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Why you can’t have a one-type-of-sales-person-does-it-all approach

July 2, 2009 in Recruitment, Sales Assessments, Sales Skills, Sales Talent

I find it somewhat frustrating when people make simplistic claims and statements about salespeople like: ‘super sales performers are all risk takers and oblivious to rejection and failure’.

Statements like this are simply not true and trivialise the complex world of selling by trying to box people without proper analysis and insight.

There is a large body of research that shows there are many types of sales people for different types of clients, products, and markets.  Just because a sales person may be excellent in one market may not mean they are well suited for another.

Take call centres for instance.  If the type of sale is simple and transactional, putting in people who like complex problem solving and variety would be a very bad decision.  Boredom and repetition, amongst other things, could see people like this leave sooner than intended or create havoc while there.

The reason I am speaking up about this is I find many people do not understand the intricacies of selling and tend to take a one-type-of-salesperson-does-it-all approach when selecting and developing sales people often leaving them frustrated and angry and not getting the sales performance they want.

In the last 15 years my team and I have analysed and profiled over 100 different types of sales roles as diverse as:

-    Business Banking Sales,
-    Media Sales (TV & Radio)
-    Online Advertising Sales
-    Publishing Sales
-    IT Sales
-    Hi-tech Medical Equipment Sales
-    Pharmaceutical Sales
-    Funeral Sales
-    Wholesale Sales
-    Print and Distribution Sales
-    Telephone Sales (inbound and outbound)
-    Direct Sales (party plan, etc.)
-    Money Market Sales
-    Mortgage Sales
-    Investment Sales
-    Recruitment Sales
-    Industrial Sales
-    Engineering Sales
-    Key Account Management Sales
-    Sales Management
-    Sales Directors
-    Music Licensing Sales
-    Account Co-ordinators
-    Sales Support

I am here to tell you that there were many variations in these sales roles and variation in the styles and types of people needed to perform these roles effectively.  For instance, some need to be very prospecting fit, while others needs to be detailed, patient and very thorough.

When one assumes that an organisation can have one sales force with no differentiation, there are often negative consequences.

These include:

  • Individuals don’t work together well.
  • Sales opportunities seem to ‘slip away’.
  • Individuals can’t seem to get the job done.

The assumption that every salesperson can be all things to every customer does not work.

This assumption regards all customers and salespeople as a commodity, or an interchangeable part. For example, if a salesperson is unable to secure a sale with a customer, the organisation may not make a conclusion that the salesperson does not meet the needs of the customer.

Instead the organisation might view the customer as a commodity or an opportunity that has been lost, and will hope that the salesperson is able to secure another sale with a different customer.

A ‘one-salesperson-does-it-all approach’ does not work when you have a diverse product range or a varied pool of customers.  Each customer has unique needs, operates within a unique organisation, and needs to know different information from the salesperson. Therefore it is necessary to link the salesperson’s style of working to the needs of the customer, your market and your products.

Too little work is done in this area and yet it is one of the most critical areas you need to consider for business success.

The book The Quadrant Solution by Stevens, H & Cox, J, describes a sales model based upon a quadrant that is used to evaluate the organisation and its products on its complexity and the expected customer experience.

Complexity:
When a customer is making a complex purchase, with a lot of customised offerings, the seller needs to do a lot of hand-holding during the purchase and delivery. That would be a high touch sale (hand-holding, longer more secure relationship with seller). If it is a simple purchase and the customer can handle the purchase on their own, this would be a low touch sale (customer is confident in handling purchase, doesn’t need hand-holding, short/temporary relationship).

Customer experience:
When a customer needs a high degree of technical support during and after the purchase, it is a high tech sale. If the customer has the experience and knowledge to handle the technical components of the sale, it is a low tech sale.

In the book he describes four sales styles that link into the quadrant model. These are consultative selling, relationship selling, display selling, and super closer selling.

I have provided examples of each style as a way of demonstrating my point about the variety that exists in sales, however from our research there are even more selling styles or subsets of selling styles.  Not all selling roles will fit these categories however I feel it is a good place to simulate our thinking on this topic and help you make more sense of what you may need by way of sales talent.

