Do all sales reps make fake calls?

Published: Wed, 09/25/24

Updated: Wed, 09/25/24

September 25, 2024

TOGETHER WITH

Welcome back to The Quota. It’s the last issue of Q3, so by the time we see you next, you’ll either be waiting for that beefy commission check, or basking in the comfort of all the deals you sandbagged for Q4 — with (hopefully) nothing in-between. In this week’s issue, we’ll take a look at Amazon’s aggressive AI-sales-push, share a Sales Fail about bad breath, and help out a rep with an unreasonable call quota. Enjoy.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

40.4

40.4% of salespeople report rarely asking for referrals.

Source: Sales Insights Lab

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

Do performance rankings actually impact sales performance? A new study examined how performance rankings impacts quota attainment and employee turnover. The findings reveal that the type of information displayed alongside rankings is crucial — identifiable rankings with just performance data are most effective, while including quotas diminishes the benefits. You can read the full study here.
More than a third of B2B marketers frequently find themselves in conflict with the sales team, according to new research from Marketing Week. The survey of 600 B2B marketers found that over a third of CMOs, marketing directors and vice-presidents, and a similar percentage of marketing managers and senior managers, agree friction with sales occurs repeatedly. You can read more about it here.

FEATURE

Image: Tada Images/shutterstock.com

Inside Amazon's Aggressive Push to Sell AI Products

Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently launched an internal campaign that signals AI won’t be replacing salespeople anytime soon. Instead, the tech giant is leaning on their sales team to position the company as an AI leader and grow revenue.

The "Find One, Launch One, Ramp One" Initiative

Business Insider reported on the new internal campaign AWS rolled out this summer called "Find One, Launch One, Ramp One." This initiative provides a blueprint for salespeople aiming to push product sales for their AI products including Q, their AI assistant and Bedrock, their AI platform. The approach was straightforward: identify at least one sales opportunity each month for AI products, successfully implement one customer workload, and generate real revenue.

To boost motivation and engagement, AWS created a leaderboard to showcase top performers, adding an element of “friendly” competition among reps with a deadline of December 1. The company also offered rewards that included bonuses of up to $20,000 per sale and dinner (pizza and wine) with an executive at their home. (Even high-ticket sellers at one of the world’s most valuable companies get a pizza party…)

The pressure is on

Even non-sales employees are being encouraged to join the sales push.

AWS software consultants, whose primary focus has been on implementing cloud services, are now being encouraged to identify sales prospects. This shift is blurring the distinction between consultants and traditional salespeople.

The "Find One, Launch One, Ramp One" initiative includes AWS solution architects, who typically work alongside sales teams to design tailored cloud services for customers. Now, they are incentivized to take a more active role in the sales process and are being evaluated on the outcomes of these efforts.

"Customers are eager to explore how generative AI can help them innovate, scale, and transform their businesses, and we're responding by equipping our teams to discuss how to succeed with our full suite of generative AI solutions," an AWS spokesperson told Insider.

The spokesperson emphasized that setting sales goals is not new or unusual, clarifying that AWS solution architects are not considered salespeople but rather help customers design solutions to meet their business needs.

"There are no blurred lines," the spokesperson added, affirming that roles and expectations remain clear.

More pressure, but more incentives too

According to an internal memo viewed by Insider, AWS recently announced that salespeople will receive a $1,000 performance bonus for every 25 Amazon Q licenses sold and retained with a customer for three consecutive months. The maximum bonus per customer is $20,000.

For Bedrock, Amazon offers salespeople a $5,000 bonus for small customers and $10,000 for larger customers when they secure "three consecutive months of specified Bedrock incremental usage in 2024," according to the memo.

Additionally, some AWS teams are discussing increased compensation for AI specialists. For instance, sales architects working in AI-related areas like security and networking may earn higher salaries compared to generalists, one insider noted.

An AWS spokesperson told BI that these types of sales incentives are common across major tech companies, adding that Amazon continually reviews its compensation to stay competitive with the market.

Hitting the Gong but Getting Lost in the Noise? MeetRecord Clears the Path for Revenue Intelligence.

It’s the end of the quarter, and despite using the top tools, results still feel out of reach.

