Is it still best practice to require a salesperson to make a certain number of cold calls every day or week? There are actually two answers. Yes for a newer salesperson, but not for a veteran. Too often managers have been taught by well-meaning ancestors that the priority is to judge activity rather than count the money. Often managers had veteran AEs making the requisite number of new business calls, cold calls etc., only to be axed because they missed the department’s target billing number. The real measure of a senior salesperson's effectiveness ought to be billing versus their potential or billing versus a quota that has been pre-determined and mutually agreed-upon.

Over the years in management I’ve had AEs who would do little ostensible work, but produce great billing. SM’s accused them of “sitting on a list.” One day I told a fretting SM, “Hey, if she can bill that much making only three calls a day, I’ll be happy to drive her to her fourth.” We once had a sports guy who only turned in three orders a year, but each was for $800,000. Cash, not calls, are the criteria I’ve used.

Simple, Effective Accountability

Today, the manager can ensure their success by asking every salesperson, every day:

How much do you have on the books today, versus quota? Down to the exact dollar.
What do you forecast?
If you’re short, what’s your plan?
Where's the money coming from?
What can we do to help?

There should be a finite and exact answer to each question.

Smartphone for Smart Sales & Management

A sales manager can stay in closer touch with an AE today than ever before via text. The smart sales managers use it as a sales aid rather than the old fashioned management leash of "Where ya been? Where ya goin'?" When the AE knows that they can go to their smartphone for help from the SM to counter an objection, or get an idea—that's where the relationship is most profitable for both.
Managers can also use it as an incentive. During the day you might text to the staff, “Mary just sold one of the baseball packages—only two left. If you guys sell the other two we’ll have today’s sales meeting at Clancy’s Pub—not at the station—at 4 p.m., not 5 p.m.”

With a smartphone, the AE can have access to a library of creative that can be played for the client on the spot. With a tablet, the AE can deliver a killer pre-prepared audio/video presentation.

With Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, an AE can have separate page for prospects on their list that choose to participate. The AE might use that list to send a daily text or tweet to all their clients with:

Business News Headline of the Day

• Wacko News Story of the Day
• Quote of the Day or Encouraging Quote of the Day (from any one of hundreds of quote sites)
• Weather Forecast
• Big headline from Ad Age

The objective is to make the daily offering pertinent and relevant, not obviously self-serving. Then, when a great deal becomes available, you can shoot that to them. Send an offer only rarely—and only if it’s really hot. If you’ve done a good job with relevant daily information, you can also sneak in a client success story once in a while. Just remember the ironclad rule of the Web: they'll opt out if it's of little value to them.

A Picture is worth…

I started out with an iPhone, but AT&T coverage was so bad in Phoenix that I changed to a Droid X on Verizon. The Droid is great, but there’s no better camera than the one on the iPad and iPhone. Advice to AEs: with a smartphone you have the opportunity to easily take pictures and video of everything. Take a picture of every client who’s willing, every event, every storefront, every client outdoor ad or banner. They make great “extra-mile” graphics for presentations.

What do you think? How do you use your smartphone for selling and management?