Sales people often say they want to be managed as if they were operating their own business. And, that’s exactly how they should be managed. Yet, there is a disconnect between how sales people perceive running a business works…and real-life. A sales business plan can help bridge this gap.

During my work with clients, I’m often asked to interview their sales people as part of my sales team due diligence. One of the questions that I always ask is their desired management style from the company. The response I hear most frequently? “I want to be treated as if I were running my own business.” On the surface, this should be music to the executive team’s ears. The truth of the matter is that it is actually cause for alarm.

When sales people say they want to be treated as business operators, they mean it. Yet, their perception of running a business is not consistent with reality. They are saying they want complete autonomy to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it. The French expression laissez-faire describes what they really desire…hands-off management. And that’s not how successful businesses operate.

Anyone who has ever operated a business knows that running a business does not include the right to follow the path of the wind. If you operate a publicly-traded company, you have responsibility to the Chairman, the Board of Directors, and the shareholders. If you run a privately-held company, you have accountability to the bank or partners. In both instances, you also have responsibility to the employees. This doesn’t quite sound like laissez faire and running a successful business are compatible.

That said, you should treat your sales people as business operators…real business operators. After all, your company is funding their business. Your sales people have an obligation to present their plan to make that business profitable. In essence, you are the primary investor in their business.

The first step toward treating your sales people as business operators is to ask them to provide you with a business plan that shows how they will make their business successful. The plan should not be the second-coming of War and Peace, but should be thorough-enough to give the investors comfort in the plans for success.

If you provide the sales team with nothing more than the instruction to write a business plan, they will waste a lot of time trying to figure out what you want…and will still miss the mark. The best approach is to create a sales business plan template using the questions the investors have about their business strategy. The overall plan should “map back” to the revenue target you have set for the sales people. If you are asking them to generate a million dollars in revenue, the plans should clearly show how they going to achieve that target.

The plan should have five core components: 

Accounts. The accounts section is the place in the plan to list clients/prospects and their expected revenue contribution toward the million dollar target. If the sales person’s target includes both existing accounts and new ones, this section of the plan forecasts the expected performance of their portfolio and documents the new accounts that lead them to the target revenue number.
 
Prospecting. The prospecting section shows their plan to build a sales pipeline. If there are no prospects, there are no sales…so understanding their strategy to reach prospects is a key for the investors to sleep at night. This area should highlight both their pipeline development strategy and tactics.

Sales Metrics. The sales metrics section shows how their activities correspond to results (i.e., revenue). This is a statistical presentation of the sales activities that they will perform that leads them to achieve the million dollar goal. This should show their success formula that works backwards from the goal and corresponds to sales activities (i.e., how many meetings will lead to a proposal, how many proposals will lead to a sale, etc.).

Skill Development. This is area is often ignored by sales people, but should be important to the investor group. After all, if there is no commitment to continuous self-improvement, how will the business continue to grow? The plan should show what they will do to improve their skills and industry knowledge…with a time commitment.

Business Needs. The final section of the sales business plan asks what the sales people need from the company to succeed. This area of the plan provides each business operator with an opportunity to share his needs of their manager and the company. It also tells what would prevent him from achieving the million dollar goal. As an investor, you want to know about his potential roadblocks so they can be addressed.

Once the plan is created, a conference call/meeting is scheduled with the investor group (the key business stakeholders) and each sales person. During the call, the sales person presents the sales business plan and the investor group challenges it to make sure it is sound. On a quarterly basis, the sales people present an update to the plan to ensure progress is being made toward the annual million dollar goal.

Not sure how to develop your plan, send me an email for my sales business plan template. Keep in mind that you will need to adjust the template to match your business objectives.

 
Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activities with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a columnist and member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Sales and Marketing Management and SalesforceXP magazines. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

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Price has always been a main reason that keeps sales people from selling. At least, that’s what sales people say. Here is evidence to the contrary.

Sales people have always had a laundry list of excuses that keep them from being able to sell today. Yet, is there any excuse more infamous than the price one. “If we just lowered our price, I could sell a ton of this stuff.” Oh really? People primarily buy based on price? Well, if that’s true consider this.

If price really matters…

Everyone would buy generic drugs

No one would have cable or satellite television

The seat every fan fights for would be the last row in the stadium

Satellite radio wouldn’t have over 15 million subscribers

No one would own a Bose product

You would get your drinking water from a faucet

A Yugo would be in your driveway

Nordstroms would be empty

Everyone would shave with a single blade razor, not the Gillette Fusion
 
Starbuck’s wouldn’t have poured a single cup of coffee

The only food in your kitchen would be supermarket brand

The toilet paper in your bathroom would be single-ply sandpaper

And… You wouldn’t have any clients!

