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Ultimate Guide to Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) in 2020

Sales and operations planning, often abbreviated to S&OP, is the cross-functional process of assessing customer buying habits to ensure a company is able to meet the forecasted production, distribution, and purchasing demands required of it.

S&OP is typically conducted by executive-level management professionals on a monthly basis and allows them to better align their plans with company-wide objectives.

One of the most common organizational issues is misalignment between sales and operations teams. Fortunately, this problem is easily fixed via sales and operations planning that is profit-centered and focused on building relationships between company departments.

Key S&OP Stakeholders and Planning Models

Sales and operations planning is crucial to the financial well-being of most companies. As such, it’s important to have all stakeholders present for S&OP process meetings, including sales reps, production, human resources, engineering, marketing, new product development (NPD), inventory/backlog, strategic initiatives, and financial teams.

The sales and operations planning process can be handled in one of two ways, depending on the unique situation your organization finds itself in:

Top-Down Planning: This approach to sales and operations planning focuses on a single sales prediction, upon which management professionals base their strategy and allocate their resources as needed.

Bottom-Up Planning: This approach to S&OP is often used in situations where manufacturing timetables are inconsistent. Rather than basing plans on a specific sales forecast, a strategy is built from the bottom up by assessing what’s needed to produce specific products and/or services within a reasonable timeframe.

Whichever approach your company decides to take, ensure the representatives present for each department have the authority to make on-the-spot decisions. If they don’t, your S&OP process flow will quickly grow stagnant and unproductive.

7 Benefits of Sales and Operations Planning

Now that we know what is sales and operations planning, we can discuss why it’s advantageous. Here are seven benefits to the S&OP process:

1. Eliminate Departmental Silos

The real value of S&OP lies in the collaboration opportunities it creates. By eliminating departmental silos, every facet of a company is able to align using common data points, which often leads to increased accuracy, better efficiency, and lower costs.

Organizational collaboration is a hot-button topic in 2020. But unless every department is aligned via a single S&OP process, it’s nearly impossible to achieve.

2. Improved Inventory Management

Inventory management can make or break a business. If your team doesn’t produce enough products, customers will grow impatient and angry as they wait for their orders and your brand’s reputation will suffer. But producing too many products is equally hazardous. A warehouse full of unsold goods can quickly lead to cash flow issues.

Because an S&OP plan analyzes consumer buying habits, as well as a company’s ability to meet potential demand, inventory management greatly improves.

3. Increased Throughput

Throughput, if you’re not familiar with the term, is defined as “the rate of production or the rate at which something is processed.”

Solid sales and operations planning will allow your company to create more products in less time because the processes for doing so will be more efficient and the necessary amount of resources will always be allocated to the right tasks.

Additionally, this increase in productivity will lead to financial savings. After all, the less time your team spends creating products, the less costly said products will be to produce.

4. Higher Product Quality

Fortunately, increasing throughput does not impact product quality. In fact, a sales operations plan should actually lead to better products than your company was able to previously produce.

Why? It all has to do with efficiency. An efficient process will naturally minimize mistakes, thus allowing your organization to quickly pump out higher quality goods. Furthermore, better products lead to business savings. Every flawed product your company produces must be remade, resulting in wasted materials and/or employee resources.

5. Reduced Lead Times

We touched on it briefly, but it bears repeating: sales and operations planning will shorten lead times, thus improving customer satisfaction in the process.

We live in a microwave society. When your customers order a product, they want it now, not later. By improving inventory accuracy and making sure your organization always has the proper amount of products in stock, your customer will receive their orders in a timely fashion.

Fair or not, Amazon set the bar with its two-day (sometimes even quicker!) shipping policy. S&OP will ensure your company is able to reduce lead times and come closer to meeting customer expectations in this regard.

6. Better Customer Service

Exceptional customer service is a staple of successful business. By producing better products and delivering them to customers in a timely manner, you’ll be able to elevate your brand in the eyes of its target market.

Happy customers are generally life-long buyers. Since it costs five times less to keep a customer than it does to generate a new one, it’s important to ensure customer satisfaction. Additionally, happy customers have the potential to become brand advocates, which can turn into a valuable marketing channel for businesses.

Both customer retention and advocacy are more easily achieved when an effective sales and operations planning process is in place.

7. Higher Profitability

Higher profitability is a result of the six other sales and operations planning benefits we just discussed. If your company is able to eliminate organizational silos, predict inventory requirements more accurately, boost throughput and product quality, and better serve its customers, higher profitability is almost inevitable.

Greater efficiency is always beneficial to businesses. S&OP allows companies to intelligently streamline operations in order to boost profit numbers.

Common Steps in the S&OP Process

The S&OP process can be broken down into six essential steps: data gathering and forecasting, demand planning, production planning, pre-SOP meeting, executive S&OP meeting, and the S&OP strategy implementation.

Let’s take a look at each of these steps in greater detail:

1. Data Gathering: The sales and operations planning process consists of a series of meetings, the first of which is designed to gather data in order to accurately forecast the future. During this meeting, information from previous sales and industry trends are assessed and future predictions are made.

2. Demand Planning: This step requires collaboration between multiple departments to complete properly. Executives from sales, operations, marketing, etc. come together to adjust inventory levels, marketing and sales strategies, and customer service policies to match the data gathered in the previous step.

3. Production Planning: Next, company leadership analyzes their company’s supply chain in regards to capacity. They’ll decide if the current set up — manpower, machinery, suppliers, etc. — are adequate for their forecasted needs. A supply plan is then crafted on the decision they reach.

4. Pre-SOP Meeting: This stage of the S&OP process requires leadership personnel from multiple departments to meet, collaborate, and evaluate the financial ramifications of the forecasted demand and supply plans.

6. Exec S&OP Meeting: Next, leaders from finance, sales, operations, marketing, and other relevant departments meet once again to discuss all data previously gathered and develop a viable sales operation plan to implement.

7. Finalize and Implement S&OP: Finally, once the S&OP plan is finalized and approved, it’s implemented and monitored for effectiveness. 

By conducting each of the meetings above, you’ll be able to implement a winning sales and operations plan for your organization.

Key S&OP Metrics

Sales and operations planning isn’t a one time event. Your S&OP plan must be monitored and evaluated on a regular basis, as we mentioned. To do so, pay attention to the following metrics:

Demand Forecast Accuracy: Did you accurately forecast demand, or were your projections off? Continually assess how on-target your forecasts are.

Inventory Turnover: Related to demand forecast accuracy, how quickly are you turning over inventory? As quickly as you thought you would?

On-Time Delivery: It’s important to analyze your supply chain and ensure your team is delivering products on time. If not, you likely have a supply chain issue that needs fixing.

Order Accuracy: Similarly, it would also behoove you to monitor your S&OP plan for order accuracy. Speed is great, but not if you’re quickly producing subpar work.

Total Sales: Moving on to financial S&OP metrics, total sales numbers will help key you in to how healthy your organization is in the monetary department.

Gross Margin: Hopefully, your total sales meet your projected targets. Equally as important, ensure your gross margin is hitting company projections too.

Working Capital Projections: Does your company have as much working capital in the bank as your team forecasted? If not, it’s time to evaluate why and adjust projections.

There are plenty of other key S&OP metrics you could measure as well. But the seven listed above are important and will get your evaluation efforts started off on the right foot.

Tips for Improving Your S&OP Process

At this point, your sales and operations planning process should be in place. Congratulations! But your work is far from over. 

To ensure the S&OP plan is as effective as it possibly can be, keep these sales and operations planning best practices in mind:

1. S&OP Should Start at the Top

Your sales and operations planning efforts will only be successful if company leaders buy-in and lead the charge. Without executives, the process will get bogged down as lower-level employees continually seek approvals.

Plus, upper management sets the tone and mentality for the entire company. When every day team members see their bosses making a point to prioritize the S&OP process, they’ll naturally learn to prioritize it too.

2. Clearly Define the End Goal

What is your organization trying to achieve by implementing a sales and operations planning process? Inventory optimization? Reduced supply chain costs? Maybe you want to improve demand forecasting accuracy.

Whatever your objective, make sure it’s clear to all at the beginning of your S&OP process flow. That way everyone involved knows what they’re aiming for and can collaborate cross-functionally to achieve it.

3. Know Your Sales Numbers

It’s common knowledge that sales are hard to forecast. There are just too many variables to effectively predict the number of sales a company will make within a given time frame. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t even try.

By studying your sales numbers from months and years past, you can work out future sales projections with reasonable accuracy.

Image: SPOTIO Executive Insights report.

This information can then be used during the sales and operations planning process to better predict supply and demand needs.

A tool like Spotio will give you accurate, real-time information regarding your team’s sales numbers, which can be used to improve your forecasting efforts.

4. Plan for the Unknown

Nothing in life—or business— is guaranteed. As such, it’s vital that you plan for the unknown. Have contingency strategies for multiple scenarios. If you lose your biggest client, how will your company pivot? If you land a new mega-account, how can you meet the new demand?

