Field Sales Leadership Guide
Welcome to the Field Sales Leadership Guide Podcast, your resource for mastering the art of outside sales leadership.
Each episode dives into different strategies and tactics from top sales leaders to drive greater success in the field.
Tune in and learn to harness your CRM data, grow territories, and uncover better opportunities.
Whether you want to improve team performance, streamline sales processes, or stay ahead of trends, this is the show for you.
Stay informed and get inspired. Subscribe now!
Field Sales Leadership Guide
3. Driving CRM Usage and Sales Tool Engagement with Sonic Healthcare
In this episode, learn how to drive CRM and sales tool sales rep engagement and which tools this team uses in their technology stack.
When a sales CRM is used properly, it’s something that reps want to use religiously. The rep has to see value in the CRM which is driving revenue. Choosing the best CRM and sales enablement tools that create an easy path for the rep to use the technology and provide real value to them will drive usage.
“When it's done, right, a CRM is a place that people want to go to and want to live in, eat and breathe and sleep in. There are different ways to make the CRM a place that draws reps in, instead of repelling them. The day that you embrace the benefits of it, is when things change,” explains Paul Greenberg, National Director of Sales Operations for Sonic Healthcare.
00:00 - Introduction
04:43 - The Sonic Healthcare sales process
06:24 - Suspects and prospects
08:20 - CRM’s: Loved by some, hated by many, necessary for all
13:01 - Post-It Notes are not a CRM
16:11 - Sales metrics to track
20:52 - Hiring and training new sales reps
25:06 - Sonic Healthcare tech stack
35:04 - Our sponsor Map My Customers
Learn more about Sonic Healthcare
Learn more about Aurora Diagnostics
Follow JT Rimbey on LinkedIn or send a message
Follow Paul Greenberg on LinkedIn or send a message
About the Podcast
We've lined up for you some of the smartest movers and shakers in sales leadership to share their formulas for success and the tricks of the trade. The Field Sales Leadership Guide podcast discusses with experienced and successful sales leaders what works and what doesn't in the sales profession. Listen in as we tap into high performing sales leaders and their passion for field sales. Join us as we pull back the curtain giving you actionable insights and strategies that you can use with your sales team.
About the Sponsor
Traditional CRM aren’t designed with outside sales reps in mind. They're too cumbersome, complex and time consuming and lack mobile-friendly options. Use Map My Customers as the CRM of record or as the tip of the spear for your existing CRM. Designed specifically for outside sales reps, Map My Customers is a mobile-first platform that strategically segments accounts, provides optimized routing and mapping tools, activity logging and much more. Get a free hands-on tour at https://smarturl.it/mmc-trial.
Follow Map My Customers
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Level-up your field sales strategy at mapmycustomers.com
JT Rimbey 00:02
Welcome to the field sales leadership guide podcast where we discuss with experienced and successful sales leaders what works and what doesn't. And the sales professionals Join us as we tap into high performing sales leaders and their passion for Field Sales. We've lined up for you some of the smartest movers and shakers in sales leadership to share their formulas for success and the tricks of the trade. Join us as we pull back the curtain giving you actionable insights and strategies that you can use with your sales team.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the podcast. I am your host, JT Rimbey. We're so glad you're here with us today. Learning from the sales leaders that have been so generous to spend time with us here on the podcast has been an absolute honor, and I hope you're learning as much as I am.
In the last episode, David Sinoma with John Stone, shared his sales territory strategy, and how their hyperlocal approach builds strong and lasting relationships with their customers. Be sure to check that out.
Today we're chatting with Paul Greenberg. Paul is the National Director of Sales Operations at Sonic Healthcare. He has been an entrepreneur and a career salesperson. Paul has risen through the ranks of individual contributor to leading a team to national sales operational roles, including the go to market strategy and revenue driving engine of Sonic. He's earned multiple President's Club trips. He's a data driven leader, and the energy this guy exudes will be felt quickly on this call. Paul, welcome to the podcast. Glad you're here.
Paul Greenberg 01:39
Thank you so much. I appreciate you guys having me, JT. I'm honored to be here, always humbled whenever I have an opportunity to talk about my story and who I am and kind of what I've done to get to where I'm at today.
