It may surprise you to discover that many Sales Managers learn how to be a Manager on their own.

According to the latest international study on Sales Training and Sales Force Effectiveness,  many Sales Managers are given very little or no support when it comes to being a competent, effective Sales Manager.  In fact, many Sales Managers reported that they were given no formal training in Sales Management practices, either before or during their tenure as a Sales Manager.

The study reported that Sales Management training is the category of sales training that is addressed with the least frequency, in fact it is less than annually or not at all.

The study also reported that if Sales Managers were more frequently and better trained and coached then their sales teams achieved higher performance and results.  In no other type of sales training was a more positive correlation found between frequency of training and sales performance.  Interestingly, it also revealed that sales training doesn’t need to be delivered in formal classroom settings.

As with many sales people who follow no logical process when selling, so it is true for many Sales Managers who fly by the seat of their pants.  When it comes to Sales Managers many are left to their own devices.  These international findings further support our 15 years of observations in the Australian market place that Sales Management development and performance is not taken as seriously as it should be.

Would we let a football coach without any experience or formal training in coaching become the head coach an elite football team?  Not likely!  At the very least, we would expect them to do a coaching apprenticeship.  In addition, many of the current crop of elite sporting coaches have also undertaken formal education and training to earn the right to apply for senior coaching roles.

Sales Managers need support if they are to be of best value to your business, your team, and to themselves.

Where do we start?  Let’s look at some of the broad core capabilities they need to be competent Sales Managers in the 21st century sales environment:

• Strategic Action – Understanding industry and organisation; taking strategic actions
• Coaching – role modeling, feedback, trust building
• Team Building – designing and managing teams, creating a supportive environment
• Self-management – fostering integrity and ethical conduct, managing personal drive, developing self-awareness, decision making and management skills
• Global perspective – cultural knowledge and sensitivity, global selling program
• Technology – understanding new technology, sales force automation, customer relationship management

As you can see there is a lot to know and apply in the role of Sales Manager. So, how do we support Sales Managers in their development?  Formal classroom training on key topics is a great start, however it is important that these are spaced at regular intervals – for example, run over a few months with 1 or 2 sessions and follow-ups rather than squashed into a week with no follow-ups.  The formal classroom sessions should also be supported by much more frequent activities which can include local or distance coaching (group and one-on-one), combined with regular access to advice and topics of interest such as talent management, time management, and business trends. This type of support needs to become part of a development regimen for those who are in Sales Management or those that aspire to be Sales Managers.

When formal and informal development is consciously applied and supported in the workplace it can have amazing effects for the Sales Managers themselves and their teams.

For instance, as part of our development work at BARRETT, in addition to classroom sessions, we run regular tele-coaching sessions (monthly 1-hour group sessions with up to 4 Sales Managers) for several companies. In these sessions Sales Managers share and discuss their needs, challenges, ideas, and strategies for effective sales performance in their teams, as well as their own needs and development as leaders. The feedback has been very encouraging.  Some feedback we have received from Sales Managers so far includes:

• it is a collaborative learning environment
• great ideas exchange, learn a lot from each other
• peer support – only time we get to really work with each other and share ideas without another agenda crowding the discussions
• no hidden agenda – feels safe, supportive, useful
• independent view from BARRETT coach keeps ideas fresh and focused on the sales agenda piece while finding ways to integrate with ‘well managed’ piece and other priorities
• keeps the concepts and program we are running top of mind and makes sure we do it and don’t lose it
• makes sure we are really implementing the tools and content properly

One Sales Manager stated: “BARRETT has supported me by providing a consistent frame of reference for all of us to work around. This has been a program that all the staff has been involved with rather than ‘another message from above’…  ‘The best part has been the follow-ups on the phone with the other Sales Managers.  Hearing their experiences and applying some of their takes on the principles has been very beneficial, and the re-enforcing of the principles and the increased familiarity and use of them has added measurably to it being embedded in my dialogue with my team.”

These conversations are not just ‘chats’ they are based on substance and the critical things that Sales Managers need to know and apply.  So, if you think you can solve the problem with a simple, unstructured monthly ‘chat’ think again.

Now that we have discussed the importance of developing Sales Managers, let’s also remember to consider the Sales and Sales Management experience and expertise of the people you choose to support your Sales Managers through training, coaching, and mentoring. A deep subject matter expert will be able to provide both the practical and theoretical support Sales Managers need for them and their teams to succeed.

