How to Develop Selling Capability and Performance

What Values Guide Your Selling Activities

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Please forgive the delay in returning to my blog but I have been finding it difficult to resist the lure of these beautiful sunny summer evenings. The temptation of strolling down along the Grand Canal and stopping off for a chat and some refreshing beverages along the way is a stronger pull than sitting and writing. However it's back to business and the topic of effective leadership.

The third component (111) Beliefs and Values have a lot to do with the leaders ability to win co-operation from others. This as you can imagine is vital in successful management as the whole job centres on the task of getting work done through other people, that's why leadership is such a valuable skill for any manager to possess. In the context of managing salespeople its not so much valuable as it is absolutely essential because motivating salespeople is the key to enabling them perform at a level required to achieve the organisation's business development objectives.

But are we not getting a little too analytical here? Surely a sales manager can motivate his/her team without coming under scrutiny regarding their belief and values? What about sales incentives, bonuses, commission etc after all money talks and if you want to motivate somebody 'cut the crap' just show them the money. Well, we will explore this way of thinking later, for the moment however you may be wondering how exactly beliefs and values impact on performance in a business context?

Our beliefs help us provide stability in our lives; we learn to put things into compartments so that they will make sense to us. Beliefs are assumptions or convictions that we hold true regarding people, concepts or things. They are the material, which we use in the construction of our value system.
Values on the other hand are the standards by which we operate. They are fundamental to our identity. They are rules that dictate our behaviour and inform our choices. Our values act as guides towards decisions we have to make and the manner in which we implement them.

The global economic crisis and the role financial institutions have played in this have focussed attention on the structures of these organisations, the way they were managed and the people who were managing them. The revelations of excessive greed, personal enrichment, corruption, contempt, belligerence, selfishness and arrogance, endemic in the industry, surprised many. The model of American capitalism replicated throughout the western world, that worked so well to raise the fortunes of millions of people in the last century appears to have come to an end. Founding Values such as integrity, honesty, commitment, compassion, patriotism, fairness and generosity, which contributed to the formation of stable and harmonious societies, have become so unfashionable that their very mention in some circles would attract humorous scorn. According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor of business adminstration at Harvard Business School in her new book 'SuperCorp 'vanguard companies' like IBM, Proctor & Gamble, Cemex, Banco Real, and Omron are using values to rewrite what it means to be successful in the 21st century.

Of course any company can say it has values but Kanter's book cites examples of companies that actually embed them in business practice and use a codified set of values as a strategic guidance system. There is sufficient evidence also that talented people are increasingly attracted to companies because of compatible values; they also stay longer and seem more content.

So now you are working in an organisation as a sales representative and you get along reasonably well with your manager. I have got you thinking about values and you are beginning to wonder how these are evident in your daily working life. Well I' m going top let you think about it for another while, in the meantime if you have any thoughts on the topic drop me a line.
I will return, to advance this subject a little further, soon.
Cheers
Dave http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Developing A Passion For Selling

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:10:00 +0000

My post May 1st identified three components of effective leadership the second one (11) passion and commitment refers to the manner in which a vision is described which can sometimes be as important as the vision itself. It is the 'fire in the belly' and is grounded in a sincere and unshakable belief system. You know immediately when you are in the company of somebody who is passionate about their vision by their mannerisms i.e. level of confidence, tone, enthusiasm, posture, language and drive. A good example here is Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, which succeeded inspiring others for many reasons but mostly because of the passion, it radiated.

I accept that not everybody is performing a job of work that they totally enjoy because many people view their career as a means to an end. They exist in a job because their salary provides them with a comfortable lifestyle and it pays the mortgage. Unfortunately many organisations promote individuals to management positions for a lot of the wrong reasons. An individual that is steady, tows the company line, is diligent, hardworking and reliable is frequently the preferred choice. Organisations who play it safe in this regard are not always unsuccessful but you will find their management regime is usually autocratic and lack the dynamic environment that many sales people require to perform to their full potential.

Effective leaders need freedom and encouragement and to operate in an environment where creativity and risk taking are fostered and promoted. Google who feature in Fortune magazine 100 best companies to work for 2009 describe their culture in the following manner:

"Our commitment to innovation depends on everyone being comfortable sharing ideas and opinions. That means that each employee is a hands-on contributor, and everyone wears several hats. Because everyone realizes they are an equally important part of our success, no one hesitates to ask Larry or Sergey a pointed question in our weekly TGIF meetings, or spike a volleyball over the net at a corporate officer" and further state:

"As we grow worldwide, we continue to look for those who share an obsessive commitment to creating search perfection and having a great time doing it".