JT Rimbey 01:50
That's awesome. That's awesome. Okay, so starting out. I like the very simple question. How did you get into sales?
Paul Greenberg 02:00
That good question, I would tell you that I started in sales, arguably, I mean, even my first couple jobs, right? I was in sales in the mall, right? I think you find actually a lot of salespeople will have actually started somewhere there, right? I didn't ever did cell phones. Unfortunately, I wish I could have put that on there. But I did not. But like clothing stores and that thing. And I just knew that I liked talking to people. I will tell you that I come from a lineage of attorneys. My uncle's, my grandparents, you name it, they were all attorneys. And I didn't want to be an attorney. So, but I knew that it was a similar knack, if you will, for what you talk about and how you describe things, the ability to elegantly persuade or talk right? So I wanted to go the sales route. So I went ahead and did that. I can tell you that I remember that I was going to be in sales from before I even graduated from college. That's what I was gonna do, period.
JT Rimbey 02:48
That's awesome. I'm starting to chuckle on this. The attorney side of the thing and sales, you made reference to it. The skill sets are darn near exactly the same. You have to be able to articulate a clear and concise compelling story or message. But where most people fall down on both describing an attorney and unfortunately in sales, you got to have unbelievably active listening skills as well.
Paul Greenberg 03:13
You do the perception not just listening to the what's happening, right the actual person but the body language looking at the jurors right. There's a lot of these different skills that are so honestly, so creepily similar. And yeah, I just thought that I would have fun doing that more than being in a courtroom. So yeah, happy to be here. Happy not to have done a bunch of schooling got a JD. So I'm happy with that.
JT Rimbey 03:35
There you go. That's awesome. Can you dive in just really briefly high level, Sonic healthcare, your your specific role there and the market you serve?
Paul Greenberg 03:47
Yeah, absolutely. We are focused on outpatient physician, either practices or laboratories and serving the needs and the things that they need. So we are discussing diagnostics, testing, whether it be related to pathology, or esoteric or laboratory type testing. And we're helping clients get the best diagnostics for their patients to be able to help guide and manage their their decisions as it relates to patient care. Now my role because I think the second part of your question, specifically, I am in charge of really understanding deployment, go to market, training and development for our representatives, ongoing development as well. And then also field activities as well. Making sure that our reps are getting a lot out of their CRM, making sure they're also getting a lot out of their content type of programs that we've invested in and making sure they have what they need in order to be the best and the brightest in the marketplace.
JT Rimbey 04:43
At a high level. Can you describe what does the sales process typically look like?
Paul Greenberg 04:50
I think the sales process when you take a look at it, and I would argue that I think any good sales leaders, maybe great ones, are going to have a very similar kind of didactic of what they use when it comes to that, right? I think so for us, we get into prospecting, right? And then after prospecting, in order to turn somebody into a prospect, you got to be able to understand what their needs are. Right? So needs analysis, then we move into qualification, what type of opportunity? Is this? Right? Is this an opportunity for one type of sale? Or for a different type of business model for us? And then we move into solution presentment, trial or close? And then obviously, revaluation. I think that's such a key part that a lot of people miss is meeting with your clients on a consistent basis to making sure that you're hitting those metrics for them.
JT Rimbey 05:33
You just quantified for us, essentially, the stages of a sales cycle. Are those what you track with your go to market process for each rep?
Paul Greenberg 05:41
You know, it's what we track, but I think more importantly than tracking, I think it's what we coach, because these if we can all speak the same language with respect to these types of processes and or what we're doing, then everybody's gonna be singing from the same hymnal. And I think that's really the goal, right? So for us, yes. I mean, when we're looking at our pipelines, if they look small or weak in a certain area, you're asking, Okay, well, how much prospecting have we done? Or you just have a lot of suspects that are on that list? And that's obviously a different part, right? Because to me, suspects are different than prospects. So yeah, I think everybody's speaking the same language. And having having a unified discussion point or place to start with is so so critical.
JT Rimbey 06:24
So I've got to go in I love what you just quantified there suspects being different than prospects. I have to ask you to, to dive just a little bit deeper there. Articulate the difference between both of those?