After all, someone bought from your company. Not just one person, lots of people have bought from your company. Remember this the next time you let yourself argue that you can’t sell because of price. It isn’t the price… It’s your ability to demonstrate value to prospects. And, people will pay for value. You’ve just seen evidence that they do, even in your own backyard.

Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activity with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and featured columnist with Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Look for Lee’s new book in 2010 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to hiring and on-boarding the right sales people. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

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A little chuckle for the holidays…

Can’t sell in January. Between the terrible weather and everyone coming back from vacation, how can you expect someone to focus on buying now? I’ll pound the pavement next month.

Can’t sell in February. More snow and more vacation. Way to go, Washington and Lincoln; thanks for President’s Day! It’s such a short month. No one can make a decision in such a short month. Next month is going to be better.

Can’t sell in March. No one is going to make a decision on this with more holidays around the corner. Good time to shop for summer clothes. I’ll just borrow money because I’ll make huge commissions later to pay it back.

Can’t sell in April. Who wants to focus on buying with Spring in the air? And hey, my kid’s birthday is this month. I’m sure my prospects are working on their taxes anyway. Next month will be better for sure.

Can’t sell in May. Great weather in May, and I hear that my prospect may be thinking about being acquired. No problem. I’ll look for better ones next month. There’s tons of opportunity out there.

Can’t sell in June. Kids are getting out of school. Wow! I almost forgot Flag Day. No one buys in this weather. Besides, July is a better month for sales anyway.

Can’t sell in July. Great time of year to be at the beach and enjoying the outdoors. I think all of my contacts are on vacation…together! Nope, can’t sell this month.

Can’t sell in August. Too hot! Besides, I’m taking my vacation. They probably are taking theirs too. No selling to be done now. Next month, for sure.

Can’t sell in September. Between the three-day Labor Day weekend and a new fiscal year kicking in, no one is buying anything. I’m feeling good about next month.

Can’t sell in October. Columbus’ birthday; what should I get him this year? I almost forgot Halloween! I’m going to focus on selling hard over the next two months. I’ll finish the year strong.

Can’t sell in November. Thanksgiving, ya know. Very short month. I don’t think any of my contacts have their budget yet. Can’t buy without a budget. Man, December is going to rock!

Can’t sell in December. Everyone is on vacation in December. I know I am! Who can focus on buying with the end of the year so close? What should I do for Festivus this year?

Oh well, maybe next year will be better for sales. Luckily, no one is buying anything from anyone this year.

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Early Greek mythology tells tales of sailors lured by Sirens. Their sweet music mesmerized the sailors and led them to believe that the illusion was reality. Ultimately, those sailors who blindly followed the tunes crashed their ships on the rocks and their boats sank.

Sirens lure business executives and small business owners too. The song that the Sirens sing has one line… “Promote my top sales person, put six people underneath them, and generate six times the sales.” And, like the sailors, many business executives and their companies have been led into harm’s way.

A promotion? The first issue with promoting your top sales person into sales management is that it’s not a promotion at all. The promotion perception is the first way the Sirens get you. Sales management is not a job elevation, it’s a job change. If you consider this move as a promotion, you probably send a congratulatory email and hold a luncheon for the new sales manager. A nice handshake is offered and the new manager is sent to achieve grandeur. This approach delights the Sirens and your ship is sunk!

If you handle this as a job change, your approach is completely different. Since this is a new job, you provide training and mentoring as well as monitor their performance. As the manager of the new sales manager, your role is to help them successfully assimilate into their new role.

Top Seller = Top Sales Manager? Before we go any further, we need to take a step back. The second way the Sirens trick you is they lead you to believe all great sales people can become great sales managers. Some certainly do. And, some pretty good sales people become rock star managers. And some great sales people fail miserably at sales management.

Before moving your top sales person into the sales management ranks, consider the ramifications of this move. You are taking your rainmaker out of the sales game where they’ve generated millions of dollars for your company. While your hope is that your theory of “disciple selling” (placing six people underneath the new manager and getting six times the sales) becomes proven, that is rarely the case. If it was so easy to clone a rainmaker, every company would do it. Quite frankly, the “disciple selling” dream is flawed. Again, you’ve been duped by the Sirens. The sole reason to place someone in the role of sales manager is that you feel that they have the potential to succeed in that capacity.

