales forecasting or pipeline review meetings the same way you did 3 to 5 years ago, you’re wasting your time. Technology makes it possible for you to know about the deals your team is working on without having to take up their precious time with a pointless meeting.

The reality is that 63% of a modern sales rep’s time is consumed with things that are non-selling related. Your job as a leader is to help your team get past those things – and you do it by spending your time coaching, mentoring, and equipping your team.

Tiffani says if you are thinking about getting into sales leadership but are not interested in coaching, development, and the process side of how deals happen, then you should remain in sales and not become a leader. When you become a sales leader, you have to be willing to change your behaviors, grow your leadership skills, and do what it takes to make your team more successful.

Struggling To Get Your Sales Team To Use Your Tech Stack?

Most salespeople understand the need for keeping accurate records via their CRM. They know that doing so has the potential of helping them close more deals. But they still tend to lag behind in getting their data entered in a timely fashion. Why?

Tiffani says it’s because many sales leaders use their CRM to hold their team’s feet to the fire rather than as a tool to make them more successful. She suggests that sales leaders teach their teams how to leverage the technology, such as in a way that they can trust, knowing that their use of it will enable them to become more effective sellers.

Listen to hear how Tiffani recommends sales leaders use their CRM to keep themselves informed about the strengths and weaknesses of their team members – and how that information can be used to hone in on areas where training and coaching are needed.

Sales Leaders: Knowing Your Sales Team Helps You Help Them

If you’re a sales leader who’s committed to the kind of personal growth that will equip your team for greater success, you’re exactly the person Tiffani is speaking to on this episode. Her belief is that the better you get at knowing and supporting your sales team, the better they will become at sales and the more they will build their personal brand.

Take note of the areas where each member of your team excels and get them additional training in those areas to hone their skills and improve their effectiveness. Pay attention to the things they struggle with and come up with ways to support them with resources and education. A good sales leader is focused on the people side of the organization just as much as they are the numbers. As the people on their team grow, sales conversions follow suit.

Tiffani’s book is a resource you won’t want to do without if you are responsible for leading a sales team. Her insights are the kind you can understand easily and begin to apply right away. Listen and learn from a master of personal growth and success, Tiffani Bova!

This podcast is brought to you by the Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summit. Receive a 30% discount on your registration. Join us this April 3rd – 5th in Chicago, IL – Visit http://bit.ly/AAISPVengreso and use the code Vengreso30%.

Outline of This Episode

• [1:15] The reasons I’ve invited Tiffani on the show for this episode
• [8:10] Why Tiffani wrote her book and who it’s targeted to help
• [12:00] The 10 simple but misunderstood paths to growth
• [17:10] Why companies are having problems closing sales – it’s not a tech problem
• [26:07] If you are a top performer, you need to worry about others like you, who use tech well
• [30:46] How growth in the wrong order can lead to disaster
• [43:02] Honing your skills means you have to learn to use tool appropriately

Resources Mentioned

• www.TiffaniBova.com
• Tiffany’s Podcast: What’s Next?
• Tiffany’s BOOK: Growth IQ
• The Stevie Awards
• Gartner
• Ginni Rometty – CEO of IBM
• Salesforce
• www.YourVideoMessage.com
• Dreamforce
• BOOK: What Got You Here Will Not Get You There
• MOVIE: Field of Dreams
• Modern Marketing Engine Podcast – Bernie Borges

Connect with Mario!

• www.vengreso.com
• On Facebook
• On Twitter
• On YouTube
• On LinkedIn

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