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Why we should put the Trainer back into Sales Management

September 8, 2010 in Coaching, Performance Management, Sales Management, Sales Training

Up until 20 years ago, a key function of a sales manager’s role was the regular training of their sales people.  What did this look like?  Well, something like this: weekly 1 hour power training sessions for the sales team focusing on honing key skills, bi-monthly half day or 1 day sessions drilling down on account planning, strategy, market and product knowledge, and formal class room training usually employing external, expert training providers on a once or twice yearly basis to boost their teams to the next level.  This was all supplemented by sales meetings and one-on-one coaching.

Many sales managers of yesteryear were good trainers.  However, through my observations across many businesses, the training component has been replaced by compliance.  Caught in a bind of having to meet their reporting and meeting obligations, sales managers lose valuable time that should be invested in the continuous development of their sales people.

I am seeing that many sales managers are now relegated to being ‘CRM compliance police’, caught up in reporting on numbers of leads, meetings, conversions, etc., usually at the behest of senior management to justify their investment in a CRM.  This means that sales people are often left to fend for themselves with no sales management support at all and often feel under constant scrutiny to meet their numbers quotas.

I get constant complaints from sales managers about this ‘numbers’ obsession and they not being able to support and develop their people to be their best.  They know numbers are important but numbers are not the only aspect of effective sales performance – yet why are they required to worship at the compliance alter?

Training sales people is vital to healthy and sustainable sales performance.  With markets becoming more complex and changing at rapid rates, regular training is imperative to help sales people keep up to date and effective.  Training needs to be regular for it to have any effect.  Regular ‘mini’ training sessions in short, sharp bursts combined with one-on-one coaching in the field makes for better and better sales performance as well as team spirit, unity and retention.  But when do sales managers have the time to learn how to be good trainers and coaches?  And when do they have the time to put this into practice?

Since 1997, we have been accrediting and training sales managers at Barrett to be competent trainers and coaches.  Many report very positive outcomes as a result of being able to conduct regular training with their teams.  Besides sales lifting, team moral improves, there is better retention of staff, and clients seem happier too.

It has been shown that if a business has skilful, professionally trained sales managers who can strategise and plan; lead, coach and train; effectively manage their unit; liaise, link and collaborate with other divisions; and regularly report relevant, real data to the business, then the performance of the sales team will improve significantly.  No other area of development shows such a positive correlation with sales results.

As a rule of thumb, ‘best practice’ states a sales manager should invest their time accordingly:

This is a plea on behalf of beleaguered sales mangers everywhere – if you want great sales results, get your sales managers training again.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Can sales and medicine mix?

September 1, 2010 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Culture, Ethics & Values

As you know, I am an advocate for the philosophy that ‘everybody lives by selling something’ and that people buy from people they trust.  At its best, selling is about the principle of exchange:- the exchange of value where both parties benefit from open and transparent communication and know what they are engaging in.

So can ‘selling’ be seen as a legitimate role in the various practices of medicine?  I.e. GP’s, dentists, optometrists, physiotherapists, surgeons, etc.

If we take it that good selling is where people are fully informed of the facts surrounding their situation, are given legitimate options to choose from, and are in a position to make their own decisions without fear of deception, bullying or intimidation then, yes, selling can form a part of the practice of medicine.

Educating your ‘clients’ is a key function of good selling and selling does involve persuasion on occasion, especially where people are concerned about the decisions they have to make as it relates to their priorities, needs, wants, fears, desires or frustrations.  Some clients are prepared to take more risks than others.  Any good sales person or medical practitioner would make sure their clients are made fully aware of the risks so they can enter into a decision with their eyes open.  Offering your best expert advice is part of what we pay the medical profession for.

Bad medicine like bad selling is about tricking people and taking advantage of the unsuspecting and the uneducated.  And as the medical profession is part of the educated elite, where there is knowledge there is power.

My concern lies in the corporatising and commercialisation of medicine and I feel it is posing some ethical problems by creating a range of competing motivations such as ‘Do I do the best for my patient or my shareholders’ wallets?’

