Salesconx Weblog

Traditional hiring methods aren’t best for salespeople – both full time and independent sales professionals. Studies show over half of salespeople are poorly matched to their work environment.

Job Boards are both ineffective and insufficient tools of sales recruiting, as the best candidates usually aren’t looking for new positions—they are too busy driving sales. These desirable “passive” candidates are often open to new opportunities…if they can be found.

We will take your opportunity to our network to recruit sales professionals interested in working for your company on a pay for performance basis. This is a 90 day program. During this time Salesconx will help build you a team and limit the risk and your time spent recruiting. We will get the team on our CRM to track their pipeline and progress. After 90 days you have an up and running sales team complete with pipeline. You then decide whether to (a) keep going with the virtual sales team or (b) retain (FT or Independent) those sales team members that are actually performing.

We believe that by partnering with organizations that are quickly securing new customers, gaining market share and disrupting competitors, we can provide clients and candidates the matches they need to achieve their goals. The best sales professionals (and those interested in commission only) usually aren’t looking for new positions, but these candidates are often open to new opportunities. However, these people need to be found. This is where Salesconx comes in with a rapidly growing network we find you the best in the industry. Our objective is to find top notch sales professionals with experience and an impressive rolodex. These are the people who are going to get you into your target companies and help drive revenue for your business.

Contact Us if you would like to learn more or discuss how we can help build a team and drive revenue for your business!

Salesconx has been delivering outsourced virtual sales team since January of 2009. We have seen first hand what works and what does not work when it comes to managing an independent sales team. We have spoken at length with the companies who are succeeding with Salesconx and here is a quick guide to working with virtual independent sales team.

“The reps joined the team to earn money ‐ make sure they see the light at the end of the tunnel”.
The process for the reps to join the team included attending multiple conferences, 1‐on‐1 calls with the recruiting manager and the account manager, a review of the supporting sales and marketing materials, execution of the sales agreement and an on boarding session. Clearly, they are making an investment (and taking a risk) in allocating their time to your project for the opportunity to earn significant revenues. Make sure that you remember that they need to consistently believe in your product/service.

“Treat them like they are your sales team because they are”.
View the Salesconx sales team as if they were your direct employees. How do you manage your in house sales team? Conduct weekly teams calls on a
predetermined time, schedule weekly 1‐on‐1 calls with the sales reps. Get to know them on a personal level.  The most you invest in your team the more than were deliver or better said, if you invest nothing in your team why should you expect them to deliver any results.

“Allocate resources to managing the team”
Sales reps running around without effective leadership is never ideal and certainly not with a virtual sales team.  Why not promote an in‐house sales reps to manage the virtual sales team. Make sure there is a strong manager at the helm of the independent sales team. While these are professionals with significant experience they also need a leader to keep them focused on delivering the results we are all seeking.

“Remember they are independent so a soft touch works”.
There is a balance between establishing metrics, objectives and demands along with the needs of an independent sales rep. So establish objectives, but keep
in mind that these folks are working for you to earn commissions and not because you are paying them a salary.

“Rest assured if they aren’t making money through you they are likely making money for someone else.”

The average experience of a sales team member is 8 years ‐ these are not entry level sales representatives but professionals. These folks are used to earning in excess of $125k, have families, homes, cars and all the toys that sales people have. What this means is that if they aren’t generating revenues for you in all likelihood they are selling products or services for an alternative company and in fact generating commissions from those sales.

“The 80/20 rules apply to virtual sales team too”

In a typical sales team in any given month 80% of the revenue is being generated by 20% of the sales team. The next month the 80% is often generated by a different 20% (of course with overlap). Manage the virtual sales team the same way keeping in mind that non‐performing sales rep in one month is your hero in the next.

“Maybe it’s you and not them”

Most in house sales people are working to protect their base salary and they view commissions as upside. Independent sales people earn their keep solely by driving sales. If you have had 10 independent sales pros building you pipeline and no deals are closing look first to your product/service or process before blaming the sales rep.

“A virtual sales team magnifies a sales process it doesn’t create it”

A sales program is different if you are looking for your first 10 clients or your next 50. Getting your first 10 requires a fluid sales program and is consistently adjusting to match the market conditions. Simply deploying sales professionals doesn’t solve your sales process but is a key component to your program. Make sure that you have a strong go to market strategy in place.