Call recording and CRM autofills aren’t cutting it — what you need is a platform that’s faster, easier to use, and gets results without the extra costs.

MeetRecord: 25% more intuitive, 3x faster, and built to help you win.

What Differentiates MeetRecord from Gong:

Performance Monitoring: Generate coaching scorecards after every call.
Ask Anything: Ask MeetRecord any question across all of your customer calls.
Faster Response: Send follow-up emails to prospects or internal stakeholders on a deal
Key Alerts: Automatically alert key stakeholders of relevant deal info.
Automated Custom Sales Coaching: Customized AI sales coaching tips and courses from the conversations.
Zero platform fees: Enjoy transparent pricing with no hidden costs.
People Intelligence Capability: Individual performance tracking, strengths & weaknesses recognition.

If you’re looking for a platform that delivers results faster, with more flexibility and fewer headaches, MeetRecord is your solution!

See how it works!

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

What year was the (recently bankrupt) direct-sales company Tupperware founded?

A. 1946
B. 1890
C. 2011
D. 1971

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Alright, so this is the funniest thing that's ever happened to me during an in-person prospect meeting. I was working on this deal that was looking like it was going to close. I was going to my prospect's office to pitch leadership and my VP came along to be an executive presence at the meeting. I was less than a year into the job and hadn't built much rapport with him aside from a few passing interactions. We met in the lobby of the prospect's building before the meeting and talked a bit about the game plan. As soon as he started talking to me it hit me in the face. There’s no nice way to say this, but his breath smelled absolutely awful. I don’t know if he was sick or something, but it was unbearable. If I had known him better, I would have told him directly, but I didn't want to offend him so I just casually offered him a piece of gum. He said "No, I'm good." I really thought it was going to work. I assumed that offering someone a piece of gum was the universal sign for politely telling someone their breath smells bad. Apparently not.

We got into the meeting and introduced ourselves and shook everyone's hand. I watched him shake the decision maker's hand and the guy definitely noticed the breath — I saw him visibly wince. The VP and the decision maker were sitting pretty close to each other and every time the VP turned and said something to him I saw the guy struggling to not make a face, he just looked super uncomfortable the whole time. I became pretty absorbed in this whole situation and couldn't really focus on the meeting because I was just bracing myself for every time my VP said something to the decision maker. We ended up losing the deal. I'm not sure if the breath was the reason, but I know it definitely didn't help us. I took it as a learning experience and now I always carry gum and make sure my team and I walk into sales calls with fresh minty breath.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- September 2024

WORTH A PEEK

Every rep knows you should do research and prep before outbounding and disco calls, but that can take hours per account. Enter the free Pocus AI Account Plan Generator, launching today on Product Hunt. In seconds, the tool gathers info from 10Ks, podcasts, Youtube, Google, LinkedIn, & more to give you background on your top accounts, plus a breakdown of where your product fits in with their top priorities. Check it out here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team

I recently started a new job as an SDR. As you can imagine, it involves a lot of cold calling. All the calls are logged and every rep on the team has daily call quotas. The sales manager has a dashboard where he can see if people are making the calls or not, and he does ride people if they don't hit the number. I feel like this approach is kind of a waste of time. I'd rather spend more time researching accounts and focus on quality of quantity; this is how I was able to succeed in my last job. I talked to some of the other reps on the team about the quotas, and everyone generally agrees that it's kind of a waste of time. I found out some of the other reps have lists of numbers they know won't pick up and they just call them at the end of the day to pad their numbers. I'm thinking I want to start doing this too so I don't have to worry about a call quota and can focus on my actual selling quota. Is this wrong? I'd still be focused on the job they hired me to do, which is to bring in customers. I just don't feel like the volume game is going to get me results.

Unsure in the Southeast

Dear Unsure,

This isn't that uncommon. When forced to make a certain number of calls, a lot of reps fudge their numbers. It's up to you what you ultimately do, but we will say this: You're doing yourself a disservice if you're spending your time making fake phone calls instead of calling actual leads that might convert. You're making the calls anyway, so trust yourself and your ability to sell. Getting more (real) prospects on the phone will only help you get better and will get you closer to hitting your quota. Use your time wisely. Good luck!

Quiz Answer: A. Tupperware was founded in 1946 (you can read the source article here)

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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