What does all of this tell you? You need a process and methodology to evaluate sales management candidates…just like you evaluate sales candidates. And, even though the rainmaker got on your radar screen because they blew out their quota, their sales management candidacy should be handled the same way you would if you were considering an external sales management candidate. Don’t skip any steps in the evaluation process!

Profile the Role. This evaluation starts with the development of your profile of the ideal sales manager for your company. Think about what it takes to succeed in the role and document those elements as part of your profile. Once you’ve prepared your list, identify each element as either required or desired.

With your profile developed, the next step is to develop a screening process that allows you to compare and contrast the candidate with the profile. It is critical during this process that you ascertain why this successful seller aspires for management and ensure that you set clear and accurate expectations of a day in the life as a sales manager in your company. In addition to interviews, you may want to consider tools to help identify a synergistic match like personality and proficiency assessments.

If your rainmaker succeeds in the evaluation process, you’ve found your sales manager. If not, don’t lose the revenue! Keep this seller selling!

Positioning Your New Sales Manager to Succeed. With your new sales manager hired, there are four keys to making the venture successful.

1. Support. The first is dealing with the sales team. Yesterday, she was a peer. Today, she is the manager. The new manager needs your help in developing managerial respect. The reaction to the new manager will be mixed.  Some will be fully supportive, but there will also be some on the team who are jealous and attempt to undermine her efforts. The key message for you to deliver to your new sales manager is that she has your unwavering support.

2. Mentoring.  Your new manager needs a resource to guide them through the neophyte status…a mentor. Don’t just look within the organization for a mentor candidate. Many sales management consultants mentor and develop new sales managers. The role of the mentor is to bridge the managerial knowledge, skills, and experience gap.

3. Training. Chances are that your new sales manager has never been taught how to hire a sales person, have a difficult conversation with an employee, or develop a sales compensation plan. These are all skills that can be taught. If you aren’t will to provide the new sales manager with skills training, don’t put them in the role. They will fail!

4. Expectation Setting. Your new sales manager should be provided with a scorecard that tells them how they are going to be measured. In most companies, sales managers are measured on revenue…but that is only one component of the scorecard. Based on the role and responsibilities of the sales manager, the scorecard could include metrics like profitability, cost of sales, turnover, sales cycle, forecast accuracy, etc.

Sales is one of the few professions where moving into management isn’t always the best path for the sales person or the company. Make sure the person you put in this critical role is the right sales manager for your company. After all, while this person may not be directly generating sales, they are the one responsible for the company achieving its revenue goals. Don’t let the Sirens lure your business into trouble. Develop the systems to help you make the best decisions.

Not sure how to interview sales people for a sales management job, send me an email at lsalz@salesarchitects.net for my 29 favorite questions when interviewing new sales manager candidates.

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Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activity with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and featured columnist with Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Look for Lee’s new book in 2010 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to hiring and on-boarding the right sales people. Lee is also the host of “The Sales Management Minute” where he shares key insight into sales management issues. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

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These are 60 second podcasts focused on sales management issues… Below are links to some of the shows.

• Get Rid of Your Customers Now!
• Developing the Profile of Your Ideal Sales Person
• Never Let Your Sales People Cold Call
• Dealing With A Sales Rep Who Needs Help, But Doesn’t Want It
• There Are No Great Sales People

Enjoy these? Grab the RSS-feed and receive new shows as they are posted.

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I continue to be amazed at the number of sales people who feel that LinkedIn doesn’t provide any value to them. Yet, these same people spend countless hours on Facebook telling people what they ate for breakfast, are leaving for work, or entering YouTube links. How is that a benefit to your bank account?

My feelings about LinkedIn are not theoretical and I’m not a paid advertiser of it. I am a beneficiary of this social media/marketing platform. I’ve personally used LinkedIn to build two businesses with this website as the primary lead source. Just last week, I was speaking to a skeptical sales team about LinkedIn and the opportunity it provides. Two minutes before I was going to demonstrate how to use this medium, I received an email from a president of a company interested in hiring me for sales management consulting who had found me through an article I published on LinkedIn. Rather than start the LinkedIn discussion with a demo of the technology, I put the email up on the screen and the skepticism evaporated.

