Straight from the Director of Sales at Zimmer Communications, Carrie Berkbuegler discusses sales leadership, sales performance tips, and answers a few questions that we all have.
You’ll get answers to questions like – what are the key performance metrics you track? What are the big rocks that you’re focused on? And how has sales management changed over the past few years?
Tune in now or keep reading for a brief overview.
Carrie is the currently the Director of sales for Zimmer Communications.
She got the radio bug as an intern in college; she was fascinated by how all facets of the station worked together and was drawn to the integral role played by the sales department. She immediately knew that was something she wanted to do, so she signed on as an AE, rose to sales manager three years later, and in January 2013, was promoted to DOS overseeing all 3 markets Columbia, Jefferson City, and Springfield, MO.
With the advanced of technology, there are plenty of key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure. However, not all are suitable for your unique sales team and organization.
With this in mind, host Matt Sunshine asks Carries what specific KPIs she tracks.
“We stick to the basics — aside from pacing to our overall goal,” she explains. “We have a pacing chart that we use each week to see where we should be for the current quarter, the next quarter, and the annual goal. We go through this every single week with our sellers. We do it in our one-on-one meetings and in our sales meetings,”
Carrie states that pacing the goal is by far the number one metric they measure at Zimmer Communications, but they also break it down and look at how sellers are pacing. “Two of the other biggest metrics we look at is our retaining increase dollars and our new business dollars,” she explains. “You always need new business but a key driver, and one of our sales team objectives, is retaining and increasing our current clients.”
She also explains how they break metrics down by seller. “If we break it down per seller, the things we look at overall are the number of asks that they’re doing each week, how many presentations are customized, how many of those are broke down between action ask and awareness ask to see if they have a good mix going on to fill their funnel.”
During the livecast, a viewer asks if Zimmer Communications pays commissions on retention business — if so, what does it look like?
Tune in now to hear Carrie’s answer!
To clarify, "big rocks" are the things that are really important but not always the most urgent. Carrie says that the big rocks they focus on are:
Recruitment
Growing Digital Departments
Inbound
Growing the Agency
“We’re in growth mode right now,” she states. “You should always be recruiting, whether you need people or not. At Zimmer, we’re very particular about culture and to work here, you truly have to be the right fit.”
A lot has changed in the sales industry over the last few years — even months! Salespeople, processes, systems, compensation, and strategies have contributed to and changed the industry. But how has sales management changed?
Carrie says that the one thing that shocks many people these days is that salespeople are no longer motivated by money.
“As a sales manager, you have to figure out how to make people want to work,” she states. “Most people are motivated by culture and the experience you provide. This shift has changed how you manage people — how you get them to do what you need and want them to do so they’re successful.”
Leading into the next question about what makes a great sales leader, Carrie says, “Hands down, you have to lead by example. Figure out how to lead by example and make your team respect you – if you do, they’ll want to do more.”
Another characteristic Carrie says makes a great sales manager is being able to adapt your management style to an individual. “You can’t manage just one way or just your way,” she states. “Everyone across the board is different. We can’t treat everyone the same.”
As a last piece of advice for seasoned sales manager, Carrie recommends to learn and lead by example. "What are you doing to get out there with your sellers," she asks. Also, "Go out with your people — not on sales calls, but go out, have fun, and learn about your people outside of work."
For Carries predictions on what the future looks like in sales, tune in now!
Don’t miss another episode of the Improving Sales Performance series where Managing Partner Matt Sunshine speaks with thought leaders, experts, and industry gurus, who share their insight, tips, and knowledge on various topics that help companies improve sales performance.
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