Here we go – a new calendar for sales ops leaders. What will you do with it? More of the same? More band-aids and short-term solutions? More shelf-ware (products you buy with good intentions that end up living on a shelf instead of getting used)? Or more strategies, tactics, and solutions? Evolution or Revolution? Will you create/foster evolution? Will you incite a revolution? What does your company need most? There is no universal answer for what is the best route to take – when the company and team needs to evolve itself, the processes, and toolkit, and when you need to burn things to the ground and rebuild from the bottom up. Will this be the year you finally put in a CRM that matches your size, scale, and needs as a company? Or will this be the year you put in accountability and expectations to get your team to ACTUALLY use the CRM you already have and pay for? Real Training for Real Results Will this be the year you provide your leadership with leadership training and your salespeople with real sales training? Not the in-house stuff you keep trying to do or the assumption that if you hired the right people they should know what to do (which is not how humans and employees work). Or the ‘free’ online content you share with your team. But real, impactful and actionable training for your leaders and teams, like what I provide for companies. Will this be the year that you build an intentional and effective recruiting process that identifies and moves forward the candidates that will have the best chance of being that successful salesperson that your team needs? Will you build tests and hoops that allow you to identify a candidate’s true nature versus the nice, smooth, successful sales story they tell you in the interviews? Sales Processes: Best Practices or Best Excuses? Will this be the year that you build a sales process based on best practices of the right, successful salespeople on your team and roll it out as a required process, instead of as an option and/or nice to have sales process? Will you actually hold your paid employees to a standard that you know generates consistent, profitable results? Or will you continue to let your salespeople convince you that salespeople don’t need ‘scripts’ and processes (“Just let me do what I do best – show up and talk people into buying things.”)? Will this be the year that you hold you build in automated tech solutions for ensuring that your prospects and leads are moving through the pipeline in a consistent way? Will this be the year you hold your team accountable for making their follow up calls? Will this be the year you drive down your acquisition cost by making the most of the leads that already fill the sales pipeline? Leads and Reps: Not All Are Equal Will this be the year that you realize that not all leads are created equal, and not all salespeople should be treated the same? Where a lead in the hand on one rep could lead to significantly better results for everyone involved (including the potential customer), but in the hands of someone else it will statistically lead to nothing? Will this be the year you stop running the team like a communist-democracy (yes, I made that up), where everyone has a vote and they all feel like things should be fair, despite effort and results? Will this be the year that your team understands that their sales job doesn’t end once the deal is closed, an agreement is signed, partial or full payment is made? That the sale never stops? That your company and the customer only care about long term success, not the short-term benefit of a closed sale? Will this be the year that you help them do more, including after the ‘sale’ is done? Will this be the year that you fully leverage a mission, vision, and core values to ensure the right people are on the team and the wrong people identify themselves for removal? Will you use this to help facilitate change easier by anchoring everyone to both a destination (mission/vision) as well as the road map to get there (values)? The Hope for 2025 I hope for you, your team, your leaders, your company, and most of all – your future customers that you do all of the above (over the next 12 months). I hope you put these things in place, so your team can do less of the things that get in the way and more of the things that AI still can’t replace – helping other scared, confused, worried humans (prospects) who have goals, hopes, dreams, and a place they would rather be make the right, best decision for themselves. Here is your success in 2025!