Jack Welch author and well known former Chairman General Electric states " Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion"

Sales leaders who possess strong passion and commitment imbue a similar level of passion in their teams, which in turn inspires customers. In a highly competitive trading climate when customers are faced with what they view as product/service similarity, the deciding factor in their decision-making is frequently dependent on the quality of selling interaction. It is easy therefore to see why passion and commitment are key components of successful sales management.
Back soon, in the meantime feel free to leave a comment.
Regards
Dave http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

A clear Vision is an Essential Component of High Sales Performance

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:42:00 +0000

In my studies of leaders I have noticed that there are always three defining characteristics (Refer to my previous post)

Vision:
I would describe vision as the leader possessing a complete understanding of the 'big picture' of exactly where they want to be. This vision (whatever it may be) is clear and communicated to others as a means of providing direction and establishing a purpose. It is strong enough to withstand the challenges of outside forces. In other words nobody or nothing is going to undermine this vision. Not all followers of the leader agree with the vision, they don't have to, the vision belongs to the leader, and others work with the leader to find ways of achieving it. In sharing their vision the leader fosters good relationships, encourages collaboration, promotes innovation and develops camaraderie.

The following are examples of some vision statements:

"When I'm through …everyone will have one".
(Henry Ford on democratising the automobile)

"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to earth"
(President Kennedy May 25th 1961)

"Empower people through great software, any place, any time, and on any device".
(Microsoft vision)

"2000 stores by the year 2000"
(Howard Shultz of Starbucks Coffee Company)

Management author Tom Peters, identified a clear vision of the desired future state of the organisation, as an essential component of high performance. Leadership vision is an essential means for focusing attention on what matters most; what you want to accomplish in your life and what kind of leader you wish to be. A useful vision has to be rooted in your past, address the future, and deal with today's realities. It represents who you are and what you stand for. It inspires you, and the people whose commitment you need, to act to make constructive change towards a future you and your team want to see.

If you are a sales representative working for a manager who you believe lacks vision the chances are you will operate with a short term focus, lack motivation and operate in a disjointed and haphazard manner.

If there is anybody out there who has a story to tell in relation to this topic, I would love to hear it.

In my next post I will deal with the second component of effective leadership referred to in my post 1/05/09 (Passion and Commitment) so come back for that soon.

Regards
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

The Sales Manager and Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:42:00 +0000

The manner in which a salesperson conducts their selling activities will reveal the degree to which they are motivated. The extent to which they are motivated will reflect on how they are managed and here I refer here to the 'leadership' capabilities of the sales manager.

A salesperson that operates in an optimistic, enthusiastic and gregarious manner, who is enjoyable to be with, knows their stuff and are self assured and confident, will most certainly be working for a manager who is enlightened about selling and their own role as a manager.

Leadership is an aspect of management practice that has confounded the experts down through the years which is evident by the volumes of written work on the subject. In a business/selling context I would like to offer my definition of leadership as follows:

'Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of others
towards the accomplishment of a shared goal taking into account
the imperfections of individuals'.

In my studies of effective leadership I have found there are three very important components:

(1) Vision (11) Passion and Commitment (111) Beliefs and Values.

You would imagine that is selecting managers that these traits would be the key considerations for promoting individuals, however that assumes we are operating in an ideal world. Like selling there are few individuals that demonstrate natural selling ability and in both cases this does not exclude individuals becoming good at 'managing or good at 'selling' because the skills required to perform at a reasonable degree of effectiveness can be taught. A salesperson that is shy and retired by nature is not doomed to failure, but selling is going to be a tough job for them to excel at. A manager that lacks natural leadership ability again is not certain to fail but will perhaps never reach their full potential as an effective manager. These are personality traits and you cannot change people's personalities. I believe that you cannot teach people to be 'Leaders', how for example can you teach people to have 'vision'? How can you teach people to have 'beliefs and values' these are pre-existing traits that are embedded in personality. I do believe however that you can teach people to be good at 'managing in the same way that you can teach people to be good at 'selling'. Many organisations struggle with this dichotomy making them vulnerable to those that claim they can transform their managers into high-powered 'leaders'. They are in constant search to acquire those sometimes-indefinable qualities and make them available to their managers so that they become effective leaders. This is a useless task and one in my mind that cannot be achieved.

Taking a wider perspective on leadership you will have no doubt noticed the topic surface as a prime consideration in the recent selection of a new president of the U.S.A. there was a thirst for strong leadership among the American people and understandably so, given the state of their economy. In their quest the Americans have elected Barack Obama as their preferred choice of leader and for the moment their thirst seem to have been quenched.