LinkedIn provides sales people with a unique lead generation opportunity. However, the operative word is unique which means that the approach needs to be geared toward this medium. Imagine having prospects coming to you rather than you chasing them. It can be done if you have the right social media strategy when using this tool. This is marketing’s job, right? Wrong! It is a co-shared responsibility. They have the global responsibility for positioning your company, but there is a role for sales people to play as well.

For starters, you need to take the approach that you are going to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry…an expert. Remember, as a sales person, you know more about your solutions than your prospective clients regardless of their title. You track industry movement and trends…much more than the users of your products. This approach sets you on your mission of providing value with the goal of positioning yourself as an expert in your space. This will lead people to want to be associated with (or linked) to you.

The first step is to review your profile page on LinkedIn. What message is conveyed to someone who is reviewing your profile? This is where many sales people get stuck. They try to use their LinkedIn profile for multiple purposes…network with friends (save that for Facebook), leave the door open for a job search, and business development. That approach doesn’t work as there is no clear message as to why you are on LinkedIn or what you seek to accomplish.

If your plan is to use LinkedIn for lead generation or business development, your approach should be linear. Your profile and recommendations should clearly position your role in your industry. Since you are not using LinkedIn, in this instance, for a job search, there is no reason to list jobs that don’t reinforce your expertise. Provide only the information that helps paint the picture for the impression you want profile visitors to have of you.

When writing your bio, don’t shoot for length…aim for focus. A one-paragraph bio that positions you in your industry as an expert is the goal. In this instance, people don’t care about your personal information. If you aren’t sure your bio conveys the desired message, have your peers read it and ask what message they derive from it.

Testimonials are very important. Your company probably has plenty of references for its product, service, or technology offering. However, your LinkedIn testimonials should be about you. What value do your clients receive by working with you? How do you support their account? Invite those whom you have earned the right to request a testimonial about their experience in working with you. The goal is not to get them to write that you are a sweetheart, but rather the results they received from working with you.

Remember, your profile serves as the foundation for everything else you will do on LinkedIn. All roads lead back to this page.

With your profile developed, the next step is to join groups. Again, the goal is to be linear. As a free member on LinkedIn, you can join up to 50 groups. It may seem like a lot, but you’ll be surprised how quickly you use them. Using the search function at the top of the page on LinkedIn, search for groups using keywords that will show where your target clients are. If you are in employment screening, you may want to search on security, security professionals, small business, human resources, human resources professionals, etc.

The search will return a list of groups shown in order of number of members with the largest groups shown first. Join the largest ones, right? Wrong! How can you be visible with 50,000 members? You’ll get lost. Ideally, join groups that have between 1,000 and 5,000 members. At that size, the group has enough mass to justify your time investment, but is not so large that you can’t make yourself visible.

Once you are accepted into the group, there are a number of things you can do. Remember, your mission is to provide value first, not seeking to get buyers. Review the active discussions and participate in those where you can provide key insight. Resist the temptation to hawk your product here. Value first! (A suggestion…compose your responses using Word so you can spell/grammar check what you have written. LinkedIn does not have that functionality.)

You can also create discussions in groups. Don’t create discussions that directly map back to the sale of your product. The group members will blast you for that. Use this opportunity to get key insight into the challenges that your buyers are experiencing. If you sell for a risk mitigation firm, you could create a discussion around the H1N1 pandemic and how organizations are handling this issue.

When people participate in discussions, their photo and link to their profile page are provided next to their comments. (Now, you see why your profile page is so important.) When readers are intrigued by comments, they research the author. When you are engaged in online discussions in a group, you can invite the member into your LinkedIn network. (Don’t use the LinkedIn invite template…craft your own message.)

Once the members are in your network, you have a number of ways you can communicate with them. Remember, focus on value in every interaction. Want to learn more secrets to using LinkedIn for lead generation, send me an email requesting my LinkedIn tipsheet.

Note. Before embarking on this journey, be sure to review your company’s social media policy and/or check with your manager for approval.

Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activity with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and featured columnist with Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Look for Lee’s new book in 2010 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to hiring and on-boarding the right sales people. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

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Sales people are searching for the secrets to selling success…These two words are the drivers that will take their income to a new level

So, the title pulled you in because you think that someone has found a new formula for water…that there are two words that you can say that will skyrocket your revenue and commissions. The title referred to these words as “powerful” so they must be new, since you haven’t heard them before. Perhaps, these words are a deceptive trick that hypnotizes prospects into pulling out their credit card to buy from you.

