6 Keys to Improving Sales Results

HostingCon 2013

Stacy GriggsVice President of Cloud Enablement

Cbeyond

A Little About Me

• Technology Entrepreneur• Former SVP and CSO at

HostMySite / Hosting.com• Former SVP and CSO at

MaximumASP• @ Cbeyond – have built the cloud

sales team, sales engineering and currently building cloud enablement.• Vice President of Sales for 3

different Inc 500 Companies.

State of Cloud and Hosting Sales

• Sales are great, but sales teams are not.• Most companies excel in marketing and

automation, but frankly aren't good at selling.

• A quality sales team can be one of your most effective tools in competing with AWS, Azure and Google.

• As legacy companies (like IBM, Verizon & CSC) continue to enter our market, sales competencies will become more important.

• Large companies are more responsive to sales, which has slowed their adoption to IaaS and Managed Hosting.

#1 Get Addicted to Data and Metrics• Start with a good SFA.• Add a proposal generator, with e-

signature.• Require activity logging for

commission payment.• Manage to metrics, but the

ultimate measure is results.• During ramp, people need to show

they are doing the right things - until they get the right results.

#2 - Hire Sales Reps That Fit Your System• Define your system or it will define

itself.• Great reps from one company may

not be successful in another system.• Pre-employment testing for fit.• Benchmark psychometrics on

normative industry data and your top performers for best results.• Admit mistakes fast.• One size (or management style)

does not fit all.

#3 - Pay Well & Pay for Results

• Hunters should make more than farmers.• Sales isn’t just for sales reps –

incentivize support for producing leads or upsells.• High risk, high reward.• Incentivize over-performance and

consistency.• Compensation includes a lot more

than just pay.• Keep bases low and commission

potential high.

#4 – Sell Different Ways• High preforming companies sell –

direct, indirect and referral.• Reps should include Channel

Managers, Inside and Outside.• Packaging can make a big difference.• Help your partners sell.• Automate and integrate to scale.• Find a way to say YES!• Alignment between sales, marketing,

operations and product is critical (this is not an issue when you are small)

"The best way to have agood idea is to have a lotof ideas."Linus Carl Pauling, 2x Nobel Prize winner

#5 - Celebrate Success

• Culture is as important as pay.• Sales people are competitive,

keep score.• Great teams produce better

results than great individuals, incent teamwork.• Have Fun!

#6 – Consistency is Key

• Change is needed to improve, it needs to be thoughtfully implemented to be successful.• Constant tweaking to commission

plans, can lead to a retention issues. • Stability in accounts and quotas lead

to better results.• Involve the team in creating the

future.• Also extends to training and on-

boarding. You need to create sales rep factory.

Questions / Contact Info

Stacy GriggsVice President – Cbeyond

Stacy.Griggs@cbeyond.netTwitter @stacygriggs

Blog - http://www.thewhir.com/blog/profile/stacygriggs