While a monthly coaching or training session may not seem like much, many Sales Managers are in need of support and help, especially now in these tough markets.  You can make a big difference to your sales results if you take a little time out to develop your Sales Managers.

Happy selling.

Author: Sue Barrett is Managing Director of BARRETT.

Many sales people, for the first time, are experiencing tough times when it comes to selling and many are not sure how to handle themselves in these difficult situations.

The current climate is, indeed, a test of character.

Many sales people, especially those in their 20’s and 30’s have not likely experienced selling in tough markets before.  For the past 12 years prior to 2008, at least, the business climate in our market place has been, for the most part, buoyant.  As we all know it’s very easy to sell when times are good.

It now begs the question: How well have we prepared ourselves practically, emotionally, and physically to manage our way through these tough times?

In recent weeks and months at Barrett, we have seen an increase in the number of conversations we are having with clients about how to help their salespeople to deal with distressful situations. They are seeking support, coaching and training in how to help sales people and sales managers handle the emotional fallout from the GFC.  The requests for  support and training range from wellbeing, emotional resilience, optimism, stress management, how to re-engage with the team or clients, and how to lead a healthy life.

Not surprisingly, many of these requests have come from the finance and advertising sectors reporting that the current landscape has been one of turmoil and distress. While other sectors have also sort support it is not at the level suggested above.  These business leaders have indicated that many of their clients have been severely affected by the GFC and this has created a significant amount of depression in the market place, also affecting their sales teams.

For instance at a recent management meeting, the sales leaders raised their concerns about how the sales team was handling the distress arising from severely reduced incomes for themselves and their clients and loss of a number of clients from their industry.  They wanted to know what they could do about it because what they were doing by way of standard management practice wasn’t working.  For the first time they are seeking help around emotional resilience, and optimism.

Another business, in the advertising space, reported that their sales team had been hit hard too with lower than expected advertising spend. Management was observing very low motivation levels and rising levels of distress in the team.  They realised that their people didn’t have strategies to cope with this crisis.  They were worried their people were feeling useless and dejected.

The one thing these two sales teams have in common is that their sales people earn significant commission from their sales results.  With their clients in freefall and sales down, these sales people’s earnings were being affected which meant that some are having trouble paying their mortgages, maintaining their life styles, etc.  Certainly reasons for concern, however doing nothing and getting ‘depressed’ isn’t going to help solve their problems.

But it isn’t just the income drop that’s causing concern, another sales team whose incomes are not linked to commissions, also found it hard to remain positive and keep going in the face of adversity.  With clients feeling the pain, these sales people didn’t want to be around the negativity or distress.  It’s almost as if they have chosen to put their fingers in their ears and saying ‘la la la la la’ to block out the stress hoping it all goes away.  Not very useful either.

The sales teams mentioned above are all highly trained and skillful sales people.  They have been trained in appropriate sales skills and processes but many do not have the tools or know-how when it comes to managing their own wellbeing, stress, emotions, and the emotions of others.

If, as is being highlighted, these and other sales people like them are not used to dealing with sets backs, overcoming obstacles or they let the negative sentiments of  others overtake them then their work will suffer.  It will be much harder to achieve results.  This negativity can cloud their thinking and potentially keep them from seeing and realising those ideas and strategies that will get them back on track and producing again.

So what do you rely upon to get you through the tough times?

Besides the obvious sales skills, processes and tools, we need to learn (if we haven’t already) and apply the skills that go to developing strategies for healthy thinking, emotional resilience, optimism, healthy lifestyle practices, etc.

My concern is that many people, especially younger people may not have been in a position to really build up their resilience and toughen up, especially in sales and tough markets like this.  It appears that many don’t seem know how to navigate and manage their thinking and emotions through these times.

Developing emotional resilience and awareness in a variety of situations is vital for your ongoing survival and ability to thrive despite the markets or life’s other circumstance.  Developing emotional resilience supports individuals to better achieve their goals, communicate with and manage other people, and spring back emotionally after suffering through a difficult and stressful time in one’s life.

Some of us might be born with the potential to be more resilient than others but you do not know how resilient you are until you put yourself to the test or life does it for you.  The saying ‘if it doesn’t kill it will make you grow stronger’ is quite apt here.