Well, these two words are not ones that you can ever say to a prospect, but they are guaranteed to drive your revenue and income. Yes, you read correctly…guaranteed. Who would be crazy enough to say “guaranteed” about two little words? Well, it’s not crazy. In my travels working with thousands of sales professionals, I’ve found a common thread in those who are tremendously successful. That thread comes down to two words on which they base their entire sales career.

Many think that the rock star sales people are born with a gift of gab and that makes them a success. Not true, these two words can be taught to any sales person and they can effectively include them in their selling repertoire.

Enough mystery, the two most powerful sales words are synergy and priority.

Synergy is the process by which matches between the needs of a prospect and the capabilities of the supplier are identified. Synergy means you are crafting a solution, not pitching wares. Synergy means you understand the buying players as individuals, not just their company. Keep in mind that, to date, a company has never bought anything…people do.

To master synergy, there are a few actions that need to be taken. The first is to study your buying players and make sure you fully understand them and what makes them tick. As they lie in bed at night thinking about their work, where is their mind focused? If your buying player is a CFO, he is probably focused on profits. How does your solution help the profitability of the company?

The second is to fully study your company and understand its capabilities. What is it that your company does that solves the awake-at-night problems for your buying players? If you cannot identify these synergies, now you know why you cannot get meetings with the people you want to engage. Your solution has to be congruent with their focus.

The third action is to develop a template needs analysis program that includes questions that expose the prospects’ perceived challenges and positioning questions that expose opportunities where your firm can improve upon the present situation. This part takes work, but it becomes the foundation for your sales success. Needs analysis, also two words, drives sales.

In my keynote speech, I use a Velcro metaphor to make the point about synergy. As you know, there are two sides of Velcro the cotton side and the hook side. If you evenly overlay the two sides, there is a tight bond and it is difficult to separate the two pieces. If you only match a corner, it is easily separated. Synergy in sales means that you are forming a tight bond between a supplier and a prospect based on a match of needs, wants, and desires. As you can imagine, the needs analysis discussions are critical to a sales person’s ability to identify the synergy. And, needs analysis plays a role with the other most powerful sales word…priority.

Priority is what leads a prospect to buy today, not tomorrow, not in the future…today! Synergy gets the prospect into the pipeline. Priority leads a prospect to become a client. The same tools earlier referenced for synergy are also necessary for priority. A sales person’s ability to facilitate effective needs analysis discussions are the key to mastering priority.

“Why should they buy this today when they can just as easily buy tomorrow?” Sure, there are motivators that can be employed…discounts, incentives, etc. However, if you truly understand your prospect, their challenges, and the solution, you are armed with the information you need to get the deal done without those motivators being offered. Priority’s arch enemy is status quo…and don’t under-estimate the power that it has. It is the number one killer of sales pipelines. Status quo will win every time if you don’t have the information you need to understand why the buyer should buy today.

Ah, but the decision maker is a busy person…”She is a heavily influential person in the company and it will be difficult to get her attention.” Bet I can get your attention. Imagine you checked your email and you see a note from your CEO who wants to meet with you at 1:15pm tomorrow to discuss tripling your salary. You won’t even check your calendar before responding, “I’ll be there!” Making money is a priority for you. All else gets cast aside when someone wants to put more money in your pocket.

The same concept applies to sales. If the solution that you have designed is aligned with the priorities of the decision making buying player, the deal happens. If not, status quo will win it.

Need help profiling your buying players? Send me an email and I’ll send you my Buying Players Worksheet. This will become the most powerful sales tool that you have ever had in your hands…and you will come to master the two most powerful words that drive sales. Two more powerful words…Go Sell!

Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activity with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a columnist for Sales and Marketing Management Magazine and SalesforceXP Magazine. Look for Lee’s new book in 2010 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to hiring the right sales people. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

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Every sales manager is searching for revenue from their salesforce, but the recipe to achieving the revenue target comes from the development of their unique sales metric management system.

Thinking back to one of the great cult films of the 1980s…Caddyshack. There is a conversation between Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) and Judge Smails (Ted Knight) in the locker room after Ty has just finished a round of golf. Judge Smails asks Ty what he shot that day and Ty responds by telling the Judge that he doesn’t keep score. Puzzled, Judge Smails says, “How do you measure yourself with other golfers?” Ty responds by saying, “By height.”

Obviously, height doesn’t tell you anything about a golfer’s performance which is why that dialogue is humorous. Yet, there is nothing funny about a sales organization that is using meaningless, arbitrary data to assess the performance of their sales team. Even worse is if the only number tracked, measured, and monitored is revenue quota attainment.