You may notice the increase in the amalgamation of medical practices, especially in the areas of dentistry and optometry and the shift in focus to shareholder value.  It’s similar in my view to corportatising child care and look at what happened there.

A couple of years ago, I was asked to present information on ‘selling’ to a dental group.  They were interested in how to bring a sales culture into their business and get patients to buy more, especially ‘teeth whitening’ and other ‘vanity’ offerings.   I must say, I felt very uneasy and did not continue with that business.  A recent article in The Weekend Australian, 28-29 August 2010 titled ‘Ethical doubts over optical sales’, highlighted the potential issues with the ‘corporatisation’ of Optometrists.  The President of the Australian Medical Association highlighted the possible ethical dilemma and conflict of interest, with optometrists working for large corporates and their emphasis on selling prescription glasses.  Whilst he stated that there was no evidence of the over prescribing of prescription glasses, he raised issues about providing accurate medical advice and the desire to increase the value of the ‘sale’ and shareholder value as a real risk.   The issue revolved around ‘trust’ – trust in the advice given and the options presented.

This is not just hearsay.  Take the following scenarios I came across in the last 4 weeks:

  1. A dentist, about to clean the teeth of his patient after the normal check up, suggested that the patient should have a photograph taken of their teeth so they can have a before and after shot.  The patient agreed, but found out later when they got their bill that they have been charged $55 for the photograph unaware they were required to pay for it.  At no time did the dentist inform the patient that there was a cost associated with the photograph.  When the patient confronted the receptionist about her bill it was immediately refunded without question.
  2. A patient is overcharged via her private health fund by her dentist.  The dentist was able to access her private insurance surplus taking advantage of her savings.  When she confronted him he told her ‘bad luck it’s already done’.  Now she has to take her complaint to the Dental Board and her insurance company wasting her time and creating more angst.
  3. An optometrist offered to take a photograph of a patient’s retinas to check for pressure build up, etc, and like the dentist above, didn’t inform the patient that there was a cost associated with this.  Later, the patient found out there was a $90 fee attached to the photos, and upon challenging the receptionist, had the fee waived.

That optometrist patient was me in this instance and as a result I no longer go to this optometrist.  My trust has been breached and I could not rely on his opinion or advice any more.

I understand that dentists, optometrists, vets, naturopaths, physiotherapists and podiatrists, for instance, have ‘retail’ arms to their businesses because they can sell ancillary products.  However, I am proposing that there needs to be more attention paid to the transparent selling and ‘up selling’ of products and services between the medical advice given and the sale of retail products.  Not having met all medical professionals I can only assume that the vast majority know the difference between giving sound medical advice free from bias and the offerings in their retail business.  For instance, I like going to my vet.  He gives me good advice, and he hasn’t tried to take advantage of me by over selling products or offering me things I do not need.  He informs me of my choices and, as a result, I reward him by returning to him when I need vet advice as well as buying my dog and cat food from him rather than the big pet store a few kilometres away.  I like supporting him and I understand that retail is part of his business mix.  I buy from him because he is a good vet and he also offers products of a superior value that I couldn’t get at the supermarket.

The spotlight, too, is being shone more brightly on the relationship between the medical profession (GP’s and Specialists) and the pharmaceutical and pathology industries.  I wonder how many have been influenced or even induced by pharmaceutical or pathology companies to change their prescribing or referral habits in favour of personal benefits at the expense of patients.  No wonder people are increasingly feeling cynical and wary about the intentions of the medical profession.

In conclusion, I recognise the need for businesses to be well run and profitable, however, when shareholder value outweighs the health and wellbeing (financial as well as physical) of its clients or patients, then I think we need to question the application of ‘selling at all costs’ in these cultures.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Through the looking glass

August 26, 2010 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Emotional Intelligence, Performance Management, Sales Management, Sales Training, Strategy

Through the looking glass was voted by you as the number 8  Sales Trend for 2010.

Many sales people are tired of being told that they need to sell like someone else to be successful.  Many are unsure of what they should be modelling.  Too often they are told to ‘just be like’ someone else but with no reference to what that actually looks like they are left poking around in the dark mimicking the ‘star’ performer and left feeling unauthentic.   And ‘big sticks’, bribes or fear don’t help either.

