Did you know Friday, December 10 is National Salesperson Day? It’s been celebrated annually since 2000, and its roots lie in the recognition of retail sales associates.
However, at LeanData, we thought we’d widen the net to include salespeople of all ilk and variety. Plus, more importantly, we thought we’d provide the first-ever gift guide for you to recognize the members of your prized sales team.
What to give the most discerning of Salespeople
To a person, what each and every salesperson wants is … to win. As a whole, most are wired to pretty much want to win at everything they do. But, when it comes to their profession, winning is absolutely accountability number one.
“Winning” professionally, of course, means winning the customer and closing the deal. And, with winning comes all the associated prizes too, including money and recognition.
So, as you shop for that perfect gift for your prized salespeople, focus on the gifts that help them win. Below are a few ideas to get you started.
Sales Engagement Platform
As my colleague Don Otvos states, sales engagement platforms (SEPs) have become table stakes to playing the go-to-market game. Solutions like Salesloft and Outreach automate responses to leads, greatly increasing speed to lead. With lead response time being so critical in today’s digital-first buying journeys, an effectively deployed SEP gets your salesperson into the game. And, you have to be “in it to win it.”
Championship Belt
Every fighter knows the pinnacle of the fight game is the mythical championship belt. What better metaphor for professional sales than that of a fighter, busting through challenge after challenge, obstacle after obstacle, to close the deal? Recognize your champions when they close that unicorn deal by bestowing a champion’s belt. For a couple hundred bucks at places like Trophy Smack, you can outfit your top salesperson like a champ.
Lead Intelligence & Data Enrichment
Studies indicate that salespeople only spend about one-third of their time on sales-related activities. The rest of the time, they’re buried in tedious, manual tasks as they research leads and accounts, triage broken sales processes and more.
A big gift for you to consider is lead intelligence and data enrichment solutions. The solutions, whether automated or easy to search, like ZoomInfo, Clearbit, 6sense, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and others, provide much needed context for your salespeople to take new leads and hit the road to closed/won running. Lead notifications should arrive with context, particularly the campaign from which they came in.
LeanData Lead-to-Account Matching & Routing Solutions
The Sales tech stack empowers your salespeople to succeed. The two point solutions mentioned above, in conjunction with a CRM like Salesforce, are foundational. Another solution that should be considered foundational is the orchestration of workable data from one tactical application to another, and that’s the domain of LeanData’s industry-leading solutions. Deploy LeanData to ensure the right lead gets to the right rep, with the right contextual information, at the right time – each and every time. With that, your salespeople can get on with doing what they do best – sell.
Another Great Day to Make Cold Calls Mug
Sales is either the lowest-paying easy profession or one of the highest-paying difficult professions. The difference typically lies in the amount of work put into the daily grind of laying the foundation. It’s doing the work, the time-proven best practices, day after day, quarter after quarter, and it’s the lore that shapes the entire profession. Get your salesperson’s day off to a smiling start with the “Another Great Day to Make Cold Calls” mug, available from sugarspoonmugs on Etsy for less than $14.00.
Improv Class
Want to get off the beaten path and gift the not so ordinary? How about an improvisational class or course from a local drama school or acting/comedian troupe?
What profession is as much performance theater than sales? Workshops and courses usually explore the basics and fundamentals of improvisation both as a performing and life skill. Classes are a hoot, and a perfect exercise to help salespeople overcome being at a loss for words or making on-the-spot decisions.
Thank You Card
You don’t have to break the bank – or come anywhere close to it – to make a meaningful gesture to members of your sales team. Send a thank you card, complete with a sincere, heartfelt message of why you appreciate them. Pick out specific examples of what they did and how, and how much of an impact it made on your business, be it externally with the customer or internally with the organization and its goals.
Recognize Your Team
In the day-to-day course of business, there is a tendency to continuously look for improvements, identifying challenges and deploying corrective actions. Too often, we fail to catch people in the act of doing things correctly!
This coming Monday, December 13, be sure to take time out of your day to recognize your hard working and successful salespeople. Delivered with sincerity, authenticity and gratitude, you will make indelible impressions on your team.
Happy National Salesperson Day!