Paul Greenberg 06:37
Absolutely, I mean, look, I wish I could give you this scientific data specific difference in what they are, but I'm even gonna add an extra layer for you just for fun. This one's free for all the listeners. I really think you've got leads, that's one part. And that's where everybody starts right as a lead a human, an office, an individual, and then you've got suspects. And then you have prospects. To me, the difference between a lead and a suspect is that you've already started making some activity with them, right? Because a lead does you no good until you actually have some activity put around it right period. And then once you have the suspects, the qualification and the qualifying process starts to go into it. And until you really are a qualified office, potential client insert, you know, now in there, right, that's when you become truly a prospect. And I think the difference is a prospect that you have identified roughly, that, you know, could be a good fit for your product service or offering.
JT Rimbey 07:30
I love that summary. If I add in anything, I would say that the requirement to go from lead to suspect to prospect is activity. You've got to have some sort of activity around there to ultimately qualify them in or qualify them out.
Paul Greenberg 07:50
You're exactly right. And I always laugh too, because if you look at someone's pipeline, and I don't care what business you're in, I don't really care what you sell, what you're peddling these days. But here's the reality, when you look at a pipeline, if there's no activity around it, what are you doing, like the the business isn't gonna close itself? And I think that for me, that's always the critical thing people look at and say, Here's my pipeline, look at all the stuff I got on here. Cool. Pull out your calendar, let's see if the calendar is commensurate with the pipeline that you've got, because those two are going to gel very, very well or not.
JT Rimbey 08:20
All right, I love that you just introduced pipeline. So I'm gonna bring it in early with the conversation with you here, Paul. CRM, it's loved by some, hated by many, necessary for all. As you probably remember, Paul, I come from Salesforce.com, and if there's one thing that I've learned over the years is that the big boy CRMs think Salesforce, dynamics, Oracle, SAP, the list goes on. All of those big bopper CRMs, they were never designed for outside sales reps. They were designed for sales leaders, pretty dashboards, great reports. And they were designed for inside sales reps. So as I get to speak with sales leaders each and every day, I love this topic. It's near and dear to my heart. What is your stance and perspective when it comes to CRM?
Paul Greenberg 09:13
So I'm going to tell you right now that I can't remember I can tell you it I can't think of a company that doesn't require that doesn't want it, right. I think the way it's executed and implemented is usually the difference in how it's going to be successful or not. I love it. I loved it when I carried a bag throughout my entire career, and I've worked through so many different ones, whether they were the Salesforce’s of the of the world. Some homespun ones, right. But for me as someone who carried a bag and I would tell you I carried a bag almost, what, five years ago, maybe. So not long ago, maybe four years ago even so I'm still pretty close to the field. Right? I'd be that player's coach, if you would, and I would tell you that for me. I always looked at it as a positive place. It was a repository where I could house and keep all activity that was going on in my territory, and I will tell you that anybody who tells you they don't have time to use a CRM, then they're not busy enough, because if you were actually busy enough, and you had enough business going on in your territory, you wouldn't have enough sticky notes or notepads to write all this stuff down that you're going to put down. You need a central place that you can go to look at, and come to at one in the morning when you wake up, because you can't sleep or at seven in the morning, before you leave the house and you're plotting your your route for the day or where you're gonna go for the day. So just don't buy it. I think you got to make it a place that is positive and that you see as a place for housing, that information that's going to help you with your business.
JT Rimbey 10:39
The one thing that I always come back to with sales leaders and I get to speak with sales leaders, just about all day every day is value. The rep has to see value in the CRM for what they're held accountable for, which is driving revenue. Otherwise, we all know sales reps can go rogue. Sales reps have we we have some ego from time to time. And we regularly hear our top rep just wants to do it his way. A couple of case in points. I was on the phone with a very, very high level, Senior Vice President of Sales for a very large packaging company just last week. He's been there for 30 years, and they're about to undergo this radical shift there. And they're approaching 1 billion in annual revenue. Aging Salesforce, about 300 reps. He said this “JT, all of our reps are playing golf right now.”
