A Roadmap to Sales Success

--- BREAKING NEWS --- SALES PARTNERS TO OFFER CLASS AT MEREDITH COLLEGE!

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See: http://www.salespartnersinc.com for details

FIRST of a NEW SERIES: - "Profitable Sales Management - for Managers AND Salespeople"

“Mini Sales Class” Newsletters can be found at: http://www.salespartnersinc.com/newsletters.htm

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"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see." - - Arthur Schopenhauer
“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” - - Peter Drucker For help with sales issues: see "Ask your Sales Partner”. Submit your questions to info@salestraininginc.com. All Questions will be answered via e-mail.		Ask your Sales Partner: George asks: “What’s the best way to successfully manage salespeople?” SP: *“Same as managing anyone: hire the right people; give them clear, achievable goals and the tools to do their job; provide helpful* suggestions/improvements; otherwise, stay out of the way.”**

About the “Roadmap …”

Each issue of the “Roadmap to Sales Success” will contain items of interest to the business (especially the sales) community.

Following is the schedule for this volume, “Profitable Sales Management – for Mangers AND Salespeople” – to help everyone reach their goals:

No. 1	-	“Root Causal Analysis: why hire (salespeople) and how”
No. 2	-	“Getting started - 1^st 6 months”
No. 3	-	“Sales Management (101)”
No. 4	-	“Remediation”
No. 5	-	“What if, in Spite of the Best Efforts …?”

This Month’s Sales Tips …

“There are three steps to sales success that have stood the test of time: Prospecting, Presenting, and Closing.” - - Brian Tracy (SP: Have your new hire describe these.)

Upcoming Events involving Sales Partners:

Jan–Mar ‘05

Meredith College Class – “Successful Business Development”

Please see:
http://www.salespartnersinc.com for details

Root Causal Analysis – why hire and how - - Vol. 3 No. 1 - - December, 2004

FIRST of a NEW SERIES

“Profitable Sales Management – for Managers AND Salespeople”

Quick Question: What are our objectives in adding a salesperson?

This is the time of year when a lot of businesses start thinking about adding to the sales teams. Before we do, some important issues should be considered:

Why are we thinking about adding a salesperson anyway?
What are our expectations for the salesperson? What are our customers’ expectations?
What is the “profile” of a salesperson who might be successful in our business?
Where do we go to find such a person? Where are the BEST places to look?
How do we select the “right” candidate?
How do we ensure that we’ve created the “environment for success?”

“The pretension is nothing; the performance is everything. A good apple is better than an insipid peach.” - - Leigh Hunt

Let’s examine these issues:

1. Why are we thinking about adding a salesperson anyway?

What business/personal issues and challenges are driving this decision?
Are some of our sales/business goals are coming up short?
Have we done a thorough analysis to determine why this is?
Are we experiencing sales force turnover? Do we know why?
Are we certain that adding a sales person now is the right thing to do – rather than product/process/organizational improvements, new/different marketing efforts, etc.?

If we are confident that we know the answers to these and similar questions, then we should next ask ourselves:

2. What are our expectations for the salesperson? What are our customers’ expectations?

Do we have clear-cut, measurable goals for the salesperson – if so, based upon what premises?
What have customers told us they like/dislike about current/previous salespeople?
Do we really understand the role of a salesperson in our company/our industry? (See: http://www.salestraininginc.com/role-salesperson.htm)

Once we’re sure of why we’re bringing on a salesperson and what are our/our customers’ expectations, we should next consider:

3. What is the “profile” of a salesperson who might be successful in our business?

What kind of experience? Sales/Industry/Geography?
Are we looking for a “hunter” or a “farmer” – or a combination of both?
Do we want someone who will be very aggressive – at the risk of customers’ sensibilities?
Are we looking for someone who will primarily open new accounts and/or service existing clients?
Do we have an existing profile of successful salespeople in our company that we’d like to replicate?
Can we “test” for that?
But, please, not just “Someone with a Rolodex” (sic)

