Sales & Sales Management Brew

I just finished reading an article in Psychology Today that discussed the "new" interviewing process of simulating the work situations that your potential new hire will be faced with IF you hire them.  To determine if a sales person is going to be as successful as you hope, you should implement this type of process NOW.

For years, as part of our recruiting program - STAR (Sales Talent Acquisition Routine)- we have strongly suggested that our clients create an environment that the sales person would most likely encounter and potentially have trouble with.  There are a couple of dynamics at work in this situation to consider when setting this up.

1. What will they struggle with?  As the article indicates, most people have done a fabulous job of hiding the weaknesses in their resumes. I personally have not seen a bad one in years.   What kind of pre-interview process do you have that will challenge them and show you how they will handle the likely sales problems they have or will face?
2. How do you go about the screening and interviewing process today?  When you bring them into interview, do you find yourself doing the following:
• Establishing bonding and rapport instead of making them do that?
• Selling them on why your company is such a great one instead of getting them to sell you?
• Asking them questions instead of waiting to see if they will interview you just as they should interview a prospect?
• Attempting to make them comfortable instead of putting them under the same type of pressure and anxiety that they will encounter with prospects?
3. During the initial contact - assuming this is done by phone - do you do all the heavy lifting of making conversation, asking all the questions, attempting to bond on the phone and then closing them for an interview or:
• Do you test their phone skills by making minimal statements?
• Attempt to make them uncomfortable with challenging questions?
• Make them close you for a next step

Hiring the right people will solve most, if not all, of the new business production problems that you have today.  But, back to the issue addressed by this blog, resumes will look good, the prospect will interview well and they will provide great references.  But how will you know HOW they will perform unless you simulate your typical sales environment?  This must be seriously considered as part of your evaluation process.

You may have heard me say this before, "You are perfectly designed for the results that you get today."  This includes your profiling, attracting, screening, interviewing, contracting, on-boarding and training program.  If you have people today that are underperforming, you have to ask yourself this question:  Did I hire them this way or did I make them this way?

For more information about your sales team, your hiring costs and our STAR program, click the appropriate link below.

I started playing tennis seriously, or maybe semi-seriously, about 18 months ago.  When I started, I took some lessons, played some mixed doubles and practiced against a ball machine.  When I would hit against the ball machine back then, about 40 or 50 of the 200+ balls would end up on my side of the net.  When I practiced my serve, about 33% of the balls I served ended up on my side of the net.  Today, I hit against the machine and, of the 200+ balls, only about 20 were on my side of the net, and for every 10 I served, only one would be on my side of the net.

I'm getting better.

So what metrics do you use to measure your success as a sales manager?  Here are some thoughts:

1. The number of performers that exceed 100% of the goal improves
2. The average production of each quintile of your sales team increases
3. The number of failed new hires decreases
4. The on-boarding time for new hires shortens
5. Overall pipeline volume increases
6. Critical conversion ratios improve in the steps of your sales process
7. Business grows
8. Turnover decreases
9. Personal compensation increases
10. Client retention improves

When I was 42, my eyesight began to change.  I was coming back from Manchester, New Hampshire where I had just spent 2.5 days working with a sales team to help them improve their cross selling process.  It had been a long trip as I actually started in New York City on Monday and today was Friday.  So, when the words in my document appeared to be blury, I just thought it was due to fatique.

The next morning, while reading the cereal box, I discovered that the problem wasn't fatique; it was my eyesight.  Astigmatism had hit me in my early 40s and so for the last - several - years I've been wearing glasses.

About a month or so ago, my eyesight once again was failing me and I just assumed it was time for a new perscription.  Instead, I found out that I had a retinal edema.  This freckle that was apparently swollen (actually about the size of a couple of pin heads) was located right in the area for sharp focus vision.  After a biopsi, it was determined that I didn't have a malenoma and so we would adjust my lenses and go from there.

I was sick and tired of seeing frames in my view.  My tennis game was not good to begin with but, with the blended lenses and the frames, I would often lose the ball.  My brother-in-law, Mike, had just announced that he was going to go with contact lenses.  I figured I'd give it a shot!

There was only one problem.  I couldn't touch my eye, or, so I thought.

Now to the title of this article.  I wanted to make progress with my quality of life.  I wanted my vision to be normal without the glasses.  I wanted to be able to compete on the court without frustration.  I didn't want to touch my eye.