The same desire currently exists in Ireland where 'leadership' or rather the lack of it seems to be making a bad situation even worse. This desire for strong leadership has focussed attention on individuals in all aspects of business and political life in Ireland presently and it will be interesting to see who will be the choice of the Irish to lead the next government in a change that seems imminent in the near future. Either way it illustrates how leadership and the consequences of it, profoundly affect the lives of people. The same concept is replicated in a business context, where the leadership capabilities of the sales manager profoundly affect the working and personal lives of individual members of the sales team.

I look forward to expanding this topic in my next post; in the meantime your comments are most welcome.
Cheers
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Selling Capability-Revealed!

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:22:00 +0000

In my post dated 07/03/09 I offered you advice on how to write a standard and selected 'commitment' from the range of 29 SPI's. I really hope you are making serious progress in completing your standards index or at least you are at a stage where you can envisage the completed work. As a manager you will now have in place (and your successors forever more) a complete standards index customised to your sales departments requirements and distributed to each member of your team. Wow! Congratulations, you are now a member of an exclusive group of professional sales mangers. Trust me, unfortunately I'm not being glib here, you are a rarity and you have now in place one of the most effective performance measuring tools that will enable you and your team bring sales performance to a new high.

The example standard 'commitment' had 6 components each referenced cmt 1-cmt 6 so when measuring your representative's performance under this criterion, you find that he/she is partially complying with the standard (Level 2) and identify, cmt1, cmt3 and cmt5 as aspects of the standard that need to be addressed by the representative. Furthermore you document the action the representative will take to help them improve in the areas identified and set a date for the next review. This information is recorded on the RATE ME form, which is in duplicate- one copy given to the representative and one retained by you, their manager.

Remember this is not an appraisal system we will leave that to HR, this is a homemade sales performance measurement system that incorporates near real time visible insights into the state of your selling capability. In summary then you have:

(a) A complete standards index (29 SPI's described and referenced)
(b) An evaluation form 'RATE ME' used in collaboration with each representative

I suggest you get together with your representatives on an individual basis every three weeks for performance evaluation. You should be prepared to put by a minimum of one day per rep and do not use the occasion to criticise but rather an opportunity to encourage and provide guidance/advise. Provide armour of this nature to an incompetent sales manager and watch all hell break loose. There can be untold damage done to careers and lives destroyed. This brings me to another topic in relation to sales performance improvement i.e. LEADERSHIP which I will cover in my next post.

If you have any comment/question at all on what has been discussed so far please let me know I'd love to hear from you.
Back again soon
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie

When Success and Failure Hang Equally In The Balance!

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Yeh, what a great weekend for Irish sport, Bernard Dunne winning the WBA super-bantam weight world title fight and the Irish rugby team winning the grand slam for the second time since 1948. In both cases there was very little separating opponents, like a carrot dangling on a stick, victory or defeat hung perilously as delicately balanced outcomes for either side, maintaining spectator anxiety with adrenaline filled anticipation throughout both events. In the end with talent in equal abundance, the factors that surfaced to clinch victory were, skill, determination, courage and self-belief.

There are many parallels between sport and business life and I'm sure you will agree the factors mentioned above are frequently evident in successful salespeople. Courage, determination and self-belief are not endemic in the human psyche, it takes special expertise to develop and foster these as dominant characteristics. In fact I'd go as far to state that Irish people have long been criticised for their apparent subservient attitude and inhibited behaviour, perhaps a vestige from their colonial past. This landmark in Irish sporting history is testament to the parents of this generation who have worked hard to engender a renewed spirit of self-determination and independence in their children and rid forever the shackles that bound previous generations in futile recrimination of our historic past. That was then, this is now and I'm still celebrating and so should you.

Back with more on evaluating salespeople very soon:
Regards
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Managing 'Top Dog'-Back Off or Bite Back!

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:23:00 +0000

Successful sales management requires the manager to promote commitment as an intrinsic element of sales team membership. Having 'committed' people is a real bonus, but it does not happen by chance, because commitment is sought, nurtured and developed in the same way as other performance indicators are, like 'closing sales' for example.

In a world where 'greed' is frequently viewed as an acceptable trait and 'high ego' a characteristic tolerated without comment, obtaining commitment from salespeople, maybe viewed as outside the boundary for many aspiring sales managers. However it is an important requirement in the formation of a cohesive and properly functioning team.

