Utilitarian<\/a>).\u00a0 They view prospects in terms of ROI \u2013 how much return ($) will I receive if I invest time to close them.\u00a0 This principle has changed in the present economy.<\/p>\nSalespeople know that spending is tight \u2013 deals are difficult to close.\u00a0 I am seeing a change in the salesperson\u2019s approach:\u00a0 they are measuring prospects based on Return On Effort (ROE).\u00a0 This approach is akin to taking the long road and it is a wise strategy in these recessionary times.<\/p>\n
Salespeople are realizing that extended sales cycles are the norm so they have to focus their effort in the most strategic prospects.\u00a0 Yes, you could argue the effort is their investment and that would be accurate.\u00a0 However, I talk to more salespeople who speak in specific terms of their effort to close the prospect.\u00a0 Is it the deal worth it?<\/p>\n
I think this approach is born out of the lack of deals closing.\u00a0 What I mean is this \u2013 salespeople are working on qualifying and closing deals, but deals are closing slowly (if at all).\u00a0 So now the salesperson is stuck with fewer closes.\u00a0 Instead, they have to keep their effort level elevated even though they are not receiving the return\/reward they are accustomed to receiving (a sale).\u00a0 The salesperson must change the metric and focus on their effort and what they will receive for it.<\/p>\n
As a sales manager, it is important to keep the salesperson focused on keeping their effort level elevated.\u00a0 A bad economy has a way of derailing salespeople, even good ones.\u00a0 There will be a payoff in the long term for their effort.\u00a0 Do not let the discouragement of extended sales cycles affect their Utilitarian motivation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here is a somewhat ethereal concept I have been encountering in this present economy.\u00a0 It starts with this \u2013 return on investment (ROI).\u00a0 ROI has been the backbone of sales since time immortal.\u00a0 This is the basis of sales in that customers pay the money to receive the solution.\u00a0 As long as the customer views the return on their investment as greater than the investment, they will make the purchase (generally speaking). The top-performing salespeople possess this motivation pattern (called Utilitarian).\u00a0 They view prospects in terms of ROI \u2013 how much return ($) will I receive if I invest time to close them.\u00a0 This principle has changed in the present… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[49,4,9],"tags":[1229,152,1655,267,1750,153,211,43],"class_list":["post-2447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-sales-management","category-sales-techniques","tag-managing-in-a-recession","tag-motivation","tag-roi","tag-sales-approach","tag-sales-management","tag-sales-motivation","tag-sales-skill","tag-utilitarian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-Dt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":160,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/07\/right-rewards-for-a-money-motivation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2447,"position":0},"title":"Right Rewards for a Money Motivation","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Money motivation amongst salespeople is one of the most misconstrued points in successful sales management and hiring. At the risk of splitting hairs, motivation needs to be separated from reward. This distinction is the key to differentiating between what motivates strong salespeople - money - and what rewards them. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring Salespeople"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1928,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/03\/down-25\/","url_meta":{"origin":2447,"position":1},"title":"Down 25%","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"That is the number I continue to hear from salespeople in a variety of markets when I ask them how are sales?\u00a0 That is a staggering number when you think about it.\u00a0 Unfortunately, those are the times we live in for now. I continue to believe that the best method\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2226,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/01\/retention-horizon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2447,"position":2},"title":"Retention Horizon","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Employment in this economy is a wonderful asset, to say the least.\u00a0 However, this abcnews.com story points to an impending problem \u2013 retention. Even Americans who are lucky enough to have work in this economy are becoming more unhappy with their jobs, according to a new survey that found only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Retention"","block_context":{"text":"Retention","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/retention\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2265,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/02\/the-social-motivation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2447,"position":3},"title":"The Social Motivation","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I have recently come across the Social motivation when assessing some sales candidates for a couple different customers and now I just heard a sales rep on the radio revealing his motivation.\u00a0 Here is what the salesperson said on the radio: I just met with a company yesterday who was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Assessing"","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1419,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/02\/the-social-salesforce\/","url_meta":{"origin":2447,"position":4},"title":"The Social Salesforce","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Salespeople are motivated by many factors, but the primary, most common motivation is Utilitarianism.\u00a0 The drive is for a return on investment.\u00a0 Most people first think of money which is a good example, but it is bigger than that.\u00a0 It involves a return on time, effort, energy, resources, etc.\u00a0 72%\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Compensation"","block_context":{"text":"Compensation","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/compensation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":469,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/11\/talent-talent-talent\/","url_meta":{"origin":2447,"position":5},"title":"Talent, Talent, Talent","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Another marketing article with overall hiring implications - Marketing Challenge: Hire Experience or Potential? The article is from the MarketingProfs.com website and is basically an open question to their readers looking for their input. A manager interviews employees and narrows down the candidates to two: one with experience and one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions\/2448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}