“His promises were, as he then was, mighty. But his performance, as he is now, nothing.”
- - Shakespeare, Henry VIII

So now we presumably know why we’re adding a salesperson, what our expectations are, and what one should “look like.” Next:

4. Where do we go to find such a person? Where are the BEST places to look? Surprise! Here are the top answers:

In-house – that’s right - someone who knows our business and whom we know - may be our best bet. Ex. many customer service and support people have gone on to become terrific salespeople.
A salesperson from one of our existing suppliers/customers – someone we know and who knows us.
Someone who is “one-off” – this is a person who is calling on our typical customers but with a little different offering – so as an example, if we offer Sales Consulting services to CEO’s, someone who has been successful providing other kinds of (consulting) services to CEO’s (Marketing/BPR/Technology, etc.) might be a good fit.
A referral from one of our customer’s executives/buyers – who better to judge? "When in doubt, ask the customer." - - Joyce’s Law #18
A referral from a trusted colleague – Attorney, CPA, Doctor, Pastor, (Sales/Business Coach?)

Besides these resources, we may, indeed, turn to: search firms, postings, etc. Responses from these should be carefully screened to avoid wasting time and making mistakes. See: http://www.salespartnersinc.com/job-seekers.htm for what their submissions to us might look like.

The above assumes that the person also meets our “profile.” See below.

Note: It can be risky hiring someone from a competitor, ex. how does he/she explain that our offering is “suddenly” better than the previous one?

If we now have several candidates, what’s our selection process?

5. How do we select the “right” candidate?

A good place to start is our “profile.” If we’re wise, we’ve created a “profile for success” and we’re using a personal analysis “instrument.” Together, these identify the key experiences and traits that we’re looking for. Now, nothing in life is ever guaranteed, but if there’s a total mismatch with these, it should be a real “red flag.”
Next is the telephone (or in-person, depending upon geography, timing, etc.) interview. It should be conducted in 2-3 parts:
1) General Qualifications Interview – to gain an impression and to see if we can disqualify this candidate for any reason.
2) Have the candidates describe how they handle the activities described in “Mini Sales Classes” #’s 3-8 at: http://www.salespartnersinc.com/newsletters.htm
3) Specific Sales Interviewing Questions – see http://www.salespartnersinc.com/hiring-tools.htm
If the candidate is still qualified, it’s advisable to arrange meetings with other members of the company’s team – to see if they think he/she will really fit in and will “play nice in the sandbox.”

We found our “perfect fit.” Now what?

6. How do we ensure that we’ve created the “environment for success?” Clearly, we must provide the tools necessary for this person to do the job as we intended. Therefore, we need to make sure that there is:

A suitable place to work – even if this person is to be “virtual”, they still need someplace to sit, back there at “the ranch.”
A Sales Plan (with clear expectations) that complements the Business Plan (as well as the Marketing and Product Plans, if applicable)
A properly-configured and sized computer, with up-to-date and easy-to-use Customer Relationship Management (or Contact Management) software “Having and using a Contact Management System is the foundation of sales success.”- - Joyce’s Law #9
Necessary Management and Administrative support

Next issue:

Be on the lookout for next issue of “Roadmap …” where the topic will be: “Getting started – 1st 6 months”

Until then, Good Selling!!


Helpful Hints this month: Need a dynamic sales organization for professional development and networking? Visit the Triangle Association of Sales Professionals at: http://www.taspro.org/ Need a superb recruiting organization for professional development and networking? Visit the Triangle Technical Recruiters Association at: http://www.ttra.org/ And, of course, to improve your sales situation, please see: SALES PARTNERS, INC. ^SM http://www.salespartnersinc.com/		SALES PARTNERS, INC. ^SM Sales Coaching, Training and Consulting to help companies and individuals: * Grow Revenue * Improve Sales Productivity * Enhance Customer Relationships Submit your question/comments to: info@salestraininginc.com Subscribe to the “Roadmap …”