Most people, and especially sales people, want to be the best they can be but without having to be someone else.   Clearly defining what good performance looks like is key.  Here is a model we use at Barrett where we focus on three key areas:

The Three Dimensions of Optimal Performance

  1. KNOWLEDGE: General awareness or possession of information, facts, ideas, truths or principles.
  2. SKILLS & PROCESSES: A series of actions directed towards a specific aim.  The ability to do something well, usually gained through training or experience.
  3. INSIGHT: The ability to see clearly and intuitively into the nature of a complex person, situation or subject; a set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determines somebody’s behaviour and outlook.

Putting practical tools and processes into the hands of sales people and sales managers are an important step however, the first step is giving people insight into their own strengths and capabilities and allowing them to change from the inside out.   Seeing what is possible and being able to model their capabilities and attributes on top performers whilst retaining their own identity as a person is crucial.  Articulating exactly what that is by using the model above puts real content on the table.

With the product edge gone, the key differentiator will be your people.  In 2010 and beyond, enlightened leaders are focusing on understanding their people and helping their people understand themselves and what motivates and drives them.  They are taking note of how people think and make decisions.  Creating the best team for your business will be about how you play to your people’s strengths to achieve goals and fulfill ambitions.  Teaching people how to transform their capabilities, communicate more effectively, and how to manage their behaviours and mindsets are critical.

Gaining deeper insight into self and others is much more than just navel-gazing.  With proper resources and support, insight can be a life changing experience for people and can greatly enhance company success.  While for a number of years we have been focusing on skills and processes, we are now realising the importance of people and their role in business.  Enlightened leaders will be supporting their people in gaining deeper insight and more knowledge.

Insight means having Choices; working with clear Purpose; Self and Other Awareness; knowing your Capabilities; developing your Creativity; building Resilience; and Self Direction.

Knowledge means having a clear Strategy;  access to well defined Processes; good Information; Role Clarity; clearly defined Tasks; Standards of High Performance; Responsibilities; and the ability to make Decisions.

In addition to skills and processes, giving sales people access to insight and knowledge allows for the cultivation of sales wisdom because achieving sales mastery is about working from the inside out.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Latest findings from the world of Sales Transformation

August 18, 2010 in Performance Management, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Training

I recently had the opportunity to MC and attend the Optimising the Sales Force Conference – OSF2010 which was the follow up to the inaugural OSF2009.  Building on last year’s success, this year’s conference was attended by over 120 high level sales leaders across Australia.  Once again I was privileged to be part of the panel of international and local experts presenting on this year’s topic, Sales Transformation.

This was the second time in Australia that we have had the opportunity to come together as a profession and share ideas and discuss important matters moving forward, and from the looks of it, we will be doing this again.  The feedback from our international sales experts was that this was one of the best forums in the world.  The quality of the speakers, content and discussions were of the highest standard.

Key topics included:

  • Global best practice to achieve sustainable sales transformation.
  • Great case studies on how to migrate your team to best practice performance and how to get a professional services firm to take on a proactive sales culture.
  • What the new successful seller looks like.
  • How to hire sales people who can sell.
  • Using CRM to enable smart learning.
  • Getting sales people effective before they achieve efficiency.
  • Sales 2.0 – a Google look into the future of customers, demographics, tribes, buyer behaviours, collaboration and communication.