JT Rimbey 11:32
I'm a former class a member myself of the PGA so my ears perked up. I'm like, where's he going with this? So all of his reps are playing golf right now. He said, “At the end of the day, they record their score for nine holes or 18 holes. And we have no idea what they did on each individual hole, let alone did they crack up three out of bounds on hole seven, but have three hole in ones on the prior six holes.” So there's no repeatable process for them to actually coach, provide insight, or most important for his example, was handing those territories to the next generation coming behind this aging workforce. This aging salesforce.
Paul Greenberg 12:16
Yeah, I mean, when it's done, right, it's a place that people want to go to and want to live in eat and breathe and sleep in. And I think there's different ways to make the CRM a place that draws reps to instead of you know, repels them. And then just thinking that it's, it's, you know, you just want to know where I'm at. Right? That's really not the purpose of it. And the data you embrace, really, the benefits of it, is when things change. I will tell you that that is probably a great example, the golf part, right? Like, here's the thing, how does anybody know what you're doing? And how do people know what's going on with your business, if they can help you, if they can give you more resources, if there's no documentation associated with it. It's not to check where you're at, like, I'm gonna know that based on your expenses on your mileage, there's a lot of other ways to know if you're doing anything or not. So it's not the CRM.
JT Rimbey 13:01
One of the things that caught me flat footed when I came specific to this industry about 15 months ago, was learning that there are still a multitude of companies out there where sales reps, take a post it note and slap it on the dashboard each morning, and they've got five or six companies listed. And then they take their pen and they scratch it off, after and that's their version of a CRM coupled with a notebook. If you're having a cup of coffee with a VP of sales of an organization like that, and that VP of Sales says, Paul, I, I just don't think I can make my guys do it. They're gonna think it's Big Brother. What advice or what, what response would you provide to them?
Paul Greenberg 13:41
I mean, here's the thing, first and foremost, no offense to whoever makes post it notes, I apologize to the manufacturer of post it notes, but they freak me out. When I see reps using it as an organizational tool. I don't think Post-It notes were ever supposed to be an organizational tool. It really freaks me out because there's no way to be consistent, to stay motivated to actually get what you want out of it. And I will tell you that when you go ahead and look at implementing a CRM, again, I think you start with the end in mind, what are the benefits going to be? I mean, start out with your benefits, because I'll tell that VP of Sales right now, if you actually list out all the benefits of what it's going to be and none of those benefits can be for the VP or for the CEO or for anybody at the top level. What's the benefit to the sales rep and you work backwards and you can satisfy all those things, checking them off. Now you're in a good spot. posted notes are dangerous, though.
JT Rimbey 14:32
Two things one, the posted note thing. I think the story is actually the inventor of posted notes fell into that they were trying to make some sort of other glue. And it was total by happenstance and accident, and they tripped into a lot of money.
Paul Greenberg 14:47
It's nice for writing a note to your kid and their lunch man. That is about it. But where you're gonna go that day and how you're going to hit your quota to different talk show.
JT Rimbey 14:55
I'm normally speaking with directors and sales, VPs of sales, CMO’s, CRO’s, and the vast majority of them inverse your exact process to their own detriment. They start with what data do we need to see? And can we make the dashboard pretty? Can we do automated charts? Versus what is the easiest path for a sales rep, to drive more revenue? And let's focus there. And then low and behold, you actually get some really valuable data because you've made it easy for the rep, to capture and to go to market.
Paul Greenberg 15:32
Yeah, I mean, look, carrots sticks, I think we all know which one usually works a little bit better. And there's a time and a place for both. But you know, you're right. When you think with the benefits in mind for who's going to be using and living and breathing and sleeping and eating in that thing all darn day. Like, you're going to get success out of that. Because remember, as sales leaders, you've got to present to your force and say, Hey, here's what we're doing. Here's why it's going to be good for you like this. This is the implementation of it. And if it's really, you know, this is going to be great, because we're going to have all we need to forecast. Nobody cares about that. I wish they did. I wish everybody cared about all the things that we have to care about at the top level, but it's fine. Figure out what's gonna matter to them.
JT Rimbey 16:11
Let's go into a few metrics that you track. Most sales leaders, they're gonna say, well, number one is revenue. That is the end goal. So if we peel back the onion a little bit, what drives revenue? And what do you guys coach to what do you track? What are your key KPIs to say we're doing the right selling motions are gonna get to the right, cake being baked?