Consultative selling style:
Salespeople who adopt a consultative selling style enjoy being the trusted consultant to their customers. They like a degree of complexity in their work, and are comfortable interacting with high-level managers. They are analytical, ambitious, educated, professional, self-confident and well-organised. They are able to work with customers who need technical support and a long-standing relationship (high tech, high touch).

Relationship selling style:
Salespeople who adopt a relationship selling style enjoy building and fostering relationships with customers. They have a strong work ethic and enjoy a hands-on approach when interacting with others. They are warm and personable and are sensitive to problems that the customer may be having. Relationship salespeople are not technically oriented, and focus on the relationship aspect of a sale (low tech, high touch).

Display selling style:
Salespeople who adopt a display selling style are comfortable promoting or displaying a product to the customer in the most effective way. They ensure that their approach is easy, convenient and simple for everyone to understand. They prefer to work with customers on a transactional basis, and are not inclined to provide the technical or long-term relationship support (low tech, low touch).

Super closer selling style:
Salespeople who adopt a super closer selling style are progressive and determined in their approach. They are extroverted, energetic and competitive in their style. They are visionary, entrepreneurial and are often viewed as experts in their field. They tend to get customers excited about the possibilities of a product/service, and their primary focus is on closing the sale. The super closer salesperson is generally moving too fast onto the next prospect to maintain a long-term relationship with the client, but will provide them with the technical support to secure the sale (high tech, low touch).

In conclusion, excellent salespeople can generally sell many things but not usually everything and even if they could, some selling environments would not suit them in the long term and therefore they would not be classified as good sales person for your business if this happened.

Our salesforces should be organised so that the natural selling style of the salesperson compliments the kind of product or service that they are selling, and fits in with the customer’s market.

My point is that we all need to know what type of sales role and sales person our businesses need to prosper. By determining a salesperson’s natural tendency or selling style, we can ensure that this is linked to the customer and products unique needs.

In today’s world we are well equipped to define the type of sales role our business needs and define the salesperson’s selling style to match that role.  So let move away from limiting sales stereotypes and open ourselves to diversity.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Happy selling

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Getting prospects to talk to you

June 25, 2009 in Prospecting

Do you take time to really think about why you are calling a prospect or a client?  Do you reflect on how effective you have been post the call?

Making prospecting calls to new prospects and existing clients is still one of the most important sales and business development activities you can do on a daily basis.  Even with all the electronic communication and marketing options at hand most businesses still need to have someone prospecting for them to build and forge real business relationships.  Top performing sales people make sure prospecting is part of their daily repertoire.

Like many things prospecting is a process and as a business development person, you will need to do over and over again approximately 500-1,000 times in a year at least!

However most people do not prospect effectively and many find it a daunting experience.  Much of the controversy about the ‘do not call’ debate, in my opinion, is centred around the quality of calls being made.  Most of the people who are being complained about are not prospecting effectively at all. They are usually calling and imposing themselves and their agenda on others with no regard for the other person and their wants or needs.  Their prospecting calls are usually all about them not about you.

Prospecting Rule # 1: If you want to connect with another person and have them interested in you and what you have to offer you must first be interested in them.

By contrast, if a person rang you, explained (very briefly) who they were, showed some respect for your time commitments by asking you if you were in a position to speak to them now or later, and then quickly and respectfully stated why they made the effort to call you (all stated from your perspective and for your benefit of course) then you might give them a minute just to see if what they were calling about was worthwhile in engaging in a discussion or not.

From the customer or prospect’s perspective there must be a Valid Reason for them to want to speak to you.  Something that will make their lives better in some way.  Sure you want to work with them because they may fit your target market or maybe a great client to get on board for revenue, reputation, etc. but these are all your reasons and are all directed at how you will benefit.

Instead think about why a customer or prospect would want to speak to you.  Do some research into their business and think about why they would want to take the time to connect with you.  In other words put yourself in their shoes first.

Yes you could be their savior, but if they don’t know they need saving and you don’t position yourself to find out if they want to be saved of not then you are in trouble.