When I conduct workshops on building a sales metric management system, the first metric that the group usually mentions for inclusion is revenue. Revenue is not a metric. It is a result. There is nothing that sales managers can do to address revenue. They can, however, work with a sales person on specific activity levels that lead to quota attainment. In essence, the statistical components of your sales metric management system create a success roadmap for your sales people. If they are achieving the metrics in the system, they will be blowing out their revenue targets.

There are four steps to identifying the metrics for inclusion in your sales metric management system.

1. Measurable. If the area of the business you want to measure cannot be measured statistically, then how will you know whether or not it is working? This seems like circular logic, but I often hear about “trusting your gut” as a measurable statistic. Needless to say, gut instinct does not belong in a sales metric management system. There needs to be a way to track the data easily and efficiently.

For example, if you wanted to track the number of outbound calls made by your sales team, but that data was not tracked anywhere, you would not be able to measure it. Thus, outbound calls would not be part of your sales metric management system as it is not measurable. Search for other data points that reflect performance that is measurable. If you find that many of the areas you want to measure are not measurable, you may need to look at your CRM. It may need to be reconfigured or replaced altogether.

2. Meaningful. Just because you can measure a data point, it doesn’t mean that it belongs in your sales metric management system. Like sports, there is no end to the data that can be measured in a sales organization. Sportscasters commonly use a series of statistics to present how well or terribly a player is performing. Easily, a set of counterpoint data could be presented showing the opposite point of view.

I recall my time as a sales management executive where on any given day I could put together a series of data that would support promoting or firing any member of the sales team including myself. The key is to select the most critical activities that drive the sales person’s success and include those in your sales metric management system. For each metric, ask yourself what that data tells you relative to the sales person achieving their revenue goal. The meaningful ones go in your system while the others are cast aside.

3. Goal-oriented. Statistics without goals tell you very little about performance. Each statistical component of your sales metric management system needs to have a corresponding goal. When performance discussions take place with the sales person, their performance versus goal achievement serves as the center-point of the agenda. This is a significant change from the typical discussions that are focused on whether or not sales quota was attained.

When setting the goal-levels for your sales metric management system, there is an important consideration. Thinking back to report cards from school, students achieved a letter grade based on their performance. A few kids received an “A” which meant they had delivered stellar performance. However, average performance reflected a “C” on the report card. If your sales person achieved the goal for a particular metric, what does that mean? Was their performance exceptional? Or did they perform at the mere minimum acceptable level to keep their job?

If you set your goal levels so that they mean A-level performance, you should expect few of your sales people to hit them. If you set them at the C-level, you are establishing the baseline for minimum acceptable performance. There isn’t a right or wrong approach between the “A” and “C” philosophies. The key is to select one, understand its meaning relative to performance, and handle achievement accordingly.

4. Trainable. The final component is to identify the mentoring that can be provided to a sales person who is not achieving a defined metric in the system. Since the metrics that you are managing are critical to a sales person’s success (meaningful), deficiencies cannot be left unaddressed. When you identify each metric for the system, if a sales person is not achieving it, what potential weaknesses does it expose in their arsenal? As a sales manager, you can then begin digging to determine the root cause and help the sales person improve.

Just like many think that revenue is a metric, many think that if a sales person is failing to achieve their revenue quota that they cannot close. It’s possible that closing is the issue. However, if you have your sales metric management system in place, you may find that closing isn’t the issue at all. Perhaps, the sales person doesn’t have enough activity in their pipeline. Or, that they struggle to move prospects through the buying process. Or, any of countless other possible deficiencies. Managers who have their sales metric management system in place can quickly identify the problem area and address it.

Designing your sales metric management system well-positions you to create an effective sales compensation plan. Remember, your sales compensation plan tells your sales people where to invest their selling time. Thus, the compensation plan reinforces your sales metric management system. If you would like my sales metric management system worksheet, send me an email.

Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who specializes in helping companies build scalable, high-performance sales organizations through hiring the right sales people, on-boarding them effectively and efficiently, and aligning their sales activity with business objectives using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a columnist for Sales and Marketing Management Magazine and SalesforceXP Magazine. Look for Lee’s new book in 2010 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to hiring the right sales people. He is a results-driven sales management consultant and a passionate, dynamic speaker. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitects.net or 763.416.4321.