Paul Greenberg 16:35
I hate saying this, but I'm old school. And if in 2022, I've been in the force for over 22 years, then obviously, it's been 20 something years. And the people that I was coached by and the people that I learned from, were fairly old school, right? These are some Xerox, IBM guys. And I think the one thing that you look at that you will always and you, I mean, challenge, somebody change my mind. The one thing that if you coach to, which is activity, you will always get good results out of that. So for me, I'm looking at activity, and then I like segmenting the activity. What kind of activity are we talking about is it's a face to face call, face to face call prospect face to face call cold call face to face call? Current client. So I'm looking at activity because if I know someone's doing the right activities, they're going to be successful. It's like throwing a football you want to get better at it, the more times you throw it, the better you're going to be at it. So the more customers they visit, the higher percentage chances they are going to be getting sales and this has never been this has never been proven wrong just yet. So I'm waiting. Hold my breath.
JT Rimbey 17:38
With you with that. We've got several customers and I think of one great one. Joe McDonald of Jasper engines and transmissions. They absolutely track activity, but they track good activity versus bad activity. And so my assumption here with Sonic and your scenario that correct me if I'm wrong. For Jasper's team, they call a good activity is when you've you've met in person with a decision maker. So they've got literally a checkbox decision maker. Yes, no. Versus finding out that JT gravitates to Wilson's Automotive because there's just a really kind receptionists that I know, I'm going to be able to hang out and speak with they're going to welcome me with a cup of coffee. That doesn't drive revenue. Meeting with Eddie, the owner of Wilson's Automotive that leads to revenue.
Paul Greenberg 18:30
So we are looking for granularity. And I think I'm looking for granularity. I think most sales leaders are looking for that. But obviously you can't muddy up what you're also collecting. Because then that starts to be a little bit too messy for the sales reps as far as inputting in the CRM. So I would tell you that, depending on the industry, and I would tell you like in my current industry, the influencer, if you will, might be somebody at a front desk, right? It might be somebody in the back office. So we're really looking for face to face. I mean, to me, that's really it. I would say during COVID, I think a lot of us were relying a little bit on emails and phone calls and texts. And we got good at that. And that's fine. Because those are all skills that we can transfer here into the post pandemic era. But when I look at it, I am thinking of face to face. And I want to know where that face to face call was was done. Was it with the prospect? Was it with a cold call? Obviously visiting suspects, right, until they're qualified, or was it with a current client and I know what type of segmentation we want to have with that. Obviously, if you're a new business rep, the majority of your face to face visits should be in the cold spot or the prospect spot. And we go from there. You know, I talk about revenue. But here's the problem with revenue. Depending on the marketplace, depending on who you're talking to, you might not be able to choose what someone's going to buy from you or what someone's going to send to you. But I can control how many calls I'm encouraging or requiring our sales representatives to go ahead and make. So, I really focus on things we can control and what that is activity period. Boring answer maybe? I don't know.
JT Rimbey 20:00
No, it's not I, I don't think the old school comment, I don't think you throw that bathwater out specific to face to face sales, in person outside selling motions, relationships are critical. And if your reps aren't in person, your competitors reps are and somebody is vying for the attention and getting that relationship being built.
Paul Greenberg 20:29
Yeah, I mean, I've always said that. Because if you come across somebody who just they figured out how to do a lot of their jobs via email and text, right, as a sales rep, and I'm laughing, because I don't think that's going to be effective with longevity. But I would say this, if you're not in front of your customers, our competitors are. Someone who's going to occupy that time. I'd rather have it be us. And that's really what we argue to.
JT Rimbey 20:52
So let's pivot this slightly. I understand what you're looking for with the KPIs and what ultimately gets to revenue. What do you look for when you're hiring a new field sales rep.