From the first phone call, to the thank you after your first meeting and subsequent meetings, each contact must add value to the client. Each contact must have a valid reason behind it.

The phone call is typically the first point of contact with a potential client.   In preparation for that prospecting call you need to have two things ready:

1.    A Call Objective – Your call objective is your reason for wanting to make contact.

As yourself why you want to connect with this person/ division/ company?  What do you hope to gain or achieve by making this contact? i.e. You have heard there is new project on the agenda and you would like to make contact with the key stakeholder who is the main decision maker to see if you can get an opportunity to be considered for that project.  Or you want to connect with the influencer who may give you an introduction to the key decision maker, etc.

2.    A Valid Business Reason (VBR) –  A VBR must be meaningful and relevant to the prospect.  It should be a reason why the prospect should want to speak to this person further. It must be of value and important to the prospect and answer the What’s In It For Me (WII-FM) from your prospects’ perspective.

VBR’s are not usually static, they tend to be dynamic and current.  They should be updated depending on the current business climate, market trends, etc.  VBR’s require sales people to get their heads out of their products and look at the markets and the broader world they operate in. There is not shortage of VBR’s out there.

Here a few different categories that may help you generate VBR’s:

  • Competitor Reality
  • Timing & seasonal fit
  • Category Success
  • New location/Expansion
  • Broaden their market focus
  • Referral – Personal intro
  • Site visitor fit
  • Events/opportunities
  • New concept/idea

Listen to anyone of those annoying prospecting calls people complain about and they do not use VBR’s.

Prospecting Rule # 2: To generate effective VBR’s get your head out of your products and into the minds of your prospects and customers.

Look at your customer or prospect’s business and see what’s on their mind or what’s happening in their market and you will have no shortage of VBR’s.  Role playing VBR’s with your team is a great way to develop the ideas and skill of applying them effectively.  This will have a dramatic impact on increasing your phone prospecting success.

An example of a powerful prospecting call that incorporates a VBR statement is as follows:

“Hello XXX, this is Sue calling from Company X, do you have a moment to speak?…”

If they say ‘yes’ proceed

….”Thank you for taking my call. We specialise in helping businesses like yours find ways to increase their annual business profits upwards of 20% with our inventory management systems. Given the rapid changes in business management and procurement I was wanting to know if this was a priority for you at present. If so I would like to arrange a time to meet with you and understand more about your business and to see if we can be of any service.”…

If they say ‘no’ then say this

….”I understand you are busy at present the purpose of my call is to let you know that we specialise in helping businesses like yours find ways to increase their annual business profits upwards of 20% with our inventory management systems. Given the rapid changes in business management and procurement I was wanting to know if this was a priority for you at present and if so when would be a good time to call you back to arrange a meeting so I can and understand more about your business and to see if we can be of any service.”…

Remember to position yourself favourably.

Before you can engage in any conversation with your customer or prospect, you have to give them a reason to want to talk you.

Don’t forget everybody lives by selling something.

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Does everyone live by selling something?

June 22, 2009 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Culture, Ethics & Values, Procurement, Sales Skills

‘Does everyone live by selling something?’

My desire to seek answers to this question was ignited back in the late 1980’s when I came across the quote ‘Everyone lives by selling something’.  The quote was coined by Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet, travel writer and author of ‘Treasure Island’, in the late 1880’s some 100 years earlier.

It is interesting to note that Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. He was also greatly admired by many authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov and others.  Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson’s popularity and allow him a place in the canon.

Over the last 20 years I have sincerely come to believe that Robert Louis Stevenson is correct in his assumption that ‘Everyone lives by selling something’.  His ability to not be constrained by the prevailing views and paradigms of his time allowed him to see what many of us are coming to realise now.

Whether we call ourselves a salesperson or not, if we have an idea, product, service, skill, capability, talent, or opportunity by which we can make a living and others can benefit from, we need to be able to sell.

This means that whatever role we are in, we all need to put ourselves in a position to secure the ongoing custom of customers, members, patients, supporters, peers, students, sponsors, or clients to make a living.    Even internal service providers such as HR and Procurement professionals need to be able to sell and consult in order to fulfill their roles accordingly.