For existing sales programs; if your in house sales team is succeeding and your virtual sales team is not succeeding then ask yourself what are you differently with your in house team.

Press Release by Michael Selsman

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA, Feb 10, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Getfugu, Inc. (http://www.getfugu.com/) /quotes/comstock/11k!gfgu (GFGU 0.06, -0.01, -8.33%) , the next generation mobile search tool, announced today that it has contracted with Salesconx, a successful nationwide network for selling and business professionals, to recruit and deploy 20 sales teams across the country to deliver $5 million each in annual revenue. The Salesconx Selling Experts represent industries from business services, computer services and financing services covering over 40 industry segments across all 50 States and Canada.

Getfugu’s “See It, Say It, Get It” mobile search tool is now available on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Google phone, and J2ME smartphones, representing nearly 2 billion users around the world. Getfugu’s mobile search technology has been named as one of the “Top (Ten Plus) Best Coolest Free Apps for Android” by Wireless and Mobile News. The Getfugu application is now available for free download at http://www.getfugu.com.

Rich Jenkins, Getfugu’s co-founder, remarked, “Salesconx’s virtual sales force numbers in excess of 30,000 representatives, from which 20 regional teams are being created, covering North America, each led by experienced Vertical Leaders with an average selling experience of 8 years. These teams will focus on small- to medium-sized businesses, ranging from 50 to 500 employees, advertising agencies and SMS messaging companies. The sales teams will also run viral marketing utilizing community websites and direct telemarketing campaigns.”

Evan Sohn, founder and chief executive officer of Salesconx, said, “We are building out 20 sales teams throughout the United States with each team tasked to produce $5,000,000 in annual revenue. With 50 sales representatives per team, that revenue production requires only 84 clients per sales rep paying $99 per month. Based on our experience, this is a very attainable objective. We expect to be fully deployed within the first 6 months of the program and believe our efforts will result in closing $500,000 in recurring monthly revenue by the end of the first 90 days of sales.”

About Getfugu

Getfugu, Inc.’s revolutionary “See It, Say It, Get It” technology is the first carrier agnostic, platform agnostic mobile search platform. Getfugu will change the way people access the web with their mobile phones. It is designed to facilitate and encourage users by integrating the mobile phone’s core strengths — image, voice and location recognition — into a single customizable application. Additionally, Getfugu offers the only mobile ecommerce platform available worldwide today. The Getfugu platform will soon be available for 97% of the mobile phones available (over 3.3 billion handsets) worldwide.

For more information on Getfugu, please visit our website at: www.GetFugu.com.

About Salesconx, Inc.:

Salesconx, Inc. provides technology and services for on demand sales teams paid on performance. Launched in January of 2008, Salesconx’ sales platform has helped businesses and selling professionals across the country drive more business, adding more clients and customers in a broad range of industries and disciplines. The Salesconx Selling Experts, in excess of 35,000, represent industries from business services, computer services, financial services and over 40 industry segments across all 50 States and Canada. Salesconx is fueled by an extensive partner program consisting of over 50 companies and organizations from sales portals, small business portals, networking organizations, recruiters and business web sites. For more information about Salesconx, please visit http://www.salesconx.com.

Link to Press Release

The Salesconx nationwide network of sales professionals (over 45,000) delivers rapid and relevant results for a broad range of clients. Salesconx is managing over 50 sales teams and a pipeline in excess of $45m. Sales team programs range from lead generation to full sales cycle support. Sales team members earn commissions and performance fees for delivering results and revenue.

To help manage the teams and the network Salesconx is creating a team of Vertical Leaders. Vertical Leaders are entrepreneurial consultants who know their industry, the players in their industry and have successful track records selling into their industry. Each Vertical Leader is focused on a particular segment of our Practice Areas.

Vertical Leaders play a key role in client engagement as they lead the overall sales program for the On Demand Sales clients.

Salesconx provides the Vertical Leaders;

* Exciting opportunities from our clients that match their field of expertise

* A team of independent sales professionals working for them to deliver results and revenue.

