12 Sales Strategy Tips From Salesforce’s 'Sales 2020' Broadcast

Ever wish for advice on your sales strategy from a pro?

Salesforce has your back. Last week, the company hosted a live broadcast with Salesforce Director of Product Marketing Tim Clarke called “Sales 2020: A Look At The Future Of Sales Organizations.” The discussion featured:

Watch the full broadcast here. Follow along with our 12 favorite pieces of sales strategy advice.

“Through automation, through the prioritization that technology affords us – those are fantastic tools that give back time to my sales team. But in the end, great performance is built by great people, and so you have to rely on the great prowess and sales expertise of the people that you hire and make their lives easier through technology. Not supplant it.” – Justin Hart, VP of Member Acquisition, Surf Air

“Sales and marketing are joined at the hip at Paycor, and we’re constantly analyzing the revenue funnel. It’s not a sales funnel. It’s not a marketing funnel – it’s an integrated revenue funnel. And we’re making sure that we’re optimized at each stage of that funnel. You know, tweaking the dials so we’re getting the most of the machine.” – Brian Vass, VP of Sales and Marketing Technology, Paycor

“We have an extremely robust channel. Our channel is very good to us, and we try to be very good to them, too. So best practices says that what you teach your own people, you also enable your channel with … We have 2100 in our sales organization. I like to say we have 13,000 in sales, because we also enable our channel, as well. So I think keeping an eye on how you enable everyone at the same time makes us more effective as an organization.” – Julie Sokley, VP of Global Sales Operations, Autodesk

“We’re a very activity-driven sales organization. We have relatively short sales cycles and deal sizes, so activity is important. Our salespeople have weekly activity goals, and there’s this culture around discipline, accountability and consistently achieving those goals and exceeding them. And so for us, it’s important to make sure that activity data is front and center for our salespeople and that they know how they’re pacing against their goals.” – Brian Vass, VP of Sales and Marketing Technology, Paycor

“We have the mantra on our team that if it isn’t in Salesforce, then it didn’t happen. So we like to get things back in there, but sometimes you need to use an outside tool. And what’s great is that now there’s this accessibility of apps in the AppExchange that help you get there.” – Justin Hart, VP of Member Acquisition, Surf Air

“We use a product called LevelEleven to drive sales incentive contests and give people a scorecard right in Salesforce that shows how they’re pacing against their activity goals, whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly goals, as well as their quota and things like that. We started with that app in our inside sales organization and they quickly increased activity 50% after using it. We’re starting to roll that out to the field. We use a product called GeoPointe, which is mapping and routing. We have a mobile field sales organization, and they use this to get optimized driving directions to where they’re going to go. If they’re out in the field, they can plot prospects and clients on a map to see who’s nearby right now. Our reps who are using GeoPointe visit 2.3 more companies on a regular basis than those who don’t.” – Brian Vass, VP of Sales and Marketing Technology, Paycor

“Most of our apps sit native on the platform. Probably my favorite right now is Altify, because we built our entire sales methodology on it. We didn’t have that before. We didn’t have one sales methodology before. We had 21 when I started. Getting everybody to the same sales methodology for pipeline, forecasting and opportunity management was really important for us. But more importantly, it’s right in their opportunities in Salesforce. So they don’t have to click around to other apps.” – Julie Sokley, VP of Global Sales Operations, Autodesk

“In B2B, business-to-business, people buy from people. That’s not going to change. Buyers’ needs will change. The products and services we’re selling will change. Technology will definitely change. But there’s still going to be a salesperson. There’s still going to be a sales process.” – Brian Vass, VP of Sales and Marketing Technology, Paycor

“All of our customers are facing the same economic changes that a lot of people are facing, and they’re having to cut and figure out how to make their business more efficient. And the way they come out of that is to innovate, just like we all innovate. I think salespeople are going to have to tune into how does their customer innovate versus: What do I have to sell them? And I think the right kind of sales reps that can make that transition and really focus on the customer innovating versus the products they have in their bag are going to be the ones that’ll probably be successful in the future.” – Julie Sokley, VP of Global Sales Operations, Autodesk

“The world is becoming flatter. It’s becoming more connected, and so are our organizations. Just in the last two days, I had two reps bring up an issue that they were encountering in Salesforce that I didn’t even know existed … You can’t be in the weeds all the time, but they’re there. The sales reps should feel empowered to say, ‘This isn’t working for me. Can we find a new process to make this work?’ And I think being open to that is a vital success to the future of any sales organization.” – Justin Hart, VP of Member Acquisition, Surf Air

“We all have changed, but for sales reps sometimes change just means making their job harder. It’s really important not just to say what is changing, but really take the time to explain why … if you are changing, just communicate it really, really clearly.” – Julie Sokley, VP of Global Sales Operations, Autodesk

“Strong fundamentals are important. You have to have good people. You have to have a good sales process. You have to have good activity. But you also have to embrace the future and some of this technology. If it’s outside of your comfort zone, that’s fine. This stuff can be learned.” – Brian Vass, VP of Sales and Marketing Technology, Paycor

There’s a ton more advice for your sales strategy. Jumpstart the last month of this quarter with our guide on 30 days to more sales.

12 Sales Strategy Tips From Salesforce’s ‘Sales 2020’ Broadcast