The new year has rung in and feels like it is coming in at full speed. Here is my list of what your team most likely needs from you in 2025: Wisdom Guidance More Leadership Empathy Motivation Let’s run through each one, so you know what I think the focus should be. Wisdom Your team has information (just like your prospective customers). They have access to all the worlds knowledge – on your product, on sales, about human behavior. Whether they choose to utilize it or they want to just learn enough to be good enough to perform at some level that fits their mode – that is different. They don’t need you for information or facts, features, and data. They should already have that for your company in the forming of training, a knowledge base, your website, the brochure, your slides, etc. They are hoping that you bring the wisdom aspect into your role with them. They want you to help them do the right things with the knowledge and information. They are looking for the practical application of that info, that will help them succeed in their role. Stop giving them more data points, info, and stuff. Guidance Again, just like your prospects, your salespeople think they are the Hero of the story. They don’t need you to be the Hero as well. Stop telling them about how great you were as a sales rep, or all the things you would have done differently in that sale they failed to close. Be a Guide, not a Hero, for them. Guide them in their mission and help them succeed. Make it all about them and show them the path that they could take. But remember – it’s their path. You can’t jump in and close every sale for them. They have to learn – typically the hard way (falling down) – on their own so they can achieve their success. Make their mission and their journey about them and not you. More Leadership Your team wants leadership from you. And then more of it. They want less management. Management is about pushing and manipulation in order to get what you want. Leadership is about a vision and mission – destination – and pulling people on the journey along with you. If you need, study leadership to help you achieve a good balance of leading and managing (some amount of managing is always needed). You can also read all the leadership-related blog articles on here. :) To lead better, you will want to do more of the two following categories. Empathy Empathy is about encountering someone – where they are currently – discovering where they would rather be, and then caring about them enough to find ways to support them on their path. Not your path. Not your destination. But theirs. It’s the best skill you can have as a salesperson, and go figure – it is also vital for leadership (not a surprise…since persuasion is about leadership of the prospect). A lot of leaders I see think they know what each salesperson wants (money) and assume that they know how the salesperson will want to get there. Make sure you help your people get to where THEY want to get to. If you aren’t sure how to do that, see Hero section above – make it all about them, and not you. Motivation Even when they want you to show them the money, it’s not about the money. It’s what the money represents and/or will get them. But it’s never about the actual money part. Get to know what each person wants AND the why behind it. Go as deep as you can. Find out what they get out of bed each day for…and where the role and financial aspects of it fit in with what they want more of in their life. Again…if you haven’t noticed a theme yet - make it all about them! (Not about how much money you wanted to make when you were as salesperson, and what you spent that money on. No one cares about you…they only care about themselves.)  Conclusion When you focus on these five things (which are really subcategories of the same generally thing – Leadership) – you will fill in the gaps your team has, which should propel them to closing more deals and making more money. Which is also your goal for them!

Now you might think that each person you speak with needs the same thing they always did from you – information to help them make the right buying decision. Or to be sold to – depending on your old school sales mentality. Or a free trial, test drive, or something that will get their hands on the product (because it sells itself, right?). But what your prospective customers need from you in 2025, just like they did in 2024 and well before that, is guidance. Why Information is No Longer Enough They don’t need information. They have access to information. They have the internet. They have Google and YouTube. Like you and I, they could search about a problem they are having, read an article with steps or watch a video, and then get to solving their issue. As I have said many times, they need you for Guidance and Wisdom. They want you to help them make the right decision – yes, of course – but for them. Not your company. Not you based on your comp plan and motivations. But for them. Sales’ Bad Reputation: Why Guidance Matters More Than Ever Yes – they have always needed that as a customer, and of course there are salespeople that focus on providing that. But there are also the ones out there that end up giving sales a bad reputation because they aren’t focused on the customer’s actually needs and wants. Why does this matter in 2025? Because we now, thanks to the internet, have WAY TOO much information. It’s overwhelming. The last time you searched for something online, was it easier or harder to find what you needed? There are more companies, putting out more products and content, which leads to more options. Humans don’t do well with options. The Paradox of Choice is the principle that as the number of options goes up, the ability to make a decision decreases. Two to three options to choose from is usually best. Ever been to Red Robin and been paralyzed by choosing the right burger? Or the Cheesecake Factor and picking anything easily? (even just deciding on a category of food is hard there) I see a lot of companies that don’t understand this principle and salespeople who ‘clock in’ for work as a salesperson where they forget how what they do in their own life and how they make decisions. It’s like they switch into sales mode which means ‘showing up and throwing up’ facts, details, features, benefits. What Prospects Truly Want: Wisdom and Guidance Now – please note, I am not saying you don’t want to sell to your prospects the way you buy. That is a recipe for sales disaster. But you must be mindful of how you and most humans want to buy. They want you for your wisdom and guidance. Theoretically (insert sarcasm, for a lot of people in sales roles), you are a professional with the expertise and experience that allows you to determine what the best path would be for each of your prospects. You do an amazing amount of deep discovery, utilizing active listening and empathy to analyze where they are now versus where they would rather be. Then you provide a service, product, solution that will help them get there. Then you assume that based on your expertise and experience that your suggestion is the best one, and you move forward with the conversation and buying process. Gone are the days of needing to ask for the sale. If you are still asking for the sale you are operating in a weak sales capacity where you feel like they need to approve your recommendation. Challenges for 2025: Elevating Your Sales Conversations In 2025, challenge yourself to do the following in your sales conversations: Ask more, better, deeper questions during Discovery. Find out the What AND the Why. Save your credibility, trust building monologues for after Discovery. Assume the progress forward once you have identified their square peg need (to go with your square peg solution). Understand that Objections are indications of two things: they don’t trust you, and you missed something in the process. They need Wisdom and Guidance, not information.

