How You Can Recruit Sales Super Stars - Part I - Recognising Sales Sheep And Wolves
How You Can Recruit Sales Super Stars - Part I - Recognising Sales Sheep And Wolves
“Marketing mistakes are by far the primary reason businesses do not survive. This includes companies which consider themselves direct marketers as well as those who do not”.
Of course Ted is quite right make mistakes in marketing and you’ll end up paying through the nose with absolutely no results. Yet companies continually make mistakes in sales.
They waste the opportunities that marketing provides by using salespeople that have one, or more, of these traits:
-- Poor closers
-- Too aggressive
-- Passive order takers
-- Fear of phoning
-- Can’t write to persuade
-- Can’t present without being boring
-- Unable to build value in the service or product
-- Has poor follow-up skills
-- Can’t get to top decision makers
-- Finds rejection difficult to handle
-- Poor time manager
-- Doesn’t think strategically
-- Not self-disciplined
-- Doesn’t try to get market knowledge
Yet sales training may have little or no effect because they're at the limit of their potential already.
--- What About The Owners As Salestaff? ---
Often the owners in small companies are also the sales staff. If they can’t sell they ultimately go out of business. If they can sell they usually reach a point where they’re working harder than if they were in a job.
Think about it…
If the owner is the company’s sales channel they’re probably also their own bookkeeper, administrative clerk, VAT returns clerk, receptionist and general “muck in and get the thing finished or delivered” guy too.
We all know about Michael Gerber’s mantra about “Working on the business, rather than in it”. We all agree that’s a very laudable aim. But we’re all so busy doing, doing that we can’t quite bear to tear ourselves away from working in the business.
I’ve been a consultant for over 20 years and I’ve rarely met a business owner or director who’s felt able to step back and consider the strategic aims of the business as it grows.
It’s all down to the perceived urgent need for sales. Because often management have no visibility of sales beyond the next one or two months.
Ultimately your business reaches a point where you and your current staff are working all the hours there are to simply stand still.
Growing the organisation is just another item that stays on the “to do” list.
Before you reach that point you need to recruit a salesman. I’ll use the term salesman rather than salesperson to indicate a man or woman who sells because it’s seems less clumsy than salesperson.
It all comes down to recruiting the right salesman to take the company to the next level – and tied to good marketing too of course.
Broadly you can break salesmen into sales sheep, sales wolves and sales super stars. Let me explain what that means to you as the business owner.
--- Sales Sheep ---
They wait for customer to come to them, or the phone to ring to take an order. Or they wait in a shop and sell purely because the customer wants to buy something from anyone who wants to take their money.
They think the customer is always right even if it means that they’ll lose money on an issue that the customer created themselves. Or they’ll give the customer some stock they had lying around.
What about the salesman who drops by and entertains their contacts to “touch base”, “to see if there’s anything for me today” and who “nearly gets a sales but doesn’t quite?”
Sales sheep cost you money. Let’s count the ways:
-- Their basic pay to sales ratio is higher than your own, or other sales staff
-- They give stock or services away as sweeteners, or to get out of a problem
-- They entertain clients on expenses and still don’t get sales
-- They entertain people at the clients who are not remotely connected to the sale process
-- They don’t follow-up and lose sales to competitors who do
How do you recognise one? There is a way before you even recruit them…
--- Sales Wolves ---
They almost run out of your door and can’t wait to close a sale. They’re so keen they can make people buy your products and services even though they may be wrong for those customers.
They know what you sell and try to sell it all to every customer, whether there’s a need for it or not.
They’re equally upfront in-house anything that affects their sale, and often their commission, is bulldozed out of the way to make sure that sale gets done. Sometimes it’s pushed through to the detriment of other customers or sales people.
Sales wolves cost you money. Let’s see how:
-- They sell lots but you get a higher returns rate
-- You get more external complaints, affecting your reputation and therefore referrals
-- You get more internal complaints and lose staff or morale drops
-- You lose sales by them tying up staff that other sales people need
-- They don’t want to know about customer issues after a sale. They’re too busy on the next sale
How do you recognise one? There is a way before you recruit them…
--- Sales Superstars ---
A good salesman gets in more business than he costs you to run and make your company more money than that. A bad salesman is a drain on your company.
It can be almost impossible to sort the good from the bad.
Almost, but not impossible.
When you recruit a salesman you need to aim for the star salesman. Don’t be put off because you think you can’t afford them.
The star salesman psychological profile is formed during their early childhood and you may catch one before they realise they’re great. Or you may find one who was burnt out and is ready to join the fray again.
Either one doesn’t require vast amounts of money. Remember even if you paid them 5 times what you pay yourself and they brought in 20 times more in profit would their salary even matter?
According to psychological research a star salesman is driven by two factors: Ego and empathy. Too much ego and they get the sales but at a huge cost to you in terms of customer and internal relationships bruised or destroyed by the ego-driven salesman. Also known as a Sales Wolf.
Too much empathy and they end up discounting so deeply and being so completely on their customer’s side that you’ll lose money on deals that would normally be profitable. Also known as a Sales Sheep.
Now you know how to tell sales sheep from sales wolves you want to find out how to get sales superstars. Check the next article in this two part series.