You can’t plan for everything, nor should you try. But having a few backup strategies in place is just smart business and should become a part of your sales and operations plan.

5. Understand the Impact of Supply and Demand Changes

If you don’t understand how supply and demand changes will affect your organization, you’ll likely run into problems—problems that could easily be avoided with a deeper understanding of the chain and time spent modeling different scenarios.

For example, were you to land a new account and increase production to meet heightened demand over the next six weeks, modeling will be able to tell you what kind of short-term financial setbacks you’re likely to incur, as well as long-term benefits. Management can then use this information to make more informed decisions.

Do your company a favor and study your supply chain by modeling different scenarios and understanding how certain changes affect your company as a whole.

S&OP Software

The good news is, there are great S&OP software solutions to help you implement and monitor everything we’ve covered in this article. Here are a few top options:

SAP Integrated Business Planning


SAP Integrated Business Planning is a popular solution for S&OP purposes. The tool features scenario planning and simulations, social collaboration, and powerful predictive analytics. When combined together, these capabilities ensure organizations are able to plan their resources effectively and monitor their results with ease. 

SAP Integrated Business Planning is available for purchase as a monthly subscription, though pricing details are not listed on its website. Contact a SAP representative for more information.

Infor Sales and Operations Planning

Infor Sales and Operations Planning is another great tool for S&OP purposes. Like its competitor, SAP, the Infor solution allows users to easily monitor sales and operations.

A few specific features include the ability to synchronize supply and demand imbalances, evaluate “what if?” scenarios to master the connected value chain, and visualize data to quickly compare to multiple statistical forecast models. Infor also comes with 24/7 elite support.

Pricing information is not available on the Infor website. Contact the team for cost details.

Spotio Outside Sales Platform

Lastly, we have Spotio, wish is not a traditional S&OP software. But it does have valuable tools, which companies can use to better manage outside sales reps, plan sales strategies, forecast future results, and measure sales team success. This is important information to have when sales and operations planning.

From lead generation solutions to appointment setting options to CRM capabilities, Spotio is packed with the features you need to both sell and make solid business decisions. Request a free demo today and see the software in action for yourself.

Ready. Set. Plan

Sales and operations planning is a complicated, but completely necessary process. Unfortunately, many businesses go about S&OP ineffectively. Some neglect it entirely. After reading this ultimate guide, you now have the knowledge to develop a winning sales and operations planning process that benefits your business in a myriad of ways.

Good luck!

 

3 Types of Business Modes for COVID – Which One Are You & How Should You React?

When there’s any global or economic crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, it’s natural for businesses to fear what the future holds. While the coming months or years may seem uncertain, there are ways you can assess and adapt your business to help you weather the storm. 

We’ve identified three types of businesses based on what was going on in your business before the current situation, as well as what you should be doing now to keep your company moving forward.

Let’s dive in. 

What condition is your business in?

Before you can react appropriately, you need to audit your current business. Here are the questions you should use to gain an understanding of your position:

– Do you have reliable, well-documented processes?

– Are there established communication channels and rhythms between employees?

– Is there trust between the leadership team?

– Do you use multiple marketing and sales channels to drive revenue?

– How impacted will your customers be? Will they continue to buy your product or service, stop completely or somewhere in between?

– How much of a financial “runway” do you have to continue operating with, particularly in times of decreased revenue?

Based on your answers to these questions, you’ll fall into one of three categories:

1. Survive at all costs
2. Assess and adapt
3. Thrive

These three levels cover how your sales have changed, whether or not your business can serve customers at home, and your ability to maintain current business expenses. 

What your business should be doing right now

You likely already have a sense of what state your business is in, and for how long you can continue doing “business at usual.” Now let’s cover what’s most important—your next steps. 

1. Survive at All Costs

Businesses in this category are either cash-poor or are in an industry that has been severely impacted by stay-at-home orders, or both. If relationships or communication are rocky, income streams are limited, or financial health is weak, it’s time to go into conservative “survival mode.”

What to start doing today:

Cut expenses as fast as possible. It will feel uncomfortable, but it can mean the difference between your business surviving or not. 

Renegotiate any payables. You may not be able to push back obligations for all payments, but it’s worth it to try.

Accelerate receivables. How can you bring cash in fast? Try to hasten payouts where appropriate.

Find new ways to drive revenue. How can you boost sales? Some may argue that discounts or sales can train customers to pay less, but right now, you need cash flow.

2. Assess and Adapt

If your business has seen a dip in income, but you see an opportunity to adjust to circumstances and come out on the other side of the crisis, you fall into the “assess and adapt” category. Your priority now is pivoting your strategy to maintain a competitive advantage. 

Examples of businesses successfully adapting include companies that have begun making face masks, field sales companies who can switch to cold calls, and restaurants offering delivery or food/alcohol sales. 

What to start doing today:

Cut variable expenses. You don’t need to slash costs as much as some businesses, but you should take a second look at variable or non-essential expenses to conserve cash. 

Plan for revenue drops. Hopefully, you never see further declines in sales. However, you should plan what expenses you’ll cut next if you need to slim down further.

Determine how to continue serving customers. You may not be able to operate as you once did, but how else can you still help customers? Think about where they need support in these times. 

Get creative. If there ever was a time to put on your thinking cap, this is it. How can you alter your offerings or meet customers in new channels?

3. Thrive

Some organizations, thanks to their prior financial health or industry, aren’t at risk of going out of business. In fact, companies such as at-home workout software or equipment, medical supply companies, or essential goods manufacturers may see an increase in sales.

Even though you’re in a good position, there are still opportunities to adapt and improve.

What to start doing today:

Bring in newly-available talent. As businesses around you suffer, so too will their employees. There may be talented employees who are now looking for a job that might be a perfect fit for your organization. 

Ramp up production. If you see an opportunity, seize it. You may have a hectic few months, but the world needs you now. 

While there may be a tendency to make quick corrections during a crisis, your team needs a leader in times like these. If you’re trying to adapt your sales strategy to stay competitive, check out our webinar, Stay Productive Knocking Doors While Social Distancing.

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How to Apply for an SBA Loan

On March 27th 2020, the U.S. Government officially passed a $2 Trillion COVID-19 Stimulus Bill designed to support businesses and individuals as Americans everywhere deal with the economic aftermath of the virus.

Many Spotio customers and prospects will qualify for funding to help them stay in business. We strongly encourage those that qualify for various types of funding to apply for it. Outlined below are the different types of funding and resources available to you to survive or thrive as a business.

Guides and Resources

The Small Business Owners Guide to the CARES Act
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Infographic 

Details of Help Available Below (content organized by Aldrich Capital Partners)

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

100% federally guaranteed loans will be made available to businesses of fewer than 500 employees (higher for certain industries) who maintain their payroll during this emergency to cover payroll costs, continuation of group health care benefits, employee salaries, commissions, mortgage payments, rent, utilities and interest on any other debt obligations for the period February 15, 2020, through June 30, 2020. 

Key Highlights:

– Loan for up to 250% of monthly payroll, not to exceed $10 million
– Up to 8 weeks of payroll covered
– Forgiveness of these loans is available, if conditions met
– Loans are capped at 4% interest; 10 year loan period
– Work through an approved SBA lender. To apply, use the SBA Lender match here.
– PPP FAQ’s for Small Businesses

Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued disaster declarations for every state, allowing small businesses nationwide to access additional emergency funding under its existing EIDL program with more lenient requirements. 

This program provides loans to cover costs that would have been payable by the applicant had the disaster not occurred. Additionally, a new SBA Economic Injury Emergency Grant Program has been created to provide an emergency advance of up to $10,000 within three days of applying for an EIDL. 

Key Highlights:

– Loans up to $2 million
– 3.75% fixed interest rate
– Repayment over 30 years with principal and interest deferment for up to four years
– Elimination of personal guarantees for loans under $200K & requirement that business is in operation for 1 year

Apply for an EIDL loan through the SBA website here.

Employee Retention Payroll Tax Credit

A payroll tax credit against eligible payroll taxes for businesses affected by COVID-19, to encourage employee retention. This ‘retention tax credit’ is for eligible employers that continue to pay employee wages while their operations remain fully or partially suspended as a result of specific COVID-19-related government orders. 

Key Highlights:

Tax credit of 50% of the wages paid to each employee for each calendar quarter.

Credit is available if gross receipts declined by > 50% vs same quarter in the prior year OR if operations were fully or partially suspended due to a COVID-19 related shut-down order from an appropriate governmental authority.

Overall limit on wages per employee of $10,000.

Deferral of Employer Payroll Tax Payments

Employers and self-employed individuals may defer certain payroll taxes. 

Key Highlights:

Deferral amount equal to employer share (6.2%) of the Social Security tax on wages through the end of 2020.

50% of deferred payments due by December 31, 2021; remaining portion due by December 31, 2022.

