Episode 183: Chad Burmeister

Revenue = frequency x competency is one way that Chad Burmeister measures productivity. You have to be able to do more in a shorter period of time—you must increase your frequency. Over time, as you gain experience and focus on frequency, your competency will grow. This increases productivity and therefore increase revenue. Chad and Paul discuss this topic in-depth in this episode of Sales Reinvented.

Chad is the founder and CEO of ScaleX.ai—ScaleX leverages artificial intelligence and sales automation to automate up to 75% of sales reps tasks so that they can focus on higher-value work. He is the author of multiple Sales Hack books and a recently published book about AI for sales. Chad is passionate about helping sales professionals crush their quotas and increase revenue.

Outline of This Episode

• [0:57] Chad Burmeister’s definition of productivity
• [2:55] The reality of effective sales professionals
• [4:48] Steps to balance the equation
• [9:10] Attributes of a great salesperson
• [11:30] Chad’s favorite productivity tools
• [19:17] A story you can learn from

Are salespeople really less productive?

The prevailing statistic is that approximately 50% of sales professionals are hitting their quotas. Chad believes this isn’t accurate. He points out that finance departments are usually the ones setting the quotas for sales professionals to reach. Have they set the bar too high? Are they setting unrealistic expectations?

Chad points out that it takes ⅔ the amount of people to drive 1 billion in revenue compared to 5 years ago. They are actually ⅓ more productive! There are technologies in place that helps salespeople become more efficient and effective. In the long run, he doesn’t think sales pros are less productive—he thinks unrealistic quotas are manipulating the numbers.

Improving productivity is still possible

While Chad believes the bar is being set too high for quotas, there is always room for improving the productivity of a salesperson. He states that the average seller executes 50-60 sales activities per day—but that baseline can be improved.

There is a lot of noise in selling. So much so that in the last two years alone, it now takes 10x more sales touches to book a meeting. To increase revenue, you need frequent meetings to make a sale. How can that be done?

Chad points out that email marketing is proving to be ineffective, with an average response rate of 0.5-3%. Social selling fares much better, with an 8-12% engagement rate. Ultimately, he believes phone calls are having a resurgence and is still one of the most effective ways to connect with your prospect.

Getting on the phone with your prospect is the hardest part. This is where Chad recommends agent-assisted dialing. You initiate the dial, and a combination of software and human intervention navigates you to the person you need to connect with. Keep listening to find out why Chad believes this helps increase productivity.

What attributes make a productive salesperson?

According to Chad, a high-achieving salesperson has to perform at a better level than anyone else. He shares a story about an athlete who made Presidents Club three years in a row. He was a football player used to being pushed to do better and be better than the competition. He took that mindset into his sales position and blew his sales team out of the park.

He did so by learning tricks and tactics that set him apart from the competition—and didn’t share them with anyone else. One of the tools he used was agent-assisted dialing. He would come to the office early and initiate calls on the East Coast and drive 1,000 calls to someone else’s 100.

Chad points out a simple tip to live by: know the metrics of your team and focus on increasing your frequency. Statistically speaking, more phone calls equals more conversations. And as you increase your conversations, your competency soars. Your revenue should increase. But it all starts with a willingness to do more than everyone else.

Revenue = Frequency x Competency: Tools that help you balance the equation

Chad is a firm believer that you must embrace the technology available to you and leverage it in a way that benefits you. It’s a given that everyone should have a good CRM. But what else does he think you need?

1. LinkedIn Navigator: 90% of companies use this tool, and it should be 100%. It helps you build and nurture customer relationships on LinkedIn.
2. Agent-Assisted Dialing: Getting someone on the phone can be a monotonous process. Making calls that an $8 an hour worker could do is wasting your time, so he recommends outsourcing it.
3. BDR.ai (or another similar program): Something that executes social sales activities to allow you to focus elsewhere.
4. Calendly or Chili Piper: Gone are the days of emailing back and forth to lock down a meeting. These tools simplify the process of connecting with your prospect.
5. FlowEngine.ai or Get The Lead: help find leads, ranks who you should reach out to, and even helps you gauge what to say to the leads.

Chad is passionate about what he does. To get the most out of his expertise and hear in detail how he operates, listen to the whole episode!

Resources & People Mentioned

• Rob Jeppsen on LinkedIn
• Skip Miller on LinkedIn
• Topo
• The Bridge Group
• Bregal Sagemount
• Vengreso
• Dux-Soup
• LinkedIn Helper
• BDR.ai
• Flow Engine
• Get The Lead
• Calendly
• Chili Piper
• AI for Sales by Chad Burmeister
• How to Get a Meeting with Anyone by Stu Heinecke
• I Want to Be in Sales When I Grow Up! By John Barrows

Connect with Chad Burmeister

• • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Connect With Paul Watts

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

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More About Chad Burmeister

What was the last book you read?
Living an Extraordinary Life by Robert White

Who / What inspires you?
I’ve really been focused on mindset and mindfulness for the past 6 months, and have found a level of peacefulness and gratitude in it.

Are there any aspects of your own productivity skills that you are working on improving at the moment?
My ability to be as good of CFO as I am CEO and CRO

Hobbies, Interests?
Skiing.

How can our listeners connect with you?
Chad(at)scalex.ai