SalesSquawk

Care and Feeding of a Sales Rep - Rules 8-10

8. Show some love

 Here's a secret.  Most sales people really need to be liked.  Part of why they are good sales people is for the moment when the customer says YES.  It means the customer finally likes them, really likes them.  But in the meantime, you don't want your sales people getting their need to be liked fulfilled by customers.  It would be mean the sales person was secretly happy when the customer liked them rather than when the customers bought.  You want your sales people really happy when customers buy.  You like them and your sales people will depend on customers less. 

Oh, and by the way, they will work longer hours for less money too but don't tell them I said that. 

9. Rebuke them in private

I know sales people often need a good talking too.  It’s ok, if you have set your expectations appropriately, they will be expecting the talk and even needing it.  But again, show some respect and discuss it privately will you?  Thanks.

10. Praise them publicly

Remember how sales people need to be liked?  Well, if you praise them, they will believe you like them.  If you praise them publicly they will believe everyone likes them. How cool would that be?  How happy would you be if you thought everyone liked you?  How much cooler would it be if everyone actually did like you?  Well, let’s not get carried away but imagine the competition you would set up for your attention by producing results from all those sales people who need you to like them.  I know huh, a great way to get more productivity out of those crazy sales people by setting up a competition for your affection. This would be another secret we should keep between us.

Ok. this is pretty much all you need to maintain a happy and healthy sales force.  And a happy and healthy sales force will provide you years of enjoyment and the capacity to buy your family a new car. 

Life is good, isn't it?

Care and Feeding of a Sales Rep - Rules 4-7

4. Train them.

If you are really paying your sales professionals, you pretty much have a right to ask for and expect results. You can expedite time-to-money with your sales professionals if you train them. There are four basic items of training that any proud, well-organized sales division should have available to reduce the time-to-money for its sales team. These are:

1. Industry Knowledge
2. Product Knowledge
3. Selling Skills
4. Emotional Strengths

You likely hired a sales professional with industry knowledge, didn't you? (If not, please call me; I would like to explain the facts of sales to you personally.) However, all industries change often. Remember that marketing person we alluded to you needing who is not a salesperson? That guy should be feeding your sales team regular updates on the industry, and if he is really good, how your product/service can best be sold in that changing environment.

 

Product knowledge is likely changing regularly too, but even if it is as staid as an IBM mainframe, you still want to ensure your sales team members are well versed in how those products offer value to your prospective customers. This is the kind of thing that changes daily too, so make sure your sales folks know the facts before you beat them for not closing more deals.

Selling skills are kind of similar. Of course, your salespeople know how to sell, don't they? (Again, if you’re scratching your head here, call me!) But if you are noble enough to hire less-than-skilled sales professionals who require additional training (not a bad strategy really; they are less expensive and more loyal), you will want to make sure they know how to have an effective and dignified conversation with your prospects to appropriately manage defenses and identify the value you provide. Because your products change regularly—and, more importantly, because your products really ARE different than your competitors’, even if they are a commodity—you will want your salespeople as skilled as possible at exploiting those differences to discover the best possible value you can provide to your prospects.

5. Tell them what you want, specifically.

Another apparent no brainer, right? I can only hope for the day this is true. A ton of people hire a sales team, point them at a phone and computer, and just say, "Do some of that sales stuff, Maverick." It is really the responsibility of the hiring company to know what kinds of activity will

generally bring about what kind of result in what approximate timeline. Most of you don't and cannot convey it to save your lives, but if you were operating at top-notch efficiency, you would be able to convey to your sales professional how you expected her to find new prospects, what has proven effective at converting those prospects into opportunities, and then how and with whom to speak, thereby maximizing the likelihood of closing that opportunity successfully.

6.  Give them the tools they need.

This is one of the places where we tend to do best, but it still bears saying. If a sales pro doesn't have a telephone, don't expect him to prospect on the phone. If she doesn't have a car, you really won’t need her to drive to appointments, will you? Okay, you don't necessarily have to buy her a car, but you will want to reimburse your sales professionals for mileage or otherwise accommodate their needs pertinent to legitimate selling activity.