As a sales ops leader, what can you do to help mitigate and thus reduce the level of cancelations/refunds/returns? The key, as I discussed in the blog for salespeople [ https://go.sellingeffectiveness.com/LI.12.30.PM ] and leaders [ https://go.sellingeffectiveness.com/LI.12.31.PM ], is more a matter of understanding and addressing buyer’s remorse. Understanding Buyer’s Remorse Just a short recap – buying something new requires change. The primal part of our mind fears the unknown (change). This means that every time your team sells to a new customer, that customer will be hit with panic, doubt, and fear at some point once the sale is done. Your team could do all the parts of the current sales process right, and buyer’s remorse will still kick it. Know that buyer’s remorse always happens. Sometimes it is slight, and that new customer gets themselves through it. Sometimes it is enough to get them to call/email/come back in and cancel (whatever that means for your industry). Here are the processes that you can put into place. These are similar to what the guidance was to sales leaders. But it is your responsibility to actually create them as repeatable, scalable processes. 1. Address Buyer’s Remorse During the Sales Process First – ensure the sales process includes a section of the conversation to address that some level of post-purchase ‘questions and concerns’ (you don’t need to call it doubt and remorse) can occur. The key is for your salespeople to let every new customer know, every single time, that if that does occur to call and/or email with the questions/concerns so they can talk through it. You and the team might be worried that by bringing it up it could cause it to happen, but setting expectations isn’t the same as a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you set the right expectations that align with human behaviors, and then it happens (the new buyer gets hit with questions/concerns), then it will build even more trust and credibility. To get this part of the sales conversation done every time, you can use some/all of the following: Updates to your scripting (assuming you actually provide scripting to your team…which hopefully you do!) Post sale checklist items – where the salesperson must acknowledge all of the sales process covered. This you can refer to later if there is an audit that reveals part(s) was missed Call/Video/Meeting recording review and audits for compliance Build it into your non-negotiable sales standards/requirements 2. Incorporate Financial Impacts into the Compensation Plan Second – affect them financially. You want to make big changes in what your team focuses on? Change their comp plan. Now I am not suggesting anything drastic. In fact, I think you should probably be kinder with the cancelations that you might currently be hitting them for. You see, there will always be a certain percentage of people who cancel/refund, change their mind. If your team is filled with actual salespeople (and not Order Takers) they will persuade people to buy things that they say they want now but will freak out about later. And that’s okay. Your comp plan should allow for a certain % that doesn’t affect your reps negatively. This could be 2-5-10-20% of their sales. The reason is vital is that you don’t want your team to worry about every client who cancels. Of course, you want them to save every deal they can but you also want a culture where they know the ones that might cancel as soon as they sell them. I always knew the ones that I persuaded to get help way outside of their comfort zone and was pretty sure they would call me back sometime after worrying about their decision. Give your team the benefit of the doubt of a certain, acceptable level of cancelations. Above that point, it should start to cost them financially. 3. Implement a Consistent Post-Sale Follow-Up Program Third – build a required, consistent post-sale follow up program. I recommend tracking this in your CRM and through your phone platform. If you just make it a task in your CRM, the reps could check the ‘task completed’ box and never actually make the outreach. And don’t let them just send emails to try and check in on their new customers. It would be way too easy for that scared, worried customer to reply back asking to cancel – which requires no level of confrontation. You need to make sure that they make the calls, and you can tie those calls to the required customer follow-ups. In call center environments I have been in, I have had the tech team program the phone (Five9) with the CRM (Salesforce) to actually lock the rep out of their phone (removing them from the inbound queue), popping up the customer record in Salesforce, and making it so the only action is to dial on that customer follow-up. 4. Build Automated Follow-Ups Fourth – build automated follow-ups. Use your CRM and/or marketing automation software to send out emails/messages to new customers. I know I just said to not let your reps do their follow-up via email, but these will be additional messages – more focused on use of and success with the product/service they purchased. Tips, best practices, ideas, and anything else that will help reinforce in their mind that buying from your company was the right long-term decision. Your team won’t send these types of messages consistently, which is why you should build them out. Think of it as a long-term nurture strategy for new customers that will lead to less cancellation attempts and should also lead to repeat business and/or referrals. Conclusion When you put those four sales ops processes in place you will have taken control of reducing the chances that someone will even think about canceling/returning what they bought from your team.