Net Operating Loss/Excess Business Loss Changes

Modifications to net operating losses (NOLs) and its limitations on losses provided under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

Key Highlights:

2018-2020 NOLs fully deductible.

2018-2020 NOLs allowed to be carried back five years to allow businesses to claim refunds of taxes paid in prior years.

Owners of pass-through entities no longer subject to excess business loss provisions for 2018-2020 – able to take full advantage of pass-through      losses, as available.

Business Interest Deduction

Increase in the allowable deduction of business interest from levels defined in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

Key Highlights:

– 50% of taxable income now allowable for deduction – up from 30% limitation

For additional links to available resources, please visit:

– US Chamber of Commerce
– Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Assistance
– SBA Small Business Criteria
– Full Bill available here
– Business Guidance and Loan Resources

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the #1 field sales acceleration and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

Essential Businesses During COVID-19

The majority of the United States and many countries throughout the world are restricted from operating based on their local city, county, state, and federal government’s quarantine restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic (referred in many places as “shelter-in-place”).

The result is that many businesses and employees either have to work from home or are unable to work at all (B2C industries such as – restaurant, many retail stores, consumer services, etc). 

However, the government does recognize that there are many essential industries that must continue to operate so that civilized life can continue to operate. 

For the sake of clarity, we want to provide you with a clear picture of the industries that have been given the green light to operate with extreme healthcare caution.

We should mention that each local government is unique, and our guidance would be to refer to your local government’s laws. 

Here is the Dallas Shelter-in-Place list of essential businesses:

Essential Healthcare Businesses

– Hospitals
– In-home health care for seniors, adults or children
– Clinics
– Dentists
– Pharmacies
– Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
– Health care suppliers
– Mental health providers
– Substance-abuse service providers
– Blood banks
– Medical research facilities
– Laboratory services
– Veterinary care for animals

Essential Government Functions

Government functions that are “needed to ensure the continuing operation of the government agencies to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the public” are broadly included.

Essential Infrastructure Businesses

– Public works construction
– Residential and commercial construction
– Airport operations
– Water, sewer, gas and electrical businesses
– Oil refining
– Road and highway work
– Public transportation (including DART rail and buses)
– Solid waste collection and removal
– Internet and telecommunications systems businesses
– Financial institutions
– Defense and national security-related operations
– Essential manufacturing operations

Essential Retail Businesses

– Grocery stores
– Warehouse stores
– Big-box stores
– Bodegas
– Liquor stores
– Gas stations and convenience stores
– Farmers markets that sell food products and household staples
– Businesses that ship or deliver groceries directly to homes
– Restaurants and other facilities that prepare and serve food are only permitted to remain open for delivery or carryout services
– Laundromats, dry cleaners and laundry service providers
– Automotive suppliers as well as auto and bicycle repair services
– Hardware stores
– Any business that supplies products needed for people to work remotely during the pandemic

Essential Services

– Businesses that provide social services and services necessary to life for the economically disadvantaged
– Trash and recycling collection, processing and disposal
– Mail and shipping services
– Building cleaning and maintenance
– Warehouse, distribution and fulfillment services
– Storage services for essential businesses included in this list
– Funeral homes, crematoriums and cemeteries
– Plumbers, electricians, exterminators and other services necessary for maintaining the safety, sanitation and operations of residences and businesses included in this list 
– Professional services such as legal and accounting services for businesses included in this list
– News media
– Child care facilities that provide services to employees of businesses included in this list.
– Ride-hailing services like Uber, Lyft and delivery drivers are also essential services

We strongly suggest that you refer to your local government’s shelter-in-place business restrictions and consider this list as guidance (unless you’re also based in Dallas).

You will notice that although outside sales functions are mostly unable to operate in a face-to-face format, many businesses are still able to service their customers. Please reference other parts of the Spotio virtual field sales resource center to find ways to continue to drive revenue during these times. 

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the #1 field sales software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

Inside Sales vs Outside Sales

Inside vs. outside sales? They don’t need to operate in silos.

A great debate is taking place right now about Inside Sales vs Outside Sales and which method is better. There’s certainly no definitive answer because it depends on the person you’re talking to, their prior background, previous experience, and how they prefer to sell.

Some business models may not be able to support inside sales, and are therefore forced to rely on an outside sales team. It’s more important to understand the differences between the two than it is to try and make a case for why one is better than the other.

It’s important for sales professionals to know the specifics associated with each in order determine what the best sales job is for them. Most tend to enjoy one significantly more than the other. This, in turn, often defines their level of success. For business owners, the strategy you choose could mean the difference between being profitable and experiencing a loss.

What Is Inside Sales?

Investopedia defines inside sales as the sale of products or services by personnel who reach customers by phone or online, rather than by meeting them in person. Inside sales relies on the phone, email and the internet to reach customers. Often defined as “remote sales” or “virtual sales.”

What Is Outside Sales?

Outside sales is the sale of products or services by sales personnel who go out into the field to meet with prospective customers, according to Investopedia. Outside sales professionals tend to work autonomously outside of a formal office and formal team environment. They often travel to meet new customers and maintain relationships of their current customers, face-to-face.

Technology: Inside Sales vs Outside Sales

Sales software is sales software, right? Incorrect. The vast majority of tools, applications, and software were developed around the inside sales process. Namely, the CRM. The subpar mobile functionality makes them a bear to deal with. Due to this lack of user friendliness, reps are then required to spend extra hours once their day is done in order to update prospecting and client information from their day out in the field. 

Inside Sales, on the other hand, are blessed with an abundance of resources and technology all designed to streamline their day, maximize their output, and foster more sales.

SPOTIO conducted a “State of Field Sales” report to better understand and address the disparity between technology advantages of the inside vs. outside sales rep. Access here:

The Trend Is Shifting… Quickly

If you were to look solely at the numbers, inside sales would be beat outside sales like Mike Tyson fighting an infant. Beyond just definitions, what is the difference between inside sales and outside sales?

Thanks to the technological era we live in, one of the most noteworthy trends is the incredible rate of growth. Inside sales teams are growing at a rate 15 times faster than outside sales. This translates to 7.5% vs 0.5% annually, or essentially, 800,000 new inside sales jobs spanning from 2010 – 2013.

Inside Sales or Outside Sales graph

Additionally…

Inbound leads cost about 61% less (or $211) compared to outbound [Inbound Seller]

Outside sales reps spend 45% of their time selling remotely, jumping 88.4% from just three years ago in 2014 [HubSpot]

Inside sales reps have a 9.8% higher quota attainment than outside salespeople [HubSpot]

Numbers Don’t Tell The Full Story

If you read those and quit, you’d be doing yourself an injustice. Companies utilizing outside sales strategies have a close rate that is 30.2% better than inside sales. And work deals that average to be more than 130% larger.

Tenfold also found that outside sales reps earn approximately 12 – 18% more in salary compared to their counterparts; about $15,000 annually.

You could pick apart the data for weeks, but the fact of the matter is there’s a reason for the considerable difference in growth. Despite that change, there’s still plenty of opportunity available on either side of the fence, and why you should have a firm understanding of the key differences between inside sales and outside sales.

7 Factors Highlighting the Key Differences Between Inside and Outside Sales

#1  | Sales Tools

The tools used by inside and outside sales teams differ quite a bit because of the additional technology needed by reps in the field. Outside sales teams need tools that can help them do things like build and manage territories, map routes, and monitor rep activity.

For inside sales teams, the bulk of the tools use are related to activity automation. Tools like dialers and email tracking software like SalesHandy are much more relevant to the inside sales landscape.

Tools for Outside Sales Teams

Sales Territory Management: Dividing a sales territory into manageable areas within an identified area of a targeted marketplace is an effective way to assign smaller territories to sales reps and cover a larger area in less time.

Field Sales Software: Assists in effectively managing your team by establishing processes such as designing the best sales routes possible. This helps to establish two key components of success in sales – efficiency and speed. Field sales software enables you to create a dynamic plan, and with a motivated field sales team, more customers will be contacted face to face, giving your overall sales goals a boost.

Sales Rep Tracking: Improve the sales, accountability and productivity of your outside sales team by tracking their activity. Real-time knowledge backed with recorded data creates usable information to make immediate decisions to effectively manage your team.

Sales Routing Tool: Identifying and creating the shorted route between customers and prospects give your team more time to sell.

#2  | Variety & Flexibility

As previously mentioned, outside sales reps have dramatically increased their remote selling time in recent years by 45%. While it may seem like they’re just shifting more toward inside tactics, they’re actually demonstrating the unique flexibility they have to get the job done.

Outside sales takes the cake when it comes to the variety available to them to hook customers. Inside salespeople aren’t nearly as strategic. Outside techniques can include presentations, displays and samples. More or less, they use anything and everything that’s visual.

Outside sales reps also have the added responsibilities of managing their own schedule and keeping up with their own appointments. One appointment that runs long or gets canceled can throw your entire day out of whack. Additionally, your appearance in the field matters because clothing has power on those around you.