In this complex world, this means that we need to make sure our talents and capabilities are visible to those who need to know about us.  We need to proactively put ourselves in a position to work with others to earn what we are worth on any level, otherwise we at risk of being invisible and losing opportunity.  Good salespeople have always known this, consciously or not.

Yet many people are still confused by the words ‘sell’, ‘selling’, ‘salesperson’, or ‘sales’. In fact when these words are mentioned in polite company, you can see many people visibly recoil at the concept and some even go so far as to object to you even mentioning the concept of selling.

Why?

Because many so called ‘legitimate‘ sales practices we experience as customers are nothing more than manipulation and deceit, aggression and intimidation, or hard sell, pressure tactics.  No wonder so many people shy away from selling as a career or cringe at the thought.  Whether we are conscious of it or not most of us don’t like how selling is being sold to us.   I don’t blame you.

Despite the prevailing paradigms of 20th century ‘old school selling’ tactics and others’ self limiting beliefs, highly successful, effective, ethical sales people have always known the best way to sell is to proactively forging honest and open relationships (of any kind) based on trust, transparency, respect, and doing what they said they would do.  This is their competitive edge.  Their sales approach is more collaborative, integrated, holistic, and enlightened.   The potential for these life skills and attitudes is present intrinsically in almost all of us whether we know it or not.

Now I are not trying to convince people to love selling, or even like it.  However, we want people to recognise the vital role selling plays in our lives today. Without this capability our businesses wither and die.

Yet some people believe it is not their right to put themselves or their ideas forward instead relying on their good work to speak for themselves.  Some think they may be seen as too boastful or self absorbed if they do so.   Others are too frightened to sell and many have never been taught how to sell effectively with confidence, dignity, and grace.

That is why we still see too many good ideas and opportunities go to waste resulting in poor revenue results.  Too many people do not purposefully and proactively put themselves in a position to explore opportunities with others, bring their ideas to the table, create new possibilities or earning what they are worth in the process.

Whether we earn a living from what we do or not, if we hide our talents and capabilities from others and no one knows about us or what we are capable of then how can we be of service and earn what we are worth on any level?

It’s also about being genuine.
In this increasingly networked world we all have the opportunity to connect  with others all the time – in short we are selling ourselves.   However, the way each of us portrays ourselves, our companies, our values and our lives are at risk of being seen as superficial if we do not genuinely communicate, connect and create with others.

If we want to cultivate and sustain genuine, healthy, profitable and viable business relationships with our clients, partners, suppliers or peers where a fair exchange of value is achieved then we, our business and our people need to go out to the market place and put ourselves in a position to work proactively with people and help them and ourselves achieve our collective business goals.

This is why I believe Everyone lives by selling something.

Whether you are working as a sales professional, business development manager, lawyer, accountant, engineer, consultant, internal human resources manager, procurement  manager, business, manager, small business owner, team leader, psychologist, a jobseeker, or anyone in contact dependent career, we can all benefit from applying more enlightened, collaborative, worthy, natural sales practices in our daily lives.

I am interested in whether you believe Everyone lives by selling something.  If you would like to have your say we have set up a poll at www.barrett.com.au to take your response to the question ‘do you live by selling something’.

Happy and honourable selling to you all.

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The Entrepreneurial Sales Person

June 12, 2009 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Relationships, Self Development, Success

As part of my ongoing professional  and personal development I belong to a CEO leadership group where we meet monthly and discuss a whole range of topics to stimulate our thinking and decision making.

Recently we discussed the concept and qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs.  Besides making the obvious comparisons with ourselves as to whether we met the criteria of successful entrepreneurs I found the content translated extremely well into what I and other research is seeing in successful sales people today.

It seemed to me that successful sales people had a lot in common with successful entrepreneurs who are often the main sales people in their own businesses anyway.

I thought we could use this information to help us find and cultivate Entrepreneurial Sales People for our businesses, especially to help we entrepreneurs who need to grow our businesses beyond our own capabilities and personal time constraints.