Here I am 4 weeks later and I just removed my contacts.  I go through this lens routine twice a day.  In the morning, I pop them in; in the evening, I pop them out.  Well, I'm not exactly popping.  I rub them in and drag them out to be more precise.  The benefit is worth it.

I now see like I used to prior to the discovery of my sight diminishing at the age of 42.  I don't have frames in my vision, I can read road signs, and in many cases, I can read labels on containers.  This is a result of improved vision with contact lenses and long arms.

My point here is that progress is only made when you take chances.  Risk the unknown for the unknown.  Know that you might fail, but the reward of success is great enough to give it a shot.

If your sales team needs to make some progress, more progress, better progress, then change is the answer.

Resources to help you figure out what to change:

The cost of hiring the wrong people

Evaluating your current team

A look at your sales environment 

Thank you in advance.

Over the last several years, our team at Anthony Cole Training Group has worked closely with David Kurlan in our attempt to help sales companies build and execute more successful sales team.  We work with Dave because his company, Objective Management Group, provides the best analytics to determine the root cause of performance for sales teams.  The data and insight gained from the assessment will tell you why the sales team is succeeding in growth or why there is a lack of growth.  The analysis of systems, priorities, processes, strengths, weaknesses and skills is critical for developing and implementing and sales or sales management training and development programs.

In the OMG findings, there is a discussion about the appropriate amount of time spent on THE 5 Critcal Functions of a Successful Sales Manager:

• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Recruiting
• Performance Management
• Motivation

I'd like to do an kind of informal survey about how you are using your time when working with your sales team.  Please click the link below to complete a survey on Survey Monkey.  It has 5 questions and should not take you more than 30 seconds.  For your time, I will send you an autographed copy of our book "Resurrecting Anthony".  Make sure you let me know that you've completed the survey by contacting me via email:

tony@anthonycoletraining.com

The link to the survey: Sales Management Time Usage Survey

I am terrible with keeping up with other blogs.  There are 3, that when I read them, I really enjoy and benefit from. They are:

Dave Kurlan - The Sales Assessment Expert

Seth Godin - The Purple Cow Author

Bill Ecstrom - The Data and Sales Management Piller Guru

Here is Seth's recent post: The coalition of "NO"

There are a million reasons to say no, but few reasons to stand up and say yes.

"No" requires just one objection, one defensible reason to avoid change. "No" has many allies--anyone who fears the future or stands to benefit from the status quo. And "no" is easy to say, because you actually don't even need a reason.

"No" is an easy way to grab power, because with "yes" comes responsibility, but "no" is the easy way to block action, to exert the privilege of your position to slow things down.

"No" comes from fear and greed and, most of all, a shortage of openness and attention. You don't have to pay attention or do the math or role play the outcomes in order to join the coalition that would rather things stay as they are (because they've chosen not to do the hard work of imagining how they might be).

And yet the coalition of No keeps losing. We live in a world of yes, where possibility and innovation and the willingness to care often triumph over the masses that would rather it all just quieted down and went back to normal.

Here are my comments about this and I would welcome yours:

• "A millions reasons to say no" - Your job in sales management is to help people discover their #1 reason that is compelling enough to say yes.  Yes, I will raise my standards.  Yes, I will take responsibility for results.  Yes, I will change, grow and improve.  Yes, I will become the best version of myself.
• "And no is easy to say" - Think back to when you really wanted, really, really, really wanted something - it was easy to say yes when someone made it easy - Your job in sales management is to teach your people, guide your people, to make it easy for prospects to say yes.
• No comes from a shortage of openness - How often do you tell your people yes and then figure out a way to make it yes?
• No, we cannot do it that way
• No, we cannot change the pricing
• No, we cannot provide extra service
• No, we cannot cost share
• No, we cannot...

Your sales people learn from you.  If you are typically not open to new ways of thinking and new ways of doing things, then they won't be open either.  Their own "record collection" will get in the way of growth, change and prosperity.

• Because they've chosen not to do the hard work of imagining how they might be -

"Yes" solves problems.  "Yes" moves the ball forward.  "Yes" lead to success.

Extra resources to say "yes" to:

Here is a segment from a recent article in the online Forbes magazine written by Ron Ashkenas of Schaffer Consulting.

Surprisingly, one of the reasons that Dowling cites for NS-LIJ’s success is the fact that traditional “experience” is not a pre-condition for hiring new managers. In fact, in many cases, it’s a liability.

