Is Your Sales Team a Winner or on the Way Out?
Is Your Sales Team a Winner or on the Way Out?
The 8 Principles of the Sales Teams that Customers have rated as World Class.
Think your sales team is in good shape because your customers rank them either good or very good? Think again. Nearly 80 percent of all supplier deserters rate their previous supplier as "good" to "very good," so the outlook for anything less than world-class excellence is not only disappointing but potentially career threatening. A 15-year study on world-class sales by The HR Chally Group determined that only 21 of 7,300 sales forces evaluated by 80,000 customer decision-makers were categorized as “world-class” by their customers. Benchmarking research within these same 21 "world-class" sales organizations, found that they all shared at least six of the following eight best practices:
1. Establishing a Customer-Driven Culture
This is a mandate for your entire company to sell “increased customer productivity” through improved revenue streams or reduced costs even for existing customers. The best customer-driven companies analyze their customers’ overall business needs and challenges and then reorganize their internal processes to better serve them, identifying critical processes, skills and new standards to support them. A key indicator of these customer-driven cultures is the high degree of information and strategy sharing taking place between the supplier and the customer. All the winners had customer advisory boards that sit in on strategic meetings while the company discusses future products and services and organisational plans.
With much customer support and sales available on the web, companies are freeing salespeople from mundane transactional duties to fulfill “business consultant” roles– where tools like flow charting of business processes and activity-based costing can help clients in their own jobs; so they can buy more products or services. Companies are finding new ways to add value, even to commodities, and focusing on additional services that can differentiate them from competitors. One interesting example is the company which signed a shared savings partnership with their customers where the client pays ”cost” for the actual products delivered but also pays a percentage of the cost savings.
2. Committing to Becoming an Expert on Their Customers’ Businesses through Market Segmentation
Different customers or customer groups require specialized added values not applicable to other markets. Only by specializing can salespeople acquire the understanding of the customer’s business that is necessary to add value. World-class sales forces segment themselves based on the best way to serve clients – for example by size (if that affects how your different customers go to market themselves), or by geographical location (if your service is ubiquitous across all customers but local presence is key or if legal or regulatory requirements vary geographically.) Other differentiation driving segmentation might include technology needs, complexity, speed, or other specialized service as well as the configuration of the products and/or services purchased.
But that’s just the first step. Most of us can identify at least one geographically segmented sales force that is less than world-class. The key to world-class service is that relevant decision-making authority needs to be as close to the customer point-of-contact as possible. For complex sales this may mean pricing capability. The sales team also needs to “work smarter” by optimizing internal information sharing and maximizing efforts in high-potential customer segments while avoiding effort for low potential segments.
3. Adapting to the Market Quickly
World-class organizations empower decision-making throughout their organizations in order to minimize response time. Because your internal systems are often unwittingly the cause of customer problems 20% to 25% of the time, your company needs to have remedial processes in place to fix the problems rapidly. Perhaps the best mechanism for process Total Quality Management (TQM) is open and frequent communication within the company and with customers and suppliers with the specific commitment to fix the problem within days, if not hours.
One world-class sales team in the study, for example, has bi-weekly telephone conferences with all appropriate levels(headquarters) to resolve any open issues and speed the process before opportunities are stolen by competitors or become more complex.
4. Investing in Strategic Information Technology
Sales force automation is typically a massive mis-investment, and seldom critical. The key for companies with world-class sales organisations is that they prioritize their IT spending to directly serve the customer first, salespeople second, and management reports third, only after the customer has received the best possible service. Most companies do just the opposite. Companies with world-class sales forces also promote the use of information technology to the customer and salespeople by focusing on its user friendliness.
5. Building Sophisticated Sales, Service and Technical Support Systems
There’s much infrastructure a company can create to support a sales force of “business consultants”. The companies with world-class sales teams create dedicated support personnel for sales and even 24-hour, toll-free technical support lines. The systems should reduce processing time and face-to-face time required for routine transactions. World-class sales teams have also made available as many electronic ordering options as possible and even assigned a quality specialist to sales.. Some support systems can be integrated with customers to the extent that competitors are locked out; consider one paper products company that gives customers the option of an off-site “storeroom” which they manage for them.
6. Soliciting Customer Feedback Often and Measuring Customer Satisfaction
World-class sales teams elicit customer feedback often and consistently, with intensity and breadth dependent on the importance of the customer. The only effective method is a live phone conversation with the customer, scheduled by appointment and conducted by an objective third party. The survey should have standard and specific questions about the transaction and the sales rep’s knowledge of the customer, among other things.