* Exposure on our web site and marketing materials to our client base
Check out some of our current Vertical Leaders on our website: http://www.salesconx.com/leaders

Vertical Leaders earn an override on the performance of their sales team, additional performance incentives and are eligible for medical benefits and draws against commission (based on achieving targets and milestones). Contact leader@salesconx.com if you are interested in applying to be a Vertical Leader.

“I love it when a plan comes together” (Hannibal Smith, A-Team). While it might sound a bit corny, it is truly exciting to witness the execution of one’s planning and strategy. We started building sales team at the beginning of 2009 in parallel to our successful introduction marketplace. Our teams are now taking a life of their own as our Vertical Leaders are delivering pipeline and revenue for our clients and commissions and fees for themselves. From small business financing, to a sales team for one of the best toner companies in the industry (and publicly held) and leading edge enterprise social media SaaS platforms – our vertical leaders are driving sales far faster than we projected.

Our small business finance team has 6 Vertical Leaders around the US managing nearly 100 sales professionals. The team is now handling 4 unique products in the financing space that these folks are introducing to their contacts on a daily basis. Not bad for a team launched at the end of 2009.

Looking for a business to get involved in – try imaging and toner. As the title of my weekly online seminar goes, “Every Business Prints”. This $30b industry is dripping with opportunity and our client is the BEST in the business. Let me know if you are interested.

I welcome the opportunity to speak with you regarding your experience and requirements and how Salesconx could be leveraged to drive revenue for you.

Please email me at Evan@salesconx.com

PS – Please join our LinkedIn Group for more frequent updates and the latest opportunities.

The virtual (OnDemand) sales teams provided by Salesconx are the ideal solution for many businesses and organizations. Here are the Top Ten reasons for using a Salesconx virtual sales team.

1. Best in Class– Most companies simply don’t have access to the top sales people. Our network of top-quality sales professionals could be selling for you.

2. Focused sales effort –There is no company politics, or office chit-chat to distract them.

3. Flexibility – With a Salesconx Virtual Sales Team you can quickly ramp a team to target a new product launch or focus on a specific territory or vertical.

4. Scalability – Sudden increases in activity are no problem in the ‘virtual model’.

5. Easy Budgeting – You’ll know the cost up front and can budget accordingly.

6. No Advertising or Recruitment Fees – hiring sales people is both time consuming and rather expensive.

7. Minimizes Risk – with a virtual sales person, performance is accountable.

8. No Administration – with in-house sales comes a host of employment issues that need looking after

9. No Overhead – virtual sales people won’t be sitting in your offices, using your phone and computer.

10. It’s becoming a big business trend – From small start-up companies to huge multi-national organizations, they are seeing the benefit of outsourcing all, or some, of their sales effort.

New article by Sales Guru Jeff Goldberg (http://www.jgsalespro.com) :

Let’s face it…we salespeople LOVE to talk. In fact, many of us think we get paid to talk but I don’t believe that’s true. While presenting is part of our job, and the part we seem to like best (Closing is almost like the icing on the cake compared to presenting for most salespeople) if you really want to make more money in sales you need to speak less and listen more. In fact, I firmly believe that if you ask the right questions and listen carefully to the responses you get, your prospects will tell you everything you need to know in order to help them choose to do business with you. That’s right, I just told you your prospects will help you sell them if you just shut up and listen!

Most salespeople believe that the two skills you need to be great at, in order to be successful in sales, are presenting and closing. While it’s true that being a good presenter and knowing how to properly close a sale are good skills to have, in my 35 years of studying selling the best salespeople are always three things:

1) The best interviewers (question askers)

2) The best listeners

3) The best storytellers

It turns out that the key to selling isn’t really in the presentation or the close; it lies in the questions you ask. Selling is all about asking the questions that help you uncover what makes sense to your prospect. Prospects, just like you and me, do everything we do because it makes sense to do so. For example…you’re reading this article right now because it makes sense to you read it. You dressed a certain way today, ate breakfast or didn’t, spoke with people or didn’t, etc… all because it made sense to you to do those things. Same thing with your prospects including buying. Your prospects invest in certain products and services because it makes sense to them. As sales professionals, we need to ask our prospects lots of questions about what they’re doing now with regards to what we offer because what they’re doing now makes sense to them. For example, I sell sales training and keynote speeches. When talking with the V.P. of Sales at a company regarding the possibility of using my services, I’m going to ask him or her questions like:

“How do you train your people now?”