However, technology is part of the reason for the shift as inside sales teams now have the ability to do live product demos thanks to web conferencing tools, and other online strategies.

#3  | Quantity vs Quality

What is the difference between inside sales and outside sales? Many have very simply broken it down to: quantity vs. quality. Outside and field sales teams are significantly limited in the number of prospects they can touch on a daily basis, giving inside sales a huge advantage.

Inside sales doesn’t fight the challenges of logistics and travel. They can hammer calls for hours on end. Being that the price point is typically lower, inside sales teams don’t have to focus on the same level of quality as outside sales teams do. This leads to a much higher number of demos completed and “one-call closes.”

Outside selling tends to be for more expensive and complex products/services because the functionality comes with a lot more detail and intricacy. This is why they tend to meet customers face-to-face. They may have fewer meetings, but their focus on the right meetings is why they close at a rate 30% higher than inside sales.

#4  | Prospecting Challenges

Inside sales reps are generally far more prolific when it comes to prospecting. Because they’re in an office all day, their prospecting obligations are mastered much quicker. Keep in mind that because the price point is lower, more customers are able to afford it with fewer restrictions.

One of the greatest contributing factors to finding the right audience is having the right tools. This is true for both inside and outside sales teams. Prospecting will always be a time consuming task, but automation platforms like Prospect.io will drastically increase your productivity and help you start more conversations.

Prospect.io can automatically find and verify the information you need, like the prospect’s email, job title, and phone number, etc. Once you’ve identified the prospects to contact, use their tool create cold email and drip campaigns while eliminating data entry as that information will automatically be sent to your CRM. One of the best things about it is the ability to track and analyze all of that data to determine what is working best.

#5  | Sales Cycles

Sales cycles are especially important for sales reps to understand. The reps who know the difference typically prefer one over the other, and are the ones who usually have a sales career vs a sales job. The reason this is so important is because certain individuals thrive in “quick-win” situations while others enjoy the relational sale.

The majority of inside sales organizations have a relatively short cycle due to fewer in-person meetings and a lower cost. The reduced cost is viewed as less risky. The lengthier sales cycle commonly associated with outside sales is often a result of the product’s high level of detail. The increased length requires a stronger and longer-lasting relationship.

It’s vital to understand that the B2B sales cycle in field sales is considerably more complex than it is for inside sales. These buyers typically never pull the trigger alone. On average, there’s 5.4 stakeholders who need to sign off on the purchase. Keep in mind that the unfortunate reality is when more people are involved in a decision, the less likely they will make a purchase.

#6  | Sales Skills

Inside sales and outside sales may have a lot of similarities, and while they’re both still “sales,” there are some key differences that define a successful rep for each category, like inside reps understanding the importance of terminology.

Inside Sales vs Outside Sales comparison

#7  | Compensation

It’s fairly common knowledge that outside sales is associated with a higher price tag. One reason for that is the higher base that field reps draw. The travel and lengthier sales cycles also play an important role in the higher cost.

Inside sales coming in at a lower price point isn’t just a result of lower base and no travel. The key difference is in the tools they use. They leverage an average of 11 cost-efficient technologies to streamline their processes and workflows.

Tools like Prospect.io have such an incredible feature set that make inside sales reps so much more efficient that companies continue to purchase more tools for their team. The cost is justified due to the increase in productivity and results.

Benefits of Inside Sales

– Lower costs
– More communication and collaboration
– Shorter sales cycle
– Higher quota attainment

Benefits of Outside Sales

– Higher close rate than inside sales
– Outside reps earn 12 – 18% more in salary
– Deal sizes are considerably larger
– Flexibility and freedom to manage your schedule and territory

Inside Sales or Outside Sales: Which is better for your business?

Determining whether inside sales or outside sales would be better for your company is a difficult decision. There are too many factors to consider for us to give you a concrete definitive answer, but the table below should help guide you in the right direction.

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Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

15 Sales Conferences We Suggest You Consider Attending in 2020

Sales conferences can be an invaluable source of education and training. But, which ones are the right for your team?

A well-outlined conference does more than help your sales staff sharpen mission-critical selling skills and techniques (although, they definitely do that too). Relevant conferences and seminars deliver an invaluable opportunity for your salespeople to meet and engage with potential prospects, network with industry partners and affiliates, and gain inside access to the very latest market innovations that can help them grow their book of business (aka directly impact your company’s profit margins).

Not sure which sales conferences will yield the biggest ROI for your team? Look no further. 

The 15 Best Sales Conferences to Attend in 2020

Sales 3.0 Conference

Dates: March 10-11, 2020 | June 9-10, 2020 | October 13-14, 2020
Locations: Orlando, FL | Toronto, ON | Las Vegas, NV
Tickets: Orlando | Toronto | Las Vegas

This two-day session is designed specifically for sales, sales operation professionals, and sales enablement leaders. Each Sales 3.0 Conference offers executive-level speakers who deliver strategic insight and best practices tactics that accelerate performance and drive bottom-line growth.

Sandler Summit

Dates: March 4 – 6, 2020
Location: Orlando, FL.
Tickets: Purchase here

This year’s Sandler Summit will be held at Orlando’s Rosen Centre, where you’ll have an opportunity to network and engage with over 1,000 sales, leadership, and management professionals from across the globe. Immerse yourself in a two-day intensive, high-impact training and networking seminar that’s led by some of Sandler’s leading sales training innovators.

Sales World

Dates: June 11, 2020 | September 17, 2020 | November 19, 2020
Location: San Jose, CA | Randolph, MA | Dublin, IE
Tickets: San Jose | Randolph | Dublin

In case you haven’t noticed, we live in a Digital Sales World. Designed for inside/in-field reps and sales leaders, this conference offers tools, tips, and strategies to tap into the power of digital innovation to improve selling performance and increase overall revenues.

10X Growth Conference

Dates: February 21 – 23, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Tickets: Purchase here

How could you possibly miss out on the self-proclaimed Largest Business Conference On Earth? The 10X Growth Conference showcases some of the world’s most successful and innovative entrepreneurs who share their insight and tips with sales professionals across every corporate level. The star-studded lineup of keynote speakers includes Grant Cardone, Kevin Hart, Magic ‘Irving’ Johnson, and Snoop Dogg, making it a must-attend event.

Unleash 20

Dates: April 7 – 9, 2020
Location: San Diego, CA
Tickets: Purchase here

Not only is this conference held at a luxurious spa…it’s also hosted on its own private island. Don’t worry, Unleash 20 offers more than tropical weather and gorgeous scenery. Here, sales leaders and professionals from around the globe train, network, and listen to elite speakers as they sharpen their leadership skills and strategies.

Rainmaker 2020

Dates: June 24 – June 26, 2020
Location: Nashville, TN
Tickets: Purchase here

This three-day seminar designed for sales management provides exclusive trends, tips, and techniques from some of the biggest innovators and thought leaders in the industry. Rainmaker 2020 offers proven strategies to help you build essential partner relationships and grow your business.

Sales Leadership Summit

Dates: April 14 – 16, 2020
Location: Chicago, IL 
Tickets: Purchase here

Touted as the Inside Sales Leadership Event of the Year, the Sales Leadership Summit gives managers, leaders, and executives access to the innovation, tools, and resources needed to sharpen their own sales skills and bring their team of Account Executives to the next level of selling.

INBOUND 2020

Dates: August 18 – 21, 2020 
Location: Boston, MA
Tickets: Purchase here

Hosted by HubSpot, Inbound 2020 brings together industry thought leaders and professionals for a four-day curriculum designed to not only grow your business but help change how you do business. Equal parts enterprise and empathy, this conference can inspire your sellers to not only do their best but also to be their best.

Traction

Dates: August 5 – 6, 2020
Location: Vancouver, BC
Tickets: Purchase here

Traction Conference delivers world-class speakers and actionable selling strategies to fast-track business growth and launch team performance. Over the course of two days, you and your account reps will connect with executives from Fortune 500 companies, major media contributors, and high-impact startup founders as you hone your skills and grow your professional networks.

LeadsCon

Dates: March 30 – April 1, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Tickets: Purchase here

Known as The World’s Largest Performance Marketing Conference And Exposition, LeadsCon gathers industry-leading innovators for a two-day session dedicated to essential practices like field performance, lead generation, and networking. Developed for marketers and sales professionals, this conference and exposition offers keynote speakers, workshops, and breakout sessions for optimized results and success.  

D2DCon

Dates: January 8 – 9, 2020
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Tickets: Purchase here

The largest In Home Selling conference in the country for Door-to-Door, B2B, and Referral based selling. At D2DCon, sales managers and business owners come together for a highly informative three days focusing on leadership, recruiting, sales and business development. Attendees learn how to grow business from industry greats. How valuable is D2DCon? So valuable that D2DCon is one conference the SPOTIO team never misses!