We can all learn how to be resilient and we can learn from a very early age.

Whether we learn to develop and cultivate our resilience in relatively safe environments like playing both team and individual sports, or learning music and performing at recitals, or we develop resilience via our personal experiences such as developing and losing friendships, or other trials of childhood like playing favourites, not fitting in, learning difficulties, etc., or more extreme difficulties such as  losing a parent to cancer, chronic illness, and other life changing events, all these have an effect on each of us.  How we are taught to deal with and overcome these challenges and learn from them the best way we can is what helps us develop resilience.  If someone else tries to assume responsibility for your journey, even if it is with the best intentions, they are really taking away your ability to learn and grow.

As a parent I know I want my children to be safe and free from harm, however if I cotton wool them from life’s tough experiences then they will not develop their resilience and learn the lessons of life. None of us need ever be a victim when we know we have choices in every moment and we take responsibility for them.

No one can ever be guaranteed of winning. We know we have to work for our successes. We usually  fail more than we succeed but that is par for the course in life.  We need to encourage each other  to pick ourselves up and keep going, learning from our mistakes, stretching ourselves to do better.  It’s about doing our best at whatever we do.  Winning isn’t everything, but doing our best, developing self mastery, taking calculated risks and learning from everything we do is what life was all about.

It is possible to teach people how to develop the skills to enhance their emotional resilience, optimism and ways of thinking and dealing with the world. This information is not new either, it has been around for thousands of years.   We can all encourage a resilient attitude at work and at home.

Here are some tips.

Developing a Resilient Attitude
The first step to becoming more emotionally resilient is the acknowledgment that there is room for improvement and taking the time to learn more about yourself.  The following behaviours and attitudes are some ways in which emotional resilience can be demonstrated and measured:

•    Have realistic and attainable expectations and goals.
•    Show good judgment and problem solving skills.
•    Be persistent and determined.
•    Be responsible and thoughtful rather than impulsive.
•    Be effective communicators with good people skills.
•    Learn from past experience so as to not repeat mistakes.
•    Be empathetic toward other people (caring how others around them are feeling).
•    Have a social conscience, (caring about the welfare of others).
•    Feel good about themselves as a person.
•    Feel like they are in control of their lives.
•    Be optimistic rather than pessimistic.

Selling, as a career, is not for the faint hearted as I have often stated.  Besides good selling skills, quality thinking and solid process it takes courage, self discipline, determination, persistence, the ability to learn from your mistakes, a sense of humour, and a healthy approach to life to lead a healthy sales career.

How do we do this?  Among other things this requires people to have access to insight and self awareness.

In my opinion, we need to help people become more emotionally aware, and resilient in a number of ways.  We need to give people access to tools, processes and assessments that can help them develop insight and strategies to enhance their emotional resilience and allow people to make the most of their capabilities and the situations they find themselves in on a daily basis. Particularly if they have not had the chances to really test themselves in previous roles or earlier in their lives.

Not only do we need to be skilful in selling we need to be skilful in how we manage our wellbeing, our emotions and the emotions of others.

So as I reflect on my life so far and all the challenges and joys that come with it, I am indeed grateful for the gift of resilience, it keeps me growing.

Author: Sue Barrett is Founder & Managing Director of BARRETT

For further information on emotional resilience and other strategies please contact us on (+61) 03 9532 7677 or use this form.

To ensure our strategy is right for you, Barrett can incorporate a range of methods into our work including Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory, Positive Psychology, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness and Meditation.   Mind Your Emotions® encompasses a series of programs and facilities Barrett has developed to give people access to tools, processes and assessments that can help them develop strategies to enhance their emotional resilience and allow people to make the most of their capabilities and the situations they find themselves in on a daily basis.

Talk to us about how you can Mind Your Emotions® and develop and enhance emotional resilience.

Sound familiar? A ‘good’, maybe even ‘great’, salesperson is recruited and hits the ground running, kicking sales goals in the new role, however within a short space of time they have alienated their team, decided that the role is not for them, and left the organisation. As we know the cost of this selection is huge and begs the question, why did this ‘great’ salesperson not work out?
While there are many possible scenarios and reasons, we often find that a major contributor is the cultural ‘fit’ between the individual and the organisation. In recent times there has been a great deal written about organisational culture and while there is no one definition, many share in common themes such as collective experience, beliefs, goals, norms, values, traditions, systems and routines. It is commonly agreed that organisational culture is deeply rooted and often difficult for those inside to articulate and see with clarity. Cultural ‘fit’ is the compatibility between an individuals and organisations values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. It is often over looked when making recruitment decisions because organisations either do not know how to include it or do not see the importance of it.

