Some companies believe selling systems are restrictive. Other companies view them as methodical and clumsy. I, for one, am not a fan of the sequential step approaches that require this question be asked first, followed by this question and so on. Those approaches drip with insincerity. But a selling system is important. From ManageSmarter.com’s What’s Your Plan? The survey of over 500 sales professionals proves what most executives should already know: Their reps need a plan of action. TAS found that companies that give their sales staff a concrete plan to close deals experience 39 percent less turnover. Their salespeople are also more than 50 percent more likely to meet… Read More
Continue ReadingWrong Way Purchasing
Hammer’s recent post brought back the memory of a experience I had about 18 months ago. I was with a sales rep at a meeting hastily put together because a vendor’s VP of Sales was coming to town. Although we had several very good, qualified meetings on the schedule, our local rep wanted to make sure the VP was kept quite busy with appointments. So we walked into this last minute meeting not really knowing much about why we were there (man, do I hate that!!!). I asked the attendees to tell us what their role was within the organization, why they were attending the meeting and what they hoped… Read More
Continue ReadingQualify or Just Bring Cookies
Through our recent assessment work, we have noticed a number of candidates with traits that are not considered desirable in a sales role. In particular, those who have high Social and low Utilitarian motivations. Often, these people have a need to be liked, accepted and helpful even to their own detriment. Those traits are desirable in many positions, but not sales. The main reason is this type of salesperson’s inability to qualify prospects by asking strong questions. A sales person that doesn’t qualify opportunities wastes valuable time, energy and company resources. They typically will take any meeting they can get, return with no particular purpose in mind and spend way… Read More
Continue ReadingReally Old-School Motivation
Ok, this may be a bit ethereal, but it is Friday afternoon. From ManageSmarter.com’s Burn Your Boat! The ancient Greek warriors were both feared and respected by their enemies. In battle, the Greeks established a well-deserved reputation for their unsurpassed bravery and unshakable commitment to victory. The key to their overwhelming success on the battlefield had far more to do with how the Greek commanders motivated the warriors than it did with issues of tactics or training. The Greeks were master motivators who understood how to use a “dramatic demonstration” to infuse a spirit of commitment into the heart of every warrior. Once the warriors had been offloaded from their boats… Read More
Continue ReadingRetention – Bad Moves And A Good Move
If you have noticed in our posts, we are paying more and more attention to retention. (say that 10 times fast!) The employment market clearly indicates that it’s a hot topic. Over the years, two compensation moves really set off the negative alarms in my mind. They also made me, as a sales manager, more aware of how compensation impacts salesperson performance. Increased quotas. When quotas are increased (which isn’t necessarily “bad”), the first thing I always looked for was the corresponding compensation. If the message was “We need you to sell more,”that’s fine as long as everybody in the organization wins. However, trouble developed when the message came through… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Need To Cross-Sell Accounts
Team-based selling has become a dominant trend in the sales world due in large part to the information flowing through the Internet. Prospects expect knowledgeable salespeople to call upon them – the basic information they can (and probably have) learn from your website. ManageSmarter.com offers this article – Cross-Selling Takes Teamwork – which discusses team-based cross-selling to your customer base. Some might suggest that customers are irritated by cross-selling and perceive it as an aggressive sales approach. Interestingly enough, consumer research indicates that the reverse is actually true. Most customers prefer a full spectrum of products and services and appreciate the convenience that is provided through a comprehensive cross-selling approach.… Read More
Continue ReadingSmoke Screen Objections
Smoke screens are moves prospects use on salespeople that appear to be reasons for not moving forward with a deal. Many times these smoke screens sound something like this: We’re going to take a look at all options. We need 3 quotes before deciding. We need to think it over. Smoke, nothing more. If you have salespeople believing these statements are a precursor to a close, take them out to the wood shed on their qualifying. These “prospects” are not qualified and should not be on any forecast. Justsell.com offers up a simple, yet powerful web page that addresses the real objection from the prospect. Their objection falls into 1… Read More
Continue ReadingSales On-Ramping
Has your sales department stalled? Is your team awash in mediocrity? If so, you are not alone. According to ManageSmarter.com’s Different Year, Same Objectives for Sales Teams: 57 percent of reps are making quota, but 43 percent are still under quota. Not good. Obviously it is next to impossible to ascertain why 43% are not selling at their quota. My first guess is misaligned hiring for the position, but that’s only a guess. Here is a stat we are attempting to influence greatly: 27.8 percent of companies say it takes more than a year to get new sales reps ramped up. Sounds about right…and that’s not good. That extended ramp… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Manager Compensation for Retention?
A recent conversation brought to mind the responsibility of sales management for the development of both existing and new sales people. Why? Retention. As the employment market has shifted to an “employee market” – at least for talented sales professionals – sales management needs to make plans to retain sales people. After all, the talented sales person chose you and your organization, just as you chose them. Don’t kid yourself…this isn’t a one way street. Far from it my friends! Those tasked with the responsibilities associated with sales management (regardless of the title given them) have a wide variety of tasks that need their attention everyday. The investment in sales… Read More
Continue ReadingFixing A Dis-incentive Plan
OK, the Rock Star really hit a nerve with his recent post – A Commission Plan Gone Bad. I’m having flashbacks to a comp plan that still makes the hair on the back of my neck bristle. When a comp plan becomes counter-productive -and the sales team is talking – you’ve created a monster. I can only think of one thing worse – have the paychecks bounce! The profile for the most productive sales people tells us that messing with compensation and the perception of deception is the beginning of the end for retention. Sales people want and need to believe that they are being treated honestly, fairly and with… Read More
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