Here is a summary of my notes:

1.    Successful Entrepreneurs are calculated risk takers note gamblers.

Unlike risk adverse people who avoid stepping outside their comfort zone and trying anything new or gamblers who seem to act before they think and often stake everything on one risky deal, Successful Entrepreneurs and successful sales people will step outside their comfort zone but not too far at first.  They will stretch themselves check for evidence of success and recalculate their actions to try and step out even further.  Good sales people do this with their clients all the time.  They will trial different options and gauge the interest and suitability of these options with their clients.  This is how new products or service emerge.

If you want to test someone’s entrepreneurial tendencies here is one way.  Play the game of Coits.  Ask anyone to try and get all six coits on the stand and see what they will do:

  • Conservative, non risk takers will stand right over the top of the stand and not move dropping all six coits on the stand from above.
  • Gamblers will stand far away and just throw hoping something will stick.
  • Successful Entrepreneurs and successful sales people will take a few steps back throw 2 coits, get them on and then step further back and throw again always checking their accuracy.  If they miss one they will step in a bit throw again get the coit on and then step out again and so on.   They are engaging in self testing and feedback which is why they keep getting better.

2.    Needs
They also found Successful Entrepreneurs have 3 fundamental needs:

  • need for achievement
  • need for affiliation
  • need for power or influence

It was found that the need for achievement was by far the most important, with successful  entrepreneurs marshalling the need for affiliation and power to support their need for achievement. This coincides with the research on successful sales people.

3.    Questioning

Non Entrepreneurs specialise in ‘Social’ Questioning’ which revolves around their need for affiliation and not much else.  Which is why I get annoyed when sales training over emphasises  ‘building rapport’.  You hear it all the time, sales people being told that to build rapport by asking about people about their personal lives, footy teams etc.  This is very old fashioned and not as effective as people think it is.  In fact for many first time client encounters it can be a real turn off for the client.  It often comes across as fake.  You will build more rapport by focusing on what you are really there to do – and that is work with clients priorities and address their issues.

Successful Entrepreneurs and Successful sales people specialise in ‘Opportunity’ Questioning.  Here they are looking for evidence that opportunities exist for them to work on effectively with others.  They are inquiring, curious and ideas oriented.

By looking at these qualities you can see you don’t need to start a business to have entrepreneurial tendencies.  Entrepreneurial qualities, in my opinion, can be applied in many roles, especially in sales roles and more people have them they we maybe recognise.

  1. Who in your team, especially your sales team is showing these qualities?
  2. How can you and they capitalise on this, especially in these markets?

With the world presently in a major transition we need more people taking calculated risks, being prepared to ask ‘opportunity’ questions and look to achieve great and positive things by marshalling affiliation, influence and power.

Your advocate for selling the right way.

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Create your ‘Ideal’ sales force blueprint

May 28, 2009 in Culture, Recruitment, Sales Leadership, Sales Planning, Strategy

Now is the time to rethink your sales strategy and your sales force.  Design the sales force your business needs and get great results.

Tip: It’s all in the thinking and planning that happens before the execution.

To help you start your thinking and planning here are two case studies from our work files where the businesses got it right.

Story one: Transform your current sales team into a new sales team

“The Sales Culture transformation and competency project we worked on with you in 2008 has been such a great success for our team.  The culture is now fantastic and the morale of the Sales Team is very good.  We aimed for the culture we wanted and got it.  People have settled into their roles and are working out fantastically. It was the planning and thinking behind it that made it work.  The Competency work has, without a doubt, made a difference. The Sales Competencies are ‘Gold’. We refer to them all the time and the Sales People are using them as well to develop themselves and have clearer, more accountable, performance reviews.  The competencies helped our team realise how responsible they need to be in their roles.”

This is what can happen when you design your sales force to deliver your strategy.  This quote comes from a Sales Director of a business we have worked with for many years.  They had the same sales force structure over the last 15 years and a very stable sales force to go with it.  The team and structure had worked very well, however the market was changing and the business and its sales people needed to adapt and evolve to ensure they were current, fit and productive.