In my first post 'How Well Do You Know Your Salespeople' I described 'Top Dog' as a high performer and questioned the judgement of defining 'high performance' in terms of sales quotas. 'Top Dog' maybe exceeding their sales targets but they maybe doing so at a high cost to the organisation. What do I mean by this? Well, my research has revealed that 'Top Dog' is not that easy to manage. How many sales managers will admit to constantly running after 'Top Dog', trying to get them to comply with the rules: reports are frequently late, you can't get them to go on training courses, expenses go unchecked, they are unwilling to help others out, because they complain they are too busy, and seem committed to nothing or nobody but themselves. They are left alone for fear as to how they might react and use their results as a weapon to beat the sales manager with. In other words the sales manager begins to retreat and tolerates this situation and in doing so, by implication is condoning 'Top Dog's' behaviour as a model for other to follow. 'Top dogs' standards now become embedded within the team, they call the shots, they rule the sales roost, and consolidate their position over time, to the extent where the dynamics of the team never have a chance to surface.

Why have I isolated 'commitment'? I haven't, this was simply plucked from our list of 29 SPI's but it is no less and no more important than any of the others. I felt that it would be a difficult one, to write a standard for: refer to my previous post: 'How To Write A Sales Performance Standard' if you can manage to write a standard for commitment, the chances are you will find little difficulty in completing the remainder on the list. Remember you are not alone here, you have two others assisting you, so if you get together as a team for one hour per day and complete a standard each time, you will have the exercise completed in less than a month. So now, when it comes to commitment, how are you going to express your expectations for your salespeople? To help you here I have compiled a 'standards index' and I'm using the word index instead of manual because I think it sounds better. When you view this document you can see now how my 'little formula' is beginning to take shape. The operational standard I have described, is mine and I'm not stating it is the right or wrong way to judge commitment, you will of course have your own take on this, I'm simply using this as an example.

I would be interested to know how you would write this standard and you are welcome to get in touch with me, by either subscribing to my blog and/or posting a comment.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Back soon again.
Regards
Dave; http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

How to Write a Sales Performance Standard

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Writing standards for your salespeople is not as complicated a task as you might imagine.

By way of encouraging you to proceed, let me remind you of some benefits that will accrue from your endeavours:

1 You will obtain near real time visibility on the performance levels of each individual sales representative on your team.
2 You will become more focused and specific in diagnosing deficits in individual performance.
3 You will be able to implement more cost effective and relevant development solutions.
4 Others will view you as a sales manager that possesses a high level of integrity.
5 You will be better able to align selling activity to the accomplishment of organisational goals.
6 You will be able to command a greater degree of loyalty from your sales team.
7 Your salespeople will become more confident, knowing that somebody who is deemed to be very competent at their job is managing them.
8 You will be able to encourage your salespeople to take ownership of their own personal development.
9 Your sales team will operate with a higher level of motivation and enthusiasm.
10 You will become more successful in raising the productivity and performance levels of your sales team.

Now, this is the description of a sales manager that many organisations would love to get their hands on, and who, they find difficult to locate -I wonder why?

Writing the standards:
Performance standards may be written to different levels of complexity. The more general the applicability, the harder it is to be specific. You now realise the futility of adopting somebody else's standards or indeed have me write them for you. However I would ask you to give consideration to the following guidelines:

In all cases standards should be:

(a) Realistic and obtainable- Standards for performance, which meet expectations, represent the minimum acceptable level of performance for that particular aspect of the job.
(b) Specific- The standard should tell the sales representative exactly which specific action and result they are expected to accomplish.
(c) Based on measurable data, observation or verifiable information- Performance can be measured in terms of timelines, cost, quality and quantity.
(d) Consistent with organisational goals- Standards link individual and team performance to organisational goals and should be consistent with those goals. The success of the organisation's and sales division's mission depends on this strategic connection.
(e) Challenging- Standards can describe performance that exceeds expectations. Recognising performance that is above expectations or is outstanding is crucial to salespeople's motivation.
(f) Clear and understandable- The salesperson whose work is to be evaluated on the basis of standards should understand them. Standards are the language of the job.
(g) Dynamic- As organisational goals, technologies and processes change, standards should evolve with them.

Now, getting back to the RATE ME evaluation form, start writing these standards and I will come back to give you some examples. You maybe wondering how you going to write a standard for say 'commitment', which is one of the SPI's outlined on the form, if you have a suggestion, let me know: post a comment or email me.

Cheers
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Setting Sales Performance Standards-Getting Down and Dirty!

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:43:00 +0000

Ok, now let's get on with it! The 'RATE ME' form, which you will have reviewed by now if you read my previous post What Do Your Sales Figures Tell You? it documented 29 Sales Performance Indicators (SPI's). Well what do you think? Is there any field based selling job that does not incorporate these performance activities?