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The sales process you are defining to grow your business may be the very thing that is keeping your sales team from selling. 

As the economy has made sales competition fierce, companies have heavily focused on the sales process. Many, for the first time, are clearly defining all of the critical steps for their sales team. Some are even taking this to the level of providing detailed scripts that are to be followed to the letter by every sales rep.  

It’s as if they are taking all of the thought out of selling so it’s like the robotic arms on assembly lines. Every time a sales process begins, every step is followed identically by the sales representative. Eureka! A sale with zero defects comes out the other side just like the prior ones. 

This isn’t bashing a documented process. As a matter of fact, I’m a huge proponent of having a defined sales process (I refer to it as a buying process, but that is the subject of a future article.), but I am also a firm believer in the importance of the personal side of selling. You’ve probably heard before that companies don’t buy anything…people do. People don’t like dealing with robots that don’t think, don’t care, and are inflexible. If you aren’t careful, when you define your sales process, you could be creating an ineffective sales team that has adopted robotic selling. 

Recently, I was asked to consult with a boutique travel agency. This agency dealt exclusively with five-figure voyages. Yet, they still faced stiff competition. I met with the CEO to try to ascertain what was missing as he was frustrated with the performance of his sales team.  

He was puzzled to say the least. He showed me his detailed sales process, but the success was not there. He showed me the documented goals for the first call with a prospective traveler. Every sales rep on the team knew their objectives like the back of their hand. There were flow-charts and diagrams and training for the reps. Each one was tested on their proficiency of the process. Success is imminent, isn’t it? 

I asked the CEO to role play with me, with him as the prospective traveler calling in about a trip and how that call would begin.  

“Hi, I’m interested in talking with someone about a cruise that I’m thinking of taking…” 

The CEO responded, “OK. Where were you planning to go? Did you have a preferred cruise line? Did you have a budget in mind for your trip?” 

I interrupted and the CEO looked perplexed. He said confidently, “See, we have a clearly defined approach for handling a needs analysis discussion on the first call. We get the information we need to help our prospective clients with their venture. I still don’t understand why our team is not more effective.” 

I asked if we could try the role play again, but flip the roles, to which the CEO acquiesced. 

The CEO started… “Hi, I’m interested in talking with someone about a cruise that I’m thinking of taking…” 

My response… “How fantastic! Cruises are so much fun. The food, the music, the service…it’s great! Have you taken one before?” 

Just like in the cartoons, a light-bulb appeared over the CEO’s head. He got it. His process wasn’t flawed and the information requested by his team during the needs analysis was perfectly appropriate. What was missing was the personal side, the personal touch. Eventually, I would have asked the needs analysis questions that the CEO had documented, but I guarantee that I would have received more information as I had developed a bond. 

Study after study has shown that people buy based on emotion and justify their decision with logic. Robotic selling removes all of the emotion from the process making sales people ineffective. Think about the caller in this scenario…how excited they must be to be planning a significant vacation. They are looking to work with someone who shares that joy, that passion. They want to work with someone who they feel understands them and what they are going through. In the role play, the CEO quelled all of my excitement for the trip…like the fireman’s hose putting out the fire. He was such a dud that I may have decided to paint my house instead of taking the trip…a total downer. 

This change of approach with their clients had a number of benefits. Their prospective clients bonded more quickly with the agent and shared more information. The agents also cited that prospects said that they sounded different (positively) than other agencies. Differentiation is always a big winner in sales. Their success rate tripled! Interestingly, the agents said that now they were getting calls after the trip from their clients to share the experiences. And, referrals soared! 

So, now you think this was just a cute sales tactic. Wrong! An entire cultural shift was needed to make the process personal. At the outset, the prospective traveler wanted someone to share passion. As they moved through the process, there were other personal needs. For example, they wanted to know that someone cared that their trip went exactly as it was planned. And, when things go wrong, which something usually will when traveling, that there is someone who will do everything in their power to get it right. 

Define your sales process so you know what to do at every step, but don’t adopt robotic selling and lose your personal touch. It’s the personal touch that differentiates and makes people want to buy from you.  

Need help developing a personal touch strategy for your prospect? Send me an email to request my buying players worksheet to help you better understand your buying community. 

Lee B. Salz is a sales management guru who helps companies hire the right sales people, on-board them, and focus their sales activity using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of the award-winning book “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a columnist for SalesforceXP Magazine, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine and a member of Sales and Marketing Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board. He is a passionate, dynamic speaker and a business consultant. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitecture.com or 763.416.4321. 