How You Can Recruit Sales Super Stars Part I Recognising Sales Sheep And Wolves - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Symcox's Website.
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Ted Nicholas, the author of “Magic Words That Sell” once said,
“Marketing mistakes are by far the primary reason businesses do not survive. This includes companies which consider themselves direct marketers as well as those who do not”.
Of course Ted is quite right make mistakes in marketing and you’ll end up paying through the nose with absolutely no results. Yet companies continually make mistakes in sales.
They waste the opportunities that marketing provides by using salespeople that have one, or more, of these traits:
-- Poor closers
-- Too aggressive
-- Passive order takers
-- Fear of phoning
-- Can’t write to persuade
-- Can’t present without being boring
-- Unable to build value in the service or product
-- Has poor follow-up skills
-- Can’t get to top decision makers
-- Finds rejection difficult to handle
-- Poor time manager
-- Doesn’t think strategically
-- Not self-disciplined
-- Doesn’t try to get market knowledge
Yet sales training may have little or no effect because they're at the limit of their potential already.
--- What About The Owners As Salestaff? ---
Often the owners in small companies are also the sales staff. If they can’t sell they ultimately go out of business. If they can sell they usually reach a point where they’re working harder than if they were in a job.
Think about it…
If the owner is the company’s sales channel they’re probably also their own bookkeeper, administrative clerk, VAT returns clerk, receptionist and general “muck in and get the thing finished or delivered” guy too.
We all know about Michael Gerber’s mantra about “Working on the business, rather than in it”. We all agree that’s a very laudable aim. But we’re all so busy doing, doing that we can’t quite bear to tear ourselves away from working in the business.
I’ve been a consultant for over 20 years and I’ve rarely met a business owner or director who’s felt able to step back and consider the strategic aims of the business as it grows.
It’s all down to the perceived urgent need for sales. Because often management have no visibility of sales beyond the next one or two months.
Ultimately your business reaches a point where you and your current staff are working all the hours there are to simply stand still.
Growing the organisation is just another item that stays on the “to do” list.
Before you reach that point you need to recruit a salesman. I’ll use the term salesman rather than salesperson to indicate a man or woman who sells because it’s seems less clumsy than salesperson.
It all comes down to recruiting the right salesman to take the company to the next level – and tied to good marketing too of course.
Broadly you can break salesmen into sales sheep, sales wolves and sales super stars. Let me explain what that means to you as the business owner.
--- Sales Sheep ---
They wait for customer to come to them, or the phone to ring to take an order. Or they wait in a shop and sell purely because the customer wants to buy something from anyone who wants to take their money.
They think the customer is always right even if it means that they’ll lose money on an issue that the customer created themselves. Or they’ll give the customer some stock they had lying around.
What about the salesman who drops by and entertains their contacts to “touch base”, “to see if there’s anything for me today” and who “nearly gets a sales but doesn’t quite?”
Sales sheep cost you money. Let’s count the ways:
-- Their basic pay to sales ratio is higher than your own, or other sales staff
-- They give stock or services away as sweeteners, or to get out of a problem
-- They entertain clients on expenses and still don’t get sales
-- They entertain people at the clients who are not remotely connected to the sale process
-- They don’t follow-up and lose sales to competitors who do
How do you recognise one? There is a way before you even recruit them…
--- Sales Wolves ---
They almost run out of your door and can’t wait to close a sale. They’re so keen they can make people buy your products and services even though they may be wrong for those customers.
They know what you sell and try to sell it all to every customer, whether there’s a need for it or not.
They’re equally upfront in-house anything that affects their sale, and often their commission, is bulldozed out of the way to make sure that sale gets done. Sometimes it’s pushed through to the detriment of other customers or sales people.
Sales wolves cost you money. Let’s see how:
-- They sell lots but you get a higher returns rate
-- You get more external complaints, affecting your reputation and therefore referrals
-- You get more internal complaints and lose staff or morale drops
-- You lose sales by them tying up staff that other sales people need
-- They don’t want to know about customer issues after a sale. They’re too busy on the next sale
How do you recognise one? There is a way before you recruit them…
--- Sales Superstars ---
A good salesman gets in more business than he costs you to run and make your company more money than that. A bad salesman is a drain on your company.
It can be almost impossible to sort the good from the bad.
Almost, but not impossible.
When you recruit a salesman you need to aim for the star salesman. Don’t be put off because you think you can’t afford them.
The star salesman psychological profile is formed during their early childhood and you may catch one before they realise they’re great. Or you may find one who was burnt out and is ready to join the fray again.
Either one doesn’t require vast amounts of money. Remember even if you paid them 5 times what you pay yourself and they brought in 20 times more in profit would their salary even matter?
According to psychological research a star salesman is driven by two factors: Ego and empathy. Too much ego and they get the sales but at a huge cost to you in terms of customer and internal relationships bruised or destroyed by the ego-driven salesman. Also known as a Sales Wolf.
Too much empathy and they end up discounting so deeply and being so completely on their customer’s side that you’ll lose money on deals that would normally be profitable. Also known as a Sales Sheep.
Now you know how to tell sales sheep from sales wolves you want to find out how to get sales superstars. Check the next article in this two part series.
How You Can Recruit Sales Super Stars Part I Recognising Sales Sheep And Wolves - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Symcox's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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