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September 29, 2009

Sales Malpractice, Suitability and Show Me

Tim Roberts

We measure first.

Of all the sales challenges sales folks are faced with right now the issue of “right fit” is paramount. While every owner I meet knows better, sales hiring decisions here in central Indiana are still made the old fashion way – “My gut tells me…” Worse, I continue to hear, “Well, he’s my neighbor’s brother’s son-in-law’s friend.”

Have you ever said, “We’re not sure what he’s doing out there or what he’s telling our customers. Even worse, we’re afraid to know!” Then you’re guilty of sales malpractice. Your alleged business plan is now hostage to your neighbor’s brother’s son-in-law’s friend. Go get ’em, you goal-setter you.

Here at Sandler Training we spend 11 hours a day, 5 days a week with salespeople. While we can tell you pretty quickly who’s naughty or nice, we still choose appropriate assessment tools to make training and coaching recommendations. We measure first.

Caution! Beware Labels!

Melissa Smurdon, Psych K Belief Specialist

I remember as a kid hiding behind my mom at church on Sundays. We were the pastor’s family…imagine how many people approached my family each week. Soon I learned that “Melissa is just shy.” For the next 16 years, I thought I was shy. I was a wall flower in high school. Only as I enjoyed the social scenes and taking leadership roles in college did I start to question that. Then came the Myers-Briggs test when my high school “Introvert” rating changed to “Extrovert.” My eyes were opened. I wasn’t shy after all! Perhaps as a little kid I was just overwhelmed with a bunch of adults all clamoring for my family’s attention.

I am keenly aware of the way we use labels in our culture. Particularly in labeling people. “He is cheap.” “She is overly sensitive.” Labels help us give a name to a particular person’s behavior as we perceive it. They help us explain why a person behaves over and over in a predictable way. The concern for me is that we get very attached to these labels. We look for evidence to support our perceptions and start to overlook clues that might help us learn more about the person. Labels can be limiting and in my opinion, should be used cautiously.

Fixed With 4 Questions

Matt Nettleton

As a Business Owner, President or CEO, you are asked to take on many responsibilities and to quickly make big decisions based on limited and unclear information. Typically when I talk to Business Owners, Presidents and CEOs, I discover that no piece of their business is more shrouded in mystery than their sales process. Even worse they often have one of two beliefs about sales and both beliefs are crippling. The first is that Salespeople are mysterious creatures that result from an impossible to measure and purely coincidental amalgamation of characteristics. The second belief is even worse. They develop a belief over time that sales processes are different for every salesperson and for each sales prospect. Both of these beliefs are damaging. In fact these two beliefs more than any others, hold small business owners hostage to unpredictable cash flow and unmanageable salespeople.

This is a story about the second belief.

Yesterday at lunch, I was having a conversation with a prospect, a highly commissioned salesperson. He was telling me how great he’s doing, making cash, he’s on FIRE. So I asked him 4 questions. First, what was the average value of a sale? Second, what percent of second appointments did he close? Third, how many second appointments per week did he have? Finally, what percent of his appointments were with new or existing clients?

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