the axial way - sales & member development - building a culture of sales excellence
DESCRIPTION
The Axial Way for Sales & Member Development is a synthesis of the culture and team we're building within the sales organization at Axial. It comprises our best thinking around the qualities of sales professional we're looking for, the training and support we provide, and our inspirations and influences that help guide us on our path.TRANSCRIPT
SALES & MEMBER DEVELOPMENT
THE AXIAL WAY
The Axial Way is the synthesis of our best learnings and teachings on how to sell, how to build an outstanding sales organization, and what qualities we believe are most important to achieving those goals.
"I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life."
- Theodore Roosevelt
OUR MISSION
OUR MISSION
To build the top sales organization and culture in New York. A place where top performers come to grow, learn, make more money, and help build a multi-billion dollar organization.
THE WILL TO SELL
THE WILL TO SELL
FOUR KEY QUALITIES
At Axial, we believe in four key qualities that form the foundation for successful salespeople.
1. Desire2. Commitment3. Outlook4. Responsibility
DESIRE
Desire is step one. You must set incredibly ambitious goals for yourself and then write them down. You must expect great things. You must want the very best in life and not accept mediocrity.
COMMITMENT
Commitment is the single most important quality of a sales person. It is not work ethic. It is the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed. A willingness to do what is uncomfortable, to learn new skills, to be coached and trained. To break through walls to achieve success.
OUTLOOK
To achieve success, you must have an unrealistically positive outlook on your capabilities. You must be willing to endure difficulty, rejection, and frustration, and still retain an unbendingly positive outlook towards life's summit.
RESPONSIBILITY
You must take responsibility for what you achieve. Regardless of the product, the market, the environment, or any other factor, at Axial, we assume full accountability for the outcomes we affect. Win or lose, we don't make excuses and we don't assign blame.
PLAYING ON A TEAM
PLAYING ON A TEAM
WE DON'T JUST SELL
Daily Discipline
Coachability
Interested in the World
Well Read
We build great sales people. But we also look for great people. Here are some of the qualities we value.
HumilityTeamworkHumorSelflessness
SOME OF OUR COMPANY VALUES
We are fanatical about empowering our team with accurate company information. We publish internal metrics to the entire company. We host regular town hall meetings. We try to answer every question as honestly and openly as we can. We trust Axialites and we provide the transparency attendant to that trust.
TRANSPARENCY
Every Axialite is an owner. And that means we take it upon ourselves, whenever possible, to fix a problem, to offer a suggestion, to make something happen. If we see something needing improvement, we don't gripe. We move quickly to offer support. We act like owners because we are.
OWNERSHIP
Important enough to reiterate. Teamwork is critical to your success at Axial. We provide feedback on calls, we listen to each other, we role play, we take time out of our days to help our colleagues and friends. Sales can be an individual sport. We make it a team sport at Axial and we're proud of that fact.
TEAMWORK
We obsess about our Members. We fight for them. We help them. We go to almost any length to help them succeed. We are only as successful as the success of our Members and we work hard to earn their respect, trust, and admiration.
MEMBERS FIRST
We trade the hopes of a Hail Mary pass for the benefits and rewards that stem from daily discipline. We know that if we do everything we can, every single day, letting nothing stand in our way, we will succeed, we will win, and we will build a huge company. It's our favorite hashtag and it's our motto.
#EVERYDAMNDAY
HOW WE SELL
HOW WE SELL
PILLARS OF THE AXIAL WAY
We incorporate elements of a variety of different sales methodologies. They include:
Predictable RevenueBaseline SellingThe Challenger Sale
PREDICTABLE REVENUE
We use predictable revenue marketing techniques to generate email marketing leads and to constantly build pipeline.
BASELINE SELLING
We use baseline selling to help stage the sales process and to establish clear criteria to move through an effective sales cycle.
THE CHALLENGER SALE
We incorporate elements of the Challenger Sale to provide a commercial teaching context to our customers and educate them on new concepts specific to Axial.
HOW WE TRAIN
HOW WE TRAIN
STEADY CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Training and professional development at Axial is centered around daily coaching, constant feedback, and putting the resources in place to help every person succeed.
ELEMENTS OF OUR TRAINING FRAMEWORK
Daily team huddleDaily coachingWeekly pipe reviewsQuarterly performance reviews and evaluationsReading and self-improvementOutside sales training and consultantsSpeaking events and panelsRole plays and group discussion
WHAT WE MEASURE
WHAT WE MEASURE
INPUTS DRIVE OUTPUTS
Building a great sales team requires an emphasis on building the right process and inputs that deliver the right outputs. Here's what we focus on.
