10 Reasons Why Companies Evaluate Their Sales Force with SG Partners

- and what’s there to gain?

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1. They want to grow.

2. They don't know whether they have the right salespeople or sales managers to achieve that growth.

3. They need a better understanding of how to effectively manage their people daily.

4. They don't know why their salespeople aren't doing what they have been asked to do.

5. They don't know if their salespeople can do more (or how much more).

6. Their company isn't exceeding its goals.

7. Their competition has a better market share.

8. Their margins have been slipping.

9. Their salespeople are caught in a "comfort zone".

10. Management is accepting mediocrity from its sales force.

SG Partners work with sales teams all around Australia to provide tailored growth improvement programs:

One of the keys to the success of any program is knowing what we are working with as a first step. SG Partners conduct personalised leadership and sales team evaluations that enable us to tailor-make the change program.

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How do I identify whether a salesperson is a Hunter or a Farmer?

We all know how successful sports stars compete, they practice and play to their strengths. Well, why not take the same attitude to sales? How can you work more effectively with the team you already know and have right now? In doing so, you automatically give yourself a distinct advantage and very likely differentiate yourself. Do you know your sales teams strengths and how to work with them?

• Are your people Hunter or Farmer types?

• Do they prefer setting the opportunity up rather than closing it?

• Who in the team prefers to be more technical rather than consultative sales approach?

The interesting thing is that most salespeople do not know their strengths and potential growth areas. When we assess them and deliver the results, they usually say, "That's me, and wow, I did not know that’s where I play at my best… I normally just do what I do.” You deserve the very best sales team. From acquiring the very best, you can achieve the results you never thought possible.

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When you screen your team with us, we provide information against the 21 core competencies of great salespeople.

How easy would it be if you could see your teams proof of skills and abilities?

Get your sales assessment tool free sample here

Communication Barriers

It’s not Sheep!

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I’m sure you’ve had the experience when you are talking with someone and no matter how hard you tried, they didn’t understand what you were saying.

You rephrase, even speak louder and still a blank look or worse an argument that doesn’t make sense.

Ray Birdwhistell from the University of Pennsylvania suggested that words comprise only 7% of our communication.

This seems even more valid when the discussion becomes emotionally charged.

Let’s assume for a moment that this is true. What happens to the other 93%?

Most people communicate by choosing the words they use.

What people are not usually aware of is the impact of their words, and other unconscious factors have on the recipient’s mind.

If I were to say to you “The parrot bit Jane” to process this in your mind, you might have created a picture of a parrot biting Jane.

Maybe even the squawk of the parrot before the biting, and possibly Jane’s cry from the pain.

You might have experienced certain feelings yourself as you imagine the discomfort of the bite.

As you are a unique human being the internal processing of that experience is unique to you, no-one else will make the same pictures, sounds and feelings.

If you change just two of the words around ‘Jane bit the bird’ the internal representation or experience you have now is entirely different.

If just a few words make that much difference, now reconsider that words are only 7% of the communication. Does it now make sense why communication can so easily be misunderstood?

Often, we are pretty lazy.  We usually just conclude:

“They are stupid. They are inflexible. They just don’t listen.”

It’s possible we are right, sometimes, but this kind of labelling won’t help you communicate. It stops your mind from looking for an alternate way of getting your meaning across.

The key is to change the way you approach communication.

Accept that everyone is unique and that this is a great thing. It’s your responsibility to find out how a person experiences the world and then communicate with them accordingly.

There are many ways to do that we talk about in our training and coaching programs. Learn more on how we can help here.

What makes a great leader?

So many books have been written about this, so many perspectives, so many thought leaders.

Ultimately there is a consistent list of traits. I would like to discuss one of those.

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It's amazing over the years with the engagements I have had with business leaders how this one trait can make, or break an organisation’s forward momentum.

Decision making, easy to say, it seems harder to do.

As a leader are you responsible for making all the decisions? - heck no. Yes, you are ultimately responsible for the decision made with your company, yet not responsible for making all of them. In fact, a great leader is the “Custodian of Decision Making”.

As the custodian, what are the guidelines/practices you set your people up with, so they are capable or making consistently great decisions?

So, the challenge for the growth of the organisation is for the leader to understand they are not required to make all the decision (control freaks out there - you are the problem).

The other challenge is having people around you who can make decisions.

There are those amongst us that struggle making decisions, they have a framework that delays them, and they are unconscious about their biases.

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Leadership lesson #1

• Get your leaders together and discuss decision making - their own way of making decisions - get them to be self-aware.

• Get your leaders to tease out the guidelines and best practice for making timely decisions.

• Have an authority matrix around decisions making.

• Go forward and support your leadership team in making great decisions.

Oh, BTW when it comes to self-awareness (the first part of any change), our EQ or Disc/EQ evaluations are a great tool to start that process, and Decision Making is part of the review.

What are necessary sales traits?

Recently SG Partners assisted a client to recruit a great BDM.