You are welcome to add or subtract to this list, however I would not recommend you adding too much and the reasons for this will become evident as we progress. The next column on the 'RATE ME' form states Level (1-3) and you might well wonder what these refer to and I will describe these as follows:

Level 1= Non compliance with standard
Level 2= Partial compliance with standard
Level 3= Full standard compliance

Easy so far, yea! Well column three is where the fun begins; this will separate the 'men form the mice'. The real sales manager from the bluffer! So brace yourself, because now you are actually going to have to devote some hard work into making this operational.

Column three 'Required Improvement Reference' (Refer to standard manual) infers that you have in place, such an animal! But you don't! Well go and compile one and do it now!

Seek Help.
I recommend that there should be at least three people involved in setting sales standards i.e. The Sales Director, The Sales Manager and HR Specialist. If you don't have a HR function, then source the expertise externally, you are going to need it and please do not pass this task on to somebody else and ask him or her to come back to you when they have written the standards, it simply doesn't work like that. The standards should have you written all over them, they incorporate you expectations with regard to the performance levels of your team, they are a reflection of your leadership style, they really are 'your little baby'. Remember also that while it is a legitimate option to develop standards without your sales team's involvement the benefits of a collaborative approach should be borne in mind; in particular, the end result is more likely to be supported if your salespeople are involved, either way mutual understanding and recognition of the standards is necessary.

Does this mean that you have to write a standard for each of the 29 sales performance indicators outlined in the 'RATE ME' form? The good news is, not necessarily, because you may focus on those, which are most important to the job of selling as you see it. However I am reluctant to state this for fear you might use this an excuse to reduce the amount of work involved and only do the task half right. I would suggest however that you can say group a number of indicators together e.g. 'planning', 'personal organisation' and say 'time management' and write a standard incorporating your organisation's expectations in relation to these activities under the one heading.

So now that you've got this far, I'll let you mull over this for a while and I will come back to let you know how to write a standard so that you can begin to fully utilise the 'RATE ME' evaluation form.

I'm unsure if this is making any sense to you and/or if you believe it can help: you can let me know by posting a comment or sending me an email. Look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

What Do Your Sales Figures Tell You?

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:25:00 +0000

The reluctance of managers to effectively monitor selling behaviour is the single most common contributory factor in poor sales performance.

Eighty per cent of the companies I have researched do not have a formal dedicated sales evaluation process, that is, outside an annual performance review, which, is usually a mechanism for salary negotiation. Sales Managers become pre-occupied with the detail in their monthly sales results, claiming they reveal sufficient information to make judgements on individual team members and believe their experience and instinctive judgement capabilities are sufficient in determining what's best for their people. However examining sales figures simply provides financial statistical data and tells you very little about individual potential.

Taking a genuine long-term interest in the welfare and development of the sales team, requires quality leadership, loyalty, commitment, skill, dedication and expertise, topics certainly that were never viewed as very trendy by a certain sector of corporate Ireland who are not in need of further mention right now. Standards and the apparent lack/absence of them in our financial institutions have brought that industry and perhaps our little nation to its knees. Our government who are the watchdogs/ supervisors of the banks cannot claim that the deeds of a few where to blame, because their leadership role implies that their standards are going to be mimicked and reflected throughout society, such is the power of leadership.

The same applies to the corporate scene, where isolating the sales manager, as the one singularly responsible for setting selling standards is both unfair and incorrect. Sales managers, whose peers neglect standards, concentrating instead on profit as a priority, will tend to imitate their peers, believing in doing so, they are operating in a manner consistent with the corporate ethos and therefore, through their actions propagate a culture, that is not necessarily a reflection of their own philosophy. So the comments I received from sales managers and outlined in my previous post, must be interpreted to the extent they incorporate the sentiments of their peers. It will take a brave manager to step outside the corporate line and initate processes that intigrate, seemingly, conflicting corporate priorities, however, that's what it takes. Corporate leaders understandably are keen to produce results for their stakeholders and are frequently influenced by external advisors who operate with a short term focus. Sales managers need to be more pro-active and assertive in persuing what they believe is required in achieving sustainable high performance levels from their teams and when they do, usually find their peers are surprisingly cooperative. It other words the actions of many sales managers are grounded in misguided interpretations and flawed perceptions that frequently undermine their team's selling capacity and capabilities.

Admittedly many sales managers are financially under resourced, so those in need of acquiring outside expertise, in the area under discussion here are frequently left to muddle along on their own.
The costs of engaging sales benchmarking expertise of can vary from anything in the region of between €5k-€ 50k and many companies are not prepared to invest that type of money in something they feel their sales managers are capable of doing anyway. A little bit of 'burying your head' in the sand here, where the whole area is often left untouched and/or conducted 'on the hoof'. Well that was until now because I have developed a little formula that will cost you absolutely nothing only a small investment in time.