Calls and emails from a newly enrolled customer who wants to cancel their purchase/agreement can be devastating to a salesperson. I have seen so many reps come in, check their voice mail and email, get one or more cancelation requests that were waiting for them, and their mindset is wrecked for the day. I have watched this happen on a Monday morning, where the rep – on a weekly goal system – is now in the ‘hole’ with their sales, starting the week upside down in deal numbers and revenue, with a mountain they need to climb, potentially just to break even and get the week started. It’s not that they are a bad salesperson, selling bad deals, and not following the process. It’s that humans get scared, and it can feel like it comes in waves of people wanting to cancel. The damaging effects for the day/week can be so impactful that I have worked for companies where we shield the reps from their cancels – not letting them know until the week is over. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work well either, because it’s like telling a kid they are going to Disneyland but then taking them to the dentist. Whether they realize it or not in advance, the outcome is still bad. What can you do as a leader to help your team avoid that disappointment?  1. Set Clear Expectations First – set the right expectations with the team about the percentage of their sales that will cancel (or attempt to cancel). I wrote about it in Selling With Authentic Persuasion – if you are a sales professional, you will always have a certain amount of your sales that get hit with buyer’s remorse. If not, then you are an Order Taker just closing the easy sales of the people who know exactly what they want and why. What is that % in your industry? 2%? 5%? 10%? There are some number of acceptable, expected cancel/return/refund customers. When you are in sales, you are helping someone buy something new which means they must jump outside of their comfort zone. Some of them will want to retreat back inside, and that’s okay. Have the figure as something that the company is okay with and your team is aware of. 2. Train Reps to Address Buyer’s Remorse Early Second – Ensure your team is using the strategy and scripting that I covered in the Selling Effectiveness blog [LINK] from this week. It is so important that you train and support them in bringing up buyer’s remorse to each new customer. It can feel scary and counterintuitive to bring up the potential for a new customer to cancel, but that is not what we are doing. Our goal is to address the tricks that the human mind will play on that new customer in advance, so that when it happens your rep looks like a mind reader. Do your part as a leader to give your team the confidence to bring up things that weak salespeople would be afraid to do. This will be the difference maker that will bring down the volume of the cancelation/return/refund requests. And note – like any part of the sales conversation that you know is critical, you will most likely need to make it a required component with a way to hold them accountable (audited phone calls, for example). Don’t just trust that since you told them how important this is and that you expect it, that they will do it each and every time. And if you don’t believe me (“my team always does what I tell them to do”) then watch your cancel/attempt numbers to see if they change and watch them on an individual rep basis – you will know who is doing and who isn’t. 3. Enforce Post-Sale Follow-Up Calls Third – Require and hold them accountable for their post-sale follow up calls. Don’t just think they will happen because you told them how valuable they were (sound familiar…see above ;). They will most likely default to thinking that their job is done since the sale is closed. Your rep(s) will want to move on to the next lead/deal. And they will most likely think “I don’t get paid to make follow up calls.” But they are so wrong – as I was taught a long time ago, “a deal saved is a deal earned.” Don’t let them fall into the trap of thinking that they will just go close more deals if someone cancels. That is a dangerous game to play – to stay ahead of the curve of cancels. I have seen it enough times, there will come a point where the rep can’t outrun the wave of cancels/refunds that is coming for them, and they get crushed by a paycheck without any commission because they didn’t close more deals than they lost in the period. Why Follow-Up Calls Matter The key is the follow up calls – they must be done. It will show that new customer two very important things. First, that the rep cares enough to check in, and they didn’t just make the sale and move on. Second, it will give the rep a chance to speak with the new customer, address any concerns (buyer’s remorse thoughts) and help them stay on board with what they purchased. As a sales leader, it’s your mission to help your team succeed. That means doing more than getting them to close deals today…it requires you to do all you can to support them on keeping those deals closed.