|
|
|
Good-Bye Bobby Knight And All The Sales Managers Like You!
The recent dismissal of Bobby Knight as the head coach of Indiana University should mark as big a change for sales management as it did for coaching. For years it was popular for sales managers to abuse their staffs with tirades and threats. I...
Hurdles to Cross Cultural Business Communication
International businesses are facing new challenges to their internal communication structures due to major reforms brought about through internationalization, downsizing, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
Lack of investment in cross...
Sylvester Management elects meetingtrak upgrade
gomembers, Inc. (http://www.gomembers.com) announced today that Sylvester Management Corporation (SMC: http://www.sylvestermanagement.com) has elected to purchase an upgrade to the most recent version of meetingtrak, the industry’s leading meeting...
What is Network Marketing? Is it For Me?
We have all heard the hype! “Make a million dollars over night in Network Marketing”. The fact of the matter is, you can make a million dollars in Network Marketing! Once you have developed two principals or habits and make them a part of your...
Why Are You Doing Everything Yourself?
When I coach my entrepreneur clients, one problem I often see is that they're not taking enough time to market and grow their business. It's not that they don't understand the value of those efforts, or they don't want to make the time. It's that...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Sales Performance - Part 2
Another key reason why companies suffer from 80/20 performance is their processes for hiring, training and managing salespeople rely almost entirely upon SUBJECTIVE information. Think about it:
* What are resumes? They are an individual's subjective portrayal of their capabilities and experiences.
* What occurs during an interview? Interviewees attempt to package their responses to questions in a manner that will make the best IMPRESSION. Meanwhile, interviewers are forming PERSONAL OPINIONS about candidates' qualifications for the position.
I�m not suggesting that subjective information is useless. Subjective information is a valid and valuable component of any "people decision". However, if decisions based solely upon subjective information produce an undesirable result 80 percent of the time, doesn't it make sense to consider making a change?
One way to introduce OBJECTIVE information into the sales recruiting process is through specialized sales assessment tests. I'm not referring to personality or behavioral tests like Myers-Briggs or DISC. Those types of tools can be useful for learning how to communicate more effectively with someone. However, I have not found them to be useful for predicting whether someone will succeed in sales.
The specialized sales assessment tests that I'm referring to identify an individual's strength or weakness in the following areas:
* Sales Drive: Does the individual enjoy presenting, persuading, negotiating, and motivating others?
* Emotional Toughness: How rapidly does the individual rebound from rejection and sales cycle roadblocks?
* Reasoning Ability: Does the individual ask good questions? Can they dissect answers and pick out the pieces that will help advance the conversation toward a desired end result?
* Service Drive: How interested is the individual in building relationships and helping others?
* Assertiveness: How self-assured is the individual? How effective are they at convincing others to take action?
* Attitude: Does the individual perceive a glass to be half-empty or half-full?
* Communication Skills: How precisely does the individual communicate, both verbally and in writing?
* Competitiveness: How competitive is the individual?
* Energy: Is the individual always �on the go�, or do they need to be prodded into action?
* Independence: How readily does the individual accept direction from others?
* Learning Rate: How rapidly does the individual learn new information?
* Tolerance for Administration: How willing is the individual to perform administrative activities?
Specialized sales assessment tests can also help EXISTING
salespeople that are struggling. How? First, they can be used to determine whether these individuals SHOULD be in sales. If an individual doesn't have the talents required for sales success, there may be other roles in your organization where their talents and interests can be applied to mutual benefit. If no such positions are available, the kindest thing you can do is let them go. Why? Because it is no fun to continue to struggle in a job that is a poor fit!
Second, specialized sales assessment tests can help identify each salesperson�s unique training needs. Here is an example:
Two salespeople, Beth and Bill, work for the same company. Beth is weak in Sales Drive, which makes her reluctant to ask for orders. Bill is weak in Emotional Toughness, which makes him sensitive to rejection and limits his prospecting effectiveness. If Beth and Bill go through the same sales skills training course, how much improvement in performance should their employer expect to see?
The answer is LITTLE or NONE. Why? Because Beth and Bill have completely different training needs that will not be addressed by basic sales skills training.
Beth would benefit the most from attending an assertiveness training class. She also needs coaching to help her recognize that failing to ask for orders denies her customers valuable solutions to costly business problems.
Bill needs to learn to not take rejection personally. He could also benefit from training that teaches positive thinking and other motivational techniques.
Unfortunately, unless each salesperson�s unique training needs are identified, and targeted training is supplied to address those specific needs, there isn�t much reason to expect the individual�s sales performance to improve.
