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Hiring a Sales Force That Sells

Written by: Peter Gilbert

Article Overview: It is no exaggeration to say the world has changed dramatically for salespeople. Not only has the information era radically changed the products we sell, but the sales function is subject to market forces that push up costs while eroding profit margins. The old travelling or door-to-door salesman model hardly exists anymore. Much of the sales done today is or business-to-business, and these sales teams face unprecedented change due to a number of convergent factors. In this business environment, aligning your sales team with the forces of change, and ensuring you have a team that can sell, are not simply nice-to-haves: they are essential. Realising the impact on their bottom line, forward-thinking companies have transformed their sales recruitment and training practices to address change.

Hiring a Sales Force That Sells

It’s a harsh world for sales teams: does yours measures up?


It is no exaggeration to say the world has changed dramatically for salespeople. Not only has the information era radically changed the products we sell, but the sales function is subject to market forces that push up costs while eroding profit margins.
The old travelling or door-to-door salesman model hardly exists anymore. Much of the sales done today is or business-to-business, and these sales teams face unprecedented change due to a number of convergent factors:

1. The commoditisation of products. Competitors can copy any product and service in a short space of time, and offer it at a reduced price.
2. Global competition. Many companies are looking overseas for cheaper manufacturing and services such as IT.
3. Mergers and acquisitions. As companies’ structures change, so does the contact list. Mergers and acquisitions also shrink the potential customer pool.
4. Professional procurement officers are, increasingly, in charge of all buying. Their relationship with suppliers is less personal and their priority is to negotiate ever larger discounts.
5. A shrinking supplier base as companies prefer to deal with fewer suppliers.
6. Boundary blurring as companies offer services outside their traditional business -- for example, Pick ‘n Pay’s offering financial services.
7. The high cost of selling. Many companies are selling their goods via the Internet, which offers a compelling alternative to costly sales teams.

In this business environment, aligning your sales team with the forces of change, and ensuring you have a team that can sell, are not simply nice-to-haves: they are essential. Realising the impact on their bottom line, forward-thinking companies have transformed their sales recruitment and training practices to address change.
There has been much speculation about what makes a good salesperson. Is selling a talent one is born with, or can you train someone to be a great salesperson? Research carried out by the HR Chally Group, based in Dayton, Ohio, shows that sales is mainly talent-driven. It is a talent that emerges at an early age – these are the kids making deals during break while others play – and has an inverse correlation to academic achievement. Yet many companies demand a certain academic level of their salespeople, effectively excluding many who could significantly increase their profit. Another traditional view is that a good salesperson is one who can close the deal. Yet studies show the most successful salespeople are good communicators and listeners; they add value to their customers’ businesses. Selling, after all, is making your customer successful. So, while a “closer” may be good in some situations, others – like buying a computer system – require a consultative style which emphasises relationship-building. Here the foot-in-the door approach would be ineffective and unwelcome.
In a study called The Benchmarks of World Class Sales Forces, which surveyed 1 000 corporate customers, the Chally group established three major needs customers expected vendors and sellers to address:

1. Customers want to narrow their own focus to the few things they do best and outsource the rest without the added overhead costs of supervising suppliers.
2. Customers want sellers to know their business well enough to create products and services they wouldn’t have been able to design or create themselves.
3. Customers want proof that their supplier has added value in excess of price.

To evaluate a vendor’s or seller’s potential to fulfil these needs, these corporate customers specifically judged sales forces on seven factors:

1. Managing our satisfaction personally
2. Understanding our business
3. Recommending products and applications expertly
4. Providing technical and training support
5. Acting as a customer advocate
6. Solving logistical and political problems
7. Finding innovative solutions to our needs.

Chally devised its Self-Descriptive Index questionnaire to measure sales staff on the crucial characteristics needed to be a “hunter”, or new business developer, and a “farmer”, who maintains accounts. Hunter skills include lead development; problem-solving; time commitment; closing skills and opportunism. Farmer skills include goal orientation; desire to increase business; willingness to work the system for the customer; commitment to explain and clarify customer issues; customer relations and willingness to respond at any hour.
How would your sales staff measure up? Identifying areas of weakness is invaluable for assessing training needs. But, most importantly – because it can predict future performance results -- the analysis shows whether the candidate is cut out for sales. If he is a natural with some rough edges, there is no damage done. But if he has no aptitude for sales, he could be damaging your business. That is a risk no company can afford to take.

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Article Tags: bottom line, business environment, contact list, customer pool, exaggeration, financial services, global competition, harsh world, mergers and acquisitions, priority, procurement officers, professional procurement, profit margins, sales recruitment, salespeople, short space, speculation, traditional business, unprecedented change, what makes a good salesperson



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