Win The Storm (WTS)

Dates: February 20 – 22, 2020
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Tickets: Purchase here

Win the Storm brings together 2500+ general contractors, roofing contractors, fire/water restoration companies, public adjusters and other industry entrepreneurs. At WTS, you are given the opportunity to learn from speakers, vendors, and industry experts to gain insights that will  take your business to the next level. And as an added bonus, SPOTIO will be there! Stop by our booth as we would love to introduce ourselves.

Solar Power International

Dates: September 14 – 17, 2020
Location: Anaheim, CA
Tickets: Purchase here

As the largest solar event in North America, Solar Power International is not to be missed. SPI brings a wealth of resources and knowledge into one place. Hobnob with with distributors, contractors, engineering firms, architects, builders/developers, investors and financiers. In addition to learning from the industries best, the tradeshow floor gives you the opportunity to meet with top suppliers and manufacturers so that you can discover new solutions and ideas to help you business thrive. The extensive draw this event pulls is one of the many reasons SPOTIO is looking forward to attending this years’ show.

REV2020

Dates: March 9 – 11, 2020
Location: San Francisco, CA
Tickets: Purchase here

Ignite your passion for delighting customers and maximizing revenue with 3 days of leading-edge insights from the best minds in the industry.

Seismic Shift

Dates: November 5 – 7, 2020
Location: San Diego, CA
Tickets: Purchase here

Seismic Shift is a hand-on event, leaving you with invaluable knowledge on how to enable your business to align ales and marketing teams in order to provide the best customer experience.

What are your plans for sales conferences in 2020? Tell us what events you or your team will attend in the comments section!

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the #1 field sales acceleration and mobile CRM  designed specifically for outside sales managers and reps to squeeze every drop out of their field sales efforts.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

How to Become a Medical Sales Rep (with No Experience)

Medical sales is a challenging and rewarding career.

How rewarding? The national average salary for a medical sales rep per the MedReps 2018 Medical Sales Salary Report is just under $150,000 ($149, 544), an increase of around $2,000 from 2017.

The medical sales industry is growing, which means they will always be looking for new talent. But, do you have what it takes to be a successful medical sales rep?

Let us explore this exciting and challenging field and the opportunities it presents.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:

1. The responsibilities of a medical sales rep
2. What do hiring managers look for
3. Critical medical sales rep requirements
4. How to become a medical sales rep with no experience

The essential skills that will lead  to your first medical sale

What is a Medical Sales Rep?


Medical sales reps sell a company’s products, whether for pharmaceutical companies or healthcare equipment manufacturers, serving as the liaison between the customers and the manufacturer. The sales rep also promotes the features and benefits of the company’s products, answers questions, provides consultation on the use of the product, and introduces new products as they launch.

Key Responsibilities of Medical Sales Positions

Medical sales reps handle all stages of the medical sales journey, but some places need more attention than others. Here are some especially important responsibilities:

Identify and qualify prospects and decision makers.  Who’s on the buying committee? Are you communicating with, and convincing, everyone who has veto power? You could be talking to administrators, doctors, nurses, and therapists. They’ll all have different questions and concerns.

Product knowledge is key. You will have to demonstrate your product formally and informally. Know your product, read the studies, and be able to provide any additional research prospects may request.

Presentation skills are needed for meetings, conferences and trade shows. Provide valuable information in every setting and demonstrate you understand their challenges and needs.

Negotiate the sales contract. This is the age of value-added care. How does your product, and your contract, provide value-added care to the buyer and their patients?

Know the HIPAA regs as they apply to business associates. You may come in contact with protected health information (PHI). Prove you’re a trustworthy professional who won’t expose your customers to potential HIPAA headaches.

Develop and maintain relationships with past, present, and future customers. Be a valuable resource. Providing useful information, like new studies or relevant news articles, is a great way to keep in touch.

What Do Hiring Managers Look For?

Hiring managers have a specific set of skills they are looking for in the ideal candidates for medical sales. Per MedReps.com, their talent acquisition strategy includes a search for:

1. Foundational Skills
2. Transferable Skills
3. Industry-Specific Skills

Let’s take a closer look at the three skill types and some examples of each.

Foundation Skills

Foundation skills are fundamentals imperative for the position. These skills are not specific to the medical industry, but are necessary for success in medical sales.

Some examples of Foundation Skills include:

Sales Skills: Medical sales reps must have new business development and prospecting abilities, presentation proficiencies that communicate features and benefits, and an aptitude for self-discipline to stay on top of new technology and research in their field. They should also be able to set and achieve goals.

Interpersonal Skills: Candidates should be active listeners comfortable with collaborative work environments and possess excellent problem-solving tactics.

Self-Management Skills:  The strongest candidates will have adequate time management skills. They need to be self-motivated and able to set goals and create systems to achieve those goals. They should also have a positive attitude accompanied by a strong work ethic. Finally, they should adapt quickly to change, as the medical sales industry is always evolving.

Transferable Skills

Transferable skills are those abilities acquired through other occupations. These competencies are not specific to medical sales, but instead are work-related talents gained through experiences in different positions.

Some examples of transferable skills include:

Marketing Flair: Candidates who know how to promote the features and benefits of a product to a specific audience are in demand by medical sales recruiters. Knowing how to use different channels to reach potential customers or expand the relationships with existing customers is key to a medical sales rep’s success.

Public Relations: Communication is significant for medical sales reps. Hiring managers want medical sales reps that can present to an audience, answer questions, and disseminate information about the products. They also want people who can handle customer concerns and overcome objections.

Project Management: Desirable candidates will have project management aptitude. Running a medical sales territory has many moving parts, and the best candidates can develop systems to help them manage and organize their territory to meet the expectations of their organization.

Industry-Specific Skills

Industry-Specific Skills refer to those skills directly related to the healthcare industry. These might be from work experience or education.

Some examples of industry-specific skills include:

Relevant Experience: The best candidates for a job in medical sales are those that have already been in medical sales. Per Elitemed, a recruitment firm for medical sales, hiring managers often want to hire reps that already have two to three years’ experience in the field.

Healthcare Professionals: Candidates that were nurses, scrub techs, or other healthcare providers are often excellent candidates because they have industry knowledge. Elitemed says healthcare professionals understand the hospital environment and speak the same language as the customer.

Biotechnology or Science Background: Candidates with education in scientific fields have an advantage in medical sales. MedReps suggests people with a scientific background often also have technical writing skills and can explain things well in regular language. These candidates are also familiar with research and using evidence-based claims to convince customers of the product benefits.

Do you have many of the foundational, transferable, and industry-related skills discussed here? If so, here are the steps you need to take to become a successful medical sales rep.

How to Become a Medical Sales Rep (with No Experience)

Having the right skills is only part of the equation to success as a medical sales rep. Candidates that want not only to get the job but to thrive in their new career should consider the following steps.

Step #1: Pick a Focus for Your Medical Sales Career

There are many areas of specialization in medical sales. While the sale itself is often transactional, there are times when a consultation would benefit the deal. Medical reps that can speak the language and understand the science behind the products will have the best success. Choosing an area to master will establish you as a leader and drive you to success.  

Consider the following specialties:

Medical Devices and Equipment: Reps that sell medical devices specialize in equipment or biomedical implants used by clinicians in treatment. Some examples of the products a medical device rep would represent are artificial joints like hip replacement devices or pacemakers used by cardiologists.

Pharmaceuticals:  A pharmaceutical rep would present the features and benefits of drugs that treat conditions within the clinician’s specialty. For example, a pharmaceutical rep for a company with a cholesterol reducer might call upon cardiologists and general practitioners.

Biotechnology:  A medical sale rep working in this field would represent companies that use living organisms for their healthcare-related inventions and procedures. Like a pharmaceutical rep, there are specialties within the field, which range from drug development to mapping the genomes and other areas of micro- and molecular biology. Unlike the other specialties, this one might require a strong background and education in life sciences.

Step #2: Establish your 30/60/90 Day Plan—in Theory, and Practice

When you have somewhere to go, you need to have a plan to get there. A 30-60-90 day plan is precisely what it sounds like; it is a plan with specific goals for each period. Not only will having a plan help you focus on what you need to do to land the job, but once you have the job it can help your transition into a new career.

A strategic approach to a territory tends to be more successful than “just going for it.” Let’s take a closer look at each type of 30/60/90/day plan.

For the Interview Process:

It is a favorite interview question to ask the candidate what they would do if they had the job. Hubspot suggests that having an answer to the question in the form of a 30-60-90 plan can demonstrate to the hiring manager that you are organized, thorough, and can prioritize well.

For the New Job:

Starting a job in a new company can be overwhelming and stressful. Having a concrete plan for the first three months helps you focus on one goal at a time while gaining mastery of the features and benefits of your products.

The 30-day goals are by the nature of their timeline, your quick wins. An example will be to learn about your main accounts and understand their business. Likewise, the 90-day goals will be those that take more steps or require more experience to accomplish. Examples here could be gaining entry into a significant prospect that isn’t a customer—yet.