Many organisations with world-class sales teams involved their customers in evaluating which important questions to ask, and which issues should be tackled first. This method is one way to mitigate the 80% of product deserters who said their supplier was “good” or “very good”. Most importantly, any customer feedback system should have a “hot-line” for critical issues uncovered in a survey; most surveys that are in a strategic system have no mechanism for responding to dissatisfied customers and thus irrevocably damage the relationship.
7. Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople
Remember when customers were expected to break in new salespeople by showing them around and telling them what to do? Customers no longer have time, motivation or resource to do this, and neither do hiring managers. Organisations with world-class sales forces do not hire large numbers of raw recruits and instead are using a sophisticated, and statistically predictive hiring process to select either very high potential new candidates, or experienced salespeople with a proven track record who will complement their sales team’s success. These organizations recruit and select salespeople and sales managers using an objective, quantitative predictive assessment of sales potential first, personal drive and motivation second and lastly cultural fit. Unlike most companies, these organizations save the typical interviews until this very last stage, when objective procedures have already predetermined a successful fit with the company. In other words, they count on the science of selection to determine a candidate’s sales potential and the drive to succeed…and from this pool of high potential candidates they allow sales managers to have the final say of who of these pre-selected few will best fit with their sales plans
8. Investing in Training and Development
It’s no surprise that world-class sales organizations make their sales managers responsible for the successful training of sales reps, including one-on-one coaching, extensive training for new hires, and incorporating new training into processes and procedures. The challenge of keeping up with customers is far too critical to leave to external seminars and periodic sessions. In fact, in some organizations with world-class sales teams, a high percentage of sales managers run internal training sessions for the company. Gaining increasing importance is training on customers’ businesses; even spending time in the customer’s environment, such as a hospital theatre for healthcare companies, to see how the product or service should be supported. Finally, world-class sales teams do not just develop sales “entrepreneurs” but train sales teams that work closely together. Training is never treated as a off, or even a series of “events” but rather a process that is integrated with all the other parts of the company’s marketing and sales straegy.
When examining your own team, remember that even focusing on the first two practices alone has a significant impact on customer response – but don’t settle for the old version of “very good” or you may be out the door.
Is Your Sales Team a Winner or on the Way Out - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Gilbert's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Is Your Sales Team a Winner or on the Way Out?
The 8 Principles of the Sales Teams that Customers have rated as World Class.
Think your sales team is in good shape because your customers rank them either good or very good? Think again. Nearly 80 percent of all supplier deserters rate their previous supplier as "good" to "very good," so the outlook for anything less than world-class excellence is not only disappointing but potentially career threatening. A 15-year study on world-class sales by The HR Chally Group determined that only 21 of 7,300 sales forces evaluated by 80,000 customer decision-makers were categorized as “world-class” by their customers. Benchmarking research within these same 21 "world-class" sales organizations, found that they all shared at least six of the following eight best practices:
1. Establishing a Customer-Driven Culture
This is a mandate for your entire company to sell “increased customer productivity” through improved revenue streams or reduced costs even for existing customers. The best customer-driven companies analyze their customers’ overall business needs and challenges and then reorganize their internal processes to better serve them, identifying critical processes, skills and new standards to support them. A key indicator of these customer-driven cultures is the high degree of information and strategy sharing taking place between the supplier and the customer. All the winners had customer advisory boards that sit in on strategic meetings while the company discusses future products and services and organisational plans.
With much customer support and sales available on the web, companies are freeing salespeople from mundane transactional duties to fulfill “business consultant” roles– where tools like flow charting of business processes and activity-based costing can help clients in their own jobs; so they can buy more products or services. Companies are finding new ways to add value, even to commodities, and focusing on additional services that can differentiate them from competitors. One interesting example is the company which signed a shared savings partnership with their customers where the client pays ”cost” for the actual products delivered but also pays a percentage of the cost savings.
2. Committing to Becoming an Expert on Their Customers’ Businesses through Market Segmentation
Different customers or customer groups require specialized added values not applicable to other markets. Only by specializing can salespeople acquire the understanding of the customer’s business that is necessary to add value. World-class sales forces segment themselves based on the best way to serve clients – for example by size (if that affects how your different customers go to market themselves), or by geographical location (if your service is ubiquitous across all customers but local presence is key or if legal or regulatory requirements vary geographically.) Other differentiation driving segmentation might include technology needs, complexity, speed, or other specialized service as well as the configuration of the products and/or services purchased.
