2015 Segment 1 - Leading a Direct Sales Team in a Growth Environment.

[Paul Terlemezian]

This segment will run from 10:30 to 11:30 on Tuesday, October 13th.

Panelists will have three to five minutes to present questions related to what they want to learn from the audience as well as present what they believe the audience can learn from the panelist's experience regarding "Leading a Direct Sales Team in a Growth Environment."

During the breakouts the panelists may share their "Sales Leadership" experiences and questions related to the alliances, M&A, raising capital and exit.

The panelists are:

• Dominic Coletto https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dominic-coletto/1/809/5b1
• Debra Kline https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwisedeb
• Anitra Manning https://www.linkedin.com/in/dranitra
• Brian Sholly https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwsholly
• Paul Terlemezian https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulterlemezian

[Paul Terlemezian]

How do you “challenge your thinking” as it relates to “growing your business” with your role of leading a sales team?

[Paul Terlemezian]

I used a technique that I described as REAP.

R - Results - was the sales person producing results - if so I made sure they were doing so legally/ethically and mostly stayed out of their way

E - Execution - if they were not achieving results then I needed to be sure they were executing effectively (basic sales skills, product knowledge, delivering proposals, following up effectively)

A - Activity - If they were executing properly and still not getting results then I focused on activity. Essentially - were they doing the right things often enough

P - Plan - if activity was low - I worked with them to make a plan to increase it. If activity was good or high - I was Patient - they needed my support - not my Pressure.

[Paul Terlemezian]

My questions relate to sales compensation:

How do you make an effective decision between base pay and commission?

When does strategy dictate a high base/low commission? (long sales cycles?)

What  does strategy dictate a low base/high commission? (short sales cycles?)

What do you do when you can not afford to compensate strategically?