Paul Greenberg 21:04
Yeah, look, I love that question. And I have to tell you, what I'm looking for, is something that sometimes can't be managed or can't even be quantified, right? It's that it factor, right? We all want Tom Brady's and Peyton Manning's on our team. You're not going to have a full 100%, salesforce of those. And that's okay, because there are good scenarios where you can have other types of role players as well. But I would tell you, I'm looking for somebody who has energy and drive similar to mine, somebody who just has that grit, who, you know, is going to continue getting through a scenario, despite the challenges. And I think the only way you figure that out is actually by asking a lot of good questions, not just about their professional history, but also their personal history. People. I actually interviewed somebody recently. And I asked them, I said, Tom, about you, who are you? And they said, you want to know about me? Yeah, I want to know about you. And they said, why nobody ever cares about like who I am, I said, because who you are, when you're not, in this interview is going to really carry a lot into Who the heck you are, when you are in the job. And I want to know who you are. So whatever you're comfortable sharing with me, you know, if you're not, if you're not comfortable, whatever comfortable to share that with me. But bottom line, if I'm looking at certain types of traits, I'm looking for somebody who wants to visit eight to 10 clients a day, somebody who wants to make an impact, somebody who's going to have a passion for their clients. And usually you can read that out very, very quickly. I'm also looking for people who are not the low hanging fruit kind of folks. I find that if I see on a resume, I've seen somebody that's gone every two years. Literally, at two years is when your low hanging fruit runs out. And that's when that's when the going got tough. And now you're looking for a new opportunity. So there's another freebie.
JT Rimbey 22:44
That's a good nugget right there. What does training look like? Hiring for the appropriate skill sets? The long term beyond that two year mark, it's essential. But what does your training look like? How do you minimize that ramp time?
Paul Greenberg 23:03
Yeah. And look, I think every business including mine, has this, you know, this world that we live in where training takes nine months a year, etc? Right, what I try to look to do with organization, but I think in general, if I'm talking to people who are sales leaders is how do you get activity and training to kind of move in a parallel way, right, so that it doesn't have to be linear, right? So for me, I really like to start with a clinical or foundational basis, right? That way people know what they're talking about when they're with their clients, but then also starting to put little, just little mile markers along that training path where they can go visit some new clients, right? Go see a couple of prospects go see a couple of current clients while they're moving down that clinical and sales learning path, right. So for me, I like to do parallel. And I think early on low risk, right, something that's not going to have high risk, with a new rep being out there speaking, talking. And obviously, after that clinical foundational training, I think to be able to make sure that there's proficient in things like the CRM or our content delivery, or just the operations of what we do, right. I will say this, you didn't ask this, but I'm compelled to talk about it. And I apologize if it's too much. But I would tell you that I think as an organization, and I don't care who you are right now listening, you need to have a training plan that is going to suit or work for the type of profile that you're hiring, or vice versa. If you're going to have your training plan a certain way, then you need to hire people that you can bring into and that will be complementary to that training plan. If you are already hiring people that have already been through all these different professional selling programs, they already know what they're doing from that perspective, then you better have a really good product or service training to really get them up to speed right? Or vice versa. If you're hiring clinical people, people that already understand what they're going to be selling, but they don't know how to sell. You better be really good dialed in on your sales process, steps, probing, questioning, value propositions, etc.
JT Rimbey 25:06
No, I appreciate that a ton. You just mentioned content delivery along with CRM. Speak to the content delivery piece as well. But what kind of technology stack or tools do you have deployed for your field sales team?
Paul Greenberg 25:20
Yeah, well, obviously being in a medical organization, we have to make sure that anything that we ever distribute is very well controlled, because we want to make sure that the messaging isn't off label or isn't out of character out of something that we could be doing. So it's very critical that we're compliant with that. So we have a really nice dialed in program that’s called Show Pad. And it allows our marketing folks to be able to have the content locked, if you will, are provided there. And then when reps need to go ahead and get something out to a client contact, they can go ahead and disseminate it either via email or via link, they can send it via text, if it's a, you know, if it doesn't include PHI or something like that. So they have the ability to get compliant content out. And that's obviously critical for us. Because the minute I, I tell you, Hey, doctor, I'm gonna go ahead and get some information on this, what's your email address, and then you just kind of look down and you get ready to type that email address. They're gonna give you the email address, right? So I think there's an opportunity there to also be able to understand and get more of your client’s contact information and be able to get closer to them as well. So when we talked about content, we talked about making sure we're getting proper content compliant content out to our customers in an effective, efficient way.
JT Rimbey 26:31
Paul, in addition to Show Pad, what other technologies are you guys leveraging for the outside field sales team.