INPUTS & OUTPUTS
INPUTSTotal Outbound Calls -- Goal is 25 per day to generate and build pipe.Total High Quality Interactions -- Goal is 6 per day to drive in-depth conversations with prospective Members and help deliver tailored solutions to their problems. Total Intro Calls -- Goal is 2-3 per day to get to 1st Base and drive pipe.
OUTPUTSClosed Sales -- Goal is 2 sales per week. A great week is 5 sales. Closed ACV -- We drive towards 2x attainment of quota.Conversion Ratios -- Reviewing your conversion ratios helps you analyze and understand what you need to achieve to hit that 2x goal.
Understanding how your pipeline performs helps you know where to focus.
KNOW YOUR RATIOSANALYZE YOUR PERFORMANCE
Stage to stage conversion ratios tell you where to focus
Daily goals drive weekly, quarterly and annual performance
# of Sales x Average Price drives ACV
Total input to close ratios help take a step back from your day to day and understand what's working and breaking down
WHAT WE READ
Dave Kurlan's step by step guide on how to sell using baseball as an analogy for
prospecting, running an efficient sales cycle, and closing. A great foundation for
conceptualizing the elements of an effective sales cycle.
Aaron Ross helped build the sales prospecting methodology at Salesforce.
com and has created a process to consistently and predictably generate leads and build pipeline using structured calling
and email strategies.
Selling is about adding specific and unique insights to the customer conversation. In
this landmark book, the team from Corporate Executive Board lay out the core
elements of a successful "Challenger" -- Commercial Teaching, Tailoring, and
Taking Control. A critical book to understand the new selling landscape.
The inside story of how Marc Benioff and his team built one of the most
transformative cloud-based computing companies in history. Structured as a
series of small tools and tips rather than as one sequential narrative. Easy to follow
and incredibly illuminating.
A helpful primer on the step-by-step process to selling a family business and an
explanation and overview of the deal process in general. Told from the
perspective of veteran investment bankers, Harvest gives you a good sense for the
work that many of our Members are engaged in on a daily basis.
AND MANY OTHERS
OUR HEROES
OUR HEROES
PEOPLE THAT INFLUENCE US
People from all walks of life have done great things, overcome difficult obstacles, built huge companies, and made great strides. We are unapologetic about our admiration and respect for those that have come before us. Here are just some of the people we revere and admire.
OUR HEROES
Teddy RooseveltBrian EnoAbraham LincolnReid HoffmanMarc BenioffAlexander HamiltonMatthew RidgwayJohn LewisWinston ChurchillGolda Meir
Stevie WonderMartina NavratilovaMike BloombergGeorge WashingtonUlysses GrantSteve JobsFyodor DoestoevskyJay-ZEleanor RooseveltLarry Page
Ambassador Susan JacobsJaron LanierDiane NashMark SusterTony HsiehFrederick DouglassJeff BezosJohn CageBarbara TuchmannMerriweather Lewis
HOW WE CELEBRATE
CELEBRATION & INCENTIVES
We work very hard at Axial but we also focus on celebrating our success. Building a multi-billion dollar company is inspiring but we also take time to enjoy victories along the way.
SOME OF OUR CELEBRATIONS
Gift cards and cash rewards Tour of famous New York steakhousesWine tasting tour in Long IslandRooftop barbeques and happy hoursBowlingFitness boot camps
Boot Camps
Bowling
"First Round Style" video shoot for the First Round Capital Holiday Video
Rooftop Barbeques
STEAKOur most cherished ritual is our quarterly tour of famous New York steakhouses. Every quarter we set stretch team goals for the entire team. If we hit them, the team hits up a first class steakhouse, rents a private room, and digs in to the fruits (and meats) of their hard-earned efforts.
So far we've visited:
THERE ARE SOME BIG NAMES NOT ON THAT LIST. HELP US GET THERE
WHY IT MATTERS
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECONOMY
Axial is transforming the way companies are started, grown, bought and sold. Our mission transforms the lives of entrepreneurs and business owners by giving them access to investors, advisors and by creating freedom for small businesses around the world.
THIS IS A VERY BIG IDEA.
AN IDEA THAT IS ALREADY TAKING OFF
AXIAL SUCCESS METRICS
SIZE, SCOPE, ACTIVITY, SUCCESS
● 12,000+ MEMBERS● 1,500 WEEKLY CONNECTIONS● 93% ANNUAL MEMBER RENEWAL RATE● 25% OF MEMBERS SIGN LOI/CLOSE DEAL IN FIRST YEAR● 50+ TRANSACTIONS CLOSE MONTHLY● 10-20% INCREASE IN CLIENT REVENUE IN YEAR 1 WITH AXIAL
WHAT ALL OUR GRAPHS LOOK LIKE
WE HAVE AMAZING CUSTOMERS
AND AMAZING PEOPLE
JOIN US