It is crucial, however, that you allow time for the short-term and long-term goals from day one. Otherwise, you might not lay the proper groundwork for the tasks that require the longer timeline.

Step #3: Get Familiar with the Job and the Environment

One thing all recruiting professionals like to see is the hands-on experience. The problem is you do not have any. Getting field experience is vital to improving your chances at landing your first medical sales rep position.

Job Shadow

In sales, you often learn by doing. Try doing a ride-along or job-shadow with a successful medical sales rep. Seeing the experienced medical sales rep in their day-to-day interactions will not only give you the crucial experience you need, but it will also allow you to know whether you want to do this job.

Internships

Another way to get immediate experience is to apply for an internship. Internships with medical sales companies allow you to work alongside the sales team and learn directly from the experts.

Your duties as an intern for a medical sales organization could encompass a range of sales and support activities. Some interns qualify new accounts. They might also manage or gather additional data in the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) system. Some interns look for new opportunities to deepen relationships with existing customers or adapt current systems to a new market. Other interns travel with the sales team. Many interns will research new specialty product opportunities.

Another option is to contact the doctors’ offices directly and ask what they look for in a good sales rep. Who better to tell you what you need to do then the people that would buy from you?

Volunteering

Hubspot recommends that you also consider volunteering at a hospital or medical practice. Gaining experience can come from related jobs, too. Working in a medical practice or at a supplier for hospitals or medical practices, even at an entry level, can give you some experience in the field that would benefit your resume.

In addition to industry-related experience, it is also an excellent idea to brush up on your transferable skills as well. You should be able to operate proficiently in most sales-related technology, like CRM, project management software, and Microsoft Office programs. You should also brush up your communication skills, including technical writing.

Transferable skills are important too. MedReps.com recommends working on presentation skills as medical sales reps are usually fielding questions and presenting scientific evidence.

Step #4: Train Yourself for Success

It’s never too soon to start training in your chosen field. Medical sales reps need to have a command of the selling process so they can hit the ground running.

Hubspot recommends enrolling in a training program on your own, even before you have a job. Many medical sales organizations have affiliations with consulting groups that have training programs in place to help candidates like you get started on their skill set to make them more desirable to recruiters.

The most beneficial training programs will teach you the language of the industry. Also, they should give you a better idea of what is expected of a medical sales rep and exposure to the typical processes and procedures with a healthcare-related supplier.

In addition to formalized training, you should read studies, press releases, and new articles. Sign up for Google Alerts, a search tool that finds articles and results related to a topic of your choosing. You will automatically get notified when there stories, products, or mentions that you should read.

You can also visit Medical News Today for breaking news of medical topics in your chosen specialty and also to use the collections section of the Knowledge Center to research developments for your specialization.  

Many organizations use Salesforce as their CRM. Having an excellent working knowledge of Salesforce will not only make you a more desirable candidate, but it will make your transition into the new position easier.

Salesforce has a free online training center called Trailhead for new users. However, there are more interactive online versions, too, as well as public and private settings for training as well.

Brushing up on sales skills is also an outstanding way to train for medical sales jobs. SPOTIO has an assortment of resources articles, eBook materials, and tools that can help you learn to prospect and qualify leads, manage a territory, plan for success, and optimize your sales calls.

Step #5: Network, Network, Network

Knowing the right people is never the wrong thing to do when you are trying to break into medical sales. Networking is vital.

LinkedIn

One free and easy way to start networking is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social network for your professional life. You create a profile and link to people you know. The site has a helpful “people you may know” section to help you build your network. You can post articles you have read, posts you have written or other professional links and news on your profile.

LinkedIn also has Groups where you can interact with other people in the group. Search for a group under medical sales and request to join to interact with others in the field.

LinkedIn also helps with searching for jobs. You can see who has viewed your profile. Then, you can message them to see if they have any questions for you. Also, actively responding to blogs posted by others in your field can help you network and find new opportunities.

You can also research companies on the site.

LinkedIn also includes photos of people that have some affiliation with you or your network. These contacts can be a starting point for your networking efforts.

Networking and Associations

Consider joining associations. Many have active memberships that present opportunities to network with like-minded professionals in your area of focus.

Online networking is only part of your strategy. You should also pursue in-person opportunities to meet people in the medical sales industry. Seminars and conferences are a great way to create connections with other attendees.

However, remember that quality connections are far more useful than the quantity of contacts. Introducing yourself to people who will quickly forget your name will not help you get a job in medical sales. Creating unique connections with people rather than just “working the room” will yield better results.

Step #6: Create a Compelling Online Presence

LinkedIn is one of many stops you should make when building your online presence. In fact, 80% of recruiters do an online search before reaching out to potential candidates per HuffPost.

It’s essential to think about what they might see if they searched for you. The best way to find this out is to simply Google yourself and see what comes up. Then, Google a respected person in the field to see how their online presence differs from yours.

Here are a few tips on what will help and what can hurt.

Things That Help You

A Professional Headshot: A professional headshot presents you in your best possible light. Our advice is to spring for the professional, no matter how great you think your camera’s phone is.

Customized Summary of Work History: You want your work history to speak to how you match with the job you want. So be sure to customize your work history to highlight all the qualities you have that would make you a tremendous medical sales rep. If possible and appropriate, customize the summary specifically for the organization you want to join. Just be careful that you do not eliminate yourself from other potential organizations in the process.

Accomplishments: Whenever possible, you want your work history to reflect successes, the more specific, the better. For example, you did not just grow your territory in media sales; you increased your territory in media sales by 17% in the first three quarters of the fiscal year.

Also include any education awards, achievement-based accolades (e.g., Rookie of the year or President’s Club), and significant accomplishments outside of work, like being an Eagle Scout or on the National Volleyball Team, etc.

Skills, Endorsements, and Recommendations: You also want to make sure that when recruiters search for you online, they find their way to your skills that fall into foundational, transferable, and industry-specific categories. Also, be sure to post any endorsements, reviews, or referrals you might have received from past employers or clients. Talent acquisition specialists like to see that you have a track record of success with people.

Things That Hurt You

Inappropriate Pictures: Seeing is believing and a picture speaks a thousand words. Scrutinize (and scrub) any photos you have on your social media sites so that when a recruiter or hiring manager finds you, they believe you have what it takes. Let those thousand words your pictures say include,  “professional, ambitious, and successful “ first and foremost.

Crass Language: Like your pictures, what you say online is also a significant contributor to your online presence. Ensure that a search of your words will reveal a candidate who is poised and appropriate.

Mixing Personal and Business: This point can be tricky since often the two areas overlap. However, it is critical to demonstrate that you know the difference between the two and can adapt your behavior and demeanor to match the situation.

Post-Hire Success: Tips for Getting Your First Medical Sale

Let’s say you do it. You met all the medical sales rep requirements, and now you have your first medical sales rep position. Now what?

Here are a few tips for getting your first medical sale:

1. Know the Customer: Gaining a deep understanding of your customer allows you to anticipate their needs and to match features and benefits of your products to solve their challenges. Social media and a robust internet search will often reveal a lot about your customers, mainly their professional focus and any research area in which they have a particular interest or involvement.

Also, you will likely learn more about their philosophy of care, which can also tell you a lot about their personality and values. All of this information should help you make the minutes count when you get that valuable face to face time.

2. Prospect Intelligently: Your sales will be better if you start with excellent prospects. When you qualify your potential leads, ensure that what you offer is in the doctor’s specialty and appropriate for their practice. In addition, look for indications that they might be a champion of your competitor. Also, take a few minutes to learn more about the gatekeeper at the practice and how they handle requests for the staff’s time.

All of this foundational research will help you be more efficient with your time and reveal your best opportunities. Tools like Spotio’s Lead Machine can also disclose as much information as possible about prospects to get you started in the right direction.

3. Engage in Pain-based Discovery:  Your sales discovery questions should be open-ended, and pain focused.

First, you can learn as much as possible about the prospect.

Second, you can discover the needs your prospect has. Needs-based selling is not like selling at all; it is more like problem-solving. When you know what is not working for a prospect, you can craft a solution based on what you have to offer.

Then, you have not sold a customer so much as you have helped them. The Sandler Pain Funnel has a series of questions you can use to uncover the real pain a prospect feels, which gives you a better chance of finding a real solution.

4. Follow a Follow-up Strategy: Nearly as crucial as prospecting intelligently for landing your first medical sale is following up sufficiently. Every successful medical supplies salesperson has an excellent follow-up strategy. It should follow the three P’s: personalized, proper, and (pleasantly) persistent. Personalization shows that you listen well and understand what the prospect wants.

Having proper follow up establishes you as a professional partner for their practice. Being persistent shows that their business is important to you, and also, does not let your product slip through the cracks of a busy medical practice.

5. Set Daily (S.M.A.R.T) Goals: One way you can shorten the sales cycle is to be diligent about attacking all the essential tasks each day that can get you closer to a yes. However, like any goal-setting strategy, they should be achievable. In other words, don’t make a daily goal that is not realistic (e.g., making your sales quota for the month by the end of the day).

