This has been a topic of discussion here at Select Metrix several times. So how do you refer to the companies with whom you do business? Kendra Lee, guest author for Jonathan Farrington has this to say. From my perspective a client is a person whose business you have a vested interest in, and for whom you perform as a partner within their business. Not everything you provide is billable. And not every opportunity you are awarded was shopped with the competition for the best price. In contrast, customers are people who you help meet a need. They have a problem. You address the problem. You may invest long hours… Read More
Continue ReadingTurnover Reflects Your Onramping Program
When you look at your employee turnover are you content or confounded? If confounded, what have you done to improve it? You may want to start by reviewing your onramping program. Managesmarter.com had an interesting article on this subject and provided the following findings: 22 percent of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment. (The Wynhurst Group) 46 percent of rookies wash out in their first 18 months. (Leadership IQ) Companies that leave onboarding (ed. what we call onramping) to chance experience failure rates in excess of 50 percent when it comes to retaining new talent. (Egon Zehnder International, 2007) More than a 50% failure rate? Ouch! I have seen… Read More
Continue Reading7 Sales De-Motivators
This list comes from Brian Tracy via the SellingPower.com Incentives newsletter. If you have ever managed salespeople, you know how important proper motivation is. Some days salespeople just don’t have it so you have to step in as their manager and give them that push they need. The problems start when you find yourself stepping in daily. At this point, you clearly have a de-motivated salesperson. If you are at this point, here are some topics to consider: 1. Where am I going? Salespeople lose their sense of direction when they are unclear on precisely what is expected of them on a daily basis, what their goals and quotas are,… Read More
Continue ReadingDrucker On Mistakes
Peter Drucker is always an interesting read and clearly was way before his time. BusinessWeek.com provides an article titled Drucker’s Take on Making Mistakes. The article is filled with many great points so it is difficult to highlight just a handful. Here is the gist of the article (emphasis mine): A batting-average mentality, he added, allows for companies to accommodate different kinds of talent. “One man will consistently do well, rarely falling far below a respectable standard, but also rarely excel through brilliance or virtuosity,” Drucker wrote. “Another man will perform only adequately under normal circumstances but will rise to the demands of a crisis or a major challenge and… Read More
Continue ReadingAccountability Is The Key
In recent weeks we have been dealing with a handful of sales managers who all have a different approach to the position. They are all in different industries, but their sales all have many similarities. One of the sales managers has progressed the best so far with his new salesperson during the onramping time. One sales manager has had to fire his salesperson (yes, one we placed) due to many reasons – many of which were the salesperson’s fault. The third sales manager has been tentative with his salesperson, but she is progressing well. The one variable that has had the biggest impact on success has been accountability. The sales… Read More
Continue ReadingSubtle Hiring Tells
I’m thinking of the poker colloquialism “tell.” From Wikipedia: A tell in poker is a detectable change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player’s assessment of his hand. A player gains an advantage if he observes and understands the meaning of another player’s tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Our experiences have provided us with the ability to read certain sales manager behaviors during the hiring process. Typically, we notice the red flags first since they are most dangerous. Here is a sample: Tell: Hiring For Experience Sales managers who pass on strongly-skilled salespeople in favor of salespeople with industry experience. This… Read More
Continue ReadingFatal Assumptions Of Sales Managers
Good article here from ManageSmarter.com titled Can Training Fix Manager Transition Troubles? The primary topic is transitioning sales managers from sales rep roles. This is now small task and we have seen many crash and burn. The author provides some insightful commentary into this common problem. This section truly stands out. The topic is that there are some fatal assumptions new sales managers often make that derail their success. The “fatal assumptions” identified were: 1. My individual contributor success will translate into management success; 2. It’s out of my control—someone else can and should fix this; 3. Being the expert is the most important factor for my credibility; 4. It’s… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Absence Of Value
We’ve been working on this value topic because it is the single, most important aspect of any sales position. A company that lacks a value proposition is destined to stumble through the market while being commoditized on price. I saw this effect 6 years ago when doing sales calls in the field with a company’s reps. After spending a couple days in a couple different cities, it became clear that they had to value proposition to offer the market. This absence of value led to one consistent outcome – they had to compete on price. Granted, some companies are positioned to compete in this format. The company I was working… Read More
Continue ReadingGarden-Leave Clauses
Proprietary information is a nuclear topic when dealing with salespeople who are leaving a company. Product info, service plans, actual costs vs. pricing are all hot topics. But for sales, the one thing that keeps managers up at night is the security of the customer list. We see many companies who desire to hire a salesperson from the competition with the expressed hope that the salesperson will bring customers with them. Quick note-it rarely happens, but that doesn’t stop companies from focusing their hiring strategy. CNNMoney.com provides an article that discusses the legalities of this approach. In the article is a phrase that I have not encountered before – garden-leave… Read More
Continue ReadingDon’t Fight Emotions With Logical Facts
In sales we know that prospects and customers make decisions emotionally and then justify them afterwards intellectually. This is why strong salespeople have the ability to build rapport and then engage the prospect’s emotions during the qualifying stage. This truth appears to have been validated in a new book titled Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior as noted in this Inc.com blog. The pull quote: Newsflash: People, even when given a choice of thinking logically and getting beneficial results, will often act emotionally despite the consequences. The effects of this irrational behavior on businesses can be far reaching. There is an intriguing case study referenced in the post that… Read More
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