Paul Greenberg 26:38
So I'll tell you right now, one of the ones that we've adopted that's actually been very popular within the salesforce has been Map My Customers. I'll tell you, the one thing that was unique, and that drew us to it, is that it really gave something to every level of rep, whether you're super seasoned, and you know, your territory really, really well. Or you're brand new, you don't even maybe you just moved to the area, and you don't even know all the streets and everything. Map My Customers gives our reps the ability to plan their day out appropriately, even when maybe they weren't as well planned out as a sales leader as I would have liked them to have been right. There's a cool feature now that it'll say, I noticed that you have an appointment set at this time and this date, do you want us to go ahead and add some extra, you know, appointments or opportunities or targets for you to visit in the near area? And you can say yes, and it'll automatically just tell you where to go. I would call it routing and mapping for dummies, but I don't want to call anybody a dummy. So it's just it really has been great for our organization.
JT Rimbey 27:35
Okay, Paul. So I often end up hearing from sales leaders that they spend a bunch of time training, educating new reps around their product or industry client needs. But what they fail to do most of the time, because they don't have the technology stack to do it. But what they fail to do is help this new rep, figure out how to strategically attack the right accounts at the right time. Most of the time, if there's no CRM in place, it could be an Excel list. Google. Yeah, you stole it. I was gonna say,
Paul Greenberg 28:11
sorry, I'm finishing your sentences already.
JT Rimbey 28:14
If they're really sophisticated, they can have a Google sheet where everybody can update it at the same time. But just just speak to anything that you guys do to ramp new reps efficiently.
Paul Greenberg 28:27
Yeah, look, I think when you I mean, for me, then if I say something that's mind blowing, I hope people will like or comment it or, you know, refer this podcast to a friend. But here's the thing, I think it's a matter of getting first, the reps comfortable speaking their new language, because when they come to your company, they're speaking a new language. They might have sold car parts before, but now they're selling your car parts. So it's about getting them comfortable speaking the language of their new firm and the new place that they're at, and I think having certain goals for them up front, right, like, Hey, here's our list, here's what we use, but identify based on this, you tell me what the top five accounts are you think they are in your patch? And then let's have a discussion about it. And that's an investment of time JT to be able to look at that and say, okay, yeah, you got it right. Now, why did you think these were good prospects just based on the data that we have here? I will say this, too. If you're a sales leader out there, and you don't have a lot of data, you might want to think about investing in some of it. And I don't care what that is, but it really does give you the ability to offer your reps a compass. And I've seen some companies that do it real well. I mean, they're buying data on a monthly basis. And then you've got other places that buy it every 10 years, and they just don't think the couple thousand dollars is worth to spend on it or whatever it's going to cost you. But bottom line, having goals for getting that rep integrated into the field throughout their training process right or on the heels of it is critical. And then looking at the data that you as an organization have chosen to go ahead and work off of and then having the rep take a look at it and trying themselves to look at and say what's a good opportunity here? So in the car part scenario, maybe the data you offer him is here's the total number of sales. And then here's how it's segmented: carburetors, brakes, tires, wheels, and they're looking at that data and you say, okay, where are some good opportunities for you? Right? Well, this is a really big client of mine. But I noticed that we're not getting any carburetor sales here, because that's a zero, and we're getting other stuff. So it should be a fairly decent, warm conversation to go in there and say, dumb question for you where the carburetors go into right. And I think at that point, what you're doing is you're just teaching your reps how to use the data by having them do it first, verifying that it's good, and then saying, All right, go get it.
JT Rimbey 30:42
I love that. We come across all the time, land and expand, is critical to the growth of our business. Typically, sales reps, have a tendency to get a sale and go to the next flashing light. Right. So unless you're putting that data in front of the rep to say, look, you sold your gateway product. Now, these are the next three logical products that they will absolutely be interested in. Oh, and by the way, this is the timeline historically, that customers would purchase. So 30 days after the gateway product, 60 days after the second product, a year after the third. If you're not surfacing that, that can be a real opportunity as well.