7. Show some respect.

I know salespeople can be some of the most arrogant, self-serving buggers you ever came across after the age of four, but in many ways that is kind of what makes them good at their jobs. While I would never condone miscreant behavior, you really do want to respect the job they do.

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Ok, so what more do you want?

Yesterday I opened up my heart for a colleague in the world of sales and vented forth on the management of a company that I don't even know.  Really my intent was to speak a bit on the value of knowing what is important to you as a sales person.  (and aren't we all really in sales?)

Turns out another colleague and friend of mine, who also happens to be a blogger, was moved by the same question to comment and she wrote something a lot more beautiful than I.  Hers was more about the honesty and integrity of the individual.  Of course, I ride my steed in a suit of Armour to create meaningful change in the world of sales and her mission is simply to create change for people.  Its reflected here.

http://catalystforsuccess.blogspot.com/2007/01/hr-asks-3-5-years-from-now.html

Tale a look if you've a mind to.  Know that I appreciate the difference between us and am fascinated by how much we were both touched.

Thanks Lucinda for your support.  May YOU be blessed every day, clearly you are already inspired.

Michael Goodman

Whaddaya Want?

Solomon Says: "All of sales is a return on investment equation, the sale happens when the buyers perception of return exceeds the investment."

It was a simple question when asked really, though it resonated with the fear and uncertainty of a team member who had lost all sense of trust and credibility with her company.  I was saddened for her as a sales professional and even more, saddened that in one more place in the world, the mission and vision of sales professionals are taken off course not by our battles in the marketplace but more in our battles with our own companies.

The question itself merely asked whether or not she should give an honest answer to the question from her HR department about where she wanted to be in 3 years.  Their apparent hope was to provide her guidance and direction in building her career.  She posted the question to AzSalesPros and its 635 members for discussion and received the usual answers back.  Well thought out, honest and based on their perspective, accurate.

The problem was she didn't want to tell her company what her goals were because she didn't want them to know her intent is to open her own business and leave the company long before her 3 years are up.  She was concerned for her position if the company found out she was planning on leaving.  Normally a good sales manager will understand that intent and help the sales person achieve their goals.  The problem here is that the question came from HR and merely the fact she asked the question of the group suggested she did not trust the company altogether.

In my opinion a smart sales manager will recognize their sales people with  the same respect as their customers.  Because the goal of the sales manager is to help the sales person produce as much as possible in as short a time as is reasonable, treating them with the same respect as a customer forces two things. Done well, management understands and supports the needs of the sales person and also done well, management develops trust and credibility with the sales person.

Just as in selling to a customer, management can only do that by building a relationship with the sales person.  This company seems to think HR has that relationship with its sales people, either that or it has no clue what it is doing and HR asking about goals seems like a good idea to them.  Frankly, that the sales manager can not answer that question is to me a red flag of poor management already.  So I am saddened for this professional whom I have known for a number of years and mentored quietly when invited.

Sales managers, the reason to build the relationship and discover what is important to your sales team is simple. The sale happens when what is in it for them is greater than the cost of acquiring it.  When you know the goals of your people, when you nurture their achievement of those goals, than when the going gets tough, you not only have the trust and credibility to bring them through, you have the capacity to help them accomplish their goals.  Your bonds with them will strengthen and your capacity to aid them through tough times will increase.  It is really just that simple.

So if someone wants to go start their own business?  Yes even then support them.  Why?  Because you need their trust and you need to support them for them to be willing to support you.  Further, everyone else in the company needs to know if it is safe to trust you and they will learn by watching what you really do here.  And one last thing on this rant, the fact is the lifespan of an average sales person is somewhere between 2 and 4 years.  You will be replacing a big chunk of your team regularly.  It doesn't matter if one of them wants to leave, you have to be constantly planning for succession anyways.

Salespeople, you need to set goals.  Why? for the same reasons I have mentioned above.  When the tough times hit, clarity of knowing what and why you are doing what you do will pull you through.  One of these days I will write about that.  Meantime keep one question in mind at all times, "What do you want?"

Respectfully submitted,

Michael D. Goodman