By way of answering the question posed in my last post regarding 'what exactly it is you are attempting to measure'? I have developed a form titled RATE ME-Sales Performance Analysis Form pdf and by clicking this link you can review the factors that I believe are universal to all field based selling jobs. This form is going to play an important part in your evaluation process so you are welcome to print it off. I will explain how to use it in my next post so stay tuned!

I have no comments to post as yet because I'm still learning how to get ranked in the search engines, and I've messed up, by not getting my feed set up correctly, however I'm making steady progress. In the meantime if you have any difficulty with the link and/or want to comment on any of my posts so far, please feel fee to do so, I access these on a daily basis, luv to hear from ye.
Cheers
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

What Is The Job Of 'Selling' All About Anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:29:00 +0000

When you begin to explore the topic of setting standards and benchmarking sales performance it is easy to see why many sales managers are put off the idea in the first place. There are so many providers out there, with their own solutions and systems most incorporating huge amounts of paperwork and evaluation process that are, very time consuming, complicated and cumbersome. Most sales managers are pre-occupied and already overwhelmed by the urgency of meeting monthly targets and motivating their sales team, that leaves them with very little room for implementing what they see as a scientific instrument which, has no place in evaluating what they view as an art anyway.

I really don't blame them for taking this view but as I have stated already 'it is flawed and dangerous'. Sales managers I find have cultivated a belief that: in setting-up an evaluation system that reveals possible weaknesses in operational procedures relative to the sales division, is a reflection on them and their quality of management, it is preferable to them therefore to not initiate a process that would ever highlight information of that nature.

However almost every function of business is measured and benchmarked in some way these days and depending on the industry you operate within, standards can be regulated by the industry itself. The national standards association of Ireland states that there are 750,000 registered industry standards in operation worldwide. An example industry standard relating to the security industry will illustrate how this works for installation personnel. The standard itself as you can see states: "Any installer, whose installations regularly fall below the requirement of I.S. EN 50131/1, may have certification revoked by NSAI". There are consequences therefore for the installer and their organisation in such circumstances in terms of business acquisition and customer relations. As it happens there is a definitive wrong and right way to install an alarm system and the process therefore is easily measured.

The question is! Can sales performance be measured in the same way? Sure there is many random and sometimes uncontrollable factors, which affect the outcome of a successful sales encounter but these imponderables, exist in other benchmarked processes also. So the selling process and the inherent performance levels of salespeople cannot be excluded from the benchmarking arena with any sincere degree of justification any longer.

I would be very keen to minimise the process for sales managers, not for any other reason than the one stated above, where I would acknowledge their tendency to avoid anything in documented format that might incorporate laborious dedication to analysis and interpretation. It is simply not in the nature of the beast, who, after all, believes their time better spent in getting out and interacting with the team and their customers in the field. But in simplifying the process, I am not excluding their involvement; they must be involved because of their valuable and unique knowledge of the whole sales set-up. In addition I believe that when setting standards and seeking a point of reference in which to measure performance, there is seldom, if ever, an industry norm established and I do not recommend you use your competitors as a reference no matter how professional and successful they are perceived.

Certainly there are established codes of practice in selling but they are not 'standards' they are simply 'codes of practise' and while very laudable these codes are usually descriptors of say membership criteria to an institute and/or association. Sales managers who state their team's membership of such 'business network clubs' constitutes sufficient evidence of the high standards in which they carry out their activities, have simply, no grasp of the topic and need to think again. You may rightly ask, why there is no industry norm in which to compare your team's performance against? In other words, if there are no established norms how then are you expected to implement an accurate system that will reveal adherence to standards if there are no established 'norms' in the first place? Ask a thousand sales manager or sales representatives 'how they would describe the correct way to sell' the chances are you would get a thousand different answers. Does this complicate matters? yes, of course it does. Does it constitute a valid reason not to implement an evaluation and benchmarking system? no it doesn't! The following are some reactions I have received from sales managers on the topic:

"Look , when it comes to selling, there is no right or wrong way, if the salesperson can sell it will be reflected in their achievements at the end of the month"!

"Our market is different, there are so many unpredictable factors, that our strategies change almost by the day"! Your suggestions are fine, but they won't work for us"!

"You can't regulate selling behaviour, it stifles creativity in our salespeople who need freedom to engage their talents"!

" I don't like evaluating individuals, it interferes with the relationship I have with my team and if I have to offer criticism it will affect overall motivation"!

While these expressions are valid they are grounded in misinterpretation of the topic and are symptomatic of the lack of expertise that exists in the role of sales management today.