Paul Greenberg 31:33
Yeah. And mind you, it's about having the data, obviously, that's the first thing. But once you have that data, making sure your reps know how to look through that data. Okay, this product line is completely empty here. Why are you not going here? I mean, I'll tell you right now, every business I've worked in, we've looked at, obviously, new account growth, but also same account revenue growth, SARG as it was always acronym for us, but same account revenue growth to me, is, I mean, there's a captive audience, right? They're already using you, they're already buying your service or your product. Why are you not tapping into arguably, a warmer opportunity, and they're going to be there forever. And if you think you have your customer sending you everything, prove it. I'd like to know, because I'm going to tell you right now, but people like to spread out their relationships, and they like to spread out there who they purchase from? That's okay. It's a natural thing, right? I just want to get 80% of it instead of 44.
JT Rimbey 32:29
That's excellent. Let me switch it up slightly on you a little break in the action with this as we get close to the close. What's your favorite thing about sales leadership? And I'm absolutely going to ask, What's your least favorite thing about sales leadership?
Paul Greenberg 32:46
Look, I think my favorite thing about sales leadership is about being able to take the 20 something years, let's stop even like discussing how many years at this point, I don't like to admit it now, discussing all of the successes. But more importantly than the successes, I like discussing all the failures. Because if you can learn from my failures in the classroom, or in the comfortable four walls of our organization, and then you don't have to have those failures, and you can be successful without that you can use my mess ups, to go ahead and not have to mess up yourself and be successful, then I've done a great job. So for me, using my failures and areas of opportunity that I've gathered over the last 20 something years, to allow people to have a shorter runway, or to have a quicker ramp up is what I just find exhilarating, and so much fun about what I do.
Second part, my least favorite. Gosh, you know, I think it's about probably finding people over time within your organization that are just not as passionate about what's going on as you are. Because I'm somebody who's all in. I don't think I know how to not be all in and that goes professionally and personally. And I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But what I'll tell you is this is that when I start seeing people that aren't all in it, it hurts a little bit, because then I start wondering, well, what have I done that could get you there, right? Is there something that I'm lacking in for you, as a support person to get you where you need to be? So for me when I just see people that aren't as passionate or fired up? That hurts me, but then again, that could also be an area of opportunity in our recruiting as well.
JT Rimbey 34:21
It would be I would, I would find it hard pressed Paul for somebody to not rise up and match your energy and passion level in meetings. On the internal side. They're at Sonic.
Paul Greenberg 34:34
You're too kind of you know, and this is really it's guys. It's two espressos a day in the morning probably what, eight hours ago now. So this is nothing crazy. This is legit. So I'm just I'm passionate about sales. I'm passionate about what we do our clients. But the number one thing JT is I'm passionate about people and in those people that includes our reps, our CEO, our division president, our clients, I'm passionate about our about our reps families making sure that that they have something positive and good to have from their spouse or whoever, you know, working their tails off, right? So I'm just passionate about people. That's how you do this with this longevity, I think.
JT Rimbey 35:12
Thank you very much, Paul. That about wraps up our time. I'm grateful for your insights, and I'm really confident that the listeners will be grateful as well. So eager for our paths to continue to cross.
Paul Greenberg 35:25
And I can't wait. I appreciate the time. Again, I'm humbled and honored anytime I can tell people about kind of my story, what I've done and either some of the successes or failures. I think it's beneficial for everybody. So, thank you. Love one another out there guys. Take care.
JT Rimbey 35:40
Thank you for listening today. And thank you to our sponsor, Map My Customers. Traditional CRMs, they were never designed with outside sales reps in mind. They're too cumbersome, too complex, and too time consuming, along with a glaring lack of mobile-friendly options. Half of our customers use Map My Customers as the CRM of record and the other half uses Map My Customers as the tip of the spear for their existing CRM. Designed specifically for outside sales reps, a mobile-first platform helping to strategically segment accounts, routing and mapping, activity logging, increasing total addressable markets, and much, much more. Remember, ease of use drives adoption, adoption delivers data, and data delivers insights. Visit MapMyCustomers.me for more info.
Be sure to subscribe to the Field Sales Leadership Guide podcast. Share with your friends, colleagues, and even your family members. If you do have additional questions or comments for Paul or myself, send us a message. We'd love to answer your questions and hear what you think about the episode. Tune into the next episode as we bring on Eric Mongeau from Aeroflow. Thanks a bunch for listening today.