Key highlights and messages for me were:

  1. In B2B sales, customer loyalty is heavily weighted to the experience a customer has with the sales person far exceeding brand, product and price value ratio.
  2. Selling has moved beyond solving problems and satisfying needs, it’s about transforming the lives of your customers – helping them achieve results and offering accelerants which take them to their vision of success.
  3. We are in ‘ideas’ businesses not ‘product’ businesses.
  4. We ‘lead people to a better place’ not ‘lead with product’.
  5. Sales transformation is a committed journey not an event.
  6. It’s the little things that count – put real tools and processes into the hands of sales people and keep it simple, accessible and applicable.
  7. Bring back the Sales Manager as trainer – we need sales managers who can train and coach; 3-5 hours per sales person per month is what is required to get sales people performing to better standards: Empower sales managers to get out from behind their desks and in the field working with their people.
  8. Take a laser approach to sales training not a cannon ball approach – most sales training normally fails because it fails to address long term learning and specific learning needs.  We need blended learning.
  9. Sales is about reaching better standards of performance not about ‘standardisation’ – too many large organisations try to control and standardise sales performance instead of giving sales people the responsibility to achieve higher levels of performance.  This requires thinking outside of the box, innovation and having a ‘challenger’ mindset – all of which are at odds with standardisation.
  10. The war between ‘Urgency and Importance’ – do we want our sales people to be firefighters or builders?
  11. Google’s perspective on the world of the user and the amazing views we can get from our buying and viewing habits – truly amazing presentation into the future of consumer sales.

One international speaker, an expat from Melbourne now residing in New York, said that Australia was ahead of the game when it came to connecting at a global level and understanding how to sell into different markets.  He stated that we tend to be less parochial and more worldly even if our footprint is smaller per head of population.  We seem to connect with more people more easily which of course bodes well for selling.  On the down side, it was noted by others that our ‘tall poppy’ syndrome did not help when we came to promoting role models and shining the light on the ‘best’ in the field.  We needed to honour our home grown talent and realise that what we offer here is note worthy.  We need to celebrate that Australia has some great role models and be recognised as leaders in the profession of selling.

I am looking forward to OSF 2011, hope to see you there.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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Why you should stop trying to delight your customers

August 11, 2010 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Customer Service

Delighting customers does not build loyalty.  Reducing customers’ effort does.

These were the findings from a large customer service survey conducted by the Customer Contact Council (CCC), and featured in the July edition of the Harvard Business Review.  The survey’s aim was to get answers to three questions:

  1. How important is customer service to loyalty?
  2. Which customer service activities increase loyalty, and which don’t?
  3. Can companies increase loyalty without raising their customer service operating costs?

After conducting structured interviews with customer service leaders and a study of more than 75,000 customers, the CCC uncovered three findings:

1. Exceeding expectations during service interactions has negligible impact on customer loyalty

Of the 75,000 customers surveyed, they were more interested in how well a company delivers on their most basic and/or vanilla promises rather than being dazzled and having their expectations exceeded.  However, 89/100 customer service department heads had ‘to exceed customer expectations’ as their main strategy.  This is not new.  As I wrote back in June 2007, ‘Exceeding customers’ expectations?’, living by exceeding customers’ expectations doesn’t add up and ends up costing us more in the long term.

2. Service organisations create loyal customers primarily by reducing customer effort

In other words, helping customers solve their problems quickly and easily – not by delighting them in service interactions.  Given these findings, we need to reframe around making the customer experience easy.

5 ways to lower the effort and make it easy for customers:

  1. Don’t just resolve the current issue but head off the next one
  2. Address the emotional side of customer interactions
  3. Minimise channel switching by boosting self serve channel stickiness – 57% of complaints came from customer trying to resolve issues online but couldn’t
  4. Use feedback from unhappy customers to enhance issue resolution rate
  5. Empower the front line to deliver a low effort customer experience

3. Customer Effort Score (CES) tops the charts with the highest predictive power

In the customer service environment, Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a weak predictor of customer loyalty.  Net Promoter Score (NPS) is slightly better.

By decreasing customer effort to purchase you can get increases in repurchase, increase spend and willingness to tell others about their experiences.

The survey asked customers to rate how much effort they personally put forward to handle their request.  They were asked to rate on a scale of 1 (low effort to purchase) – 5 (high effort to purchase).  94% of participants reporting ‘low effort’ stated their intent to repurchase, 88% stated their intent to increase spend, and 1% stated their intention to speak negatively about the experience.  Versus 81% reporting high effort stated their intent to spread negative feedback about the experience.

Outcome: CCC advises that we should move from increasing customer satisfaction to decreasing customer effort.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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