Conclusion
Many �80/20� performance disparities result from an over-reliance on SUBJECTIVE information when making salesperson hiring and management decisions. The proposed solution is to add OBJECTIVE information (gathered via specialized sales assessment tests) to �people decision� processes. This one change can help companies increase the proportion of top performers on their sales teams and improve the performance of existing sales team members.
About the author:
Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don't Perform and What to Do About It. His company, 80/20 Performance Inc., supplies specialized sales assessment tests and consulting to help organizations build top-performing sales teams. For more sales and sales management tips, visit: http://www.8020performance.com
|
|
|
|
|
| free online sales training articles, sales & selling processes ... |
| Free online sales training and selling glossary: sales techniques, selling skills and methods, free online from AIDA to modern selling methods. |
| www.businessballs.com |
|
| Sales Training International, classroom training, online sales ... |
| Sales Training International is a Houston based sales training, customer service training, and sales management training and consulting company offering ... |
| www.saleshelp.com |
|
| Waterhouse Group - Sales Training Programs: Consultative, Value ... |
| Sales Training and Consulting by Waterhouse Group - Your solution for Consultative Selling and the Complex Sale. Customized sales training courses and ... |
| www.waterhousegroup.com |
|
| Sales training consultancy - UK sales training, sales staff ... |
| Sales training courses, sales consultancy and sales related products. |
| www.salestraining.co.uk |
|
| Professional Sales Training Courses & Sales Coaching Programs ... |
| Need a sales training course or professional sales coaching program to improve your sales and thicken your skin? Industrial Ego Sales offers help for sales ... |
| www.industrialego.com |
|
| Sandler Sales Institute;Sandler Selling System:sales training ... |
| Provides sales management training and program. Offers international and domestic franchise for sales training, coaching, and sales management techniques. |
| www.sandler.com |
|
| Sales Management Training - Selling Seminars - Reinforcement & ROI ... |
| Sales management and sales training programs focused on creating a lasting return on your investment, not just a temporary increase in sales. |
| www.brooksgroup.com |
|
| Professional Corporate and Leadership Training from Dale Carnegie ... |
| For 94 years, business professionals have turned to Dale Carnegie's powerful books and winning interactive seminars to help them reach new levels of ... |
| www.dalecarnegie.com |
|
| Sales Training |
| We always have things to learn when it comes to sales and marketing. You'll find the best sales tips and advice in this resource of valuable information ... |
| marketing.about.com |
|
| Sales Training, Sales Management Training, Corporate Sales Training |
| Sales Training - Sales Management Training - Selling Skills Certification Programs. Follow a proven sales management process based on research of over ... |
| www.thesalesboard.com |
|
| Miller Heiman Sales Training: The Sales Performance Company |
| Sales training, process and strategy for outstanding performance. For nearly 30 years, Miller Heiman has helped thousands of companies, their salespeople, ... |
| www.millerheiman.com |
|
| Sales Training Camp offers sales training and sales coaching ... |
| Slife Sales Training, Inc. brings the top sales training to you at a reasonable price through sales seminars, keynote speakers, a free Sales Tip of the Week ... |
| www.salestrainingcamp.com |
|
| Sales Training, Sales Consulting & Sales Seminars |
| Sales training with Perpetual Development is intense with a focus on results - Sales training consultants offer a variety of sales consulting delivery ... |
| www.perpetualdevelopment.com |
|
| Sales Training America: Corporate Training Seminars and Custom ... |
| Offers sales training seminars across the US. Other training seminars include leadership training, management training, customer service training, ... |
| www.salestrainingamerica.com |
|
| Sales Training, Telephone Sales Training, Sales Management Training |
| Sales Training through public courses, also on-line sales training, sales recruitment, psychometric testing available, telephone sales training with ... |
| www.salesxcellence.co.uk |
|
| sales training and business development - free online sales help |
| Provides sales training and management courses, covering presentation skills, public speaking and negotiation techniques. Offers range of free reports and ... |
| www.salessense.co.uk |
|
| Sales training: choosing the right course/seminar |
| Practical advice on how to choose a good sales training course. |
| www.teamtechnology.co.uk |
|
| Sales Training International Ltd - Sales Training, Management ... |
| Providers of bespoke sales training courses, covering subjects from human resources to leadership and selling skills. |
| www.salestrainingintl.com |
|
| Sales Training Home Page: Sales and Sales Management Training Firm ... |
| CPSA offers acclaimed sales training and sales management training workshops and seminars throughout Canada. |
| www.cpsa.com |
|
| Sales Lead Generation Seminars and Sales Training Courses |
| Sales Lead Generation Seminars and Sales Training Courses showing how to write compelling prospecting letters, create a dynamic sales presentations, ... |
| www.leadersinstitute.com |
|
|