INBOUND 2015

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How to Run Your Sales
Team Like a Data Scientist
Steve McKenzie
Head of Sales InsightSquared

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Companies that use a scientific
approach to sales force effectiveness
have found that reps in the lower
quartiles show dramatic improvement,
with productivity jumps of 200%.
HBR

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“A Company has two kinds of problems
• Not Enough Revenue
• And every other kind of problem”
Bob Brennan, CEO Veracode

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• Background in computer science, applications, modeling, statistics, analytics and math
• Strong business acumen with ability to communicate findings to business and IT leaders to
influence how organizations approach business challenges
• Doesn’t just address business problems; they will pick the right problems that have the
most value to the organization
• They are inquisitive. Always exploring, asking questions, doing “what if” analysis,
questioning existing assumptions and processes
IBM
What is a data scientist?

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I’m pretty sure
most Sales
Leaders are
thinking …

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• I’m an artist …..
• I’m good with people …..
• I like people …..
• People like me …..
• I play golf …..
• I take people to ball games …..
• And have steak dinners …..
• I don’t need data …..
C’mon, let’s get real.

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(general blank slide)
Those folks may be
approaching …..

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(general blank slide)
Balance

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(general blank slide)
Let’s get
into it.

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• Involves extracting data from multiple sources
• Running it through an analytics platform
• Creating visualizations of the data
• They will then spend hours cleansing and analyzing the data from multiple angles
• Looking for trends that highlight problems or opportunities
• Any insight is communicated to business with strategy recommendations
Average day of a data scientist

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(general blank slide)

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Remember:
You cannot improve what
you cannot measure!

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Big Data

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Big Data vs. Small Data
• Big Data = Machine Generated (IoT)
• Small Data = Human Generated
• As Sales leaders we are focused on Small Data
• Data resulting from human efforts
• CRM
• Marketing Automation
• Telephone Systems

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Cheat your way to becoming a
data scientist

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(general blank slide)
The beauty is…

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Caveat

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For starters: Focus on Performance!
Performance
“Doing the things you need to do to get the results you want.”
Result
“By-Product of Performance.”

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• Did I have a good day / week / month?
• How did my day compare to yesterday / last week / last month?
• How do I compare to my colleagues?
• Did the changes I made have an impact?
• How am I going to do against my goals?
• How did I do against these goals I set?
• Are the goals correct?
Performance questions

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So how do you do it?
What does taking a data-driven
approach to sales look like?

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• The Customer Journey
• Through the eyes of a Sales Leader
• Everything looks like a funnel
• Many things to analyze
• Lets keep it simple
Awareness to Loyalty

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Marketing performing as expected?

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Callers’ performance vs. activity goals?

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Pipeline quality over quantity

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What are my conversion rates?

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What is my sales cycle?

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Are we wasting time on time wasters?

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What deals are at risk?

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Why are we losing?

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Data science allows us to focus on performance

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Results take care of themselves

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• Extracting data from multiple sources
• Running it through an analytics platform
• Creating visualizations of the data
• Spending hours cleansing and analyzing the data from multiple angles
• Looking for trends that highlight problems or opportunities
• Any insight is communicated to business with strategy recommendations
Remember the average day of a data
scientist?

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You really can cheat your way to
becoming a data scientist

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1. Get support - top to bottom
2. Sell the benefits to all stakeholders - don’t tell … sell
3. Set your S.M.A.R.T goals – know the questions you want answers to
4. Create a culture of transparency – celebrate knowledge
5. Use data to inform all conversations – less opinion more fact
Five step guide

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• Research shows that data driven teams perform better
• It’s not that hard if you know how
• It’s not that hard if you have the tools
• You should do it if you want to improve
• You should just do it!
Summary

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Do it…
Measure it…
Assess it…
Improve it…
Repeat cycle.

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Thank You!
Steve McKenzie
steve@insightsquared.com