New author, speaker and Principal of Sales Acceleration Group, Kristie Jones specializes in new business development, retaining and upselling existing customers, and sales management. She works mostly with small and mid-sized SaaS companies, both privately held or funded. Helping her clients drive additional top-of-the-funnel to increase revenue through improving people, formalizing, and documenting sales processes, and creating a sales accountability culture to ensure success. Kristie is releasing her first book this year; it is filled years of expertise and forward-thinking strategies that will help any business leader succeed. Check out the exclusive interview with Kriste.
You have a book coming out this year. Tell us more about what the book is about.
It’s about sales, but not necessarily about selling. I love sales, it’s one of the few professions where you can truly control your income and as a result impact the kind of life you want to have for yourself and your family. I saw that firsthand growing up as my parents went from careers in corporate America and education to being an owner/broker of a real estate company and a top 10% real estate professional. The financial impact of my mother switching from an under-appreciated and un-paid profession as a teacher to a commission only sales career was dramatic.
Growing up with those examples I also learned at a very early age just how challenging sales could be, and the kind of personal foundation required to not only be good at it, but to be successful and fulfilled by a career where you could set your own bar and write your own paycheck. So, I wanted to write a book that shared with new and existing sales reps how becoming the best in their profession could positively impact their lives. I decided to focus on the strategies I’ve seen over the years that the best sales reps use to reach the top 10%. Everything from the decisions they make about working the sales process, their understanding of the importance the mental game has on their career and success, decisions around mentors they choose, to the professional and personal development they seek out.
Sales is an under-appreciated profession, but one that can bring great rewards. I want to help those who are interested in a career in sales or those who have already made sales their profession achieve the highest level of success possible.
What would you say has been your biggest professional accomplishment so far?
Starting my own business and making it successful. After watching my parents run a business, a real estate business no less, which can be very unforgiving with lots of busted dreams and bubbles and often working long hours seven days week, I had been very vocal that I’d never own my own business, it was too hard and took years off your life.
So, when the universe conspired to make sure the joke was on me, I forged ahead with my big-girl pants pulled up high. I’m proud of the business I’ve built and the companies I’ve helped along the way.
What are the key ingredients to a winning sales team?
It’s about sales, but not necessarily about selling. I love sales, it’s one of the few professions where you can truly control your income and as a result impact the kind of life you want to have for yourself and your family. I saw that firsthand growing up as my parents went from careers in corporate America and education to being an owner/broker of a real estate company and a top 10% real estate professional. The financial impact of my mother switching from an under-appreciated and un-paid profession as a teacher to a commission only sales career was dramatic.
Growing up with those examples I also learned at a very early age just how challenging sales could be, and the kind of personal foundation required to not only be good at it, but to be successful and fulfilled by a career where you could set your own bar and write your own paycheck. So, I wanted to write a book that shared with new and existing sales reps how becoming the best in their profession could positively impact their lives. I decided to focus on the strategies I’ve seen over the years that the best sales reps use to reach the top 10%. Everything from the decisions they make about working the sales process, their understanding of the importance the mental game has on their career and success, decisions around mentors they choose, to the professional and personal development they seek out.
Sales is an under-appreciated profession, but one that can bring great rewards. I want to help those who are interested in a career in sales or those who have already made sales their profession achieve the highest level of success possible.
If a person doesn’t do well or doesn’t like sales, can they still be an effective team leader?
If a person doesn’t like sales that’s a “hard no,” as my son would say. It’s like what Richard Gene said about opera in Pretty Woman. “People either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it, if they don’t, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul.” I feel the same way about sales.
If someone struggled as an individual contributor, then I also think it would be a difficult jump to sales leader. A large part of the sales leader’s role is to coach and which coaches weren’t always the top players, it’s difficult to be an effective coach without having had prior success at sales – any type of sales. There are a lot of parallels between sports and sales and although it happens, most college and professional coaches were former players at some level and that experience is essential to helping them understand strategy, players, and the opponents better.
A company has a small sales team. One of the salespeople is great at setting meetings, making follow up calls and building relationships with his prospects. This person’s only downfall is not being able to close the business. How do you train that person to be a successful closer?
Not being able to close isn’t necessarily a downfall, they are just might be in the wrong sales role. Being a good closer takes what we call “hunter” traits. This term refers to the metaphor of going out and hunting for new opportunities and customers and then going in for “the kill,” meaning the close. There is such a strong parallel between real hunting and sales. A real hunter will determine where their prey is most likely to be found, they will then track them to their location, and then they will attempt to kill the prey. If a person did all the work to find their prey, but couldn’t bring themselves to kill the prey, would we still label them a hunter? Probably not.
The same is true in sales. If you’re not wired or able to close the deal (ie- go in for the kill) then a hunter position in sales probably isn’t a good fit. I don’t believe hunter traits are trainable, they are part of a person’s DNA. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for them under the sales umbrella. In your question you mentioned that they are great at building relationships, and to me that would suggest that they would probably succeed as an Account Manager, Customer Success Manager, or even an Onboarding Specialist. These jobs all have a sales component to them but aren’t as oriented toward the kill and are much more about building a relationship and long-term partnership.Get in Contact with Sales Acceleration Group via: https://salesaccelerationgroup.com