In 2008, this Sales Director realised she needed to develop a new strategy moving forward and with that needed a new sales culture and team to deliver it.  But she didn’t want to get rid of the current sales team.  They were good operators with great industry knowledge and experience.   She knew it would be foolish to start from scratch with a new team and she didn’t want to create confusion or unnecessary unrest or anxiety in her existing team.

Her concerns rested around getting buy-in from the team regarding the new strategy and, in particular, their need to adjust their roles somewhat.  Despite not wanting to lose people she was prepared to do so if necessary.

What did she do?

  • Developed her sales strategy and then presented her strategy to her sales team, inviting feedback and explaining ‘why’ they all needed to move in this direction using a well researched, evidenced based approach.  The team knew what was happening in the market place so it came as no surprise to them that they needed to shift.  That is fine intellectually, however we knew the challenge would be in actually getting them to shift in real terms.
  • To get the real shift happening she then engaged her team in the development of the new Sales Roles by engaging in a ‘job design’ process with us.
  • Out of the ‘job design’ process we developed the right Sales Behavioural Competencies (DNA) and ‘ideal’ role/person specification matched to sales strategy, product and customer base.
  • Sales Behavioural Competencies were then linked to the Sales Team performance management reviews and are now being used in coaching, recruitment and succession planning processes.
  • Sales Behavioural Competencies were mapped to measurable sales metrics
  • The Sales Behavioural Competencies now act as a pivotal reference point in all their work.

As mentioned, the Sales People are using Sales Behavioural Competencies to develop themselves, have clearer, more accountable, performance reviews and better role clarity which means they know how they need to perform to achieve their strategy goals.

Story two: Design the sales team you want from scratch – green fields

A Divisional Manager of a large Australian corporate came to us because they didn’t want to hire people from their industry as they didn’t think they were competitive in the current market. They wanted to refresh the gene pool and bring in fit sales people who were not tarnished by the industry mindset and its way of doing things.  They knew that in this over commoditised marketplace their sales people were their competitive edge.

They were on the right track but didn’t know where and how to start.  So here is what we did together to find elite sales performers:

  • Reviewed sales strategy, path to market, and products being sold
  • Developed the right Sales Behavioural Competencies (DNA) and ‘ideal’ role/person specification matched to sales strategy, product, and customer base
  • Built a structured sales recruitment process and kit
  • Targeted industries the new breed of sales people could come from and went to market to find them
  • Built and implemented the right sales induction training program matched to sales strategy, sales competencies, product, and customer base
  • Had new sales team present their ‘go-to-market’ action plan to senior management before they went to market
  • Implemented a sales management support system
  • Followed up with infield training and coaching
  • Mapped and measured sales metrics

The results were stunning from a sales initiative perspective.

The ‘new breed’ of elite sales performers achieved a sales closing ratio of 4:3 within 2 months against an industry average of 3:1 and sold the annual sales budget within 5 months.

Feedback from the sales people was that this was the best sales recruitment and sales induction process they had ever been through.  In all their sales careers, and many came from big name companies, they have never been set up so well to succeed.  They felt confident, proud, and capable to really deliver.

Feedback from the client:  “We worked in partnership to develop an end-to-end model for a new innovative sales team. The approach was unique in that they worked with us across recruitment, training, needs analysis, pitch planning and the end delivery. They added huge value to any sales process.”

By designing your ‘ideal’ sales force blue print you can build and achieve the following in your business:

  • Change your culture by creating the sales culture you want
  • Design the ideal sales force you want
  • Recruit the sales force you want / your strategy needs
  • Refresh your thinking, ideas, actions and results
  • Develop career paths and succession planning
  • Clear performance expectations
  • Clearer, more accountable, performance reviews
  • Provide a framework for identifying what a high performing sales person looks for your business
  • Profiling of the core sales capabilities / competencies for sales managers/ sales people for use in recruitment, performance management, training, coaching and succession planning.
  • Provide a framework for assessing the calibre of candidates as defined by core competencies and values;

As you prepare for the next financial year and are developing your sales strategy take time to reflect on what your ‘ideal’ sales force blue print should be.

Do not underestimate the value of taking time to think and plan, ultimately it could make you a lot more money.

Sincerely, your advocate for selling the  right way.

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