Why cultural ‘fit’ is important?

Culture is everywhere in an organisation and is behind what happens… and what doesn’t happen in your organisation. Culture is strongly related to group values, and in turn group values are heavily influenced by what organisations and leaders prefer and encourage. As such, cultures have the power to attract people or expel them, and assessing values affords powerful insights.
Values are beliefs about what is important or desirable. Extensive research has shown compelling reasons for matching people with organisational culture and how it adds bottom-line value:

• Firstly, it is important that employees’ values match those of the organisation in order to create a cohesive and supportive environment.
• Secondly, a close value match between individuals and the organisation means the individual experiences significantly greater job satisfaction.
• Thirdly, where the organisation’s values and those of the individual align, employees stay longer and are more likely to adjust to the environment.
• Finally, the most productive organisations are those where employees stay and enjoy the job.

So, how do you measure cultural ‘fit’?

While there many methods to gain insight into cultural ‘fit’, an effective way is through Psychometric Assessments and consulting. There are Psychometric Assessments that specifically provide insight into motives and values and identify the following key areas:

• Determine the existing culture and values system
• Strengths and weaknesses within the organisation, including areas to leverage and ‘gaps’ the may hinder future success
• Information about specific areas such as current potential for innovation and creativity- identifying individuals who naturally ‘have it’ and how to leverage this, as well as how to encourage those who do not
• Information about the existing team to assist in recruiting new people into the business to ensure they ‘fit’

Think about your organisational culture and what is promoted, encouraged and rewarded out of the following areas:

• Aesthetics – attention to style, appearance, quality, work surroundings, and ‘good taste’.
• Affiliation – collaboration and social interaction.
• Altruistic – concern for the welfare and well-being of others and their environment.
• Commerce - business, money, and bottom-line focus.
• Hedonism – fun, entertaining, and enjoyable workplace.
• Power – success, accomplishment, status, competition, and control.
• Recognition – public recognition, approval, and praise.
• Scientific – data, knowledge, new and advanced technologies, and curiosity about how things work.
• Security – certainty, predictability, order, and stability.
• Tradition- dedication to the status quo and old-fashioned virtues.

Now let’s use these frameworks to reconsider the ‘great’ salesperson and imagine that we had Psychometrically Assessed the salesperson and the organisational culture prior to them starting. The Assessment revealed that the organisational culture promotes high levels of interaction and working closely with team members (affiliation), encourages concern for well-being (altruism) and rewards appearance and quality rather than substance (aesthetics).
The Assessment also revealed that our ‘great’ salesperson prefers a workplace that promotes a money driven, bottom-line approach (commerce), encourages competition between team members and status (power) and rewards factual, data driven performance (science).

Can you see any potential areas of conflict or mis-’fit’ between the individual and the organisation?

We hope that has given you a new way to articulate what it is promoted, encouraged and rewarded in your organisation, remembering that it will sometimes be intentional and other times intrinsically. While there are numerous methods, from our experience these Psychometric Assessments are the most efficient, effective and accurate method to gain a true understanding of the motives and values of the individual and the organisation. However, it is also important to remember that Psychometric Assessments are only one piece of the recruitment process and best results are achieved from a multi-pronged approach.
We hope that this will help avoid the common mistake many of us have made of hiring sales people on ’skill’ and then firing them on ‘fit’.

Sue Barrett is Managing Director of BARRETT Pty Ltd. For more information please go to www.barrett.com.au.

When I consider how I spend my time professionally, I find it is often devoted to demystifying two things:

1. What is ‘good’ selling?
2. The proper use of psychometric assessments, especially in sales recruitment

Having written on the former on many occasions, I would like to dedicate this space to the latter – the proper use of psychometric assessments in sales recruitment.

To put this into perspective, my business has psychometrically assessed 40,000+ people in sales, business development and leadership roles using a variety of purpose built assessments.  This has provided us with valuable insight into what assessments work best in sales recruitment.  Over the years we have been exposed to many test publishers promoting their various assessments, claiming this and claiming that. We are constantly scanning for new tools.

