When I moved my life to Chicago in the Fall of 2007, I got myself mixed up in a marketing scam job. Even though I was making $25,000 USD (my first entry level salaried job) alongside a decent 401k benefit, I needed to find a way out — and find it fast.
With two college internships under my belt (one of them with the Detroit Red Wings), I UPS’ed (not USPS’ed) my resume to the inside sales departments at the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Blackhawks, none of which had a job opening posted. I made a bet that an entry-level opportunity would pop up for a sales position over anything else heading into October.
After a few days of waiting, the Inside Sales Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks reached out to me after 5PM on a Friday and informed me that a member of his team just turned in their two week notice, and that a seasonal role would be open.
And after an interview the following week, I caught the first real break of my career.
Now, while this first break was obviously welcomed in my world just two months into my Chicago residency, it had its consequences: it would mean going from that $25,000 USD a year in salary to $7.50 USD an hour + commission (the latter of which doesn’t go far in Downtown Chicago).
So, in order to close the gap, pay rent, and attempt to have a social life, I had to sell to live.
I had to learn how to sell.
Luckily, there was a great incentive in place to get me started: the person who had made the most number of outbound calls per month would get $50–$100 each month. I thought about what that money could do:
- $50-$100 would pay for my weekly train ride on the Metra from West Chicago (Villa Park, Illinois) every week
- $50-$100 would pay 1/4 of my monthly rent
- $50–$100 would allow me to partake in a happy hour after work
…and so, I got to work.
I made the most number of calls by any inside sales representative every month since I joined the team.
I made contacts.
I would make five calls as soon as I walked into the office to warm myself up.
I never physically put the phone down between 8AM and 10AM.
And because of that discipline, my sales results followed: I started ranked #7 in a group of seven sales representatives that started five months before I did, and I eventually worked my way up to the #3 spot.
I had learned on the fly that in order to achieve the results I wanted, I focused on what I could control.
I focused on the process.
I kept doing the things that would make me successful (even though I wasn’t successful initially) because I knew that those around me wanted to win, too.
I made sales a contact sport.
Here are three ways to make sales a contact sport in your organization:
1. Reward volume & velocity in the pipeline.
- Volume: Is your team only focusing on opportunities that have already made it through the qualification process, or are they also actively filling the top of the pipeline with new opportunities and contacts?
- Velocity: In order to get to a yes, you have to get through so many more nos. The value of a “no” is just as important — we need to focus on only those that have the willingness and risk tolerance to work with us. Move opportunities to the next stage if possible, and if not, note them accordingly and follow up in a few months. (A “no” is not a “never.”)
2. Work as a team
We live in a world in which most salespeople are incentivized individually to hit a quota, but this doesn’t mean that we can’t help each other be better every day. Share better practices. Advocate for shared deals and co-pitches (especially to help onboard new sales team members). Learn from successes and failures.
3. Celebrate #1 and #2.
It’s easy to incentivize the end result — more revenue, more deals, or a combination of both.
It’s more difficult to incentivize the process — but it could be the difference and the jump that everyone on your team needs to win. A victory in the process and in the “how” it gets done has in incredibly positive halo effect on team morale, retention, and motivation.
Let’s get after it.
KL