“When someone new joins your team how do you handle the initial training?” “How do you train your average performers to increase their skills and effectiveness?”

“Have you ever used an outside consultant like me to train your team?”

Of course I ask many more but the answers to those questions help me to understand what makes sense to the person I’m trying to sell. If what they were doing now didn’t make sense to them, they’d be doing something else!

You should notice that what I’m doing is engaging in a conversation with my prospect that’s focuses on them. (The only thing they really care about – themselves) After I ask a question I do the hardest thing I can possibly do…Shut Up. I do that, even though it’s difficult, because when I shut up it gives my prospect the opportunity to talk and answer my questions. And when they answer my questions I discover what makes sense to them! I listen carefully, I look them in the eye, I nod my head and encourage them to tell me more and I take notes so they know that I consider what they’re saying to me important and because it helps me to remember what was said when I get back to my office and think about putting together a proposal.

It’s the questions I ask, as well as my careful listening to the answers, which allows me to put together a great presentation for my prospect. I base my presentation on what they’ve told me they’re doing now and after reviewing that with them I share ideas on how I can help them do it better. I’m always certain to include a V.P.S. (Verbal Proof Story) that tells them about a customer of mine who had a situation similar to theirs and how, by using my services, they lived “happily ever after.” The V.P.S. is a strong presentation tool and helps the prospect get past the fact that you’re a salesperson trying to sell them something. When you use a third party story it’s almost as if the third party is endorsing you and doing the selling for you. After making my presentation I simply ask for their business and, once again, shut up and listen carefully to their response. Sometimes you have to wait until the sweat is dripping down your armpits before they’ll talk, but let it drip! By asking the right questions and being silent you provide the space for your prospect to “open up” to you.

Practice shutting up and listening. You and your prospects will enjoy the sales process more. And, of yeah, you’ll make more money too.

Make It Happen!

We have learned a lot since launching last year.  For one, we have different types of clients at Salesconx; those with simple offerings (‘lowering your telephone charges’) and those more complex (‘seeking heads of IT implementing disaster recovery solutions’).  We have seen business list up on our site and selling experts without any intervention drive high quality introductions within 48 hours and others that go unnoticed.

We have found a more effective way to source leads and introductions for our clients.  We call it Crowd Selling.  Salesconx will build for you an independent sales team sourcing sales experts from our 7,000+ users and from our 50+ partners and affiliates.  It may take a few days to get enough sellers involved in your opportunity.  Once we reach the minimum team size (based on your desired introductions per month) we will begin to host a weekly sales team call.

We are building On Demand virtual sales teams today for a number of our clients and they the results have been excellent – on all sides.  What company wouldn’t want an additional 10-20 independent sales representatives spreading the word about their product/service?  Our selling experts like it as the value that they could bring to both parties is greatly enhanced through direct relationships with the Salesconx clients – not to mention the increased fees they could earn.

If you are interested in have Salesconx build you an On Demand pay-for-performance sales team or you are interested in joining one as a selling expert please contact me at evan@salesconx.com.

Salesconx will now be hosting bi-monthly calls focusing on the latest opportunities offered by top Salesconx clients in each business sector.  Over 100 companies are using independent sales teams created by Salesconx to drive revenue.  Our experienced experts earn fees by capitalizing on their networks and relationships, spending an average of 15 minutes per project and earning $100-$5000+ in residual income.

The next round of meetings are on Thursday February 5^th . To learn more about top Salesconx clients and their corresponding projects and opportunities, register for the meeting sufficient for your area of expertise.

Opportunities in the Small Business Industry @ 11:00 am EST

Opportunities in the Telecommunications Industry @ 11:30 am EST

Opportunities in the IT Industry @ 2:00 pm EST

Opportunities in the Finance Industry @ 2:30 pm EST

Opportunities in the General Business Industry @ 4:00 pm EST

Opportunities in the Marketing Industry @ 4:30 pm EST

Please bring any questions to the discussion.

Sales Pro Jeff Goldberg offers helpful tips on goal setting for 2009:

Okay…the holidays are upon us and it will be New Year’s in just a few short weeks. There are two topics I think are important at this time of year.