As a starting point in evaluating sales performance I would challenge current thinking on the very topical question of: what the job of selling is about in the first place? My own findings reveal a substantial variety of interpretations, but get on the Internet and type ' selling and sales performance' into Google, in 0.29 seconds you will obtain 11 million results. I'm not surprised if there is a lot of confusion out there, but for the moment if you have to measure something it would be useful to know what it is you are measuring? In other words 'what distinct measurable activities are performed by salespeople that can be measured and that irrespective of the industry and/or location they operate within are common to all selling jobs'?

Perhaps you have your own take on this? If so let me know and leave a comment:

I will be back with my own contribution.

Have a great day
Dave http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Who Are Your Salespeoples Role Models?

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Policies, practices, procedures, strategies, targets, tactics and now standards!
Where! You might ask: do I go from here?

Well, when you analyse your sales team's performance, you will probably find that the majority are just coasting. I don't mean to be critical here, but from my twenty years experience training salespeople, I've found that many adhere to performance standards of their own and get confused as to what response they should give when you ask: what performance standards are laid down within their organisation, in relation to a particular selling procedure?

The approach many organisations take when they recruit a new salesperson perhaps serves to illustrate how the topic of procedures and the level of adherence to them, is left as the sole mechanism in judging sales performance. Typically the salesperson undergoes an induction programme sometimes conducted by the Hr. department and may include activities like, watching a corporate video on the company and its history. Then they are handed a manual of company operating procedures, reporting forms and product information. They may then be sent out with 'Top Dog' for a few weeks to 'learn the ropes'. The chances are, that 'Top Dog' and their colleagues underwent the same induction programme when they first joined the organisation and if you were to review the procedures with them today: they would each have their own interpretation of them. Together with the tribal lore, myths and habits that they surround themselves with, it won't be long before the new recruit becomes another Mr/Ms average.

So what then are policies, practices, procedures, strategies, targets and tactics? The best way to answer this question is to state that: they are not standards.

The oxford English dictionary provides the following definitions

Standard • noun: something used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations.

Benchmark • noun: a standard or point of reference.

So, to reduce some of the possible confusion, when I talk about Standards and Benchmarking I'm talking about the same thing. Now that's what I call progress.

Back again soon
Regards
Dave: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/.

Stepping Up To The Task Of Setting Standards:

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Yea. I know "mention the word benchmarking and I'm out of here, not my baby, I'll leave that one to the 'top brass', nothing to do with me".

If this is a reflection of your attitude, then I'd think again and here's why?

Firstly: You are a sales director, sales manager, key account manager, sales representative business operator, whatever, but imperative to the way you perform is the level of professionalism you devote to your work. You have two choices here (a) Give attention to everything you do at all times and operate in the most thorough way possible or (b) Plod away like always and hope tomorrow will bring something better. Remember also, that benchmarking maybe a topic that is being or has been, already pursued on an organisational basis by your peers in relation to other processes, fair enough but that not getting you off the hook. We are talking about the topic in a more focused way and relative to your section/team only. There is nobody else who knows the job as well as you do, nobody else knows your salespeople as well as you do, their strengths/weaknesses, likes and dislikes, when it comes to matters 'selling' your are the expert, 'you da the man'. So how come you believe that topic is best left to somebody else, not a chance, ignore it at your peril!

Secondly: Take a look at our economy now, a predicted 400,000 people unemployed by year-end. Good management? I think not! In fairness there are many external factors influencing conditions, however there are also internal factors that our political masters have ignored and are struggling to get to grips with. The question is, what strategies are you putting in place now that will help you and your organisation capitalise on the upturn when it occurs? Indeed what strategies are you adopting currently to help alleviate the consequences of the downturn, as it exists presently? Your thoughts, plans, actions, strategies and tactics in answer to these questions are likely to impact on the livelihoods of your team members for better or worse, will depend on you. So if the topic of benchmarking were one you can easily dismiss, then I would question your suitability for the job of sales manager.

Remember the most successful companies today are pro-active, forward looking and competitive bringing new and innovative products/services to local and global customers. What makes them stay ahead in the race for business survival is their maintaining a keen eye on anticipating emerging trends and also in aligning resources to maximise performance for competitive advantage. To exploit that potential you need to know what level of selling performance is most important in achieving revenue and profit targets. This requires up-to-date interpretation of critical business information and issues in relation to the capability of your sales team in near real time visibility to drive pro-active, intelligent decisions for business success. With the correct visibility and insights you have fast, reliable and accurate information at your fingertips, which will permit you to employ better strategies and enhance tactical decision-making.

I'm not a benchmarking guru and I don't want to turn you into one either, so I'll be back with some practical guidelines.
Regards for now
Dave
Website: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Are You Getting The Results You Want?