Dowling explains: “We’re in an industry that needs to change and re-examine almost every facet of how we do business. So people who have been trained and reinforced in the traditional ways of running hospitals and health system departments often don’t look at doing things in new and creative ways. They don’t challenge everything and ask tough questions. Instead, they’re locked into the old paradigms. So, the last thing we need is someone with that kind of 'experience.’”

Now, lets do some substitution (new words will be bold).

Surprisingly, one of the reasons that Dowling cites for YOUR Company's success is the fact that traditional “experience” should not be a pre-condition for hiring new managers. In fact, in many cases, it’s a liability.

Dowling explains: Every industry needs to change and re-examine almost every facet of how they do business. So, people who have been trained and reinforced in the traditional ways of managing sales teams, selling and marketing don’t look at doing things in new and creative ways. They don’t challenge everything and ask tough questions. Instead, they’re locked into the old paradigms. So, the last thing you need is someone with that kind of ‘experience.’”

Wow!  How powerful and dead on is that.  I challenge you to think about your sales team, specifically those people that you've hired that have not worked out. What was it about them that caused you to hire them?  Did you hire them to fail, to be average, to be "just good enough to keep their job"?  I don't think so.  You hired them because you thought that, based on "something", they were going to be successful, maybe even your next super star.  You probably looked at the resume, checked references and asked traditional questions in the interview. But, to the authors point, are you looking for and profiling for those intangibles that really give you and the new hire a chance to succeed?

Time and again, we find that people fail not because of lack of product knowledge or expertise in the field in which they are selling.  Nope, normally it's because:

• They didn't have the desire to put forth the sales activity effort.
• They didn't have the commitment to make changes necessary to succeed in your team.
• They no longer had the passion to succeed a previous levels you saw in the resume.
• They didn't know how to build relationships quickly.
• They wanted to do things their way.
• They didn't execute the sales system.
• They didn't have urgency to succeed quickly.

Here are my 10 Do's for Successful Selling:

1. Do have lots of non-negotiable personal goals
2. Do have a plan to achieve those goals
3. Do inspect your activity and progress towards those goals
4. Do share your goals with someone that loves and cares about you
5. Do the sales work required to generate the sales required by your goals
6. Track your activities and the conversion of one step to the next
7. Inspect your numbers so that you know where you have to improve
8. Improve - constantly work on your skills of selling
9. Focus on the client - forget your value proposition and focus on theirs
10. Close - ask for introductions, ask for the business

Here is an excerpt from a recent CBS College Basketball article:

"Of the Sweet 16 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, four are coached by guys who never played college basketball -- Crean (Indiana), Marquette's Buzz Williams (a former Crean assistant), Cincinnati's Mick Cronin and Baylor's Scott Drew. Unlike Crean, the other three broke into coaching as student managers.

"I think players at all levels -- and this starts in high school, but certainly it carries to college, and it's this way in the pros -- if you can teach 'em and you make 'em better, they're going to respond to you," explained Crean, who has taken an Indiana program that went 6-25 in his first season to a 27-8 record this year. "You gotta have a certain amount of knowledge. You have to have the ability to inspire them to make them better. You have to have a passion for it."

"The NFL is a great example of, it doesn't matter if you played. It doesn't matter how great of a player you were. It matters what your competency is. It matters if you can teach. It matters what your work ethic is. It matters if you can relate to people. And, it's that way certainly in college basketball. It's really what you're capable of and how much you're willing to learn and work to get better."

You want to know what it takes to be successful in coaching winning sales teams?

1. Coaching - you have to spend time coaching your people.  The best in any profession require coaching, so do your people.
2. You have to be a teacher; they have to learn the game of selling.
3. You have to know "the game".  You have to know effective selling, what it means, how it works, and how prospects respond.
4. You have to motivate them.  This is a skill.  Do you have it?  Is your team winning?  Changing behavior?  Improving skill?
5. What is your competency in managing?  How much "film" have you studied, how much have you read, how much have you practiced sales management skills?  Do you execute the right sales management behaviors (coaching, mentoring, motivating, setting standards, and recruiting) the right way?
6. How well do you relate to your people?  Do you love them?  Will they walk into the valley of death for you? Will they give you all that they have?  Do they hate losing and love winning?
7. How much are you willing to learn, change and grow?

One of the critical components of sales coaching is the ability of the sales managers and their sales people to run effective joint calls. 

