Here is an interesting article from our friends to the north (Canada is the only thing north of us here in Minnesota) titled Six Business Trends Every Salesperson Must Know.

All 6 of the trends are interesting and worth the read, but this one caught my attention:

Trend #4:
We are shifting from the Information Age to the Communication Age. (Communicating is more valuable than informing.)
Many salespeople rely on such marketing tools as a company web site, flyers, and sales letters. But all these things are static, meaning they are merely informing people. You hope your sales messages will entice the prospect to call, but it’s still a one-way interface. A better way is to have your sales messages create action. One way to do that is to engage prospects with your sales and marketing efforts. For example, you could have a contest that encourages people to go to your site and enter. So instead of just saying that you want people to buy your snack product, for instance, you can tell customers that they can go online and create or vote for the next new flavor. Now you get them involved in your product. The key is to generate communication, engagement, and involvement through your sales and marketing efforts. If you call someone and just talk to them and aren’t creating dynamic dialog, then you’re really just giving information. You want to give people consultative advice. You want to listen and speak and create dialog. Only then do you truly capture your prospects’ interest and convert them into paying clients.

My advice – start a blog.  And read the entire article.

Comments(3)

I’ve read in many articles, blog posts and white papers that people take a job because of the company and quit because of a manager.  I have talked to many salespeople about why they are looking for a new opportunity and the vast majority do come down to their manager.  But there is an specific reason that we have been encountering of late when it comes to salespeople. 

Companies desire to seek out and hire strong salespeople and expect that these new salespeople will be strong for them without extensive direction or guidance from them.  This lack of involvement is a pet peeve of mine.  Do the salespeople want to be hand held?  No, but they do expect the needed level of training, direction and guidance. 

A recent study in ManageSmarter highlights this plight.  A telecommunications company used a survey to discover their sales team had poor morale.  The survey found that the salespeople felt their supervisors “cared about their success,” but felt they were not getting adequate coaching from their managers.  The company also found because of insufficient coaching the team was low in motivation, productivity, and ultimately paid the price through high turnover.

The VP of Sales recognized his managers had never been trained in the importance of—and how to create—a coaching culture.  In response, he brought in an outside consultant to help establish a training program for his sales managers.  Maybe you aren’t to the level of this company, but a question  to ask yourself is where are we in regards to coaching our salespeople?

This exact concern is why we have developed our On-Ramping program.  Too many times we see strong salespeople left to figure things out for themselves.  It doesn’t matter how strong these new salespeople are – you know your market, value and company far better than they do.  Share with them your expertise, direct them after the prospects you want them to pursue and make sure you help them to understand your unique value in the market place. 

Comments(0)

Personality assessments, or “communication style” as I prefer, are highly valuable in the hiring process for one important aspect – communication.  How many office conflicts have you seen where poor communication was adding oxygen to the fire?  We see it in almost every office conflict.

One way to diffuse these situations is to assess candidates before they join your team.  Doing so allows the manager to know the preferred communication style of the new employee.  This knowledge can also predict potential conflict areas between two employees before any conflict develops.

However, there are still companies out there who harbor concerns about assessments.  One common concern is mentioned in this BusinessWeek.com article – Personality and the Perfect Job:

Isn’t there a danger that employers who use personality tests as part of the employment process stereotype individuals?

Enlightened employers consider personality as only one facet of the selection process. Finding the right “fit” between the job and the person should be a win-win proposition and should be a matter of discussion for any professional interview process.

Some of the personality traits to consider: Do you prefer a structured environment, or is a variety of tasks more important? Do you thrive in crisis situations or value consistent processes? Would you rather work primarily by yourself, or as a member of a team? Are you a big-picture thinker, or do you excel in making sure all the details of a job are completed? Knowing both your own preferences and the requirements of a prospective job can help you (and the employer) make a choice that will give good prospects for ongoing success.

The key point in there is to know what the job requires.  My concern with personality assessments is not that they stereotype individuals but rather that hiring managers think there is only 1 personality that can succeed in the position.  This reason is why I prefer to use the term “style” instead.  Personality is really more about style and how someone will approach people, problems, data, etc.  It is not indicative of skills, aptitudes and motivations.

This distinction must be made when hiring.  In the end, assessing solely for style is still better than not assessing at all.

Comments(3)