First – Don’t stop selling now! Many of you have heard me advise you to not do what the typical salesperson does. The reason is clear – if you do what the typical salesperson does you will be thought of as a typical salesperson by your prospects and customers and you will achieve typical results. This is the time of year the typical salesperson sits back and relaxes. They say things like, “Hey, it’s the holidays. No one wants to meet or do business now. I’ll start of the year with a bang.” While it’s true that some prospects might not want to meet with you from now until the end of the year it’s also true that there are some companies that will still meet with you and do business. In fact, historically, I’ve closed some of the largest deals of my career the week between Christmas and New Year’s. If you can’t close any business right now you can at least be setting appointments for the first week in January. If you don’t, you’ll be starting over January 2nd and it will take between two and four weeks to rebuild your pipeline. DO IT NOW!

Second – It’s time to set your goals for 2009. OMG, I can hear you groaning all the way from wherever you are to here in Long Beach, NY. Like it nor not, the most successful people know that one of the secrets to having what you want and achieving your desires is having clearly defined, written out goals.

So, here are my tips for goal setting 2009:

1) Goals MUST be attainable but should be a reach. We would all like to be able to say, “I did it!” You could set easily achievable goals, like “I’ll wake up each morning and brush my teeth,” and you’ll most likely achieve them. But it didn’t push you or cause you to do anything different than you already do. Your goals should make you push yourself. They should be strong enough that you’ll want to do whatever it takes to reach them but they must be possible. If one of your goals is to fly like a bird that’s all well and good but it’s unlikely you’ll achieve that without a quantum breakthrough in the technology of humans flying. I’ll use a monetary example since most of us can relate to wanting to have more money. Let’s say you earned $85,000.00 in 2008. Nice going! You might want to earn $2,000,000.00 in 2009 (and it’s POSSIBLE) but it’s unlikely if you earned 85k in 2008 and haven’t changed jobs or added an additional of earning money. Perhaps a good goal for you would be, “I will earn $110,000.00 by December 21, 2009.” It’s a reach but do-able. Remember, if your goal doesn’t get you excited to get out of bed each morning, it’s probably not a good goal for you.

2) Goals MUST be written down. If it’s not written down it isn’t real. I suggest you take several hours (not during prime selling time) to consider what your goals are for 2009 and write them down. I’ve posted a FREE worksheet on my website. Go to www.jgsalespro.com/resources.htm and at the bottom of the page is a link to a goal setting worksheet. It says Goals 2008 at the top of the page but you can change that to Goals 2009. (Sorry, my web guy is WAY too busy right now to make the change!) While you’re on my website, please go to the home page and sign up for my free monthly newsletter! After you finalize your goals you should condense them to one page and post it somewhere you’ll see them first thing in the morning (so you can focus your attention on them to get the day started) and last thing at night. (so you can focus on them subconsciously while sleeping) I recommend posting them next to your mirror where you brush your teeth. Read them AT LEAST twice a day.

3) Goals must be crystal-clear and colorful. When you are writing out your goals, the clearer and more colorful you can be in describing them the greater the likelihood of you achieving them. “I want to have a Porsche,” is a nice goal but a better example would be, “I’ll own a 2009 black, Lamborghini with saddle leather interior and premium sound system by June 15, 2009.” The second example is much more likely to be realized. The universe responds to specific requests and you can focus more readily on a clear picture of what you’re committed to.

4) You actually have to do it. I could give you many more suggestions on goal setting and how to achieve your goals (I’ve written a book on the subject) but all of them are useless unless you begin by doing the above. How many times have you heard the advice I’ve given you here? You know the above “rules” for goal setting are true but have you actually done it?

Will you do it this year? Will you say, “Jeff’s right, I should really write down my goals this year. I know I should.” But when December 31, 2009 rolls around will you be looking at your list of goals and checking off all those that you accomplished or will you be moaning and telling yourself, “I’ll do it next week.” (next month, next year)

Pull out your calendar right now and schedule an hour or two for yourself to set your goals for 2009. In reviewing my goals for 2008 I’ve achieved many, came close on some and not-so-close on others but I know that I wouldn’t have done nearly as well if I hadn’t written them out at the end of 2007 and focused on them each and every day.

I’m wishing you and all those you care about the Happiest of Holidays & a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Make It Happen,

Jeff