Have a certain number of calls you want to make, an amount of new opportunities that you identify, a few accounts where you move the sales process to the next step, and, after you have been at it for some time, a few accounts that you think you might close.

Following the SMART guidelines, you will create actionable goals that are guaranteed to see results.

6. Learn from Your Failures: It is no secret that getting to your first yes will involve hearing a lot of no’s. It is crucial that you learn to overcome the no. Analyze what did not work and figure out why or at what moment the sale went wrong. Then, address that moment with a new tactic next time to get a different outcome the next time.

Many sales experts will tell you that the best salespeople are lifelong learners. And they all know how to overcome objections that lead to no’s and turn them into a yes.

Medical sales is a challenging career, but it is also one of the most rewarding. With an average national salary firmly in six figures, medical sales rep jobs can be high-paying opportunities.

Medical sales is also an industry that continues to grow with almost an endless need for new talent. If you have the skills, meet the medical sales rep requirements and the ability that hiring managers and recruiters are looking for, you could be the next successful medical sales rep, even if you had no experience before.

Ready to Jumpstart Your Medical Sales Career?

By understanding what the job entails, taking the steps we showed you for how to become a medical sales reps, and ensuring that you have the right training you will have built a strong foundation for your future career. Add to it your efforts to learn the industry and customize your online presence to attract medical sales talent acquisition specialists, and you will be able to land your first medical sales position.

So what are you waiting for? You have some work to do.

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the #1 sales acceleration software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

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Sources:

“2018 Medical Sales Salary Report.” www.medreps.com Web. 12 October 2018. https://www.medreps.com/medical-sales-careers/medical-sales-salary-report

“The Necessary Skills to Succeed in Medical Sales 101.” www.medreps.com. 30 October 2017. Web. 12 October 2018. https://www.medreps.com/medical-sales-careers/the-necessary-skills-to-succeed-in-medical-sales-101

“Breaking Into Medical Device Sales.” Elitemed.com. Web. 12 October 2018. , http://elitemed.com/entry-into-medical-sales-outdated/

Chi, Clifford. “The 30-60-Day Plan: Your Guide for Mastering a New Role [template + Example].” Blog.hubspot.com. 19 July 2018. Web. 15 October 2018. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/30-60-90-day-plan

Mullins, Karyn. “How to Become a Medical Sales Rep (Even If You Have No Experience).” Blog.hubspot.com. Web. 16 October 2018. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/become-medical-sales-rep

Joyce, Susan. P. “What 80% of Employers Do Before Inviting You for an Interview.” www.huffingtonpost.com. 1 May 2014. Web. 17 October 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-p-joyce/job-search-tips_b_4834361.html

Microsoft Streets and Trips Alternative for 2020

A few years ago, Microsoft Streets and Trips users discovered their software was no longer supported. The exit of the software created a void for trip planners waiting for a new player to fill in where Microsoft left off.

SPOTIO provides an alternative for Microsoft Streets and Trips that fills that void with all the things Microsoft’s product did well for trip planning and then taking it to a new level of functionality and efficiency powered by the internet.

What Was Streets and Trips?

Before Google Maps or Siri, and before Bing Maps and all the other online navigation helpers, many people who needed to get around in the U.S. used a self-contained, offline navigation software called Streets and Trips by Microsoft.

Microsoft’s Streets and Trips was a mapping software designed for people unfamiliar with North America to navigate the U.S., Canada, and Mexico with a variety of services including route-mapping. You bought it on CD-ROM and loaded it into your computers, no internet required.

The features were numerous, and included:

– Street-level maps of the U.S. and Canada which included 2.5 million points of interest along the way with easy-to-see icons of what restaurants and hotels are around your destination

– Trip planning functionality for multiple destinations, as well as scenic detours and fuel and rest stop planning

– One-click trip optimization to get the quickest way to your desired destination

– Road type optimization feature, so you choose the way you want to go, e.g., freeways, scenic route, country backroads

– Capacity to add notes, phone numbers, reservation codes to stops

– Offline high-speed planning capability, which some users said was faster than their internet connection

– Drag and Drop utility for rerouting on the fly, no internet connection required

The last version of the software also added customer ratings for businesses. However, you had to be online to see these.

What Happened to Streets and Trips?

As a DOS-Based program in an increasingly Internet-driven world, Microsoft Streets and Trips was discontinued at the end of 2014, with support ending a few months later in 2015. Microsoft sought to migrate Streets and Trips users to Bing Maps, their online mapping system. The move to sunset both Streets and Trips, as well as the business version of the software MapPoint, was part of a broader strategy by CEO Satya Nadella to focus on products that were part of Microsoft’s future rather than its past.

Microsoft purchased the program in 1994 from NextBase, a UK software development team based in a team member’s garage, and developed the program for the next two decades. The European version of the software was called Microsoft AutoRoute, which was also discontinued.  

Once Microsoft acquired the program, it commingled NextBase’s route technology with the Encarta World Atlas mapping technology to create earlier programs that were separate, one for mapping and one for route planning that were released on Expedia in the mid to late 1990s.  

In 2000, Microsoft evolved away from Expedia and merged the separate programs branding it Microsoft Streets and Trips (although in Europe, the AutoRoute brand remained). Today, the programming behind Streets and Trips and MapPoint were the basis for Bing Maps.

Microsoft Streets and Trips users who miss the software will find that new technology has filled the void and added to the features and benefits enjoyed by its users. SPOTIO’s navigation software does everything that Streets and Trips did, and more.

For example, with our routing utility, SPOTIO offers many of the same tools that Streets and Trips did.

Street level mapping enhanced by Google Places, which integrates directly with SPOTIO and provides detailed business information and map views of surrounding businesses around your destination.

Routes can be calculated for multiple stops, allowing you to pre-plan your trip in great detail before you ever turn the key on your vehicle.

sales-intelligence-google-places

SPOTIO creates efficient routes based on distance from point to point and optimizing it by the shortest path, or by the scheduled stop times and arranging them by meeting durations and calculating arrival times based on start and end times for events.

Captures notes about destinations, including pertinent trip information, which is available with a tap on the pin.

Just like Streets and Trips, you can make changes to your route as you go. However, unlike Streets and Trips, you can use SPOTIO on your Android or iOS mobile devices and change your routes from them. Drop pins on the destinations and tap them later for their exact address or to add information about the stop.

Plus, SPOTIO calculates driving and walking times to your destinations. It’s up to you to figure out which will give you a better option for your day.

product-sales-canvassing-mobile-screens

SPOTIO also has automatic functions that simplify your planning.

For example, it automatically integrates into your calendar without ever leaving the app. You set the appointment in the SPOTIO calendar, and it goes to your Google or Outlook calendar, too.

Also, SPOTIO automatically calculates your mileage for easy tracking of distance and expenses.

The Power of Google Places Can Maximize Your Trip Enjoyment

SPOTIO’s integration with Google Places is one of the reasons it is the optimal Streets and Trips alternative for 2019. There are over 100 million “places” in Google Places, all with comprehensive points of interest data.

Also, Google Places data updates daily, to the tune of 25 million updates every day. Not only that, the Google Platform has one billion (that’s with a “b”) active users every month, giving the data a scale backed by an infrastructure that has no equal.

In other words, when you use SPOTIO’s trip planning software, you can trust that you have the most up-to-date information about your destination in real-time.

Consider the following comparison of SPOTIO’s user interface compared to Microsoft Streets and Trips.

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the #1 field sales acceleration and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.

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Sources:

“History of AutoRoute and Streets and Trips.” www.laptopgpsworld. Web. 29 May 2019. <http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/3562-history-autoroute-streets-trips>.
Jung, Brian. “Microsoft MapPoint vs. Streets & Trips.” Smallbusiness.chron.com. Web. 29 May 2019. <https://smallbusiness.chron.com/microsoft-mappoint-vs-streets-trips-55760.html>.
Smolaks, Max. “Microsoft. Plans to Retire MapPoint Software By The End of The Year.” www.silicon.co.uk. 18 July 2014. Web. 29 May 2019. <https://www.silicon.co.uk/workspace/microsoft-to-retire-mappoint-149394>.
Protalinski, Emil. “Microsoft will discontinue MapPoint and Streets & Trips on December 31, 2014.” Thenextweb.com. 7 July 2014. Web. 29 May 2019. <https://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/07/07/microsoft-will-discontinue-mappoint-streets-trips-december-31-2014/>.
Fried, Ina. “Microsoft Quietly Shutting Down MapPoint in Favor of Bing Maps.” www.vox.com. 11 July 2014. Web. 29 May 2019. <https://www.vox.com/2014/7/11/11628758/microsoft-quietly-shutting-down-mappoint-in-favor-of-bing-maps>.