We have discovered that there is no one single assessment that can measure everything you want to know about a sales person. Some test publishers have made this claim, however upon investigation we have found that they have often compiled several different assessments (measuring different things) into one offering. In doing so, they reduce the number of items measuring each area; therefore limiting the laser effect you need in sales recruitment.

This brings me to the major issue at hand: sales recruitment is one of the most challenging jobs around.  It is fraught with ambiguities because of the very nature of trying to assess ‘soft skills’ such as attitudes and actual versus perceived capability. Given this complexity, as a sales recruiter it may be beneficial to partner with a qualified and experienced organisation to support you when using assessments.

There is not one-quick-fix to getting this right. To assist you in your sales recruitment, let’s look at three important questions when it comes to using psychometric assessments:

1. Why use assessments?
2. What assessments should you use?
3. When should you use assessments?

Why use assessments?

While you don’t have to use assessments when recruiting, when used in conjunction with a robust sales recruitment process they can add real value to your decision making. The problem arises when assessments are used in place of a multi-pronged recruitment approach.

Recruitment, especially sales recruitment, can be very time consuming, therefore there is a tendency for people to take short cuts and replace the other steps in the recruitment process with a ‘quick’ psychometric assessment to base their hiring decision on.

This ‘assessment only’ approach is not how psychometric assessments are designed to be applied (reputable test publishers will always tell you this). This approach is not best practice; it does not give you all the answers and could get you into trouble with recruitment and anti- discriminatory laws. In fact, best practice states that assessments should account for no more than 20% of your decision making process in recruitment, especially sales.

The other main issue that arises out of this ‘assessment only’ approach is that the ‘assessment’ can get blamed if the sales person doesn’t work out.  Assessing in isolation is the issue here, not the assessment itself.

Psychometric assessments are best used to back up and cross reference the current data you have gathered via other means.   Depending upon which assessments you use, they can corroborate what you have already gathered and give you additional information to further investigate areas of concerns.

Tip: Psychometric assessments should compliment a multi-pronged sales recruitment process rather than be the recruitment process in entirety.

What assessments should you use?

I have seen anything from the CLEO quiz, numerology, star signs, and simplistic 4 quadrant models through to purpose built psychometric assessments used in sales recruitment.

Essentially there are thousands of so called ‘psychometric assessments’ out there, many claiming to test for sales effectiveness and predict sales performance.

So what to use?

First of all, it depends on what you want to measure.  There are a variety of purpose built assessments which are designed to address the following important questions about a candidate:

•  Will they sell?
•  Why will they sell?
•  How do they sell?
•  How well can they sell?

In our work we use a range assessments which have been purpose built to measure different areas including:

•  Personality
•  Motives and Values
•  Prospecting fitness- sales hesitation and call reluctance
•  Leadership potential
•  Cognitive Abilities – i.e. abstract, numeracy, and verbal reasoning, etc.
•  Coping strategies under pressure
•  Emotional Resilience and Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Tip: Depending on the level and complexity of the sales roles you should match the psychometric assessments to the required competencies and areas of capability.

When should you use assessments?

As assessments should not be used as the sole determinant, it is often advised to use them after the first interview but prior to the second interview and reference checking. This is recommended so that the assessment results can be used to verify and check gathered candidate information and then incorporating the results into interview questions and reference checks.

While there are some assessments you can use prior to the first interview or even at the resume submission point, the decision to assess earlier is often based on costs to the business. Obviously, it would be great to test everyone who applies, however this would not be economically viable or recommended in most recruitment situations.

Tip: Use the insight gained through assessments for the second interview questions and reference checks.

Conclusion

Whether you currently use assessments or are considering (recommended) incorporating them, the important point is:

Providing structure and using a multi- pronged approach are the two techniques most likely to help improve the reliability of your sales recruitment process and placements.

Remembering that sales recruitment is one of the most challenging jobs around; the average increase in output resulting from improved selection is approximately 2.5 times greater in sales jobs than in low-complexity, non-sales jobs. This is why is can also be important to partner with an organisation who has a sound understanding and working knowledge of recruitment and assessments.

I wish you happy and successful selling and sales recruitment.

Sue Barrett is Managing Director of BARRETT Pty Ltd. For more information please go to www.barrett.com.au.

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