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Hiring sales people from the competition always seems like a no-brainer, but there are many pitfalls with this hiring strategy. 

Life would be grand if we could sprinkle a few seeds in the ground, fertilize, add water…and a great sales person would sprout. This is truly a pipedream, but one often pursued by small business owners and sales management executives in their quest to find great sales talent. Rather than grow their own, they attempt to steal the crops from their competitors. Why not, their competitor is much better at growing a sales organization than they are. They will grab some magic from their competitor’s land and they too can enjoy great success. 

When did the competition begin building a better sales organization than your company? Before you harvest their crop, consider these five myths when hiring your competitor’s sales people.  

“Hiring from the competitor means the sales person will hit the ground running with no training.” Some of the attraction to the competitors’ sales people is sheer laziness. Hire a sales person from the competitor today…instant revenue tomorrow. No need to train them, they already know everything. Needless to say, this is flawed thinking. Sales people always need training and development regardless of who their former employer was. 

That said, every once in a while, lightning will strike and you will hire a rainmaker. More often than not, this approach is a recipe for a making a bad hire. A thought…What sales people do you really think are available from the competition? Rarely is it the top performers. It’s the bottom 20% that, truth be told, the company is glad to see leave.  

“Our industry is so complex that we must hire a sales person from within it.” How can this be true? No one ever came out of the womb mastering your industry…not even you. You were taught it and so was everyone else. If you truly feel that industry experience is the top requirement, be prepared for another major challenge…scalability. There are only so many people in your industry and very few that you will consider hiring. At some point, your talent pool will run dry. 

Sales people need to have a certain level of knowledge to effectively sell in an industry. Determine what they need to know to be effective and develop training tools to quickly get them up to speed. Identify resources in your company that can help them with their questions. Test their knowledge assimilation along the way to make sure they are getting it. 

“They’re going to bring a book of business with them.” Before you buy that argument, consider these three points. First, despite what they tell you, it is extremely difficult to move clients. The pain of change is not one that is easily resolved with clients. It is rare to find a sales person with that strong of an influence to overcome that issue.  

Second, the sales person doesn’t own those clients, their employer does. While non-competes don’t usually hold up in court, client list protection does. And, you can be at risk in the mess. Do you really need that headache? 

Third, don’t think for a minute that the sales person you hire today will one day retire with your firm. They will leave your employ some day. Imagine your sales person attempting to take your clients with them when they go. It doesn’t feel overly ethical, does it? And, it’s a flawed reason to hire a sales person.  

“We’re a little firm and we could really use a sales person that comes from one of our large competitors.” This statement is true if, and only if, your company and the large competitor are identical twins. A synergistic match between your company and the candidate is needed to put together a long-lasting sales marriage. There are a number of nuances that affect this synergy.   

The flaw with this statement is that it assumes a complete sales culture match. Every sales organization is different, even within the same industry. The large competitor may have a ton of sales support for prospecting and presentations, while in your company the entire burden is on the sales person. The sales person at the competitor may enjoy great name recognition in the marketplace while you do not. Thus, a different skill set is needed to get in the door with prospects. The list goes on and on. The key is develop a profile of your ideal sales candidate with the required and desired attributes and interview accordingly.  

“Since they have been in the industry, they are passionate about it and passion sells.” Absolutely true! Passion sells, but it’s an incorrect assumption that these sales people arrive with passion. Sales people who bounce from company to company in an industry become “vanilla.”  

Years ago, I had a sales person on my team who had sold for three of our competitors prior to joining our company. I participated in a ride-along sales call with her and the meeting was interesting to say the least. She could have had any of her former employer’s business cards in her hand, or ours for that matter, and everything she said was accurate. There was no passion. It was all vanilla information that failed to arouse any excitement in the prospect. 

Sales hiring is daunting for companies of all sizes. The key is to have a profile of your ideal sales candidate and interview the prospects against it. This will help you find the right sales talent for your team whether they worked for your competitor or not. Need help interviewing sales candidates? Send me an email for my 28 favorite interview questions for sales candidates. 

Lee B. Salz is a sales management guru who helps companies hire the right sales people, on-board them, and focus their sales activity using his sales architecture® methodology. He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of the award-winning book “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is a columnist for Sales and Marketing Management Magazine and SalesforceXP Magazine. He is also a passionate, dynamic speaker and a business consultant. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitecture.com or 763.416.4321.

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