 

How to Write a 30-60-90 Day Sales Plan (With Template)

Whether you want to impress a potential sales manager during a job interview or you are simply looking for a way to level up your sales game with the support of your management team, you can plan and track your development in a transparent way by creating and sharing a 30-60-90 day sales plan.

In the sales profession, it’s not uncommon during the hiring process to be asked to provide a 30-60-90 day sales plan as it helps the sales manager determine your approach to learning the business, ability to create and track measurable goals, and willingness to hold yourself accountable.

Writing a 90-day sales plan may be the key to a smooth transition into a new role and will remove much of the on-boarding stress your sales manager might have had otherwise.

What is a 30-60-90 Day Sales Plan?

A 30-60-90 day sales plan is a tool used to lay out a course of action during a period of on-boarding or growth. When used during on-boarding, a well thought out 90-day sales plan maximizes progression into a new role by identifying development targets that include a clear timeline for completion.

Ultimately, the plan gives reps and sales manager alignment on what success will look like in the first 30, 60, and 90 days. It leaves very little ambiguity for measuring a successful transition, by keeping everyone pointed in the right direction.

While following a 30-60-90 day sales plan will help you get off the ground, the value is less about learning tasks and more about generating alignment with your new management team on what success looks like. At the end of 90 days, success should demonstrate you were a good hire and set a foundation for career growth.

Goals of a 30 60 90 Day Sales Plan

Each phase of your 30 60 90 day plan should be grounded on specific outcomes that align with your individual priorities, your team’s goals, and a plan for measuring success. Measurements should be quantifiable. In cases where they’re not easy to quantify, they should be designed to ensure it’s easy to demonstrate successful completion.

Align to team goals

When identifying your own priorities, you must first understand your team’s goals. These are typically set out by management and will greatly influence your personal priorities. Be sure to go beyond the surface level to understand the purpose behind your team goals, what strategy they align to, and what success looks like for the team.

Identify your priorities

By deeply understanding the purpose behind your team goals, you’ll be well-equipped to identify your personal priorities. Identifying your personal priorities will provide you with a foundation to refer to if you’re not sure if a task should be prioritized. By aligning your personal priorities to the team’s goals, you strengthen your accountability to the team.

Measuring progress and success

A plan is not a plan without a clear way to measure success. To track your progress, be sure to include a way to measure each item on your 30 60 90 day sales plan. Depending on the activity, your goals should tie to one of the following things:

1. What you’ve learned
2. How well you’ve adjusted and integrated into your new team
3. How ready you are to perform your role without extra support

Two Scenarios that Call for a 30-60-90 Day Sales Plan

During the Interview

One scenario that calls for a 30-60-90 day sales plan is during the final stages of the interview process. In some cases, a hiring manager may informally ask how a candidate would approach their first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job.

In this case, it’s useful to be armed with a formal plan which demonstrates you are thinking ahead and serious about the job. In addition to having a formal plan, you should be prepared to speak to it, articulating the highlights in response to the questions.

In addition to showing you’re ahead of the game, the plans show the hiring manager how you prioritize tasks and organize time.

It also provides the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the role while helping the hiring manager see your capabilities and how you will approach the tasks at hand.

First Week On The Job

Another scenario for sharing your 30-60-90 day sales plan is during your first week on the new job. During this time, onboarding is critical. Sharing the plan upfront gives you and the management team goal alignment, helps them understand the way you operate, and reduces the chance of miscommunication.

Even if you’re not asked to craft a 30, 60, 90 days plan during the first week on the job, it’s highly recommended. Not only does it provided alignment, it’s also helpful for you as an individual to stay grounded during a time where you’ll be getting comfortable in a completely new environment. Having a plan in place will help you feel like you have control of the situation. It also gives you something to refer to if you feel lost or stuck.

A Simple 30-60-90 Day Sales Plan Template

Now that you understand the value of a 30-60-90 day sales plan, let’s talk about the appropriate milestones for each phase.

30 Day Plan

You’re starting from scratch, and should begin by answering, “What does success look like in the first 30 days?”

In many cases, the first 30 days should include completing your company/role training plan, understanding the target market, mastering the company’s products or services, and getting to know your colleagues.

Here’s a sample checklist of things to consider for the first 30 days:

– Have you completed all required company training?
– Do you understand the high-level priorities for your company and team? What are the core goals and objectives your company plans to achieve in the next year?
– Do you have a complete understanding of the target market?
– Do you understand your company’s key products and/or services?
– Do you understand what makes your company different and unique?
– Do you understand the competition?
– Have you developed connections within the organization?
– Do you have a clear sales plan?
– This part of the plan should be heavy on information gathering.

For each of the items in your plan, and any others you add, schedule weekly checkpoints to track progress. This may be a 1:1 with your manager or mentor. At the end of the first 30 days, be prepared to report back on your completion of the plan.

If you didn’t complete a key commitment, that’s okay. Sometimes once you become more familiar with a job, items on your list may be deprioritized and rolled into the next phase.

60 Day Plan

During the second month, you’ll be able to spend more time in the field. During this phase of your onboarding plan, you should focus on getting to know your market, meeting and developing relationships with prospects and clients, understanding the customer experience, including what’s working well and where your team can better support customers.

During the 31-60 day period, you should also make sure to get feedback from your manager, team, and customers on what you’re doing well and where you can improve. This is also a great opportunity to establish weekly personal goals that will help you stay on track for success.

Aim to have more hands-on experiences that will drive you to a deeper understanding of all aspects of the business. One way of increasing your awareness is by spending time reviewing customer comments to guide you into defining solutions for common roadblocks.

During this time, you should also be teaming up with coworkers to role play, shadowing peers and reps in the field, and discussing with your manager optional tools to help train you to see issues before they are problems.

This shows your sales manager that you are eager to keep up with the team and that you want to help move the company forward.

Here’s a sample checklist of things to consider for your 60-day plan:

– Have you introduced yourself to key clients and prospects?
– Have you completed a customer experience and satisfaction review?
– Have you participated in adequate job shadowing with peers and management?
– Have you completed all formal training requirements?
– Have you started developing new leads?
– Do you have a tool to help you map out sales routes?

By the 60-day checkpoint, your goal should be to get in the game – show that you can handle the workload and that you’re ready to succeed on the team.

It’s not uncommon for new team members to stay quiet in meetings and engagements out of fear that they’ll disrupt a meeting flow or look foolish. Between days 30 and 60 you should have enough of an understanding of the business to speak up, ask questions, share ideas, and engage in discussion.

90 Day Plan

At the end of 60 days, you should feel ready to hit the ground running. Days 60-90 are all about building on what you learned during the first 60 days to begin making an impact.

This may mean you start optimizing your prospect list with larger, more strategic clients. It may also mean adjusting your goals to make even more impact.

Your plan for days 61-90 should cover how you’ll establish and build relationships with clients and prospects, as well as how you’ll provide feedback and input into your own sales organization to drive broad impact.

Here’s a sample checklist of things to consider for your 90-day plan:

– Have you met all key accounts and started developing relationships?
– Have you started prospecting for new leads?
– Have you actively asked for feedback from your peers and management?
– Have you used feedback to adjust your strategy and approach?
– Have you established a schedule that works for you, your clients, and your team?
– Have you established credibility within the team?
– Do you feel successfully “on board?”

At 90 days, you should feel like you’re flying. While nobody will expect you to be a seasoned expert, you should know enough to perform critical sales tasks without a ton of support. You should also be very clear on where to go for questions or support if you get stuck, and have a strong network in place to ensure success.

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building a 30-60-90 Day Sales Plan

You should be off to a great start in developing your 30-60-90 day sales plan. But, as with anything, things can easily get derailed.

In this section, we’ll cover common mistakes and how to avoid them.

#1. An ambiguous plan

As you’ll recall, the most important aspect of your plan is to provide alignment between reps management teams. The biggest enemy to alignment is ambiguity. To avoid an awkward conversation during one of your check-ins, make sure that your plan has no room for misinterpretation. Include specifics in your plan including dates, numbers, and other things that can be quantified as SMART goals.

#2. No plan to measure success

It’s not really a plan if there is no way to measure success. Within each phase of your plan, be very specific on what constitutes successful completion of a task. Think of this as your onboarding scorecard.

#3. A fixed mindset

When you start a new role, you don’t know much. By the time you start executing on a plan, you’ll likely find some of your assumptions were off, and you’ll need to adjust the plan accordingly. Don’t let this bog you down, or worse, stop you from following through. Make sure your plan is flexible enough to make adjustments as needed.

Conclusion

Your 30-60-90 day sales plan should serve as a tool to establish yourself in a new role, organization, and time of growth and development.

It includes specific objectives, deliverables and timelines, and should include a scorecard to measure success.

Coming to the table with a plan is the best thing you can do to hit the ground running and build credibility by showing team members you are eager and prepared.

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Questions or comments? Contact SPOTIO at info@spotio.com or comment below.

SPOTIO is the #1 sales acceleration software designed to increase your revenue, maximize your profitability, and increase your team’s productivity in just 2 weeks.

Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.