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Now that you have accepted (or not) that your sales team comprises of individuals with different characteristics that frequently determine that manner in which they conduct their selling activities and the consequences ranked in terms of a performance descriptor, does this help you in raising sales performance? Not at all, it simply illustrates the composition of your team and their productivity levels.

In my previous blog I described a team that is not necessarily representative of yours but from my experience it is not all that far removed from reality. What is important here is the disparity that exists in performance levels in this case high - poor a scenario that frequently confronts many sales managers. In these circumstances managers constantly strive to narrow this gap and achieve a high level of performance from each team member and this is understandable. Remember in the team we are dealing with here, each member believes they are doing the job right the only thing is, not all are getting the right result.

To determine the cause you are likely to adopt two methods:

(1) Measure: The right result is defined (correctly or otherwise) in terms of set revenue targets. These are easily measured and quantified.

(2) Evaluate: Here you will estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of each team member's work to determine if they are doing the job right.

It is this evaluation process that causes many sales manager to falter because If I was to ask you-what benchmarks do you have in place that are used as a reference point against which sales performance is evaluated? and who is setting them? What answers would you give?

Well why not tell me and post your comments, I'd love to know. Back later
Regards
Dave

How Well Do You Know Your Salespeople?

noreply@blogger.com (David Quinn Sales Trainer) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Given the state of the economy and market conditions presently I've no doubt many organisations and small business operators are reappraising and evaluating their strategies in an effort to safeguard and protect their business interests.

Cutting costs and/or improving performance are the order of the day and those in the front line of business acquisition are under particular scrutiny at this time. Sales targets and expectations are rarely adjusted downwards instead the focus is on how to achieve identified sales objectives, compete and survive in an increasingly volatile and competitive marketplace.

There are many sales and business development managers who are left to reflect on their own and their team's performance some accepting that their team is performing far below potential. At times like these it is easy to take comfort in the assumption that 'everybody else is in the same boat' and sure all we can do is keep our heads down and battle away. This thought process will result in inertia and usually the inevitable when downsizing becomes an imposed, if not, necessary option. Your desire to avoid this scenario at all costs is understandable, so what are you doing about it? An important aspect of sales management is periodical evaluation of performance and there is no better time than the present that is, RIGHT NOW!

The task of performance evaluation and improvement is not an easy one for the sales manager and before you stop reading this, believing the topic best left to your HR department, it most certainly is not. You may indeed claim that when it comes to performance evaluation the easiest and most accurate measure is to reflect on the results achieved by each individual member of your team. Statistics don't lie "a representative can either bring in the business or they can't and the ones that can't do not remain on my team". I would challenge this attitude as being flawed and dangerous and one that can create a lot of problems for salespeople.

I have witnessed many otherwise good potential salespeople end their selling careers not because they lacked the resources to perform but because of the manner in which they were managed or more accurately mismanaged. Many managers themselves lack the expertise required to nurture and develop selling capability and misguidedly do themselves a great disservice by loosing very talented people.
I accept the job of selling is not an exact science and appreciate this makes that task of setting benchmarks for the job very difficult but it does not make it impossible and I will illustrate this later, perhaps in my next blog. For the moment, lets take stock of who you might have among your team. I don't want to be disingenuous towards salespeople by labelling them but for descriptive purposes you might find it easier to recognise the following:

Top Dog:
Leader of the pack, big ego, knows it all, non-conformist, reluctant to change, operates in isolation, great networker, consistently overachieves.
Performance: High

Mr Congeniality:
Out to please everybody, affable/likeable, good sense of humour, looks the part, always wears a smile, excellent relationship builder, always comes in on target.
Performance: Very Good

Contrary Mary:
Nothing is ever right, always complaining, prices are too high, gets no cooperation from others, always solving problems (The wrong ones), liked by customers, up and down in achieving targets
Performance: Inconsistent

Mad Dog:
Not approachable but likeable, pushy, determined, seems mostly in a trance, highly active always on the go, nobody ever knows where to find them, usually struggles but somehow brings in the business.
Performance: Adequate

The Loafer:
Everywhere you go they're under your feet, ask them to do something-no problem but it never gets done, lazy, sloppy no order, still on the team but you don't know why?
Performance: Usually Poor

There are few sales managers who would claim having to manage a team of 'Top Dogs' and even if this is the case, having such a team creates a set of different performance issues, again, later. For the moment you have taken the first step in evaluating and raising performance, i.e. giving recognition to the fact that most teams constitute a variety of different personalities and capabilities. The question is, what happens next?

If you believe there is something in this for you, please let me know, this is my first post, back later.

Visit me on http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

Dave