But that’s just the first step. Most of us can identify at least one geographically segmented sales force that is less than world-class. The key to world-class service is that relevant decision-making authority needs to be as close to the customer point-of-contact as possible. For complex sales this may mean pricing capability. The sales team also needs to “work smarter” by optimizing internal information sharing and maximizing efforts in high-potential customer segments while avoiding effort for low potential segments.
3. Adapting to the Market Quickly
World-class organizations empower decision-making throughout their organizations in order to minimize response time. Because your internal systems are often unwittingly the cause of customer problems 20% to 25% of the time, your company needs to have remedial processes in place to fix the problems rapidly. Perhaps the best mechanism for process Total Quality Management (TQM) is open and frequent communication within the company and with customers and suppliers with the specific commitment to fix the problem within days, if not hours.
One world-class sales team in the study, for example, has bi-weekly telephone conferences with all appropriate levels(headquarters) to resolve any open issues and speed the process before opportunities are stolen by competitors or become more complex.
4. Investing in Strategic Information Technology
Sales force automation is typically a massive mis-investment, and seldom critical. The key for companies with world-class sales organisations is that they prioritize their IT spending to directly serve the customer first, salespeople second, and management reports third, only after the customer has received the best possible service. Most companies do just the opposite. Companies with world-class sales forces also promote the use of information technology to the customer and salespeople by focusing on its user friendliness.
5. Building Sophisticated Sales, Service and Technical Support Systems
There’s much infrastructure a company can create to support a sales force of “business consultants”. The companies with world-class sales teams create dedicated support personnel for sales and even 24-hour, toll-free technical support lines. The systems should reduce processing time and face-to-face time required for routine transactions. World-class sales teams have also made available as many electronic ordering options as possible and even assigned a quality specialist to sales.. Some support systems can be integrated with customers to the extent that competitors are locked out; consider one paper products company that gives customers the option of an off-site “storeroom” which they manage for them.
6. Soliciting Customer Feedback Often and Measuring Customer Satisfaction
World-class sales teams elicit customer feedback often and consistently, with intensity and breadth dependent on the importance of the customer. The only effective method is a live phone conversation with the customer, scheduled by appointment and conducted by an objective third party. The survey should have standard and specific questions about the transaction and the sales rep’s knowledge of the customer, among other things.
Many organisations with world-class sales teams involved their customers in evaluating which important questions to ask, and which issues should be tackled first. This method is one way to mitigate the 80% of product deserters who said their supplier was “good” or “very good”. Most importantly, any customer feedback system should have a “hot-line” for critical issues uncovered in a survey; most surveys that are in a strategic system have no mechanism for responding to dissatisfied customers and thus irrevocably damage the relationship.
7. Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople
Remember when customers were expected to break in new salespeople by showing them around and telling them what to do? Customers no longer have time, motivation or resource to do this, and neither do hiring managers. Organisations with world-class sales forces do not hire large numbers of raw recruits and instead are using a sophisticated, and statistically predictive hiring process to select either very high potential new candidates, or experienced salespeople with a proven track record who will complement their sales team’s success. These organizations recruit and select salespeople and sales managers using an objective, quantitative predictive assessment of sales potential first, personal drive and motivation second and lastly cultural fit. Unlike most companies, these organizations save the typical interviews until this very last stage, when objective procedures have already predetermined a successful fit with the company. In other words, they count on the science of selection to determine a candidate’s sales potential and the drive to succeed…and from this pool of high potential candidates they allow sales managers to have the final say of who of these pre-selected few will best fit with their sales plans
8. Investing in Training and Development
It’s no surprise that world-class sales organizations make their sales managers responsible for the successful training of sales reps, including one-on-one coaching, extensive training for new hires, and incorporating new training into processes and procedures. The challenge of keeping up with customers is far too critical to leave to external seminars and periodic sessions. In fact, in some organizations with world-class sales teams, a high percentage of sales managers run internal training sessions for the company. Gaining increasing importance is training on customers’ businesses; even spending time in the customer’s environment, such as a hospital theatre for healthcare companies, to see how the product or service should be supported. Finally, world-class sales teams do not just develop sales “entrepreneurs” but train sales teams that work closely together. Training is never treated as a off, or even a series of “events” but rather a process that is integrated with all the other parts of the company’s marketing and sales straegy.
When examining your own team, remember that even focusing on the first two practices alone has a significant impact on customer response – but don’t settle for the old version of “very good” or you may be out the door.
Is Your Sales Team a Winner or on the Way Out - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Gilbert'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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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton'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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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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