Editor’s note: Paul Kirch is CEO of Actus Sales Intelligence, a Fort Worth, Texas, business and sales consulting agency, and Actus-360, a technology services providor. He can be reached at 214-295-6111 or at pkirch@actussales.com.
If your company relies on individuals who must not only sell the research but also manage it, then you’re familiar with some of the challenges related to the seller-doer model of business development. This model isn’t exclusive to the marketing research industry but due to how our industry has learned to embrace sales teams it is definitely more common in research than many other lines of business.
A seller-doer model is often associated with firms that believe in a truly consultative approach to earning business. Often in these instances it is believed that only a real researcher can earn the trust of a potential buyer, which requires the sales person to be fully versed in the development and execution of research project work. This is a great philosophy; however, great researchers aren’t always great at the business development process. They are often great account managers and good at managing relationships. Opening new doors, however, may not always be a real strength. While this may or may not be a skills issue, it most certainly is a time-management issue for many individuals in this type of role.
Let’s look at new hires. Building a pipeline of opportunities is challenging for any new sales executive. I’m referring to a situation where this person is starting without a Rolodex of opportunities. The challenge is even greater when paired with account management responsibilities. Often someone hired for a seller-doer role is coming in armed with relationships (since they most likely have research experience), which may present low-hanging fruit depending on the capabilities of the firm they now represent. There are no guarantees that previous relationships will be easily converted. After all, client loyalties are often with the firm and not the employee despite any optimism that might be portrayed during the interview process. Therefore it’s important to recognize that new hires may not be able to bring a significant amount of business with them.
Building a pipeline is definitely one of the largest obstacles since project work often requires a significant focus of attention to ensure project success as well as attention to the client service aspect. Prospecting and selling often take a backseat to the projects, which means pipeline opportunities aren’t nurtured the way they should be and new prospecting may all but stop during these times. In addition, individuals who are conducting research, managing the relationships and overseeing the research process may simply not be excited about working cold opportunities to the point where they are warm and engaged.
So, what can be done to help the seller-doer succeed? Plenty. Let’s look at this list for starters:
• Training – Sales training can benefit the seller-doer as long as it’s customized to address the challenges they face. I recommend training focused around relationship-building, engagement and high-value selling. Often sales training falls short for these individuals since most sales trainers lack an understanding of the research industry and cannot create programs tailored to the researcher-turned-sales person.
• Top-down expectation management – Management and leadership teams are often the ones who set the pace for any sales activities from a seller-doer. Setting the right expectations is critical. I realize that project work often comes first but if you let pipelines die you will face bigger challenges than some slow sales activity. Potential projects may go to competitors due to lack of attention. Finding a way of keeping open opportunities feeling properly serviced is critical for success. Find ways to support your sales team from a management level, possibly by creating a system where sales people have backups during complex projects.
• Proper tracking of metrics – If you aren’t measuring activities and setting targets and goals accordingly, you’re probably missing one of the biggest areas of opportunity. This is true of all efforts in sales but within the seller-doer world it is vital that management understands what the pipelines look like and how project work interferes with sales efforts and activities. This is also a great way to determine when to add sales support or additional hires based upon missed opportunities or potential scalability if the sales team were able to focus more on the sales process.
• Outbound lead generation – Generating new leads which are highly targeted and qualified can help anyone in a seller-doer role succeed. This takes the task of cold-calling or cold lead development off their plate and allows the nurturing of relationships. Cold-calling campaigns can be successful at opening doors, which is often what an experienced seller-doer needs: an open door with a qualified prospect.
• Inbound lead generation – Having a contact form on a Web site does not equate to inbound lead development. Creating high-impact, value-added sales tools such as an e-book, Webinar or another thought leadership piece is a powerful way to generate highly targeted leads to be nurtured and developed. Does this mean that any collected lead should get handed to your business development team? Depending on the level of qualification and the bandwidth of the individuals doing the follow-up, the answer is maybe. Often it’s helpful to have someone vet these leads in some fashion. This can be done by your outbound lead generation team or possibly an entry-level business developer. Once there’s a real opportunity at hand, then by all means get your seller-doer involved. Depending on the volume, it may be just as easy to vet directly through your sales team.
• SEO activity – I have often heard the phrase, “I don’t think our buyers are people who would find us through Google.” The firms that embrace SEO are driving much more inbound traffic, creating much more credibility and are being rewarded with opportunities that those relying on the previous quote are not seeing. If we look at statistics from the Interconnected World’s 2012 study, 61 percent of global Internet users research products and services online. Here we sit in 2014 and that percentage has only gone up. While many Web sites are barely a marketing brochure, they are something that your buyers are most definitely checking out. If they look for you through a search engine, will they find you? Will they find you as a leader? Will a competitor show up with a better ranking and more compelling information? SEO can help support your sales efforts by giving credibility and helping your firm become more visible online. According to Search Engine Land, nine out of 10 mobile searches lead to action, over half leading to purchase. Even if this statistic is inflated for the research industry, it shows the potential impact for a well-executed SEO campaign.
• Support efforts – Finding ways to support the seller-doer and ensuring that client and prospect follow-up doesn’t suffer when project management becomes a priority is beyond crucial. Creating teams where individuals support each other is an area of opportunity. Or perhaps having a junior business development person who can reach out to ensure no gaps in the sales process can help (though this can be a resource issue). Perhaps other operations-focused staff can help support the process. Even management can step in to help support when necessary. No matter what approach, ensuring that the seller-doer can keep the paying clients happy while creating viable pipeline of opportunities fresh and engaged will mean little to no slowdown in the sales process.
The seller-doer role is a challenging one and often equates to a juggling act. For a sales person, the pipeline is one of the most critical drivers of success. For a seller-doer they often are unable to put the energy into nurturing such a pipeline. Often after a project ends, they feel as if they are starting cold. Therefore it’s critical that measures be put into place to ensure that their pipeline remains a priority in their sales and prospecting process. Keep in mind, a seller-doer is really a sales person who is operationally-minded. This can have some benefits but it definitely has its challenges. If you embrace this model you must also embrace building support tools and processes to ensure its success. If you have questions or want to learn more, feel free to reach out at pkirch@actussales.com.