As a president of a company, occasionally I have sales people call on me.  Whenever two people come out on the call, my first thought is:  Which one is the rookie?  My other thoughts are:  Why are two people here?  Why is the manager with the salesperson?  Who is running the sales call?  What are they hoping to accomplish besides trying to find out what I’m trying to accomplish?  Is this a real sales call for the sales person or just practice?

I don’t claim to know if other presidents are thinking these things, but you cannot discount that they might.   Based on that assumption, it is critical that you have a sales call that is well-defined and choreographed so that the prospect is impressed with the meeting and you, as either sales manager or sales person, accomplish what the prospect wants to accomplish; generally speaking, that is to solve a problem.

How do you do that?  Here are 4 steps to more effective joint calls.

1.  A Quality Phone Call- Remember, the quality of the phone call will determine the quality of the appointment.  You must follow the 8-step Phone Process to make sure that the joint call is taking place with a qualified prospect versus a practice call.
2. Conducting a pre-call session is a must.  In pre call sessions,
• sales people make sure they are prepared to execute the methods taught in our module, Maximizing the Initial Call
• The sales manager and sales person role-play the appointment
• Everyone agrees to and identifies who will do what during the sales call
3. Identify the reason for a joint call - If it is for learning purposes, then the sales manager has a very small part in the call.  If it is for qualifying or closing a large account, then the role of the sales manager can be more prominent.
4. The 4th step is to make sure you do a post call debrief - This is an opportunity to help sales people recognize opportunities that they missed, questions they could have asked better and commitments they failed to gain.  These insights need to be followed by an agreement as to the observations made, a demonstration by the sale manager of the correct approach or technique, and finally, a role-play of the correct way to handle the sales call.

In addition to these steps, the sales manager has to be prepared to let the sales person fail on the call. Sooner or later, you just have to let them go and learn how not to fail. If you rescue them all the time, then the sales person becomes dependent on the sales manager and never develops the sales skills they need to succeed.  These four steps, tied to discipline one-on-one coaching, will dramatically improve your sales team's ability to eventually conduct extraordinary sales calls on their own.  

Additional resources

EcSell Sales Management Summit

Maximize the initial call - Part I

Pre-call planning

In a recent Forbes magazine, there is an article about the three most important interview questions you need to ask. Here is an excerpt from that article:

The only three true job interview questions are:

1.  Can you do the job?
2.  Will you love the job?
3.  Can we tolerate working with you?

That’s it, just those three.  Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of one of these three key questions.  Each question may be asked using different words, but every question is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation and Fit.

I like these questions and especially numbers 2 and 3.  What is missing is a subset of question #1.  Time and time again, recruiters and employers hire people based on all the ‘intelligence’ provided including interviews, recommendations, work history, and even pre-hire assessments. Decisions are made based on "Can this person do the job?"  But time and time again, when I interview presidents about the cost of ghosts (those sales people that were hired with great expectations but failed to succeed), the cost of their hiring mistakes involves millions of dollars.

Why is that?  The answer is simple.  There is a big difference between can and will.  

A training director for one of our clients once described our process of profiling, attracting, screening and interviewing as a way to help their company determine if someone has the skills and the will needed to succeed - can and do they have the desire, commitment and sense of responsibility needed to succeed.

You can't teach this stuff; you can only hire it.  Teaching sales people the mechanics of your sales process, your products and offerings is the easy part.  Hardly anyone ever fails at sales because they were technically incompetent.  When we debrief with sales executives about why their new hires fail, it is almost always because the new hire wouldn't execute the appropriate level of activity to succeed, or they couldn't handle the rejection, or they were not committed enough to do everything possible to succeed or they made excuses for failure.

I hate to poke anyone in the eye, but I have to ask the question - Do you have anyone like this that isn't succeeding? (take the sales force grader)  Do you have some people that you've hired and let go for some of these very same reasons?  Did you hire them that way or make them that way once you had them onboard?

In summary, the first interview question that George Bradt asks is a good question, but there isn't a single interviewee that is going to say, "No, I don't think I can do the job."  The better interview question would be - Based on what you've seen of the job description and the outcomes we are looking for, will you do the job?  Again, the answer will be "yes" and so you are required to ask at least two more follow-up questions:

1. How do I know that?
   (You are listening for specific examples of how they have performed in another job with the same or similar specifications)
2. What should I do if I discover that you won't do or aren't doing the job you said you would do?
    (This is where the rubber meets the road. The answer you should hear is - "Fire me!")