July 8, 2019 // By Mike Ojile
As the leader of our sales organization at Magenic, I have the opportunity to work with a number of talented professionals, each dedicated to driving new business; it’s what makes my job great! This past week, I had the privilege of welcoming the entire Magenic national salesforce to Minneapolis for our quarterly sales scrimmage.
We hold sales scrimmages on an ongoing basis with the following goal: advance the team selling capabilities of everyone included in the sales process. This includes Account Executives (AE’s), business development reps, Regional General Managers, Client Solution Managers, and Practice Leads. The Magenic sales team takes great pride in working with new and existing clients, so it’s important that they are given the tools necessary to help our clients succeed.
While no two scrimmages are the same when it comes to topics and activities, each meeting allows attendees, regardless of their level of experience, to advance their selling capabilities by:
- Gaining insight on the latest practical and new-to-market topics
- Collaborating with colleagues on best practices and success stories
- Learning about new resources and successful ways to use them
- Workshopping ideas with industry leaders for increased sales success
This quarter’s scrimmage focused on multiple functions of the sales process, including prospecting, account planning, and account expansion. Each of these activities are vastly different, but equally important for a salesperson to build their book of business and hit their quota.
Prospecting
The team had the opportunity to learn some of the best techniques for being able to quickly articulate their understanding of the client’s challenges and how Magenic can provide differentiated value. We all know outreach, or the lack thereof, can make or break hitting quota. As our Eastern Regional Sales Director Michael Loga said at the scrimmage, “The fastest way to hit your quota is by having a deep understanding of your outreach strategy.”
Account Planning
One of the tricky parts of being a successful Account Executive is not only looking for opportunities in new businesses but also managing your portfolio of clients. We took time to highlight five of our Account Executives and their approach to account planning. Each walked through some of the best practices they utilize for making sure they have a deep understanding and roadmap for successfully engaging and nurturing the relationship of a current client. “Having an account plan enables you to best understand your customer and their specific risks, pain points and opportunities, and immediately qualifies you as a trusted partner,” shared Tony McDonald, Account Executive in Minneapolis.
Expansion
Because we typically work with Fortune 1000 companies, there are many aspects of the organization that we can impact. First time clients are able to see the value we bring to their organization and often times will refer us to their peers, but it’s also our team’s responsibility to be proactive in finding new business within their current clients. There are many approaches to fit our clients’ needs and our salesforce must understand which strategy to take when a need is identified. “The synergy between our Sales and Delivery teams is a must in order for clients to fully realize our value and capabilities,” explained Western Regional Sales Director Bill Titler.
This quarter’s scrimmage was highly beneficial to everyone that attended. Not only was the team able to learn on the latest tools and tactics for successful selling, but the amount of team bonding that occurred, both during the sessions and in social gatherings, was fantastic. We are already looking forward to the next scrimmage and continuing to strengthen as a salesforce.