Episode 283: Steve Hall
Meet
Steve Hall
Steve Hall is Managing Director of Executive Sales Coaching Australia and is recognized as Australia’s leading authority on Selling at C level. He is a member of the Sales Experts Channel and has been a finalist in several categories in the Top Sales World Awards.
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The best way to stop being reactive is to ask how you can make your targets while doing as little work as possible. What activities are important? What things can you do to make every minute as useful as possible? It starts by knowing your territory and your plan for your territory. Then you must employ some creative laziness. Learn more about Steve’s unique strategy in this episode of Sales Reinvented.
Outline of This Episode
- [0:47] Why is territory planning an underrated activity?
- [2:38] How territory planning can help you be more organized
- [3:33] Steve’s ideal territory sales plan
- [4:47] Great salespeople need to be creatively lazy
- [7:35] Tools, strategies, and tactics to improve sales planning
- [8:30] Top three territory sales planning dos and don’ts
- [10:07] Focus on your niche in your geographical area
Steve’s ideal territory sales plan
A territory can mean many things to many people. Usually, it’s a geographic territory. Most salespeople believe the bigger the territory the better. Steve says that’s a lie. A focused territory where you know the customers well is better than a large territory where you’re stretched thin. A broader region leads to more challenges. Why? You may agree to take on a new client without making certain they fit in your plan.
What do you sell? What problems do you solve? Start there. If you don’t know this, you won’t know the types of companies/people you should have in your territory. Once you define your ICP, which specific companies have problems you can solve? Are your company’s customers in a particular industry or sector? Look for people similar to your existing customers. Then you can categorize companies and plan your approach.
Great salespeople need to be creatively lazy
Steves’s answer probably isn’t one you’d commonly hear. Great salespeople are lazy. If you want a life outside of work you have to plan and strategize. You need the ability to strategize and learn quickly. You need to be creatively lazy.
If you get inbound leads, you can’t just jump on them. Look at your territory. If the company isn’t part of your ICP, don’t waste your time on them. Refer them to someone else that is a better fit for them.
Steve worked with a lazy account manager who took long lunch breaks and went to football games during the workday. But he was a planner. He looked at opportunities, how to get them, and who he needed to talk to to get them. Once he had a strategy in place, he followed it. He didn’t have to work that hard because he strategized well. If you’re lazy, you don’t do things because you’re “supposed to.” You only do activities that help you reach your goals.
What are you trying to achieve? What are your end goals? What’s the best way to achieve your goals? Do nothing that doesn’t fit in your plan. Avoid distractions. You can outsource those things. Ruthlessly focus on what gets you where you want to be.
Focus on your niche in your geographical area
For one of Steve’s first sales jobs in Australia, he was told to cold-call people and sell his software to expand their clients. He called food distributors, manufacturers, etc. He learned his company’s software wasn’t suitable for them. They could modify it but didn’t have the manpower to do so.
So Steve went back to his manager and asked him to allow them to focus on who they served best. So the two salespeople doubled down on their niche and his company became the top-selling publishing software in the world. You need to have the right piece to the puzzle. Match what you have to offer to the people that need it in your geographical territory.
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Resources & People Mentioned
- Selling to Zebras by Jeff Koser
Connect with Steve Hall
Connect With Paul Watts
Audio Production and Show notes by
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More About Steve Hall
Are there any books on or including Territory Sales Planning that you recommend? Selling to Big Companies – Jill Konrath, The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need – Anthony Iannarino
In the field of Territory Sales Planning – Who do you most admire and why? Wayne Maloney, John Smibert, Jill Konrath and Anthony Iannarino
Hobbies, Interests? Lifelong Swindon Fan
How can our listeners connect with you? Just search for #stevehallsydney. All my contact details are there.
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