The Sales Team.
Strategies To Become #1.

The sales team butters the bread of any company. It’s important to keep them motivated, focused and managed. This section reviews tips for the salesperson, then we move onto sales management. We’ll focus on the world of B-to-B.

Sales involve a bit of risk & reward. If you don’t make sales, the risk is you’ll get canned. If you generate revenue you get paid; and usually it’s a nice amount. That's the reward. If you’re in sales or work closely with this group of heavy hitters…..here are the attributes to ensure successes.

Sales is becoming more complex. It’d be nice to convince the first person you call on to write a check and call it a day. Most likely, other influencers will join the party. Complex sales require multiple inputs and the person controlling the purse stings must be convinced.

Many salespeople think they have a done deal only to be blindsided. The success of your proposal may have to do more with your knowledge of working your prospect's framework than the product itself. If things are moving along with your prospect, don’t forget to ask “Is there anyone else in this process I need to check in with?” or “…….that I can further explain our product to.”

Call at the top of the department most relevant. One of the worst things you can do is waste your time pitching the wrong person. If the top cheese won’t hear you out, have him direct you to someone who will.

Begin each sales call with an objective. An objective keeps you focused. If you find yourself spending twenty minutes talking about the prospect’s paperweight, remind yourself what the objective is. You’ll be back on track in no time.

Attributes of an Objective include:

• The product you’re going to recommend and your best judgment of how much they'll need.

• The objective must be measurable. An order, another meeting, an RFP, something must happen that facilitates a next step.

• A set date for the next event to occur. A response such as “call me in about two months to see where things are” is not a timetable.

Obviously the objective is an order in which everybody is happy. If your product or service is not a one-step close….then the prospect should agree to something to keep that keeps the process moving. If not, you’re probably wasting your time.

Good questions, from you that is, are an essential element of the sales call. They allow you to determine if the company is even a potential client. Good questions show the prospect you’re indeed interested in helping them.

Asking questions promote a flow of conversation. The direction of the questions must lead to how you can help the prospect save money, save time or make money. That will keep things interesting for both of you.

Commitment questions help you determine if the prospect is ready to move the process forward. You should ask these types of questions at the end of every sales call. These questions help you move closer to the close…….and provide information as to how far away you are.

By providing a solution that matches the prospect’s need or perceived need, you won’t need to do any trick closes. A question from you such as “What do you think?” may be all you need to seal the deal.

Managing a sales force is not easy. But it’s extremely rewarding. A good manager is the most cost effective way of increasing revenue, ROI, market share and beat the competition. Not everyone on the sales team however, will be productive. Here are ways to ensure your team produces.

Some basic assumptions of sales management are:

A weak sales force is the result of weak management. The manager’s job is to get the work done through other people. You should maximize the team’s efforts….not compete with them. And, you should help team members become heroes.

No one graduates school as an insurance sales executive. The training is up to you. Make sure the staff is trained in methods related to your industry….and can recognize any situation where your product can help.

Many managers do not dedicate enough time for training. Training helps build confidence and enthusiasm; but most importantly, it promotes growth. Areas should include: product knowledge, the competition, selling skills, industry knowledge, prospecting and any technology used to track leads & run reports.

You must be on the phone making those calls. And I don’t mean to your boo. Rejection stinks. But not making any money and getting fired really stinks. Your staff must be on the phone making at least 30 calls per day to prospects. If they’re not averaging at least 125 calls per week, they won’t have a pipeline.

Many companies monitor the amount of calls their reps make. I don’t mean listening in….I mean installing a “call counter.” At one company I know, the sales manager emails the daily call count to the whole team each morning. Believe me. It lights a fire under the ass of any lazy reps. And it’s for their own good.

Motivate & reward the good habits of everybody. Sure, you may think you’re the corporate cynic. But when boss-man congratulates you for a job well done...…admit it! You’re walking on air.

To motivate the team use praise, recognition and a few cash prizes. Don’t just reward somebody for a sale. Do it for the number of good leads discovered……overcoming a challenge…..the most calls made for the day. All these things may not equal sales right now; but they plant the seeds for revenue tomorrow. Different reps will be motivated by different rewards. Make sure you understand what turns each rep on.

Oh come on! You know what I mean.

What I mean is this: The Bank of New York Bank of New York. Bank of NY. BoNY. Bank New York. If you’re trying to research this account, how do you know which record has the most recent data. It may be too late, but try to standardize how leads are entered into the system.

And of course, having all sales rep data located in a central location allows you to check a prospects status…….or at the very least, if the rep should leave the company, his work stays with you.

During your team sales meeting make sure your reps answer with hard numbers and meaningful dialogue. Roundabout answers or just not knowing their numbers is a red flag.

After a certain amount of time, a sales manager should know who the performers are and who has one foot on a banana peel and one foot out the door. Firing people is never a fun part of anybody’s job. If a sales rep consistently underperforms, its time for them to go. They’re not there to live on a base salary and the company needs a certain production level from all reps to survive. Some firms fire their lowest producing 10% each year.

Before anyone gets canned there should be meetings with that rep to see if there are any possible areas of improvement and correction. It’s expensive to fire & rehire. If a situation can be salvaged, its recommended.

The sales manager must help the team stay focused on their jobs. A manager’s most important skills are his or hers people skills. Selling can be stressful for certain reps if they’re not meeting their monthly numbers. A manager must be aware of this and see if there’s anything they can do to help.

The department must embrace a sales culture. That means expectations. The team is not there just to sell what they can each month. They are there to produce at a certain level. If they do, they’re justly rewarded. Good sales people are hard to come by. If you pay them well for success….they can’t help but stay.

And remember: “Coffee is for closers.”

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