Rather than just set off and start creating the candidate pool, SG Partners started working with the client in understanding what would make a great BDM.

Like most things sales growth related, it has to start with the sales strategy.

In this case the company needed to grow their client base they needed to hire a person most adept at hunting, who are not afraid to fight to get new business and who are not bashful about getting paid for the value they and your company deliver.

What sales traits were necessary?

Hunting skills – The needed salespeople who will hunt, who are more interested in generating new business and new clients than being comfortable managing existing business. The BDM must have the mindset that they will go get a larger share of the market rather than just trying to maintain it.

Value Selling Skills – In tight economic times, your potential customers are making decisions about how to spend their money. This BDM must be able to discuss in a way the prospect cares about, ROI and value. Budgets are being heavily scrutinized. Companies are clamping down on spending. The BDM must have discussions that focuses on the value to the client, not just the price.

Comfortable Discussing Money – This key trait is closely related to Value Selling Skills but has additional implications. The BDM needed to be adept at selling value, they needed to be comfortable discussing money.

Reaching Decision Makers – The BDM must be able to get to the real decision-makers, rather than being stuck at lower levels. The BDM must resonate with those leaders who are also making tough decisions about how they allocate resources. This is part selling competency and part mindset.

Supportive Buy Cycle™ – The business landscape has been changing rapidly and therefore companies are reacting in unexpected ways. Decision-makers may be supportive of purchasing today but may reverse their decision tomorrow. Therefore, if possible, the BDM needed to instil a sense of urgency to get it done. If a BDM has the tendency to think things over, comparison shop, and demand the best deal when they are shopping for large items in their personal life, they may allow or even expect that same behaviour from prospects and customers.

The problem is that in a contracting economy where budgets are being scrutinized regularly, sellers cannot afford to let buyers linger over decisions. Now more than ever the BDM needed to be efficient in creating a sense of urgency or they will find themselves missing out due to indecision or budget cuts.

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More traits may be needed

These are just a select few of the traits that we can measure to enable business leaders to make better decisions, and I see these items as integral to success in the current environment. Your company and marketplace may require additional customised traits.

Listen to the owner of the business, Leveltec, describe how we have worked closely together to get a great outcome for their BDM recruitment efforts. 

3 Reasons a Great Salesperson can Fail at Your Company

Recruiting great salespeople - some may think it is a myth like “bigfoot”. Some would say they have done it and yet cannot reliably replicate it. If I asked around, I would probably hear about how sales recruitment is so haphazard and almost like a lottery. How did it get this reputation?

In an interview, an average salesperson will tell you all the things you want to hear: 

1. I know your products...

2. Your applications...

3. Your markets/clients

4. I have a huge number of contacts

5. I have made budget time and time again

6. I'd love to sell your product/services

7. I can make a huge difference

Often this is how it goes; you fall in love with their well-written CV, the interview is warm and friendly, they have a gift of the gab, the references they provide speak highly of them (and why wouldn’t they), so you hire them. Three months later you feel they will not work out. Maybe you chastise yourself and perhaps you have not given them enough time yet. In 6 months in you finally realise you hired a sales dud, ouch! How did this happen, what went wrong? I have the answers and the solution.

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How a Great Salesperson May be Doomed to Fail at Your Company

1. They cannot replicate the environment in which they had their success.

For example, a salesperson by the name Frank works for a well-renowned company with very direct guidelines for its large sales team; Visit clients, quote based on time-tested products, and come in with the lowest price regardless of margin. Frank is the best salesperson by far. He has the biggest accounts and brings in the most revenue.

Now let us pretend your company is not very well-known and is offering innovative products to the market. To be successful in your company, salespeople must call on Decision Makers in the C-Suite and tender with prices higher than your competitors. Frank, formally the best salesperson at his previous company, is hired by you with high expectations to continue his track record of first-place finishes. This is how one company’s great salesperson can fail at your company. 

2. Great is relative.

Frank is clearly more lucky than great. His luck provided him with a job in the right company, at the right time, solid products and with the best clients. Comparing him to the other 100 salespeople in Company X, order takers at best, Frank appears to be great.

3. The candidate was not great at all.

Here is the real reason you hired Frank. You felt some urgency, a position in an important territory was available, and Frank turned up creating instant relief. He had a winning personality, award-winning fictional resume and he also performed tremendously well in the interview. In essence, you were won over.

Sure, this formula may have worked out for you sometimes in the past. Equally, you have also hired salespeople that didn’t work out using the same method. Hit or miss hiring is not a model for success. There should be no excuse for a company’s poor hiring decision. Do not hire yourself a Frank, instead, opt to be honest with yourself and your current recruitment process and seek change.

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So, how do I recruit great salespeople consistently?

I’ve compiled all the secrets in a handy eBook and it’s yours free to download here. Learn the criteria for success when recruiting plus gain valuable insights to secure your ideal candidate. Isn’t it time that you stop repeating a broken process and get the help and tools that will make you a hiring genius?